Crystal Crown Keycaps

Ah, we finally get to the main reason this review even happened. The pudding-style keycaps have grown in popularity recently, adopting a more opaque top surface for legends and translucent, diffusing plastic on the sides for more backlighting oomph! G.SKILL decided to take this a step further with their Crystal Crown replacement keycaps, which have a clear plastic side for increased transparency and backlighting to go beyond just illuminating the keycap legends. The company makes these in two versions, black and white, with packaging no different from the typical pudding-style aftermarket keycaps, but the G.SKILL wrap over it. On the front is a render of the specific version inside, installed on an RGB-backlit keyboard, and letting you know this is a 104-key ANSI layout keycap set for MX stem-style switches. We see marketing features, specifications, and a list of contents inside on the back, as well as a G.SKILL seal along with a single flap on either end to keep the contents in place during shipping.


Opening the box, we see three vacuum-sealed pouches that contain the keycap sets. Each set has the same packaging style, and each pouch has a cardboard sheet at the bottom to support the keycaps between the layers. You will have to cut out the plastic to access these, which unfortunately does mean you can't re-use the packaging to store the keycaps. I ended up discarding the plastic altogether and dumping it all into the respective box, which is at least thick and sturdy enough to accommodate them for storage.


Each set comes with 104 keys in the US ANSI version, which is more than enough for the 87-key KM360 this article covers, but G.SKILL provides enough keycaps for a standard full-size ANSI keyboard with 1.25u keycap spacing on the bottom row on either side of the 6.25u space bar. Either set also comes with a plastic ring-style keycap puller, which is unfortunately even more likely to scratch the sides of these keycaps than the standard stock keycaps when used. I would have rather seen G.SKILL include a metal wire puller, especially considering these replacement keycap sets are sold separately, but it is still better than the complete lack of a keycap puller with the keyboard itself.


As with the pudding-style keycaps, we have an opaque top surface that is color-coordinated based on the keycap set, which is made out of ABS plastic (thick ABS, to be fair) and thus does differ from the PBT used on the usual pudding keycaps. The legends are also laser-etched, so this part is functionally no different from the mass-market keycaps and will actually fare worse than the stock keycaps on the KM360. The legends are also on the smaller side of average, especially for single-legend placement, but this is to accommodate the ring etched around the legends. This ring might well be the "crown" of these Crystal Crown keycaps, and the "crystal" in their name definitely refers to the acrylic section bonded on the sides to allow for near-transparency. Unfortunately, the white keycaps do not get this ring on top. G.SKILL says it's purely an aesthetic decision to keep the white version clean. On the other hand, I noticed that the white ones are able to withstand staining to a higher degree than the black ones that started showing signs of wear within two weeks! If you were wondering, both sets adopt the OEM profile, but their top surfaces are more concave than with the stock keycaps on the KM360.


The provided keycap puller works fine, but I quickly stopped using it and switched to a metal wire puller instead. Now, I will say that the metal wires may "stick" to the underside of these replacement keycaps, especially if you pull them off with a lot of force. That said, just detach them from the acrylic with no damage done. The plastic ring puller, on the other hand, slightly scratched one already, which makes it worse with the softer acrylic on these replacement keycaps. So this was definitely disappointing to see! Once all keycaps are removed, we get a nice look at the KM360 with just the switches and the aluminium top plate, as well as the white-colored stabilizer sliders.


Here is a look at both of these Crystal Crown keycap sets installed on the G.SKILL KM360, and both offer a unique aesthetic. The black set reminded me of all the typewriter-style keycap sets that were so popular until recently, and the white set makes the KM360 look like a completely different keyboard altogether. A quick look from the side also reveals an interesting side effect that may be beneficial to some, in that the clear sides allow for a neat look at the switches and stabilizers. So those having a custom keyboard with rarely used switches may find these keycaps offering a side-on view no others will, as with a custom design/finish applied to the keyboard top plate becoming much more apparent. Finally, note that we get the standard ANSI layout of two Win keycaps instead of one Win and one Fn keycap as with the stock keycaps on most keyboards, including the KM360.