I mentioned on the first page that typically Epomaker SK keyboards have optical switches and GK keyboards come with mechanical switches. Looks like this gets thrown out of the window when it comes to the 61-key, 60% form factor keyboards, however. There are GK61 keyboards with optical switches and now this SK61 that currently sells with mechanical switches. Pricing of the SK61 as it comes with the mechanical switches and associated PCB is in line with other Epomaker 60% keyboards with mechanical switches, so you are getting this Red Wine theme for not much extra, if any at all. The company only had the SK61 with the optical switches ready, so I suspect there will be a reshuffle of naming soon to match the other keyboards in the portfolio.

The SK21 at least has no such confusion aside from the manual perhaps giving a false impression since it is taken from the GK21, which is a higher-end numpad with wired/wireless hybrid connectivity. Pricing of the SK21 also surprised me compared to the SK61, but this goes to show that there is certainly a value offering curve with smaller keyboards generally offering less on a cost/key basis. You have to pay for a lot of the base features irrespective of the form factor, which makes up a major fraction of the SK21 cost, no doubt.

Using the two as a set functions beautifully, though I would have liked to see the SK21 with wireless support for the few times you will need it. Instead, you have two wires coming out of what is still a small footprint combined. Then there is the mismatch in red colors both with or without backlighting. It's enough to keep some people from making this a set, especially when the Red Wine theme is the main reason to buy both even if it is not explicitly mentioned as such in the case of the SK21. If you are buying either separately, you of course won't care about this mismatch. But then other things come up, including the barely legible legends on the red keycaps of the SK61, most of which are also opaque. The GK6XPlus software drivers also badly need a clean-up, especially of all the random LE files, and optimization to improve the user experience. Overall, unless you are a fan of the color scheme, there are other 60% keyboards that will do better, including others from Epomaker itself.