Christopher Coke Update time: August 22, 2021 10:50 PM Release time: August 22, 2021 2:00 PM Category: Hardware Review 0
If you have explored custom mechanical keyboards, IDOBAO is a name you may have heard of. Since its debut, its ID80 has been one of the first choices of new builders. The company has not stopped iterating. Today we are using IDOBAO ID80 Bestype to take a look at its latest and greatest products. It features a powder-coated aluminum housing, gasket mounting design, brass stacking aid, hot-swappable switches and Cherry stabilizers, and is designed to be excellent value for money. Let's take a closer look and see if it is available.
Since its first release in 2020, IDOBAO's ID80 kit has been a popular choice for new and budget-conscious keyboard manufacturers. It balances performance, quality, and affordable versions of each version, combined with community feedback. With this version, ID80 Bestype, we have what I think is the best version so far.
ID80 Bestype is a 75% keyboard, which means it includes function lines and arrow keys, as well as four navigation and editing buttons. For newcomers to compact keyboards, this is a more functional layout and provides simple utilities for spreadsheets and other productivity tasks. At the same time, it is even more compact than a keyless keyboard, making it ideal for games that benefit from extra mouse space.
It uses a two-part aluminum shell and is powder-coated into white. The brass counterweight and the USB shell add gold decorations, which look very elegant. The keyboard comes with a crimped USB-C cable with a rubber finish, just like an old phone cord. Inside the protective case, you will find a brass plate, a brass weight, a hot-swappable PCB and a foam board to suppress typing sounds.
Unlike many keyboard kits with limited budgets, ID80 uses washers to mount its PCB and board components. Instead of screwing the board and PCB into the bottom case, it is sandwiched between Poron foam strips to isolate vibration to provide attenuated sound and a more flexible typing experience. Spacer installation is a major trend in the feel and acoustics of today's mechanical keyboards. IDOBAO seems to have also learned from GMMK Pro and provided thick washers that will not deform when the housing is assembled for the first time. In other words, due to the brass plate at the bottom of the case and the limited space, the bending is limited, so this realization is more to convey the "sound" of the gasket, rather than a flexible typing experience.
Regarding the price and positioning of this keyboard, I was impressed to see that IDOBAO contains additional features that are usually more expensive. Including brass plates and brass counterweights usually requires additional costs. Again, this is one of the few budget boards that includes gasket mounting and a beautiful aluminum housing that does not exceed $300. I am also very happy to see that IDOBAO uses a real Cherry stabilizer instead of an unnamed plug-in that usually comes with a reasonably priced keyboard kit. They are snap-in, not screw-in, but they can still sound great with some basic mods.
In other words, there are some sacrifices. There is only one color option and sheet option on the product page, the same as the comment here. The case is powder-coated, so it's more advanced than wet coating, but it's a step beyond the electronic white finish in the more expensive finishes. However, it did a very good job, and no flaws were found on the inside or outside of the case. The backlight is also limited to a basically static white that tends to yellow.
Due to the hot-swappable switch socket, it is not difficult to assemble the ID80 Bestype, but it still takes several hours to complete, which contains multiple modules. It's easy to figure out, but there is no description in the box, which may confuse novices. Before you start, I suggest you take a close look at every piece of hardware included in the package.
Thankfully, it is very satisfying. First prepare the stabilizer. For this version, I used Kryox 205g0 to lubricate the housing and Permatex insulating grease to lubricate the wires. I also used a set of foam stabilizers on the PCB to cushion bottoming (this accomplishes the same thing as the band-aid module, but is easier to apply).
With this in mind, I applied gaskets to the top and bottom housings. The bottom gasket slides right into the cutouts on the top and bottom, making them almost flush. The left and right washers are more prominent and provide most of the isolation. IDOBAO helped mark the two sets of gaskets for the top and bottom housings so that they are not mixed up.
Next, I set out to prepare the PCB with two additional modules. Both are to adjust the sound of the keyboard to make it sound more "poppy" or "clacky". The first is the tape mode. Using paint tape, you can cover the back of the PCB and reflect higher frequencies upward. The second involves removing the PE foam board from the packaging and mounting it on the PCB, under the board foam. Together, these mods bring a typing experience that sounds like the coveted Jelly Epoch custom keyboard and provides what many fans call "creamy" sound.
After finishing, I installed the bracket to the PCB by passing the screws through the foam on the back. The brass plate sits on top of these supports and is held in place with flat screws on the top. This is where I ran into some troubles, because the PE foam layer is difficult to penetrate them in place. Unfortunately, the threads on the holder look quite soft, because two of them have been stripped and need to be replaced. Thankfully, IDOBAO includes additional hardware, so this is not a problem.
After that, the housing can be screwed together. What needs to be done here is to set the PCB assembly on the gasket and place the upper half of the housing in place, and then screw it into place.
The shell is built, the last step is to add the switch and keycap. For this version, I used the Novelkeys Silk Black switch. They are lubricated with Krytox 205g0 at the factory. After recording the typing test, I went back and added some lubricant to the rails to further improve the sound, but they were smooth out of the box and sounded good. For the keycaps, I chose the basic black and white suit of the Hong Kong game.
I had to go back and straighten some of the switch pins (the PE foam model is more risky), but most of them are fine.
The last step is to program the keyboard. It comes with native support for VIA, so just click the key that needs to be remapped and select the key I want to map to easily remap the key. I can easily set my Caps Lock key to double-task as a layer key when pressed and pull out as a normal capital letter when clicked, allowing me to instantly access the layout I like without having to take my finger from the main Move away.
This is the final product:
Overall, I am very satisfied. It looks beautiful and it feels great to type. The inclusion of a real Cherry stabilizer does help the larger keys sound good. Over time, I might upgrade to screw-in stabilizers to really fine-tune their sound, but this is a clear improvement over most built-in stabilizers.
The disadvantage of this kit is that the gasket installation is actually isolation rather than bending. To some extent, this is to be expected, because the brass plate will be much harder than polycarbonate or FR4. I just tightened the screws until they felt comfortable, and did not push them all the way down, you will see some bends when you press them down. However, this is not the kind of thing you will see when typing, so the gasket installation is actually to isolate the bottoming sound rather than creating a flexible typing experience. Similarly, even adding 1-2 mm of extra shell foam can completely eliminate this bending.
However, I am very satisfied with the way this keyboard is launched. The module I completed with the stabilizer is suitable for most custom keyboards, but the PE foam and tape module does bring a higher frequency when typing, resulting in a pleasant crackling sound.
Check out the final product in this typing test and listen to it yourself:
Finally, we come to the elephant in the room: how does it compete with Glorious GMMK Pro? Both keyboards are aimed at budget-conscious builders and provide similar functionality on paper. However, the price of GMMK Pro is cheaper. With a brass plate, it costs US$220, while the price of IDOBAO ID80 Bestype is US$269. This is not just about price, because there are some trade-offs between the two kits.
In terms of options, GMMK Pro is undoubtedly the winner. Glorious is ready to participate in the competition and has launched a keyboard with multiple options: two colors, multiple boards, Glorious brand switches and keycaps, and even your choice of accessories. GMMK Pro also includes a clickable knob for volume control, full RGB customization, and shell and PCB foam.
It also has quite a few problems that may prompt you to spend extra money. It includes the stabilizer, which is inconsistent at best and damaged at worst. In my example, my Enter and Spacebar keys started to get stuck due to incorrect tolerances (the oil has been completely removed) and must be replaced. The washer installation is very poor, the sound profile without serious modification is medium, the software is very beta, if you try to use QMK, the RGB lights will stop working (although this should be corrected in the next few weeks).
On the other hand, Bestype is more expensive, but it feels like a more refined product. IDOBAO has been making different versions of ID80 for some time, and you can see this experience here. The construction process is very simple, and the input feel and sound of the final product is better than GMMK Pro. IDOBAO also listened to feedback and added Cherry stabilizer to the box. They are clip-in, but with the basic module, anyone close to this kit will almost certainly do it, which sounds great. The gasket installation implementation is also much better than GMMK Pro. The typing experience is still quite stiff, but the gasket does a good job of isolating the board from the rest of the housing.
The appearance is subjective, but ID80 also looks much more advanced than GMMK Pro. Its powder-coated white finish is well done and looks great with golden accents. There is no RGB, it depends on your taste, it will be professional or disadvantaged, but with a set of white keycaps, the basic white backlight matches perfectly and looks more mature.
Which keyboard is best for you may depend on your taste. If you don't have the extra $50, GMMK Pro is a foregone conclusion, but if you have it and don't mind the loss of rotary encoder and RGB, IDOBAO ID80 Bestype feels that it is a better product overall.
In general, ID80 surprised me honestly. Priced at US$269, the price is reasonable for a custom keyboard kit, including gasket mounts, beautiful powder-coated aluminum housing, and other additional costs that you usually need to pay, such as brass plates, brass weights, PCB foam and real Cherry PCB mount stabilizer. The gasket installation implementation does not allow too much bending (the shell foam does not), but the popular "gasket installation sound" is realized. In fact, with proper modification, it sounds great.
Compared to more expensive keyboard kits, you can see that this kit is designed to meet a smaller budget, but IDOBAO’s trade-offs are wise, making the ID80 Bestype an excellent choice for keyboard manufacturers and more affordable.
Chris started using text-based MUD to develop MMOs in the late 1990s. He has written articles about video games for many different websites, but has been home to MMORPG since 2013. Today, he serves as a hardware and technology editor, chief technology commentator, and continues to love and write games whenever he has the opportunity. Follow him on Twitter: @GameByNight
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