Summary and Conclusion

Prices

• The MARVODIY Re-defined 68 keyboard kit sells at an MSRP of $79, but is currently on sale for $67.15 from the MARVODIY web shop as of the time this article is written.
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz PBT/dye-sub set of 144 keycaps sells for $58.65 from the MARVODIY web shop as this is written, discounted from an MSRP of $69.
• Gazzew has a lot of different switches under his label, including RGB variants and different spring options for both linear and tactile feedback switches. They all sell for $6.50 for a set of 10 switches from vendors listed on the Gazzew website.

No matter what you do with your keyboard build, make sure every single switch is working. This is especially important with hot-swappable switches since the metal contacts may be bent if not perfectly inserted into the socket. Simple tools, including those I use for my reviews, will help you test for key rollover and key chatter in addition to key actuation and recognition. For example, this 68-key kit went with a default configuration that used Tilde, Pg Up, Pg Dn, and End on the right-most column, and knowing this would have certainly helped me place the correct keycaps for the photos posted earlier. The keyboard, once assembled, also displayed full N-key rollover with USB and 2.4 GHz wireless mode, and the typical 6KRO in Bluetooth mode.


Everything else worked as expected, with good wireless connectivity and battery life via decently implemented sleep modes to first turn off the LEDs and then the keyboard itself after specific periods of inactivity. The dip switches also help change a few functions, and there is software support via drivers, whose installer is found on the product page. This adds a myriad of options, including key mapping, macro recording/assignment, and finer control over lighting.


If the PCB supports lighting, as is the case here, it is a great and fast way to visually see whether all the contacts are working. It's also fun to see the individual switches light up, at least unless the keycaps support no backlighting at all. Seen above are a couple of photos and a video of the setup that has the four switches and some of the keycaps arranged in exactly the configuration used in the title image on the first page of this article. It also shows the light diffusion built into the switches, how the RGB versions of the Boba switches allow for more light through them, and how these opaque PBT keycaps turn the RGB lighting into just accent lighting once installed.

I mentioned before that the primary motivation for this article was better getting to know Gazzew's Boba switches, and they kept coming up in discussions in the comments sections of previous keyboard builds and some keyboard reviews. I had also seen many in the enthusiast keyboard community proclaim the U4/U4T as some of the best tactile switches on the market, with the specific DIY component sourcing and assembly making for a fine switch purely in terms of assembly tolerance, and this is before the smooth travel and lack of switch wobble enter the picture. We went through four Boba switches today—two tactile and two linear—including different spring weights and some RGB versions that gave me a better appreciation for Gazzew and his switches alike. I personally liked the Boba U4 RGB the most of the lot, although the Bobagum came real close.

MARVODIY did a decent job with the Re-defined 68 kit, especially for the money. It's not common to find the tray-mount design with both a thick silicone sheet and foam sheet layer, and we get wired, 2.4 GHz wireless, and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless connectivity options to sweeten the deal. The unlubed plate-mounted stabilizers are a letdown, though, especially when paired with some expensive switches, as the Gazzew Boba switches, but I was more disappointed and confused by the keycap set that had nothing to do with its name, and the product photos on the website are clearly not color graded correctly, so customers may feel misled by the green they get, compared to the blue they'd expected. That said, I do feel the keycaps work out fairly well in person, though the two shades of green could be better implemented.

This is not a review as much as a retelling of my own experiences of building a keyboard, or keyboards, more custom than the typical keyboard purchased from a retailer. There are far more customization options once you get on this slippery slope, and more articles are planned in this series, which I hope to be ongoing to cover multiple different product combinations.