Packaging and Accessories

Das Keyboard operates a web shop in the USA and thus, we begin with a look at the shipping packaging. It is.. not very good, with a box chosen that was just bigger than the product box and no protection materials in between. Our product box had a small dent in it when it arrived my way on a journey that is not very long either, so I encourage them to reconsider this approach and spend more on transit packaging as it can also lower the potential for RMA returns and replacements.


The product packaging itself is more colorful than what I had come to expect from Das Keyboard products—a departure from the subtle colors of past Das Keyboard products. It uses a predominant orange color with large printed illustrations of the keyboard all around. On the front is the company logo and product name alongside salient marketing features, and this continues on the back with more information available to see if you happen to spot this in a physical store. This entire outer packaging is an outer sleeve, as it turns out, with flaps on either side that can be opened to access the inner box.


The inner box in question is out of plain cardboard with tucked innards and side flaps as seen above, and opening the box reveals even more packaging inside. This does help mitigate transit issues due to the lacking shipping packaging we saw before, if this is even how it is for every paying customer, so I do feel better about the odds of the keyboard arriving in perfect condition now. My sample had a short reviewer's guide included, but otherwise is the same as any retail unit. There are accessories to be seen under the keyboard, including in another compartment altogether. These include stickers, a "Getting Started" guide that is quite handy indeed, and a plastic ring-style keycap puller. I would have liked to see a metal wire-style puller here instead to lower the potential of scratching the keycap sides, and it is all the more expected for what is a flagship product in 2018.


The final accessory, in a compartment of its own lined with foam to add yet more protection to the provided components, is a removable wrist rest. It is one of the more premium wrist rests I have seen, with a hefty feel and dimpled rubber finish to the top surface, as well as the company logo in the bottom-left corner. Magnets are used on the mating surface here, which is presumably how the wrist rest attaches to the keyboard.