Packaging and Accessories

Mistel is using a minimalist packaging with a white wrap on thick cardboard. On the front are the company and product names along with the Cherry MX switch mention to let people know this features genuine Cherry MX switches inside. I am not sure how effective this is considering the market for these keyboards is generally aware of switch options, and the other switch makers have nearly all improved vastly over time. On the back are some tech specs for the keyboard and a QR code that leads to the Mistel website, as well as a tagline that reads "Reaming on your fingertips", whatever that means. This continues on the sides, and we in fact see that Mistel has adopted a two-piece packaging with a slideaway cover we were looking at thus far.


The inner box is also white in color and has two compartments with two white boxes/covers. I am personally loving this whole minimalist white unboxing experience, but it is also not to everyone's liking as this is indicative of the actual product too. The smaller box houses the accessories that come with the MD870 SLEEKER, and these include a plastic pouch containing some replacement keycaps, a keycap puller, the keyboard cable, and an accessory for the latter.


The keycaps are for the modifier keys at the bottom of the alphanumeric section on a keyboard sans the space bar. These are made of thick PBT plastic (average wall thickness 1.42 mm) with legends that are dye sublimated on the white color of the plastic used. This means that the legends and keycaps are both going to last a long time without any signs of wear and tear, although they won't light up as with other legend-printing methods which allow for translucency. Indeed, we see more of a sidelight in this case. The keycaps also appear to be no different than for a standard US ANSI layout, so it will be interesting to see what these are intended to replace.


The keycap puller is very nice too, with a textured finish on one end providing plenty of grip and a metal wire implementation on the other minimizing the potential to scratch the sides of keycaps as compared to the less expensive plastic ring ones. The company logo is present on an orange and black color scheme, which is the only deviation from the otherwise black text on a white background we have been seeing throughout. The keyboard's cable is removable, as evident from it coming separately here. In a move towards future-proofing the MD870 SLEEKER, Mistel has gone with USB Type-C on both ends, and has provided an adapter as well, which is at this time a must for nearly everyone still. The cable is also white in color, completing the set.


The keyboard comes in the compartment to the left, and it has a white cardboard cover on top for aesthetics. Mistel also provides a nice keyboard sleeve that is thick and durable enough to use for travel or transportation of the keyboard, and this sleeve is see-through with the Mistel logo printed on to it multiple times. The final accessory we get is the keyboard manual itself, which I recommend going through for the secondary functions programmed into the MD870 SLEEKER.