Closer Examination

On to the main course then, and I will say right away that pictures only go so far in this particular case, as there are actual physical engravings on the case, so do note that. The Beijing Opera theme from Varmilo is used on several of their keyboards, including 65% and larger-than-full-size (what they call 110%) keyboards, with respectively smaller and larger cases and keycaps to fit. Without the numpad, this MA87M is a TKL (what they call 80%) keyboard, and comes with their new EC V2 switches and the US ANSI layout for now. Other layouts may become available in the future, so don't dismiss it right away. What will only be available in ANSI, however, is the analogous VA87M Beijing Opera that uses the older opaque housing Cherry MX switches without any backlighting.

The keyboard design follows through on the painting from Li Huan used for the packaging, as well as the desk mat we saw before, but it is even more impressive in person on the keyboard. The text used is in English and Bronze script, an ancient Chinese script that translates to "gold writing." This is because, as Varmilo itself puts it, "the script was engraved on metal containers before paper was invented. This ancient Chinese script was used in the Shang Dynasty and became lost for nearly two thousand years." The Bronze script characters were deliberately chosen by Varmilo to represent the various alphanumeric and function keys on the keyboard. For example, "the word 'Chu', which means clown, represents the letter C in English. The character 'Dan', which translates to actress, represents the letter D (this is also in line with the Beijing opera theme)."

What this comes down to is that the keycaps used here may be a touch confusing to both Mandarin and non-Manderin speakers. Equal opportunity artist Varmilo does not want to discriminate here at all, instead making sure users know this is an artistic choice for end users around the world. The problem is that all this information is not directly available and requires research to get to. I did spend a couple of hours on all of this to do my part in this review, which is also how I know that the gold-embossed patterns on the case denote the Chinese dragon, red sun, and seawater. The function keys and other symbols in the alphanumeric section are also chosen accordingly to matching Bronze script characters; for example, F1–F12 are represented by the twelve music pitches used in Chinese music.

The characters used for the arrow keys in their own words "represent the four auspicious beasts. These mythical creatures in eastern mythology guide the West, East, North, and the South," and correspond to the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North. There is a point where things do get impractical, especially if you remove the keycaps and then struggle to figure out what goes where. I do appreciate the English characters, either front-facing or on the top, underneath the main characters, and wish it would be the same throughout. That said, I can't deny that this is probably the prettiest and most unique keyboard I have handled to date, and I have had the Datamancer Diviner in hand.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the design continued to a subtler degree. There is a metal badge with keyboard and certification information etched in, and on either side is a depiction of the belt typically used in opera costumes with the decorative spirals seen on the costumes. As such, the badge itself is matched in color to resemble a jade belt buckle. These are the kinds of small details I adore personally! Seven rubber pads along the edges add friction against the resting surface and prevent scratches to the bottom of the case. Two of these are part of the keyboard feet, which can be raised to add another level of elevation. The feet have the rubber pads all around the bottom as well, so they won't get scratched either.


We saw the detachable cable on the previous page, and now see where it plugs into. A recessed mini USB port has been put above the badge, and its default outlet is through the middle of the side facing away from the user. There are two other cable-routing channels built into the case, which allows for the standard 6' cable to be routed to either the left or right as well depending on where you have your USB source and mouse. The cable goes to full-size USB Type A port on your computer/USB hub, and USB 2.0 suffices for power and data alike.


We have an OEM profile for the keycaps with the usual six rows that are sculpted and angled as with the average pre-built mechanical keyboard. Looking at it from the side, we also see how some other keycaps have the design on the sides as well, as with the rising sun on the Esc key, in addition to the space bar and Enter keys. The provided keycap puller works very well, and seen above are four example stock keycaps that are all different in design. All of these share a thick PBT plastic DNA (average wall thickness of 1.32 mm) with dye-sublimed legends as seen before, sans the special drawn-on keycaps that are theme-specific in more ways than one. The stock keycaps are not backlighting compatible, which explains the replacement keycaps we saw before that do support it somewhat.


There are three switch options when buying the Varmilo MA87M, and a few Cherry MX switches with the VA87M. The three options here are all their new electrostatic capacitive version 2 (EC V2) switches, and I have the EC V2 Rose switch options. We'll talk more about the switch over the course of the review, but can see the Varmilo logo on the top as well as a cutout for LEDs to shine their light through directly at the bottom, with some more light diffused through the switch body. The larger keycaps use Cherry stabilizers, and the PBT space bar keycap does only so much to mitigate that associated mushy feedback.


I could not end this page without a photo of the keyboard on the desk mat. So here you can see just how much more space there is on the desk mat, how you can definitely use it as a mouse pad with a mouse alongside, and maybe even fit in a headset stand and other peripherals as necessary. The entire Beijing Opera theme flows through well here, and the desk mat is absolutely fine for their larger 110% keyboard variant, too.