Closer Examination

The Marsback M1 is not your average gaming keyboard. For one, it is a 75% form factor keyboard in that it has the Fn key row and the alphanumeric section of a full-size keyboard with the arrow keys and a truncated Ins-Pg Dn cluster all in a single collection. Marsback has actually made some changes here too, especially with some smaller keycaps for a few more switches. There is a total of 84 keys here, which is just three less than a TKL US ANSI keyboard while taking up much less space. In contrast, there is a decently sized bezel all around the keys owing to the extremely high-profile case. The case is machined polycarbonate without polishing to allow for the diffusion of the side and bottom lighting through the material. Indeed, even the support plate and stabilizer stems for the switches are out of polycarbonate, which no doubt adds a lot to the cost.

There is no logo anywhere on the keyboard in use, at least on this pre-retail unit, but based on all the marketing materials from the company on Kickstarter and elsewhere, I don't expect this to change. The keyboard also has three different keycap sets to choose from, including a black ABS, white pudding-style PBT, and this special Sakura PBT design. The first two have doubleshot injected legends, and as seen above, my version has dye sublimed legends and the actual Sakura design itself. This allows for the design to carry over on all four sides of the keycaps if necessary, albeit three surfaces are used here. Note also that this keycap set is not unique to Marsback, and the other two can be found separately as well. So Marsback is effectively using aftermarket keycaps, but there's nothing wrong with that.

The specific Sakura version here has a white and pink color scheme, with falling petals and flowers on the keycaps to mimic the Sakura Cherry Blossoms from Japan. The legends are pink on white for the primary keys, and the same darker pink over a lighter pink base has been put on the modifiers to either side. The space bar key gets a larger flower-on-branch design on white, and none of these are backlighting compatible. Since it does not matter as much here as with the other two keycap sets, single legend placement is in the center on the top rather than at the top itself, and the secondary legends have been put above the primary ones. The legends are well-sized for these keycaps, and the font is fairly clean even if it is not really going to meld on a desk at work anyway.


Flipping the keyboard around, we don't have anything of interest here, at least on this prototype. The internal battery does block off the bottom lighting, so perhaps the retail release will have a certification sticker there. I would rather there not be one if they can get away with it, especially since the polycarbonate case is such a big feature. There are no keyboard feet either, with the high-profile case having a single, forced elevation step for users. The lack of a wrist rest is actually a potential problem for long typing sessions since your hands are going to be in a stressed elevation state unless you touch type with your hands hovering over the keyboard. There are four subtle white pads at the corners to lift the case off the resting surface to prevent scratches, all while adding some friction to keep it from sliding around on the desk.


On the front facing away from the user is a cutout with a USB Type-C port the accompanying cable plugs into for wired connectivity and charging the internal battery. The cable goes to a spare Type-A port on your computer, and USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data, although you may want to go with USB 3.2 Gen 1 purely because of the faster charging rate.


The side view shows us that Marsback has gone with the OEM keycap profile of six slanted rows and contoured keycaps. The provided keycap puller works alright, although fitting it between the keycaps isn't that easy on this compact keyboard. As such, you will only increase the possibility of scratching the keycap sides. I really think Marsback should have gone with a metal wire keycap puller instead, especially as it wouldn't have added much to the cost (update: good thing then that this is indeed the case with their retail units). As seen above, the keycaps on this Sakura edition of the Marsback M1 are made out of thick PBT plastic (average wall thickness 1.36 mm) with dye-sublimed legends all around. These don't support backlighting, so the onboard lighting is going to be more for accentuation than showcasing the legends themselves. On the plus side, these keycaps will basically last forever, definitely until you decide to get something else eventually. Finally, the retail keyboard is supposed to ship with replacement keycaps for Windows/macOS layouts; my prototype only had the macOS keycaps pre-installed—there were no spare keycaps in the box.


There are three switch options here with the Marsback M1, and they are all Marsback-branded. In fact, the company goes so far as to say that these switches are hand-assembled and double-lubed for a smooth, consistent, and quiet operation. The three are referred to as MBS-I, MBS-II, and MBS-III, with all three linear switches that only differ in the spring used. My sample has the MBS-I switches, the lightest of the lot. This switch has specifications that are in line with the Cherry MX Red, but more on that later. Although really more of an aquamarine in color, these are characterized by a stem Marsback states to be close enough to the neon blue used on the packaging. There is no logo or branding on the switches themselves, which have a clear top for backlighting in addition to a cutout for the LED underneath to shine through. The larger keycaps use Cherry-style stabilizers and are, interestingly, based on the same opaline polycarbonate top instead of the opaque black plastic typically used.


The keyboard is compatible with a few other switches, as the hot-swap socket makes swapping switches easy. We once more see a cost-saving measure with Marsback not even including a switch remover at all [Update: Retail units will come with a remover tool as seen on the previous page]. Removing a switch shows where the associated RGB LED is placed and where the backlighting will be biased towards on the keycaps that support backlighting. It also shows how there are two additional guides for the switches in addition to the two contact points themselves.


Removing one of the switches allows for a closer look at the Marsback MBS-I (or the MBS-II and MBS-III if those are used). These are five-pin switches with three guides in addition to the two metal contacts that plug into the hot-swap socket. Switch top and housing are clear, which gives us a sneak peak at the innards as well.


Before we go further, I wanted to point out that some of the keycaps on my prototype are not in line with the others in the same row. Indeed, the space bar key is effectively angled slightly such that the left half is further out compared to the right half. The L. Alt key (for Windows) also points slightly upwards, and I can confirm this isn't due to the hot-swappable switches. I changed keycaps, which showed that this was a keycap quality control issue, so be aware of this if it is a deal breaker for you, as Marsback doesn't produce these keycaps themselves.


[update] Marsback has informed me that the prototype has hand sublimed keycap sets, which the retail units do not. This should improve QC, and they have also sent along a photo of the white pudding set to give an example of how it looks as seen above.