Closer Examination

As we saw before, the iKBC Table E412 keyboard comes in a wax paper wrap to keep it pristine and free of dust out of the box. Removing it, we get our first good look at the keyboard, and it is on the heavier side of average for even full-size keyboards, which is in no small part due to the much larger footprint as well. Indeed, this is a bulky keyboard with a large, integrated wrist rest. The company makes special mention of the fact that the wrist rest has a 2° incline that tested successfully for maximum comfort. Note also the navy blue color similar to the CD108 BT we saw before, which provides for a subtle contrast in color scheme with the usual black keycaps. In typical iKBC fashion, there is no visible branding anywhere on the front or sides, which lets the keyboard itself speak for the brand, and the bezels are fairly large, too. There are 108 mechanical switches in use here, with the usual 104 from the US ANSI layout and another four above the numpad for media playback and pulling up the calculator program. There is an additional row of buttons above these, in addition to a knurled metal wheel for volume control. We will get to the other buttons in due time, but let's just say the Table series is all about working in a public space and having onboard device encryption.

Given the extra keys and buttons where indicator LEDs are usually located, iKBC instead has them associated with the specific key. The Caps Lock key, for example, lights up (or not) instead of a separate indicator LED above the numpad. The numpad itself does not have any secondary legends below the primary ones on the keycaps, and the secondary legends are next to the primary ones at the top in the alphanumeric section. There are also some keyboard-specific secondary legends on the Fn key row, which are located underneath the primary ones, and single legend placement is top and center, all of which hints towards where the LEDs are placed underneath the keycaps. The legend typeface is very clean, and the keyboard as a whole will fit into a variety of environments well provided you have room for it.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle at the top, along with company and product branding on the sticker. There are many large rubber pads on the corners and sides in the back to keep the keyboard from sliding around on the desk, and two feet at the top open up sideways to optionally elevate the keyboard. These feet also have rubber pads to ensure they don't get scratched easily. Some flair is even added in the form of a frequency curve, a mathematical formula, and a feather in a circle, which just appeal to the inner (and outer) nerd in me.


As suspected based on the removable cable we saw before, the keyboard has a USB Type-C port on the left of the side facing away from the user, which would be the ideal location for the cable to go to the PC on your right. This port is inset to allow for a lower profile of the connector on the keyboard side. The cable needs a Type-A USB port on your motherboard, and USB 2.0 will suffice here for power and data alike.


By default, the keycaps differ from the usual OEM profile in that the various rows are still sculpted, but the bottom row adopts the rarely seen R6 column to make for an R1-R6 profile. The bottom row stands out more and effectively inverses to R1 at the top, making for a more pronounced sculpting overall. With thin ABS and laser etched legends throughout, the stock keycaps are unfortunately not of the usual iKBC quality. Some of this can be explained by the different mold used for the bottom-row modifier keys, as well as the keyboard-specific legends on the stock keycaps. A bigger change is that these keycaps actually have a by as much as 40% larger surface area compared to typical OEM keycaps at the top for contact. This does mean they will show signs of wear and tear sooner rather than later. Third-party keycap set compatibility remains high, however, so this does mitigate the issue somewhat. The legends are translucent to backlighting, but those underneath do not get illuminated as well.


There are multiple Cherry MX switch options for the iKBC Table E412 (and E401), and my review sample came with MX Brown switches. The single-color backlighting means the older Cherry MX switch design with the black opaque housing will do the job—as in this case—with separate LEDs above the switches. The larger keycaps use Cherry stabilizers, which work better in mitigating a mushy feeling, especially with the space bar.


Here is a comparison of the stock keycaps (left) to the replacement keycaps (right), showing the different profile used for the bottom-row modifier keys. If you prefer the OEM profile, the replacement keycaps that come in the accessory box are for you. The provided keycap puller works superbly here, and it will take no more than a couple of minutes to change over the keycaps.