Closer Examination

The Sharkoon SKILLER SGK50 S4 might be a weirdly named keyboard but there's nothing strange about the 60% form factor it adopts. Such smaller form factor keyboards are becoming increasingly popular in today's hybrid workspace, where you simply may not have enough room on your desk for a full-size or even tenkeyless keyboard. It measures in at 293 x 102.5 x 38 mm accordingly and weighs just over 500 g without the cable, making it highly portable too. On the flip side you do end up with only 61 dedicated keys here in the form of the alphanumeric section of your keyboard with the Tilde (~) key replaced by Esc as usual for such keyboards. There is no dedicated arrow key cluster here, and expect to get familiar with layers as you need to use Fn to get back the various missing functions. It makes for a steep learning curve for those not used to such keyboards but can also give you a more ergonomic typing experience with less finger travel once you are used to it.

The SKILLER SGK50 S4 comes in two color options of all black, and this black and white mix that I have here, and the latter looks quite nice. Both versions use a minimal bezel case to where you barely see anything but the keycaps here. There are no indicator LEDs either, and note also the use of front-facing legends in addition to the ones up top to help users see where the Fn layer is. For example, Fn + 1 would be F1 and thus we have F1 printed on the front of that specific keycap. This helps avoid up to three different legends on a single keycap top which, owing to them supporting the RGB lighting on the keyboard, also necessitate the legends be placed on the top on this north-facing PCB no doubt. Otherwise the legends themselves are decently sized and clean looking, to where this is a keyboard you can easily use in a shared work environment just as much as with your gaming setup at home.


Turning the keyboard around provides a closer look at the ABS plastic case which on this version has a light pink hue to the otherwise white color expected. There is the usual certification badge in the middle and four rubber pads help prevent the keyboard from sliding around on your desk. Sharkoon also provides two sets of keyboard feet with their own rubberized bottom surfaces to make for a total of three elevation steps on the keyboard.


The expected Type-C port is on the left side of the keyboard and facing away from the user. There is good compatibility with aftermarket cables should you so desire but Sharkoon does bundle in a more premium coiled cable out of the box. It has the coiled section closer to the keyboard and parallel to its length as seen above, and then a straight section headed to your PC to where you can use this easily on a desk with laptops, or with a full tower. The cable is in black and sleeved in fabric, with the total length being the usual 6' and going to a USB Type-A port where USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data alike. Seen above is the keyboard by itself and then with the cable on the provided desk pad accessory to show you how much room there is for a mouse and other accessories too, such as perhaps a desktop DAC/amp, headphone/headset stand etc.


A look from the side shows the built-in elevation of the keyboard, which I would classify as medium profile by itself and can benefit from a palm rest here. The additional elevation steps just make it taller, so make sure you have the position as comfortable as possible. The provided keycaps puller with the SKILLER SGK50 S4 helps remove some of the keycaps for a closer examination, without scratching their sides as with the plastic ring-style cheaper keycap pullers I usually see in the price range of this keyboard. Now we find out that Sharkoon uses OEM profile keycaps here with the five rows contoured accordingly. The base keycaps are thin ABS plastic with laser-etched legends which unfortunately will show signs of use sooner, rather than later, but I do understand the company went this route for the front-facing legends that are harder to achieve on OEM molds for PBT keycaps with doubleshot injection to preserve the backlighting support. Unfortunately the front-facing legends are opaque here, so that does make it harder to use in a dimly lit environment unless you are already familiar with the pre-programmed functions.


There are three Kailh RGB mechanical switch options on this keyboard in the form of the Kailh Red, Brown, and Blue switches allowing you to choose between all three feedback mechanisms. I have the Kailh Red switches on this review sample, present in a north-facing PCB except for the space bar key that goes the other way round. The larger keycaps go with lubed plate-mounted stabilizers that feel nicer than I expected going in—the lubing has a lot to do with this—although some of the stabilizer bars were not as uniformly lubed as others.


The switch remover tool is handy to remove the hot-swappable switches off the PCB where we see the use of 5-pin hot-swap sockets. It also gives a closer look at the Kailh Red switch by itself, which is a linear switch modeled after the Cherry MX Red RGB switch. Sharkoon also provides three other switches to showcase the ability for end users to pick and swap individual switches as needed, and I have to give a shoutout to the packaging for the Gateron Milky Yellow switches in particular here, with the 2-piece acrylic case that you can also use as a lubing station for the switches, as needed. Seen above is one each of the Kailh Red, Gateron Pro Silver, Gateron Milky Yellow, and Kailh BOX white switches on the same keyboard.


While we don't get much in the way of replacement keycaps in the box, you can purchase full aftermarket sets from Sharkoon under its Tai-Hao collaboration, as previously mentioned. The two that we do see here are opaque but give you a good idea of what to expect compared to the thinner ABS alongside. I am personally a fan of PBT keycaps but don't purchase a new set just for this keyboard without giving it a try first. It may be a weird allocation of your budget, but also you are not likely to get the front-facing legends on PBT sets either.