Closer Examination

The i-Rocks K70E capacitive keyboard comes in a soft foam wrap for further protection; it is not durable enough to use as a travel sleeve. Removing it, we get our first good look at the keyboard and, in hand, also the first feel of an acrylic panel on a keyboard since I have not seen such a panel used before. The keyboard is also deceptively heavy and very solid to the touch despite the acrylic used, with thick plastic and a thick stainless steel panel in the middle. I have here the white version of the keyboard with white keycaps and a white paper skin underneath the top panel, but i-Rocks also sells a black version of the same. The bezels here are on the larger side of average, but only just, and part of this is due to the removable top panel which requires some space on all sides to be removable and installable. The only branding on the keyboard is on the space bar itself, which makes this a pretty clean keyboard to look at. From the side, we can also see a smoked acrylic finish that adds further to the monochrome color scheme used in both available keyboard color options.

There are four indicator LEDs above the Num Pad, with some specific to this keyboard (G-mode and H/L trigger indicators) we will get to in more detail in due time. Given the nature of the onboard controls here, we have a lot of secondary legends on the keycaps wherever applicable. These secondary legends are placed predominantly below the primary ones on all but the number row in the alphanumeric section, where they are placed alongside, which will affect uniformity with backlighting for the various legends. Positioning of all the single legends is in the top center for smaller and larger keycaps alike, and the font is of average size, which is not due to a lack of available space, but more for uniformity with other keycaps. The seams in legends with loops (D, R, etc.) are a result of the traditional doubleshot injection rather than a choice to be more aggressive.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle, and this one happens to be in black for some contrast to the white plastic case used on the bottom. There are four small rubber pads at the top and bottom corners for some friction against a desk's surface to keep the keyboard from sliding around, and there are two case feet at the top as well, and these can be raised to elevate the keyboard. Keeping up with the attention to detail here, the bottom of each foot has a black rubber pad, so they won't scratch when used.


The keyboard has a non-removable cable that comes out the top as seen from the front. This cable is white in color for this white version, non-braided, and uses thick rubber insulation, which should make it quite durable over the long run, and it shouldn't catch on anything either. It is also on the longer side of average at 6.6' as compared to the standard 6', which helps if your PC is further away from your operating area on the desk. The keyboard requires a single male USB Type-A port on your computer and draws an average of 0.02 A on the 5V DC rail with no backlighting, 0.22-0.24 A with full keyboard animation effects, and a maximum of 0.38 A with all LEDs on at 100% brightness, so USB 2.0 will suffice when it comes to powering it.


From the side, the smoked finish to the acrylic plate is all the more obvious. We can also see that i-Rocks has gone with a floating keycap implementation. The stock keycaps adopt a modified OEM profile in that they have the same sculpted rows as most others, but they are also low in profile, akin to the Cherry profile. We saw this with Tesoro and their original GRAM Spectrum keyboards, and this is part of why the i-Rocks K70E is lower in height than most keyboards. The included keycap puller works very well here since there is enough room around each keycap for it to easily be pulled out. Once done, we see that the stock keycaps are made of ABS plastic, but the plastic is rather thick at an average wall thickness of 1.32 mm. This, coupled with the bulk majority of the legends being doubleshot injected, will help with the longevity of the keycaps.

The black keyboard version uses white legends on the black plastic compared to the black legends on the white plastic and there is, thus, good clarity even without backlighting. Unfortunately, some of the keyboard-specific secondary legends are laser etched, but not by enough for backlighting support, which is quite puzzling. These have a protective coating on top, so they will show signs of wear and tear slower than most, but this remains a weak point. For what it is worth, the MX stem compatibility added to these capacitive switches is a big plus point in my books. This and the standard spacing make the keyboard compatible with a lot of aftermarket keycap sets intended for Cherry MX-style mechanical switch keyboards.


The switches are the unique selling point here and merit a discussion across multiple pages. For now, taking the keycaps off reveals what appears to be a frosted plastic cage around a customized switch stem that is very similar to what Cooler Master, and then others, did when incorporating Cherry MX stem sliders into Topre-switch stems. It is likely that the plastic around helps diffuse the lighting associated with the switches, and the actual RGB LEDs appear to be underneath. We can also see here that the larger switches adopt a costar-style wire stabilizer, and these work great with the lower-profile keycaps by providing a satisfying feeling throughout, although a big part of this is due to the switch itself. Do note that some thick PBT plastic keycaps may interfere with the stabilizers used here.


Here is a look at the keyboard with two of the optional paper covers instead of the default white one. The plain black cover looks especially nice in person, and for those wanting some flair, there are other options, including the faux wood used in the next example. I will cover a few others in the other i-Rocks keyboard review, but you hopefully get the point. This aspect of customization does have a con to it, however, since it leaves an empty surround around the keys where dust can settle in. In fact, there is also a gap between the cover and stainless steel plate the switches are on, so if you are not careful or simply use it in a dusty area, you will have to remove the cover plate and cover to clean the keyboard from time to time.

i-Rocks also mentioned that they will be offering a replacement cover plate if the translucent plastic one is not to your liking. This one, called the "Fun" brick top plate, is made of opaque plastic and supports LEGO bricks on top. This was used in another keyboard released recently and allows for more customization in a wholly different direction if you prefer it.