Introduction

If you have no idea who or what KnewKey is, I suspect you are not alone. The company is extremely new to the PC peripherals market, and their own "About us" page does not share more about their origins. KnewKey is an Asian company that wants to sell keyboards, and a company representative had first contacted me a few months ago about their then-new Rymek typewriter-inspired mechanical keyboard. Between a busy schedule and already having covered a few similar keyboards, I had to politely say no at the time but left the door open for another review later on. That time has now come, and boy has it come with an audible bang! Today, we take a look at the KnewKey Rocksete, and thanks again to the company for sending a review sample to TechPowerUp.


One quick look at the product image courtesy the company will show you that the KnewKey Rocksete follows the typewriter-style design trend of their own Rymek and offers wireless connectivity for use with mobile devices. It also appears to feature a hinge stand and base for said devices, as well as another stand for larger devices, including laptops. But there is more here than meets the eye, and this is where the full tagline of the keyboard comes in. KnewKey markets the Rocksete as the "world's first mechanical keyboard with JBL speakers," and indeed, there is an actual integrated JBL speaker system. The company spent over two years working with Harman, of which JBL is a brand, to develop a working prototype which was then the baseline for the retail Rocksete. This is a fascinating approach towards carving out a piece of the keyboard market for themselves, and we will take a detailed look at the unit in this review beginning with the specifications below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

KnewKey was in the midst of preparing retail samples of the Rocksete, and my review sample was not the final retail version because of timing. As such, I was told to be aware of the packaging not necessarily being reflective of the final model. The product box here is minimalist to say the least, with all white packaging and a large company logo on front. On the side is the JBL logo to let people know this keyboard includes a sound system from the JBL brand. Two double flaps on the side help keep contents inside in place. Opening the box, we see a lot of protective material, including foam, cardboard layers, and air bags galore.


A handwritten, personalized greeting card thanking me for covering the keyboard, and welcoming any critique and feedback, was immediately underneath the first set of air bags. I suspect it will be included with most pre-orders/crowd-funded backer sets, too. The other accessories come in a cardboard box that is packed in between the open space offered by the fairly unique design of the keyboard, and included is also a handy user manual that goes over the setup and controls for both the keyboard and the audio system. There is also a set of four metal screws and nuts to accompany the other three pieces of what KnewKey calls the flying stand, and connection cables as well.


The company includes a micro-USB to USB Type-A cable, which hints towards the use of micro-USB on the keyboard, as well as a DC power supply plug to USB adapter cable for, presumably, power to the audio setup. These cables are shorter than expected, meant to mostly be used to charge the internal batteries rather than be full-time connectivity solutions, especially for the audio system which connects via Bluetooth regardless. The shorter USB cable for the keyboard does make more sense here, however, as this keyboard is meant to be used with portable devices as opposed to a stationary desktop workstation. The flying stand, as they call it, includes a plastic base that is color coordinated to match the keyboard you have. This particular sample had a metallic gray finish thus, and the two feet have a shiny base with a sticky rubber bottom for more grip in use. This stand set is included for free with the first 500 orders on their website, but is otherwise an optional purchase for $39 ($19 at the time of this review).