Performance

There is native 6-key rollover in Bluetooth mode here out of the box, as Aqua's test confirms. For the intended applications the iKBC CD108 BT was designed for, 6KRO is quite fine in my books, and I have no complaints there. More importantly, if you do run this in wired mode, you get full N-key rollover USB. Similarly, no key chatter was detected on all the keys using Switch Hitter.

Functionality with the CD108 BT is as expected out of a full-size keyboard, except there is more provided out of the box. To begin with, we have four more keys in the top-right corner for volume control and to pull up the calculator in Windows (or macOS). The dip switches provide more options as discussed before, including macOS support. The keyboard can be paired with as many as four devices, with F1 + F1-F4 allowing the user to initially pair the keyboard with a device (by holding the appropriate keys for three seconds to initiate the process, and then toggling thereafter). Fn +F6/F7 enables a manual force of the keyboard to Bluetooth or USB mode for when you want to run it in a wireless or wired mode respectively. You can even change the layout of the keyboard from QWERTY to Dvorak or Colemak by using Fn + Ins/Home/Pg Up respectively. It is a bit of a shame that the only way to know of this if you are new to the brand is via the manual as there are no secondary legends on the keycaps for these added functions.

Remember when I said iKBC also has pre-programmed some LED controls should you add LEDs manually? Fn + F5 cycles through the on, off, and breathing modes for the LEDs (thus, single color LEDs are recommended if you go that extra route). There are also five levels of brightness control (Fn + Up/Down arrow) and lighting effect speed (Fn + Left/Right arrow), which are all great, but I can only wonder if it would have made more sense for iKBC to not include any of this and lower the price further. Companies tend to re-use components as much as possible, however, especially with machine-assembled PCBs, so it may also be a case of minimal savings here at most.

Battery life is not really a factor to be measured due to iKBC going with external, user-replaceable AAA-sized batteries. The provided alkaline batteries are fine, and I never saw a low battery (voltage) indicator in the test period spanning multiple weeks (iKBC says the product will have a battery life of at least three months with the provided batteries out of the box). I do recommend getting rechargeable AAA batteries nonetheless, and make sure to keep an eye on the Caps Lock indicator LED which will flash when the voltage provided from the batteries is deemed too low for sustained use. Here too, if one adds LEDs, battery life will drop dramatically, but as it is, the CD108 BT out of the box does not consume a lot of power. Line-of-sight operation is recommended to get past the usual Bluetooth connection haggles of input lag and operation range (iKBC rates the CD108 BT's Bluetooth connectivity for 10 m, which makes sense given the Bluetooth 3.0 functionality here), and I suspect this is not really going to be an issue for the vast majority of users who go in knowing this is not a wireless keyboard operating on a dedicated 2.4 GHz network via a USB dongle.


As always, the sound of a keyboard is based on more than just the switch type. So when comparing sound clips, consider the keyboard as a whole. In this case, I have provided above an example sound clip of me typing on the iKBC CD108 BT review sample at ~95 WPM. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with linear switches. I did bottom out here, as is likely with a relatively light, linear mechanical switch such as the Cherry MX Red switches on this sample. Rated at an operating force of 45 cN and an actuation of 2 mm inwards at a total travel distance of 4 mm, the Cherry MX Red is arguably the most popular mechanical switch today. Cherry has also re-worked their molds for linear switch stems to alleviate concerns on a grainy feeling when typing on these, and newer switches feel better in this regard. The iKBC CD108 BT being a brand-new keyboard, it uses newer switches, and I had nothing to complain about. There are still some linear switches I personally feel are better to type on in this class, but it is a personal opinion and not a fact.