Closer Examination

Going from the relatively simple unboxing experience full of black and white colors to this extremely colorful keyboard is interesting, to say the least. The Coral Sea theme visually represents the various elements of the sea—fish, waves, corals, air bubbles, a whale breaking the water surface with the sun setting in the background. The keycaps are a primary component of the theme with dye or thermally sublimed designs on a PBT plastic base. It may seem muted compared to more vibrant higher-end ABS keycaps, but uses multiple different colors to good effect. A shame is that the theme, which moves past the keycaps and onto the case, is a different colorway here. It goes from a light blue to a light green base with minimal bezels, and positioning of the elements doesn't make for a natural flow from the keycaps to the case and back to the other side. It's still a striking design in use though, so I would not call this a deal breaker by any means.

As the name suggests, the XVX M84 is an 84-key keyboard—it takes the more standard 87-key TKL form factor as a base and pushes all the keys together into a single bank for a more portable and space-efficient typing solution. The XVX M84 also uses a modified US ANSI layout, and I believe no other languages or layouts are supported at this time. The three lost keys over the TKL form factor are Scroll Lock, Insert, and R.Win—no big loss in my books. What does make for a potential usability issue in many cased is the legibility of the white legends on the darker base, as well as that more artistic font coupled with the decision to go with fully spelled out modifier keys resulting in tiny font—the Backspace key is a good example. Yet even this is inconsistent with Home omitting the e at the end, Control shortened to Ctrl, and Caps Lock only using the first word, among other such cases. The legends are generally biased towards the left to make space for the theme elements on the right, and the secondary legends above the primary ones.


The coral sea design on the case allows for the back and bottom to be a blank canvas of sorts, which XVX has made good use of. Too bad it won't be visible in use, but it is a statement piece that more than justifies the theme not just being limited to the keycaps. There is still the usual certification sticker in the middle, but it is not taking away from the design and remains the only branding on the keyboard. There are four long rubber pads on the corners for friction against the resting surface and to prevent scratches to the case. No additional elevation steps beyond the default integrated into the case are available given the lack of keyboard feet, and a cutout in the middle hosts the low-profile USB Type-A dongle for 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity. It is snugly held there with magnets and can be kept there if not used.


A physical slider switch on the side facing away from the user switches between wired and wireless use, with the switch position in the image above for wired connectivity. Alongside is a small cutout in the case for the Type-C port the provided cable works with just fine. The stock cable is white, and a light blue or green cable would have better matched the keyboard. Otherwise, it is plenty decent with a durable sleeve, the usual 6' long, and for an available USB Type-A port on your PC, where USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data alike.


A look from the side shows the built-in elevation of the keyboard, which is all you get. It is a medium to high profile and can benefit from a wrist rest, which XVX offers in a matching theme as an optional extra for those interested. In fact, a plethora of matching accessories are available, including a desk mat, mouse, and even matching USB cable to make this offering seem like part of a more expensive bundle. This side view also shows what XVX calls the XVX keycap profile with curved keys to "match the shape of your fingertips," which reminds me of the Akko ASA profile since height and curvature place it somewhere between ASA and DSA. The taller case design means these keycaps are not floating, and the provided keycap puller works well and doesn't scratch the sides of keycaps as with the likes of plastic ring-style keycap pullers. Removing some keycaps shows these are thick PBT plastic with as many as five sides undergoing dye sublimation for the design and legends that are durable and won't wear out over time. These are opaque, so any lighting on the keyboard will be an accent instead of keycap legend backlighting.


The XVX M84 is available with Gateron Red or Yellow RGB switches. Both are linear switches and among Gateron's most popular offerings for B2B and B2C sales since neither costs as much as the likes of the Gateron Ink Red or Silent Red switches while replicating the functionality of the Cherry MX linear switch in most ways. I have the Gateron Red switch characterized by the red stem seen above. The larger keycaps use plate-mounted stabilizers, with the stabilizer bars pre-lubed out of the factory. This helps dampen the mushy feedback when typing on the larger keys, especially the space bar key.


Using the included switch remover, I extracted one of these switches for a closer look, which also gives us a better look at the 5-pin hot-swap switch socket and SMD RGB LED. The Gateron Red has the same cross-point stem design as the Cherry MX Red, and this is the RGB version with a clear top for more lighting to pass through. The base is an opaque white, but we still see some of the internals. The sides also reveal that this is a 3-pin mechanical switch, and you may of course replace the switches with just about any other on the market.