Closer Examination

The very first thing you will notice when you take the keyboard out is how small it is, and at the same time it feels sturdy while also weighing a decent amount. As mentioned before, this is a 40% layout keyboard with a lot fewer keys than what most people would be used to. No function keys, no numpad no arrow keys, no number keys even but you do get a split space bar. There are 47 keys in all here, and layers are going to be your best friend if you buy this or any other similar form factor keyboard. More on this in due time. For now, here is an online layout guide (click on each key too see what type and size/length it is) courtesy a Reddit user. The F and J keys protrude outwards ever so slightly more than the others, and this can help with touch typing if you know what to look (or rather, feel) for.

On the back we see a very minimalist design. The CORE is built in a CNC machined aluminum alloy case, not just the switches being soldered through a metal plate, which gives it that high build quality and sturdy feeling I was talking about in addition to the weight- this small thing weighs as much as some full size keyboards even. There are four small rubber pads that prevent the keyboard from sliding around your desk, although if you are used to using keyboard feet or having an angled keyboard then you might want to prop the back side up. Ergonomically, you would want to keep this keyboard as is and hover your hands above it but that is always easier said than done. A badge of sorts is in the middle, and I will say right away that this is an engineering sample but is as complete as the retail version and more as we will see soon.


This is a keyboard with the PCB in a case, as opposed to most others which have a top and bottom panel, and thus all keycaps are floating by design. You can remove/install them easier thus, and also clean the keyboard easier too. Any LEDs active, if applicable to your version, will also shine though more. Some of the keycaps have secondary and even tertiary legends on the front to help show what they do with different modifiers and this helped a lot when I started using the keyboard.


The keycaps on such a keyboard are possibly the most important thing. Given the unique layout, finding replacement keycaps will not be easy and curated keycap sets may end up being fairly expensive. The stock keycaps thus simply had to be good and I am happy to say Vortex have gotten it right. You get thick (1.4-1.48 mm wall thickness) PBT keycaps with dye sublimated legends. This means you have some really good keycaps that feel great to type on, and the legends that are fused with the keycap plastic will not wear off easily either. One of the benefits of dye sublimation vs dual injection (doubleshot) keycaps is that you can print different fonts/legends/colors simultaneously thus allowing mass production to happen easier but an inherent limitation is that the dye color has to be darker than the base keycap color to be visible hence why you have a mix of light gray and tan white keycaps here. No black keycaps possible using this technique.

Another thing to note is that the keycap profile is not Cherry or Cherry OEM despite the use of genuine Cherry MX switches. Instead, Vortex has gone with what is referred to as a DSA profile wherein the keycaps are shorter in profile and also have no sculpting to the different rows- note how all of the rows are horizontal and the same height as seen from the side. As such, it is easier to move your fingers across keys which is one of the small things that helps make this small keyboard work better than many readers at this point would be giving it credit for. On the flip side, it is also harder to tell what finger you are on by simply resting them as there is no different sculpting or indicators (such as on the F and J keys in more common keyboards). Touch typing is recommended with the CORE, and all the programming is built around it.


The Vortex CORE currently comes in a base "non-backlit" version, so the retail version of said version will NOT feature Cherry MX RGB switches. You will get the black housing style Cherry MX switches instead. So please keep that in mind, as the sample above has Cherry MX Blue RGB switches instead. The stablizers are present on only the right space bar, and Vortex has gone with Cherry style stabilizers here which worked out well considering the small size key and keycap.