Accessories

If the previous page was not long enough, we have a new page to go through before we get to the keyboard itself. Apologies for being a tease, but you will see why this is relevant. Varmilo sent along a switch trial kit to help compare their new EC V2 (electrostatic capacitive) switches to the Cherry MX Red, Black, and Blue. There is no tactile-only EC V2 switch at this point, hence the absence of the MX Brown, and the EC V2 Ivy is indeed still in development, which is why we have a piece missing in there. As such, there are three linear EC V2 switches at the time of this review, all of which have a different actuation weight. These are, in order of spring weight, the EC V2 Daisy, Sakura, and Rose. The colors of the stems, all of which have wall surrounds for some dust and spill resistance while reducing keycap wobble, match the names of corresponding Cherry MX offerings. There is also a thick PBT keycap to test the switches.


The switch trial kit was sent at their recommendation; however, this item was included at my request. I felt it had to be shown off in this review to showcase the separately available accessories Varmilo offers, and how much it follows the themes of choice. The Varmilo desk mat comes in at 90 x 40 cm and is 3 mm deep. It comes rolled up inside a plastic wrap, which in turn goes inside the cardboard packaging seen above.


There is another QC sticker here, which is nice to see, but the star of the show is the desk mat itself. Varmilo offers several options, including at least one for each major recent keyboard theme. Common to all of them is the use of knitted fabric, which doubles as a mouse pad, and the ends are stitched to prevent fraying and surfaces separating. The bottom is natural rubber foam, thickened for durability and lots of grip on the resting surface.


The Beijing Opera theme gets not one, but two separate designs to choose from. There is the matching Consort Yu desk mat, which is what I have here, and a Mulan desk mat which goes off arguably the most popular Beijing Opera and attempts to build upon the fame—and infamy—of the recent Disney movie. The desk mat, again potentially NSFW depending on how you use it, is a good addition to the theme and a great example of what else they make. Did I mention they cost all of $11 each?