Closer Examination

GAMDIAS states that the HERMES M5 is a minimalist keyboard, and the form factor and design certainly back up the claim. Indeed, if I just told you that the sample I have here is a full-size mechanical keyboard with floating keycaps and a low-profile aluminium alloy frame, it would not be surprising to see some dismiss it as just "another one of those." But taking an actual look at the unit immediately shows that there is more going on courtesy the two-tone keycap set in white and blue. It's not just GAMDIAS taking a random Taobao keycap set and slapping it on since there are keyboard-specific keycap legends as well. These are doubleshot injected PBT keycaps in colors you rarely see on a pre-built keyboard, yet this is not a themed keyboard as with some of the recent Varmilo and Akko keyboards we've seen. Product name and a logo have been etched into the frame above the arrow keys, but this is otherwise a clean keyboard.

There are four extra keys above the numpad for dedicated media playback and volume control, which I definitely appreciate more than a calculator shortcut, for example. The aluminium alloy frame has minimal bezels and gets a silver finish that does not distract from the white and blue of the keycaps. The keycap legends are black, and we see single legend placement on the top center. Secondary legends for the general secondary functions are a "superscript" to the primary legends, and there are also some keyboard-specific secondary legends underneath primary functions. All this points towards the adoption of north-facing LEDs, which means the legends under the primary ones may not be backlit as well, if at all.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle. Four rubber pads on the bottom edge add friction against the resting surface, which is complemented by the rubber pads on the sides of the two keyboard feet at the top corners. The feet can be raised to optionally elevate the keyboard further, and the rubber pads on the bottom of these feet are another nice attention to detail.


We saw before how the GAMDIAS HERMES M5 uses a fixed cable, with the connector coming off the side facing away from the user, between the F8 and F9 keys. The cable has white insulation to better match the rest of the keyboard, but is shorter than average at 5' as opposed to the usual 6'. It terminates in a full-size USB Type-A connector, and USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data alike.


A look from the side shows the lower profile of the case, putting the HERMES M5 in at a height of 35 mm without raised feet. This ends up well below average, as does the actual weight of the keyboard. There is minimal flex in use courtesy the aluminium alloy frame, though. We also see that GAMDIAS used the OEM profile for the keycaps, with the usual six rows that are contoured and sculpted for good support and typing familiarity. The provided keycap puller works in a jiffy, but the floating nature of the keycaps means you can easily remove most of them with your hands. I did use a wire-style puller to minimize any damage to the keycaps, removing some of which confirms the use of thick PBT plastic (average wall thickness 1.35 mm) with doubleshot injected legends for all the general functions, and in a seamless manner, too. The keyboard-specific secondary legends are laser etched, but not to where it allows for backlighting, unfortunately. So that's a double whammy considering these will wear out sooner than others that will basically last forever.


There are four switch options with the HERMES M5, all of which are GAMDIAS-branded as Gamdias Red, Brown, Blue, or Black mechanical switches. These aim to replicate the equivalent Cherry MX switch of the newer style with the translucent top and a cutout in the top to accommodate an external LED. Instead, we see the use of SMD LEDs on the PCB through the hole of the switch, though. This means that we could have easily had full RGB backligthting, but GAMDIAS is using single color LEDs instead. There is no mention of the OEM for the switches, but we can talk about the switches separately later. The larger keycaps use wire-style, plate-mounted stabilizers, which are sadly among the worst stabilizers I have tried. There is zero lubrication, but the wires are also not sufficient to fully complement the thicker keycaps, so we still get that mushy feeling when typing on the keyboard, as well as rattles and pings when bottoming out.