The SABER68 is an interesting product. Originative Co. is making it clear from the get-go that this is a project of theirs and not their product necessarily. It hints at this perhaps being something they ended up with and made the most of by applying some tweaks and exclusives, not something they necessarily take pride in. In fact, when I went searching for the keyboard manual, I found a few references to a "SABER PRO", which may well be an iteration of the SABER Originative would proudly have their own sticker on. This is a conjecture only at this time, however, so let's get back to the SABER68 now.

Be it the TADA68 or the SABER68, and irrespective of the switch choice, the base keyboard itself is really, really good. Unless you absolutely must have a full-size keyboard with dedicated num pad and/or macro keys, a 65% keyboard is hard to ignore, and for good reason too. This is a very well optimized keyboard for the space, which makes me question if TKL keyboards are even worth it. Originative's tweaks add positively to the experience - their MOD keycaps are fantastic with their Cherry profile, what looks like old-school Cherry font, and dye-sublimated legends on thick PBT plastic keycaps. To sweeten the deal if you are to purchase from them, you get their exclusive (for assembled keyboards, that is) MOD switches to choose from, and the MOD-H switches at the very least feel better than any Cherry MX tactile switch I have tried so far - their actuation force of course preventing a direct comparison.

There are not many things I was not content with here, but the solder quality and excess flux were certainly two. Originative says they are working on this, so time will tell. One thing that they do not have an answer to is the firmware flashing process - be it the use of the flash applet, which crashed on me once or the possibility to brick the keyboard as a result of having to manually delete the on-board firmware file before moving a new one in. I understand that this is not a mainstream product, but if the firmware flashing process isn't improved, this is what it will remain. This particular complaint is for the developer of the keyboard rather than Originative, although the latter merit some of the blame for not pushing for something better.

Overall, though, I like this keyboard a lot more than not. I am convinced enough to where I will make room for it over the 40% form factor Vortex CORE in my travel bag; I save a lot of keystrokes due to its additional dedicated buttons over a 40% board, and it is small enough to where my fingers do not travel much either. This is also of interest to those who were or are waiting for the Input Club White Fox to come back on sale or are looking for a more budget-friendly alternative. It is my new benchmark for functionality/space efficiency, and I highly recommend it to others who are looking for a keyboard along the same lines.