Summary and Conclusion

Price

• The Epomaker GK68XS case is not available by itself, but can be purchased pre-assembled with a lot of various switches as well as different keycap colors, beginning at $105 from the Epomaker webshop.
• The Akko Neon PBT keycap set costs $59.99 from the Epomaker webshop as well as retailers, including Amazon.com.
• Gateron mechanical switches tend to be more budget-friendly compared to Cherry and Kailh options, definitely so relative to the more bespoke/custom switches from smaller outlets today. A set of 100 Gateron switches will cost ~$25–$30 for customers in the USA.

This is not a review as much as a retelling of my own experiences building a keyboard that is more custom than the typical keyboard purchased from a retailer. There are far more customization options once you get on this slippery slope, and if I have the time and resources, I will try to follow up on this series with more such combinations from different brands.


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 get bent if not inserted perfectly 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/recognition. For example, I realized only at the end that the Epomaker GK6XS PCB has the usual R.Ctrl key set as the Menu key by default, which either meant changing the keycap or remapping the key to Control. Again, you need to check on any firmware/programming options for the PCB, with some going fully open source but also relying on power users to have GUIs to share with others not as technical.


If the PCB supports lighting, lighting is a great and fast way to visually see if all the contacts are working. It's also fun to see the individual switches light up, at least until you get to where these keycaps support no backlighting at all. The case supports side and bottom lighting too, which turns into accent lighting through the thick plastic case.

At first look, the entire combination may come out to be more expensive than buying a pre-built keyboard, but one would argue that gaming keyboards are also already expensive compared to your bog-standard OEM membrane keyboard. There are functional benefits in going with a more expensive keyboard offering ergonomics and customization for the typing experience, and this route is for those interested in the latter via using different switches, including perhaps on the same keyboard with, say, linear switches on WASD and tactile switches everywhere else. But make no mistake, the main reason for doing so is to customize the aesthetics to your preferences, with custom keycaps being the quickest way of going about it. A standalone case/PCB with different materials and color finishes takes one further down the rabbit hole, one others will now perhaps be tempted to head down as well!