Driver

There is no dedicated software driver support for the iKBC Table E412 keyboard—all functionality is hardware based. As such, I have chosen to combine the Driver and Performance pages into one.

Performance

The keyboard supports N-key rollover USB out of the box, which tested successfully using Aqua's test. Switch Hitter also confirmed no chatter with these keys.


When first connected, the keyboard lights up in a static white color at maximum brightness for all the keys. The onboard LEDs are all white, but can appear blueish as they reflect off the navy blue case. As expected, secondary legends located underneath the primary ones are not backlit as well, but otherwise, this adds to the clean aesthetics of the keyboard. There is another static lighting effect localized to the numpad, but it is actually part of the password setting function we will get to soon.

Here is a look at some of the available dynamic lighting effects, including a breathing, wave, and snake mode. The single color LEDs, which are quite bright too, provide for an impressive light show with effective transitions and no flickering.


Onboard controls on the iKBC Table E412 include backlighting controls with seven different modes to choose from, including those above. Fn + F1–F8 toggles backlighting on/off and changes brightness, direction, and speed of the lighting effect, as well as the actual lighting effect itself. The four extra switches on top of the 104-keys in the US ANSI layout provide for media playback control and bring up the calculator program, whereas the volume wheel does exactly what you think it does. I do wish the wheel had steps to indicate rotation, but it is a freely rotating wheel and can also be pressed to toggle volume mute on/off.

The biggest set of onboard controls, however, are the various buttons to the left of the volume wheel. The iKBC Table series of keyboards is targeting office users, or even those who use keyboards in public and do not want anything to access it to, say, input a password or worse in terms of security risks. You can set up a numeric password via the numpad and initiate keyboard lock mode by sliding the first button over to the left. Recording a password—or code, if we are to be more precise—is extremely easy, and it can consist of 1–6 digits. The keyboard will allow for as many as seven attempts to unlock it, and if all fail, it locks itself. The keyboard can be reset via the reset button, but even doing so is going to require the password if enabled. As we saw on the previous page, there is a hardware reset button on the PCB as a fail-safe for when you are the owner and/or know about the small hole on the underside accessible with an even smaller tool, so I suppose the secret is now out if you read this review and are not the owner. The other buttons alongside enable Fn key shortcut mode for when you do not want to use Fn + key combinations, and the Windows lock button.


As we saw before, my review sample uses Cherry MX Brown switches, which is one of the most popular mechanical switches of all time. It is classified as a low-medium weight tactile switch rated at an operating force of 55 cN with a tactile peak force of ~45 cN and an actuation force closer to 40 cN at 2.0 mm (=/- 0.1 mm), and a total travel distance of 4.0 mm. The Cherry MX Brown is not very tactile in my opinion, and I personally prefer a more pronounced tactile bump. For most people, however, it can be a great switch to do it all, especially since it can be quiet if you don't bottom out. In combination with the rest of the keyboard, it makes for an excellent first mechanical keyboard package. The design of the keyboard, including the keycaps with the larger contact area and integrated wrist rest with a 2° incline, make this one of the most comfortable keyboards I have ever used. The dedicated media buttons come in very handy as well, and the encryption feature works as advertised even if I never really had an opportunity to make use of it during testing.


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 Table E412 sample at ~105 WPM as it comes out of the box. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile switches. I did bottom out, which is not hard to do given the relatively light spring, but touch typing is definitely possible via the tactile feedback in these switches.