Closer Examination

The keyboard comes in a thin foam sleeve which helps protect it, and once removed, we get our first good look at the product. One thing that pictures can not convey is the heft of the keyboard, and there is a lot of it. It feels extremely solid and rigid and has no flex anywhere, which is nice to see.

The CODE comes in full, TKL, and 60% size options, as well as in ANSI, ISO, DE, and Swedish layouts, and this is before a choice of four Cherry MX switches. So out of the box, you have already selected something that may well suit your typing experience more than what most other keyboards offer. Here, I have the 104 (full) key ANSI layout, and we notice a standard key layout too, which will help out if you wish to use aftermarket keycap sets. There are no spare switches here, and the keyboard itself has a fairly small bezel - all of which results in a clean layout.



There are lots of rubber pads on the back, including some angled ones that work in combination with the two feet that can be raised to provide some tilting. The feet also have rubber pads so, overall, the CODE, with the padding and heft, will not be moving anywhere once placed on your desk. In the middle on the back are a set of five dipswitches which help further customize your CODE to your preferences, and this is where the included user guide comes in. You will need a thin flat object to toggle the dip switches, and out of the box, the keyboard comes configured for standard QWERTY in PC mode. Want to use this on a Mac? Sure. What about changing CAPS Lock to, say, L. CTRL to suit Dvorak or Colemak? Sure, that is possible too. While you are at it, change the configured layout from QWERTY to one of the aforementioned options too if you so desire. You can also disable OS keys and configure Menu to act as the Fn key to get a closer Fn key to use the media functions on the Home-Page Dn key set. There has been a lot of thought that has gone into the design of the keyboard, and it shows.


The cable being detachable, there are also five cable-routing options cut out in the back of the keyboard to allow for the microUSB to USB cable to be attached and used. If you need more than six-key rollover and have a PS/2 adapter on your motherboard, you can also use the included PS/2 adapter for full NKRO.


The stock keycaps have an OEM profile, and the sculpting on the keycap rows does mean you can not simply interchange any keycap as desired if you change layouts. This is why I prefer a non-sculpted layout for programmable or pre-programmed keyboards, but I will also concede that it is easier said than done with sources of said keycaps becoming harder and harder to work with. The included keycap puller works great when it comes to removing the keycaps from all but the space bar, which can be removed with your bare fingers if need be. The stock keycaps are a let down, however, with thin ABS (0.91-0.96 mm wall thickness) and laser-etched legends used. There is UV coating to help extend the durability of the legends, but within two weeks of use, the keycaps were developing a shine already, and it would only get worse. As far as stock keycaps go, they are average at best, but as mentioned, you can and should get a replacement keycap set - preferable PBT with doubleshot or dye sublimated legends.

Most of the legends are top printed, including the secondary number key legends; however, there are some secondary legends that are front printed, such as the media functions. Given that the LEDs on most keyboards, including the CODE, are located on the top of each switch, these front-printed legends do not get a lot of illumination. But there is enough light bleed to where you can easily make out what these do, especially considering you will only care about them if wanting to use the media functions anyway.


I requested Cherry MX Clear switches on this unit to see what these were like, and as promised, every single switch is a genuine Cherry MX Clear. The CODE uses Costar stabilizers on the larger keys, so this coupled with Cherry MX Clear switches being notorious for having a stem that fits keycaps VERY tightly means you may well have the stabilizer stems and/or wire come loose during keycap removal. So do be careful and only remove them if you are familiar with how to put them back together. WASD does have excellent customer support, so they will help out, as they did in my case where I faced a somewhat rare issue wherein the stabilizer stems were loose in the keycap. Each switch also has a 1 mm white LED on the top for backlighting, and the presence of a top panel piece means the keycaps are not floating in design.