Software

With all functionality hardware based, there are no software drivers for the Drop + LOTR Elvish keyboard. As such, I have chosen to combine this section with the performance section below. This can hurt adoption from those who care about software configuration and profiles, but also means the keyboard works regardless of your OS, and could perhaps have onboard customization.

Performance

The Drop + LOTR Elvish keyboard supports NKRO out of the box, which tested successfully using Aqua's test. No key chatter was detected on all the keys using Switch Hitter. The image above also shows the base layer on the keyboard is as far as dedicated keys go and it's a standard 87-key, US ANSI layout in the tenkeyless format, except with R.Win replaced by an Fn key as is usual these days. Indeed, there's no key customization on offer at all, and the only things that we can do on this keyboard beyond what's on the base layer is via an Fn layer. Fn + F1-F12 have pre-programmed functions including volume and media playback controls and pulling up programs such as the email client and calculator.


There are white LEDs associated with each switch on the keyboard, although the opaque keycaps result in accent lighting only. The absence of backlighting isn't as big a deal here given the keycaps themselves are the main attraction and you bought this keyboard to see and use it in a well-lit environment. There is brightness control programmed into the keyboard which is a result of the Drop Entr being used as the base here. Fn + up/down arrow keys goes through five brightness steps (0/25/50/75/100%) and this static lighting is all you get with the LEDs. The LEDs themselves are fairly bright, as evident from the second photo above taken at night with the lights on but I ended up just turning off the lights on this keyboard anyway.


There is only one switch option on the Drop + LOTR Elvish keyboard in the form of Drop's own Holy Panda X. This is an update to the highly successful Holy Panda, which even to this day has ardent fans and modders using it to make further frankensteined switches (mixing parts of different switches together). Indeed, the original Holy Panda itself involved the disassembly of two different switches and re-assembly of selected parts—housings from the Invyr Panda linear switch and the stem of the Drop Halo tactile switch—into one new switch, but the new Holy Panda X shies away from this approach with Drop and Gateron working together to make the switch from the get go. The Holy Panda X uses a polycarbonate top case, nylon bottom case, and a POM stem. It has a spring weight of 60 gf and comes pre-lubricated to where, coupled with tighter mold tolerances, it makes for a minimal wobble typing solution. This is a tactile switch with an early bump that I am personally not a big fan of but it does seem to be among the bettter such implementations in terms of both the feel and the subsequent smoothness. You can train yourself to not bottom out, given the steeper peak force closer to the total travel length of ~3.6 mm, although most people are still likely to do so.


As always, the sound of a keyboard is based on more than just the switch type. So when comparing sound clips, consider the keyboard as a whole. In this case, I have provided above an example sound clip of me typing on the Drop + LOTR Elvish keyboard at ~105 WPM as it comes out of the box with the Drop Holy Panda X switches. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile switches. I did bottom out constantly here and I have mixed feelings about the sound signature. The switches themselves feel and sound fine, but it's the rest of the keyboard that's making for a higher-pitched sound without much dampening. The switches ping off the steel plate, and the taller profile keycaps don't feel best used here either, at least initially. I got used to the MT3 profile separately and found them to be quite clever in design. A top-mount or gasket-mount keyboard would have made for a better typing experience in my books. This shows also the limitations of using the Drop Entr keyboard as a base and giving it a visual makeover to where, despite the arguably better switches and stabilizers used here, there remains room for improvement. This in itself should not be a deal-breaker though, since you will get used to the keycaps over the first couple of days of using the keyboard, and improve your touch typing, which also will make the keyboard feel and sound better.