Closer Examination

As we saw before, the Redragon K530 keyboard comes inside a thin foam wrap to keep it pristine and free of dust out of the box. Removing it, we get our first good look at the keyboard, and it is on the smaller side of average owing primarily to the employed 60% form factor. There are a total of 61 keys onboard, so you have to make a deliberate choice on whether the smaller size and fewer discrete keys are for you. Typically, a 60% keyboard only retains the alphanumeric section from the full-sized keyboard layout, with the rest available via layered functions. The Redragon K530 is no exception and even doubles down on the size with a nearly bezel-less design.

An all-black color scheme adds to the relatively clean looks, with the only visible branding in use the company logo in the bottom-right corner facing the user. The legends on top of the keycaps appear to be doubleshot injected, with the layered functions on the front instead. All the legends are in the middle, be it on top or the front, which indicates where the backlighting will be most effective. The chosen typeface and size is fairly good even with the more typically doubleshot injected, seamed legends.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle. There are multiple long rubber pads along the top and bottom, as well as two feet which can be raised for a steeper angle if you wish it. Both feet have a rubberized bottom for further friction against the resting surface.


On the left side are the I/O options included with the Redragon K530. There is a wired connection in the form of a USB Type-C connection, and the provided L-shaped cable fits in nicely without interfering with other buttons along either side. The cable is detachable, in black to match the keyboard, and the usual 6 feet long. USB 2.0 will suffice for both power and data, including charging the internal battery. That battery is where the wireless connectivity options come in, and we have Bluetooth 5.0 with an on/off toggle, a slider to choose between three connected devices, as well as status indicator LEDs. It is nice to actually see a wireless keyboard adopt a modern wired and wireless standard both.


The side view also shows us that Redragon has gone with the OEM keycap profile with slanted rows—five on this 60% form factor keyboard. These have tops sculpted similar to just about every other mechanical keyboard today. The provided keycap puller works well with even the crowded keys here, and as can be told by removing these, the keycaps are made out of ABS plastic. Cheaper than PBT keycaps to manufacture, there is also more leeway in customizing the keycaps with ABS plastic, as with the front-facing legends that are pad-printed here. These legends will wear out sooner rather than later, with the ABS plastic showing signs of use over time compared to PBT. Backlighting support is only present on the top legends.


The larger keycaps use a Cherry-style stabilizer, which does feels like a homage rather than the real deal, but still makes for the mushy typing experience associated with these. This keyboard also comes with Redragon-branded "BROWN" mechanical switches manufactured by Outemu, although it is compatible with a few other switches, as the CIY socket makes swapping switches easy. Their included switch removal tool is no different from any other of the same design and works well enough in practice. You hook into the middle notches on either side of a switch and wiggle it sideways while pulling upwards. Removing a switch also clearly shows where the associated RGB LED is placed, which confirms the use of central legends for backlighting on the keycaps.