I love mechanical keyboards, but they are outrageously expensive. Not anymore, I guess. Let’s check it out.
I have here the TMKB GK61 60% mechanical gaming keyboard. These are customizable and you have a choice of keycap colours and also the actual switches inside.
The keyboard is also available in white and in Bluetooth or wired configurations.
I have the Bluetooth version here.
Keycaps are available in Black, red, brown, blue, yellow and silver.
Here’s the keyboard, it’s quite small due to the fact that it’s a 60% keyboard. This is how it looks, great if you don’t have enough desk space this takes up way less space as compared to my standard keyboard.
It’s a bit heavy too, wow. The weight would keep the keyboard in place.
The keycaps are brown, which was an error on my side as I wanted brown switches but not keycaps. But they don’t look bad at all.
We have a warranty card, and a manual.
It’s better to read the manual as a lot of the functions on the keyboard are a combination of keys, especially the Function button. This keyboard has Bluetooth too, so read the instructions to find out how to enable Bluetooth pairing.
Here is a braided usb-c to usb-a cable, the usb-a side looks quite different but it’s just that it’s an exposed connector.
A pair of tools to customize your keyboard. These tools help with removal of the keycaps and switches in an easy manner.
We have two, one is to remove the keycaps and the other is for the actual switch beneath.
These are Gateron tactile switches.
Now for the keyboard, oh this looks nice. Brown and black keycaps, the rest of the keyboard is black. There’s a white option available too.
This is how the keys look. There are a lot of combo keys, it will take some time to get used to it. Even
Let’s remove one of the keycaps and check what we have within.
Using the tool it comes out really easy, these can be replaced with any other keycap if you would like to change the colours or design, as it uses a standard. The keycaps are Double-shot injection moulded offering crystal clear uniform back-lighting and lettering that doesn’t scratch off.
Under the keycap we have a brown switch, you can see the Gateron branding on the switch, it’s just upside down. The deck below the keys is white, which would help with the lighting to pass through.
Let me just place the key back and check out the rest of the keyboard.
I like that the keyboard is using USB-C, this works both to charge the battery to use in Bluetooth mode and also as a wired keyboard.
We have the TMKB gk61 branding on the bottom.
Here we have an on off switch, which is necessary for Bluetooth mode.
We have feet on the back which can be opened to adjust the angle.
Rubber feet help keep the keyboard in place, when placed on the table.
When the feet are open the rear rubber feet don’t contact the table, but there’s rubber on the feet themselves.
The edges are rounded, which looks cool, also it looks angled and not just a standard rectangle.
The keyboard has a standard tilt to it which can be accentuated with the feet if you need more angle. The keyboard has a matte finish, which is great, if it was glossy it would be a fingerprint magnet.
We have a TMKB logo in front.
Turning the switch on, activates the keyboard, but to use Bluetooth you need to use a key combo which I will show in a bit.
The keycaps light up in all its RGB glory, looks nice.
It has 7 static colour backlight: red/green/blue/yellow/purple/white/light green/white,
and 8 RGB light effects (including reactive mode, wave mode, ripple mode, aurora mode, etc.) which you can easily switch the lighting effect with ‘FN + /’.
Let’s connect the keyboard to the PC, I’m using it wired.
It’s detected and it’s working.
We can change the colour of the lighting under the keys, using the function right square bracket key.
Function key plus P and left square bracket are used to decrease and increase the brightness.
You can go all the way to no light, but T, N and space seem to be still lit up. There might be a season for it. They light up when the function key is held down, release it and they follow the colour scheme of the rest of the keyboard.
Let’s increase the brightness.
Let’s test the main reason you purchase a mechanical keyboard, the actuation and the sound they produce.
As I had shown earlier they have the Gateron Brown tactile switches, let’s check how they sound.
That was satisfying. The browns are a midpoint between Gateron blues and reds. Red’s are the most quiet, so if you want a silent keyboard, pick one with red switches. Blue are the most tactile and make the classic mechanical keyboard sound. Like those TVSE gold keyboards used to.
The browns are in-between, it has the tactile actuation and a bit of sound, but not very loud.
The keycaps feel really nice, and the rgb lighting looks bright. At present it’s being overwhelmed by the studio lights in the room.
Let me turn them off and we can get a better look at the lighting.
Looks really cool.
The actuation point on the Gateron browns can be felt, which is 1.5 millimeters. Feels satisfying to type on.
1.5 mm actuation is best for gaming and with a life of 50 million actuations, these are made to last. If you have a problem with the switch, just replace it. I’ve seen a pack of 10 cost around 200-250 Rs.
Brown tactile switches are among the most popular with mechanical keyboard enthusiasts. These switches offer a satisfying bump on actuation, without the loudness of clicky blue switches. If you want more clicky change them to Blues, more silent replace with reds.
Now to test the Bluetooth functionality, tap on function and spacebar, a blue light blinking three times indicates it’s in Bluetooth mode.
The Z,X and C keys allow selecting a certain device you had previously paired. I’m selecting Z as device 1 and pairing it with my phone. It has connected and it’s working perfectly. The typing speed is good.
It promises 8 hours usage time via its 1900 mAh battery. Standby time is up to 280 hours. If you lose power midway, it can still be used wired via USB.
The keyboard is also rated ip64 waterproof. I’m not bringing water anywhere near, but it’s just something to know.
The software which is downloadable from their website allows customizing the RGB colors, add macros, setup custom functions using the function key combo and more. You can save multiple profiles so that you can switch between your settings easily. The QWER keys can be programmed with macros using the software.
The Gateron switches at this price point are great, they have a nice tactile feel and are smooth to operate. Gateron started with making Cherry MX clones and now have begun innovating with their own switch tech. These switches are Cherry MX compatible, meaning they can be used in keyboards using Cherry MX keys.
The keyboard being 60% takes a little getting used to, I could type fast enough after a few minutes. If you are someone who works with numbers, the missing number pad might be irritating.
Also the up, down left right keys needs you to hold down the function key to activate. Look at the lower print on the keys, these need the function key to work, else it works as the key denoted above.
It’s very sleek, very small, the curved edges make it quite nice to hold to move around especially if being used wirelessly. I like the matte finish on the keyboard. RGB is bright, without it being distracting, it is still brighter than my Logitech keyboard.
You don’t get a wrist rest, so you will need one of you don’t want to hurt your wrists.
If you want a budget, customizable, RGB Mechanical keyboard, this one ticks all the boxes. With a whole plethora of options this is great value, a selection of white or black keyboard, colour of keycaps, switch types, it’s highly customizable during purchase or can also be changed later. At this price, it’s a great keyboard option, but if you’re new to 60% keyboards will take a bit getting used to. It will not replace my main work computer keyboard, but will be linked to my iPad instead.
