Disassembly

Given the hot-swappable nature of the switches, it only made sense that I take one of the Gateron G Pro 3.0 Yellow switches apart. This is a 3-pin mechanical switch employing the Cherry MX stem design, so we have the usual construction with the top, crosspoint stem/slider, spring, and housing that also has the metal leaf for the actuation mechanism. What makes this newer version differ from the standard Gateron Yellow (Milky Yellow) is that the stem comes pre-lubed out of the factory, and tolerances for all the moving parts is supposedly tighter. The metal contacts are also supposedly thinly plated with gold, but clearly not to where it makes a difference visually. I did feel the lube slightly on my fingers, and this minimal lube application is the way to go with linear switches. I also observed that the top housing on these switches is more clear and slightly different around the lens section for the LED light to pass through compared to what were advertised to be the same switches used in a previously reviewed keyboard—at least they feel the same when typed upon!


Disassembly of the keyboard is not hard given the gasket mount design here uses screws to secure the two-piece case together. There are 10 hex 1.5 mm screws on the back which thread into the metal frame. Remove them and the keyboard effectively comes apart as seen above. This provides a closer look at the aluminium-magnesium alloy frame which is quite thick and more expensive to manufacture compared to the more typical aluminium frames seen on more expensive keyboards.


There are two ribbon cables going from daughter PCBs in the bottom case panel to the primary PCB, so you need to be careful in removing them and then re-installing them later on. The wireless version has a 4000 mAh battery in the case although here we see a thick silicone dampening sheet custom-made for the keyboard. There are also three daughter boards with the right one hosting the rotary encoder that has been programmed to be a volume wheel, the middle one being the USB hub for input and output, and the left board being the modified FiiO KA13 portable DAC/amp without any side buttons. The various components have lacquer applied to try and hide their identity for whatever reason, but we already know it uses dual Cirrus Logic CS4131 DACs with two SG Micro SMG8262 low-noise operational amplifiers.


At this point you can choose to remove all keycaps and switches to further separate the plate from the primary PCB itself, and this would allow you to also potentially replace and re-lube the stabilizers too. The PCB itself is white, as with the three daughter boards, and uses good quality Gateron hot-swap switch sockets. We also see the clear use of a gasket mount here with FiiO having added soft, thick silicone gaskets that fit around the plate, including with a cutout in the plate, and are sandwiched by the frame and bottom case panel to allow for a more evenly supported typing experience as you press down on the keyboard. Powering the functionality of this keyboard is an EVision VS11K28A USB microcontroller as well as a Savitech SA9312L USB audio controller. All the components, including the switch sockets, SMD LEDs, and capacitors, are soldered to a multi-layered PCB.

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.