Introduction

I was looking forward to this build for a while now, mostly for the switches this time around. Our first keyboard build ran through the basics of customizing a keyboard using a hot-swap acrylic case as the focus, with the second one focusing on some cool Gateron Ink switches. Things swapped back for round three with the GMMK PRO, and the pendulum swings back in favor of switches now as we give some love to Kailh. Thanks again to Epomaker for making this possible through all the provided samples!


Anyone who is even remotely familiar with the mechanical keyboard world knows that there are more switches now than ever before, with custom designs coming from lots of companies and vendors alike. Keyboard enthusiasts have also discovered the joy and pain of lubricating switches and stabilizers. Amid all this, hot-swappable keyboard kits have made it very easy to experiment with different switches and create a truly custom offering to suit your specific needs. Today, we take a look at my favorite switch design, the Kailh BOX switches. I am pairing five different switches with the Epomaker GK61XS wood kit and Akko Carbon Retro keycaps in this article, so be sure to go through everything in order as best as possible.

Epomaker GK61XS: Packaging

As with the other Epomaker keyboards we have examined before, we see the collaboration with Skyloong for the GK61XS here. The packaging has the Skyloong logo on the front, and a sticker on the side confirms the product inside. Two side flaps in addition to a central double flap keep the contents inside in place in transit.


Opening the box, we see a manual right away, but let's get back to that after we go through the other accessories, which are in the compartment to the top to keep them separately packed from the keyboard. This minimizes any damage done to the keyboard case, and we have the detachable USB Type-A to Type-C cable here, which is sleeved and braided in black.


A plastic pouch contains a split guide plate for the space bar key that allows for three switches instead of a single long key on the PCB as we saw with the Epomaker GK96LS and GK68XS. This one has stabilizers on two longer key locations and a third 1u key spacing on the right. We also have a smaller cardboard box with a plastic ring-style keycap puller as well as a metal switch puller. I would have liked a metal wire-style keycap puller instead, especially on an enthusiast product such as this, if only to minimize the odds of scratching the keycap sides when used.


The case itself comes inside a plastic wrap, with a pamphlet inside that goes over the safest way to insert the switches and how to replace the stock space bar placement with the split space bar module seen above. This is an extension of the manual itself, which is a quick start guide that goes over the base and Fn layer in two key maps printed on the brochure. There is also a reminder to use the GK6XPlus software drivers for fine-tuning and further customization, including over the backlighting. This then leads to an advertisement of other products from Skyloong, and the other side does exactly the same in Chinese. However, you may want to refer to this far more detailed user manual since it is where Epomaker has taken the time to write and publish a manual to help users new and experienced alike make the most of the GK61XS.

Epomaker GK61XS: Closer Look

As the name suggests, the GK61XS is a 61-key, 60% form factor keyboard. It is available as a pre-built keyboard with different switches or a case/kit for you to assemble yourself. It is similar in design to the pre-built SK61 we recently saw, which was the optical switch version of this mechanical-switch GK61. The XS at the end of the name also signifies wireless connectivity support, which is handy for such a small form factor keyboard. The GK61XS typically comes with a plastic case, so to switch things up (pun intended), I went with the wood case option instead.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see more of the case design; it has been nicely machined out of a single piece of wood and given a smooth finish and varnish. There are no certification labels, which would almost be a crime on this case, and we don't get any keyboard feet as with the acrylic or aluminium case options either. Four rubber pads at the corners add friction against the resting surface and prevent any scratches to the case itself.


There is an inset USB Type-C port in the top-left corner facing away from the user for the cable to plug into, which also charges the internal battery for wireless keyboard connectivity. The cable has a braided black finish, which I suppose is a safe choice for a wood case. You will need a spare USB Type-A port on your PC for wired connectivity, and USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data alike, although USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) is recommended.


A look from the side confirms the built-in elevation with the case, which itself is high-profile to make up for the lack of any keyboard feet. It is fairly tall even at the bottom, so a wrist rest might be handy for those not used to touch typing with their hands hovering above the keyboard. Four screws hold the removable space bar guide plate, which can then be swapped out for the other one, in which case you also need to peel off the foam supports currently blocking the other two switch slots. The foam pads dampen the downstroke with the space bar, especially since it uses a separate plate from the rest of the keyboard.


Two sets of Phillips-head screws hold the plate and PCB on the case, removing all of which helps get a closer look at the polycarbonate plate used by default. I am not a fan of this plate even for smaller form factor keyboards since it tends to flex more than a metal one. As we will see shortly, the split plate design also makes this worse. The PCB itself is still connected to the case owing to an internal cable going from the built-in 1900 mAh battery glued to the case, so disconnect it to fully separate all the pieces.


We can now better appreciate the wood case, which I will say has the varnish smell when you take it out of the box. It might be too strong for some, so leave it outside for a couple of days. The machining is quite well done, and we have brass threads for the actual screw holes to ensure the wood doesn't split. The PCB is black and chock-full of components owing to the deep feature set aboard.


There are a lot of soldered components, including the USB Type-C connector alongside several tantalum capacitors. We also see Kailh hot-swap switch sockets, which is fitting given the use of Kailh switches. For lighting customization, each switch has an SMD 5050 RGB LED. Powering wired mode is a Weltrend WT59F164 32-bit USB microcontroller based on the RISC microarchitecture with up to 64 KB flash and 8 KB RAM. There are also three separate Shenzhen Sunmoon SM16159 LED drivers to help run all the RGB LEDs on the keyboard. Wireless connectivity is powered by a Cypress CYW20730 Bluetooth 5.1 processor and integrated 2.4 GHz transceiver. All the components, including the sockets, LEDs, and capacitors, are soldered to a multi-layered PCB.