MARVODIY Re-defined 68 Kit

The MARVODIY Re-defined 68 kit was not even ready with retail packaging when the company had sent it over, which should tell you how long this article has been in the works. It's now a retail product, with the first image above showing what the retail packaging will look like. The cardboard box is simple in design, utilizing a render of the kit on the front to go with the company logo and product name. A user manual comes included with the kit (online copy here), in addition to various accessories that shipped separately in my case. These are a metal badge with pre-applied tape to stick onto the back of the kit as needed and a handy metal wire keycap puller and switch remover combo tool.


The final set of accessories included with the MARVODIY Re-defined 68 kit help with the available hybrid connectivity options, with a detachable white USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable for the expected wired USB Type-C connectivity on the keyboard kit itself. There is also a wireless 2.4 GHz connection, which is where the white USB dongle comes into the picture. Adding to the feature set is Bluetooth connectivity, making for three different options in total.


As the name suggests, the Re-defined 68 is a 68-key, 65% keyboard kit in the ANSI layout only available in one color option at this time. It utilizes a tray-mount design with an aluminium alloy frame and ABS plastic shell paired with a steel plate and silicone + foam sections for added appeal. There is no visible branding in use, with the white plate and silver-finished frame with slim bezels making for a clean design.


Flipping the kit around, we see long rubber pads on the corners adding friction against the resting surface. Two feet at the top can be raised for a total of two available elevation steps. These feet have fairly substantial rubber pads as well, which is nice to see. The recess in the plastic is where the provided badge sticks on to, and it allows for easy modding, too. Five dip-switches under one of the keyboard feet add further customization options.


There is a dedicated on/off switch, which is handy for the two wireless connectivity options to your PC. Next to it is an inset Type-C port, which the provided cable snugly fits into but makes some aftermarket cables a struggle to use. USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data alike in wired mode, and the provided 2.5 GHz USB dongle can work with one of those too. If your PC has a Bluetooth NIC, the Re-defined 68 also supports Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.


The plate is powder-coated white on a steel base and only held in place with some screws. Straightaway, we see the use of 5-pin hot-swap switch sockets for the standard 3-pin or 5-pin Cherry MX-style mechanical switches with the kit. There are also plate-mounted stabilizers, and they do not come pre-lubed out of the box. Doing your own lubing and stabilizer swapping requires disassembly, which is on the simpler side of things owing to all of seven screws holding the kit together. The plate comes off right away, which also gives us a closer look at the thick silicone damper machined precisely to fit under the plate to absorb the impact and noise from downstrokes.


The PCB is blue and held in place with a few more screws onto the plastic case, removing which confirms the presence of a thin foam piece to further absorb typing noise and reduce case reverberations. You need to dislodge an internal cable on the PCB to fully separate the two pieces.


This cable comes from a daughter PCB on the case, which hosts the Type-C port, and power from the battery placed here. MARVODIY is using a 2000 mAh battery, which is about average these days even considering the relatively small form factor. It will drain quick if you plan on using RGB lighting throughout, but should suffice for hours of Bluetooth or 2.4 GHz typing. We see the use of generic CIY hotswap sockets, and the entire PCB is a CIY AK68 MARVODIY incorporated into the rest of the product. This includes the set of five dip-switches from before, a generic HID USB microcontroller, Cypress CYW20730 Bluetooth 5.0 transceiver, and Beken BK2425 2.4 GHz transceiver. All the components, including the switch sockets, LEDs, and capacitors, are soldered to a multi-layered PCB.