Disassembly

As the Redragon keyboard reviewed previously uses the same switches and I had done a switch disassembly there, I chose to use that content here as well. The Outemu Red is a linear switch adopting the Cherry MX cross-point stem design with a clear top, red stem, metal spring, and base housing that also houses the metal leaf contact. As the stem travels down, it touches one side of the metal leaf, which is in turn pushed towards the other side. This metal contact then triggers the actuation of the keystroke on the PCB, and off it goes to your computer to be reflected as an action. No lubing to see anywhere, these are budget switches through and through.


As far as plastic case keyboards go, disassembly of the Redragon K552 is among the easiest. Ten Phillips head screws need to be removed to separate the plastic case and plate/PCB section, and you need to remove certain keycaps to access them as seen above. A precision Phillips screwdriver comes in handy, following which you can lift the plate/PCB piece up far enough to access the internal USB cable going from the attached cable to the PCB.


Once the cable is dislodged, we can get a better look at the ABS plastic bottom panel and all the empty space that will likely result in reverberations from downstrokes as you type. Users may want to fill in the space with a carefully cut piece of foam that has a cutout for the internal cable to go through, but this was also never going to be a keyboard targeting enthusiasts in the first place. The green PCB has switches which are soldered through the metal plate and onto the PCB, making further disassembly far harder without a desoldering gun.


Solder quality is alright, though there is still more hot glue than necessary on some of the larger components. There is lacquer on the MCU, although not very well applied, so we can identify the BYK901 USB 2.0 microcontroller. No useful information about it is available online, except from another keyboard vendor mentioning it supports some RGB lighting effects. Okay, then! As is the norm, all the components are soldered onto a multi-layer PCB.

Before we move on, be advised that disassembly may void the warranty and that TechPowerUp is not liable for any damages incurred if you decide to go ahead and do so anyway.