Disassembly

Given we have hot-swappable switches, why not start by taking one apart? It's also my first time with the Gateron Low Profile Brown switch, but these have a lot in common with full-size mechanical switches as far as the components go. There's the translucent top with the Gateron badge etched into the front, the stem itself, which is shrunk down but retains the bumps for tactile feedback and actuation alike, a short spring to fit the 11.7 mm tall switch compared to the usual ~18 mm, and the housing that has the metal leaves for actuation. The stem is not lubed, so this may be a good time to do so if you prefer lubed tactile switches. The actuation mechanism is where it differs outside of the stem design itself, with the contact being made inside-out rather than outside-in.


Disassembly of the Epomaker NT68 is quite simple and applies to both profile versions, so I am demonstrating it here for the low-profile variant only. You need to remove a few specific keycaps as seen above to access eleven Phillips head screws holding the keyboard together. Once all screws are removed, lift the plate/PCB up from the bottom while taking care not to damage the Type-C connector placed in a cutout in the black ABS case, once again made by Jikedinghzi. An internal cable goes from the battery to the PCB, so dislodge it to fully separate the two pieces.


The case is quite empty, which is not the best idea for minimizing reverberations, although the-low profile nature will somewhat quench any. Users may want to add some sound-dampening foam, and in the absence of any internal USB cables, doing so would be extremely easy since you just need to accommodate the thin cable from the battery. Speaking of which, the 1900 mAh battery is lodged into the case, the same as in a lot of the Epomaker wireless keyboards covered thus far. The PCB is black, and solder quality is really good, including on the Type-C connector. The use of hot-swappable switches means you can also easily separate the aluminium frame and PCB by removing the switches and keycaps, but there was not much to gain from doing so given I had access to the hardware drivers already.


Powering the NT68 is a Weltrend WT58F165 32-bit USB microcontroller. It is based on the RISC microarchitecture with up to 64 KB flash and 8 KB RAM. There are also three separate Shenzhen Sunmoon SM16159 LED drivers to run all the RGB LEDs on the keyboard. The NT68 PCB also has a Cypress CYW20730 Bluetooth 5.1 transceiver for wireless connectivity. As is the norm these days, the PCB has multiple layers.

Before we move on, be advised that disassembly may void the warranty and that TechPowerUp is not liable for any damages incurred if you decide to go ahead and do so anyway.