Introduction

XVX is a Chinese peripheral brand that focuses on keyboards and has Womier as a sister brand with whom it operates collectively. A look at the company website confirms it started with the use of simple themes and keycaps, before going further down the road of custom designs that go past the keycaps and involve keyboard cases, too. I was contacted by XVX about reviewing some of their keyboards and the M84 Coral Sea was the first of these we examined a couple of months ago. It impressed enough—especially for the money—to where I was inclined to take on more.


It's the Chinese mid-autumn festival in the year of the Tiger as I write this, as per the Chinese zodiac. Asian keyboard manufacturers have used the zodiac calendar to bring out themed keyboards to celebrate the lunar new year, although the last couple of years have not been too active on this front. XVX decided better late than never as it brought out a Tiger-themed keyboard recently, so here we are, examining the M61 Tiger. It must be noted that the XVX M61 comes in a few different themes too so this review will also be representative of all these when it comes to the base functionality and user experience. Aesthetics, however, are quite different and subjective in preference. This review begins with an acknowledgment of XVX for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp and a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

As with the XVX M84 Coral Sea, the Tiger theme on this keyboard is not reflected on the packaging, given the use of a simple black cardboard box. This helps the company use the same packaging design for different keyboards, but keeps it from competing against keyboards from the likes of Akko and Varmilo, both of who go the extra mile in their attention to detail. On the front of the box is the company logo and product name, with a preview of the keyboard through a simple render of the key layout. This continues on the back with more of the same, and we get the full render along with the contact information for the parent company. The XVX website URL adorns the side, where a double flap keeps the contents inside in place during transit.


Opening the box, the keyboard is seen inside a thin wax paper wrap with cardboard all around for further protection. XVX provides a quick start guide that goes over the wired/wireless keyboard setup and various pre-programmed functions and onboard controls. This guide was placed over the keyboard and inside the wrap, with the rest of the accessories in the cardboard layer at the bottom of the keyboard. Here we get a metal wire keycap puller as well as four replacement keycaps in the Tiger theme this keyboard adopts. Rounding off the unboxing experience is a detachable white USB Type-C to Type-A cable; adding to the portability of the keyboard and allowing further customization via a custom cable.