Closer Examination

The Epomaker AK84S is not your average pre-build, which is partly why the company goes with a crowdfunding campaign. There are more combinations with the keyboard than just about any other, be it with the ridiculously large number of switches on offer or the case, keycaps, and more. Indeed, you may have noticed that the title image is more colorful than the sample I have here, and those are just two of the available options. For the case, you can go with a combo of plastic on the bottom and a CNC-machined aluminium frame/plate up top, an acrylic case with an aluminium plate, or a thick CNC-machined aluminium unibody design. Keycaps come in ABS or PBT plastic out of the box, with the former getting black or white options and the latter going with the multi-tone and artistic sets at a higher price, of course. I have the black ABS set with the plastic/aluminium plate version here, which is likely the least expensive of the lot. It is still a nice upgrade from the standard two-piece plastic case default version, and the white version of this combination gets a shinier plate too.

Common to all of them, however, is the adoption of the 80%, 84-key form factor with dual OS and dual wired/wireless connectivity. Despite having taken a look at one such 80% keyboard recently, I can count on one hand the number of such keyboards I have personally had my hands on. It cuts the popular 87-key TKL form factor down by truncating all 84-keys together and loses out on the Home, End, and R. Ctrl keys that are not going to be missed by most anyway. This does mean that the R. Shift key is smaller than usual, and the bottom row is also non-standard spacing. So the stock keycaps are the best option to stick with generally, especially since the keyboard-specific legends on some of them help with the pre-programmed functionality. These are seen underneath the primary legends, with the general secondary legends alongside the primary ones. In return, you pretty much get a fully functional keyboard with Fn keys that takes up far less room than others with equivalent functionality. Bezels are about average in size, and there is no branding anywhere, making for a clean keyboard.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker. But this side also hosts the power button for a change, and Skyloong gets credited here too. Four long rubber pads add friction against the resting surface along the corners, and there are two sets of keyboard feet at the top corners. These can be used to further elevate the keyboard in two optional steps in addition to the built-in elevation with the relatively high-profile case. The feet have rubber pads on the bottom to go with the rubber pads on the case, which prevents slippage as well as scratches to the case and feet. Keep in mind that the other two case options do not have keyboard feet at all.


A closer look at the button confirms it helps power on/off the keyboard in wireless Bluetooth mode, which does address one of my issues with such keyboards being easy to turn on accidentally via key presses. For wired connectivity, Epomaker has gone with a recessed Type-C port on the top-left facing away from the user, with the recess large enough to fit most aftermarket cables as well. The provided cable obviously works well, and you need a spare USB Type-A port on your PC, and with a maximum rated current draw of 380 mA on the 5 V rail, USB 2.0 will suffice. We also see that the two connectors are gold-plated for additional oxidation resistance.


At least with the ABS keycaps, Epomaker uses an OEM keycap profile with six sculpted and angled rows. The PBT keycaps conform to the company's GK1 set, but I can only speak for what I have here. The included ring-style puller works well enough, but can scratch the sides of the keycaps, so I am awaiting confirmation on whether the finished units will get the better puller tool or not. These stock ABS keycaps are thicker than average at a wall thickness of 1.08 mm, and the general legends, both primary and secondary, are doubleshot injected in a seamed manner for extended longevity despite the ABS keycaps no doubt picking up a shine because of finger oils over time. The keyboard-specific secondary legends are laser-etched, but not to where they are backlit, which is a double whammy with the worse durability.


I mentioned before how there are a ton of switch options for the Epomaker AK84S, and this is because of the hot-swappable socket combined with Epomaker stocking a bunch of switches as it is. Note that you can only hot-swap mechanical switches within themselves, and 5-pin switches at that, since the optical switches use a different PCB as is the case here. The options in general seem to include Gateron optical and mechanical switches without any Cherry or Kailh offerings out of the box. But the interesting bit here, at least to me, is the introduction of Epomaker's very own Chocolate series of switches. These are 5-pin mechanical or optical switches coming in Chocolate Red, Brown, Blue, and Silver to match the equivalent Cherry MX versions, although the colors are not necessarily identical for the Red, which is more a burgundy. I have the Chocolate Optical Silver switches on my sample, and we already took a closer look at these before. The larger keycaps use Cherry style stabilizers, and boy, Epomaker used a lot of lube. I didn't even have to take a macro photo, just look at the lube on the keycap and the wire seen through the gaps in the plate! This helps mitigate that mushy feeling when typing on them with even these ABS keycaps and basically eliminates rattle. It is different from the pinging off the plate when bottoming out and the internal switch spring, so do be aware of that. These stabilizers are plate-mounted and extremely sturdy.


Using the hot-swappable socket is no different from any other; just hook the provided switch remover in north-south on the switch and pull upwards. We discussed before how the socket would be different from the rest as it relates to these optical switches. This means there is another version to cater to the mechanical-only switches, so you will have to commit to it when ordering. What we do see, however, is not only the associated RGB LED per switch, but also the light source that is interrupted for actuation as part of the mechanism of these optical switches. Seen above is also one of the Chocolate Optical Silver switches replaced with a Chocolate Optical Brown from the spare switch set.