Gamakay TK68 keyboard review: build it yourself

 

Gamakay TK68 is a wireless 68-key keyboard. Until a certain time, this form factor was often used by geeks and pro-gamers. However, this format is now becoming popular among ordinary users as it is more beginner-friendly than the more common 60% form factor.

 

The case arrives to you disassembled. It consists of an upper frame that is fixed at the bottom. The chassis actually has no screws, and the assembly is held in place by two posts and a curved mounting plate. The case is quite light, and most of the weight is taken up by the board. There are four rubber feet on the bottom of the keyboard, as well as dual slide-out openings that give two different angles above the surface.

 

 

The USB-C port is located on the side, as are the switches, and this is convenient when connecting to a laptop, since the wires lie on the side without taking up space in front of the keyboard. The kit includes a 1.5 meter cable with external braiding and an angled connector.

 

 

Keycaps are the same, that is, they have the same shape and size. The keycaps are made of dye-sublimated PBT with 1.5mm walls. The large area seemed rather inconvenient at first, since often two keys caught on the finger at the same time. It takes a couple of days to get used to it. Key signatures are clear and high quality. Interestingly, in terms of shape, F and G appear to be more concave than the others. Either way, it’s not too noticeable and the keycaps are generally great.

 

 

In this model you can see Gateron switches. There are variations of the usual red, brown and blue, as well as the unusual silver and yellow. Gateron Yellows switches are one of the most popular budget lines and are quite interesting from a tactile point of view. The springs are crisp and somewhat stiff, but not too stiff. This normal stiffness is observed during intensive use because they are quite sensitive to pressure. A nice feature of the TK68 is that it has hot-swappable CIY sockets, making it easy to remove the switches. Activating functions via Fn has everything you need – multimedia functions, macros and RGB backlight control. There are a total of 15 backlight modes.

 

 

The keyboard supports several wireless connection options – you can choose between Bluetooth 5.0 or a 2.4 GHz receiver. The TK68 is equipped with a 1900 mAh battery, which should be enough for a week of operation without backlighting. With RGB illumination at full brightness, it’s only two days. The backlight automatically turns off after two minutes of inactivity. However, the keyboard quickly wakes up. There is also a sleep mode that kicks in after about five minutes. Software with additional settings can be downloaded from the Google Drive link on the page Banggood. The software is fairly basic, allowing you to remap keys, control the backlight, and record macros. TK68 has built-in memory, so all settings will remain unchanged after closing the software.

 

 

Gamakay TK68 is an interesting mechanical keyboard of high quality and with a sufficient set of functions, at a price – strongly below $100. It’s convenient that there are several modes for connecting to a PC, and if you neglect the aesthetics of the backlight, you can get amazing autonomy. The keyboard feels chunky, but not overly heavy. This is an interesting option for both novice gaming users and more tempting users who do not want to shell out hundreds of dollars for top-end options.

 

Characteristics of the Gamakay TK68 keyboard
Number of keys:	68
Switches:	Mechanical Gateron Yellow (also available in Brown, Red, Blue, Silver)
Connection:	USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.2, 2.4 GHz
Stroke:	2 mm, overall 4 mm
Tressing force:	50 g
Backlight:	RGB, with settings
Cable:	removable, 1.5 m
Dimensions:	359 x 149 x 47 mm
Weight:	980 g
Price:	$83