PIIFOX LUNA Muse65 Professional Mechanical Keyboard Evaluation

It’s been fairly some time since I reviewed a mechanical keyboard; my final evaluations had been the CHERRY KW X ULP and the Cherry MX 8.2 TKL Wi-fi.

I take advantage of the Cherry ULP at work as a result of it’s comparatively quiet, which makes it extra tolerable for my colleagues, and at residence for writing, I’ve continued to make use of the JamesDonkey RS2.

I used to be all the time a tactile swap fan, having fun with the keystroke suggestions and the clickety-clack noise, however after reviewing the JamesDonkey with its Gateron Purple switches, I grew to become a linear convert as a result of it felt prefer it improved my typing velocity.

PIIFOX are a brand new model for me, and searching on-line, there may be not a lot details about them, and so they appear higher recognized for his or her vary of keycaps.

Nonetheless, it seems they’ve a fairly intensive vary of keyboards, with many listed as new fashions.

They’ve despatched me the PIIFOX LUNA Muse65 Professional to overview, and in addition, at my request, they kindly despatched me the LUNA Grid98 to overview, as I’m terribly old school and like a quantity pad.

Specification

PIIFOX LUNA Muse65 Professional vs Varmilo Muse65 HE

When researching this keyboard, I got here throughout the Varmilo Muse65 HE. The Muse65 naming is presumably greater than only a coincidence, however after I initially regarded on the Varmilo mannequin, it appeared fairly completely different.

Whereas each are 65% keyboards, the Varmilo makes use of a distinct structure: a extra compact design the place the arrow keys aren’t set aside from the principle keys, and the Insert/PgUp/PgDn/Delete secret’s in a vertical column flush towards the principle keys.

Moreover, the Varmilo is marketed as a magnetic keyboard utilizing magnetic switches and Corridor impact sensors.

The Varmilo Muse65 HE additionally seems to be wired solely, and it lacks the choice to have a wise show or media key.

Confusingly, the Varmilo Muse65 HE does appear to be similar to the PIIFOX FORX Defender68 HE Magnetic Keyboard, however the PIIFOX solely has the choice for Gateron Magnetic Jade Professional switches.

The sensible distinction is straightforward to summarise. If you need Corridor impact switches with adjustable actuation factors, fast set off and the opposite gaming options that include magnetic sensing, the Varmilo and the PIIFOX Defender68 are the boards to have a look at. If you need a wi-fi, sizzling swappable mechanical keyboard with a display screen and a knob, the Muse65 Professional is the one which is smart. The spec sheet for the Muse65 Professional lists no for adjustable actuation, fast set off, SOCD and dynamic keystroke, so no one can purchase this anticipating aggressive gaming options.

Change Choices

This keyboard comes with three swap choices together with:

The numbers matter greater than the names. Jade Peak is the lightest of the three at 40 gf working pressure, which places it in the identical territory as a Gateron Purple or a Cherry MX Purple, and it bottoms out at 48 gf. Jade Spike is the tactile possibility at 47 gf with a heavier 60 gf backside out, so it takes noticeably extra effort per keystroke. Jade Ripple sits at 47 gf however has the heaviest backside out at 55 gf and the longest journey at 3.8 mm.

There’s a small inconsistency in PIIFOX’s personal supplies price declaring. The Jade Ripple is described as tactile within the specification desk however listed as silent on the product web page, with a quiet sound profile. The smart studying is that it’s a dampened tactile swap, so it ought to offer you suggestions with out the noise. All three are manufacturing facility lubricated, use POM stems in polycarbonate prime housings, and are 5 pin, in order that they drop straight into the new swap sockets with none wobble.

Design

I gained’t spend lengthy right here as a result of a 68% keyboard in white is just not precisely arduous to image. The case is ABS plastic moderately than aluminium, which retains the burden right down to 0.8 kg, and the board measures 352 x 140 x 42 mm. Mine is the white model, although a black mannequin can be out there.

Match and end are higher than the plastic case may counsel. There is no such thing as a creaking or flex if you choose it up by one nook, the gaps between the case halves are even, and the three stage kickstand clicks firmly into every place moderately than flopping about. Anti slip pads on the underside and on the ft hold it planted on my desk mat.

The mounting construction is a sandwich design with a polycarbonate plate that has flex cuts, so there may be some give throughout the center of the board moderately than the useless, hole really feel you get from cheaper keyboards. Peak is 23.40 mm on the spacebar and 31.46 mm on the Esc row, so a wrist relaxation is price contemplating for those who kind all day.

One good contact is the place PIIFOX have hidden the two.4 GHz dongle. Reasonably than a slot on the underside, it sits beside the arrow keys below a small magnetic cowl with the fox emblem on it. It’s an uncommon resolution, but it surely works nicely and means the dongle is straightforward to seize for those who transfer the keyboard between machines. On the left-hand facet there’s a bodily slider for switching between Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz and wired, and the USB-C port is on the rear.

What You Get within the Field

The packaging is healthier than I anticipated for the cash. Thick cardboard and a moulded plastic insert shield the contents, and there’s a first rate quantity in there past the keyboard itself.

Inside you get a braided USB-C to USB-A cable, the two.4 GHz dongle, a keycap and swap puller, two spare switches, three translucent keycaps, the good display screen module, two knob choices and the handbook. The handbook is price conserving as a result of the layer shortcuts on a 68% board aren’t all apparent, and you will have a reference for those you employ much less typically.

Sizzling-Swappable Keys & Keycaps

I’ll admit I don’t have a tendency to customize my keyboards a lot, not like many individuals over at r/MechanicalKeyboards.

Nonetheless, it’s all the time good to have the choice to customize your keyboard.

As talked about above, this has three keycap choices when ordering: the Jade Peak, Spike and Ripple, and the keys are sizzling swappable so you may exchange them with something you need.

Throughout the packaging, you get a keycap and swap puller to make swapping issues out as simple as attainable.

The sockets take normal MX fashion switches, and since they’re 5 pin you aren’t restricted to three pin switches or pressured to clip the plastic legs off. The keycaps are Cherry profile double shot PBT, so the legends are moulded into the plastic moderately than printed on prime and won’t put on away. PIIFOX promote their very own keycap units at $33, roughly £24.40, which is affordable if you wish to change the look with out shopping for a brand new board.

Good Display and Media Keys

One characteristic I haven’t come throughout with my previous keyboard evaluations is the choice to switch among the keys with a small LCD good display screen and a media knob.

The good display screen can show actual time system stats and add customized GIFs for a personalised setup.

The display screen might be customised with the QMK WEB UI

As I all the time take heed to music whereas I’m working, I’ve all the time been an enormous fan of media keys so I like that you would be able to swap out one of many keys for a media knob.

Mechanically, that is neater than I anticipated. Each modules merely pull out and drop again into the swap sockets like an outsized keycap, so there isn’t a cable to fiddle with and no instruments required. You possibly can run the display screen, the knob, each, or neither and use the usual keys as a substitute. Swapping takes seconds.

The display screen itself is small, roughly the width of two keycaps, however the panel is sharp sufficient that the default readouts are simple to learn at arm’s size. By default it exhibits the time, battery stage, connection mode and the present working system profile. The knob has no push to click on motion, which is a disgrace as a result of that’s the apparent place for play and pause, however every rotation offers a definite detent so quantity adjustment is exact moderately than a obscure sweep.

QMK Driver / Internet UI Customisation

That is one other characteristic I’ve not come throughout with my previous evaluations. Bigger manufacturers like Cherry use their very own proprietary software program, whereas QMK (Quantum Mechanical Keyboard) is an open supply, extremely customisable firmware designed to manage programmable mechanical keyboards.

I’ll admit that putting in a clearly Chinese language driver was a bit bit regarding at first, however QMK appears to be nicely regarded and I’ve skilled no points with it.

With the driving force put in, I might customise the keyboard by way of https://qmk.prime/v4/

The online primarily based method has quite a bit going for it. There’s nothing bloated sitting in your system tray, nothing phoning residence within the background, and you may configure the board from any machine with a suitable browser. Remapping keys, constructing macros, establishing layers and altering the lighting all occur within the browser, and since the keyboard has onboard reminiscence, your structure travels with it.

My reservation is that it is a third social gathering portal moderately than one thing PIIFOX management, and it isn’t the official QMK Configurator or VIA both. If that web site disappears or breaks with a future browser replace, you’re counting on another person to repair it. It will be higher to see PIIFOX publish a VIA suitable JSON file as a fallback, or not less than host their very own mirror.

Connectivity and Battery Life

Connectivity is tri mode, with Bluetooth 5.0, 2.4 GHz by way of the bundled dongle, and wired USB-C. Bluetooth handles three paired units, so I might hold my work laptop computer, my desktop and a pill on it and cycle between them from the keyboard.

Polling is quoted at 1,000 Hz wired and over 2.4 GHz, dropping to 500 Hz over Bluetooth. PIIFOX additionally quote a latency determine of 0.125 ms, which doesn’t sit comfortably alongside a 1,000 Hz polling price. A 1,000 Hz report price means one report each millisecond, so deal with the 0.125 ms quantity as a advertising determine for the swap scan moderately than finish to finish enter latency. In observe, the two.4 GHz connection felt indistinguishable from wired to me, which is all most individuals want.

The battery is a 4,000 mAh cell, which is massive for a 68% board. PIIFOX quote as much as 400 hours with the lighting switched off, falling to someplace round 90 hours with the LEDs at 50% brightness. These numbers assume a reasonably light obligation cycle, however even taking a pessimistic view you’re looking at weeks moderately than days between fees with the lighting off. I’ve been charging it roughly as soon as a fortnight with gentle RGB use.

Value noting is the guarantee place. PIIFOX supply 12 months on the keyboard however solely 3 months on the battery, which is brief. Batteries are the element almost definitely to degrade, so a 3 month window is just not a lot reassurance on a board that leans on a big cell as a promoting level.

RGB Lighting

The keyboard has south going through per key RGB with an extended listing of preset results, and the LEDs themselves are vibrant with good color saturation. The issue is that the usual PBT keycaps block most of it. The legends are double shot however not shine by, so what you truly see is a glow leaking out from across the edges of every key moderately than illuminated characters.

That is simply the weakest a part of the bundle, and it’s the similar criticism I’d stage at most PBT geared up boards. The three translucent keycaps within the field trace on the repair, and if the lighting issues to you, a shine by keycap set is near important. Should you kind in a darkish room and must see the legends, this isn’t the board for you because it stands.

Efficiency

I don’t recreation as a lot as I used to, so I’ve primarily used this keyboard for writing evaluations for Mighty Gadget, and I’ve used it in my workplace job as IT assist. Whereas I would favor a bigger keyboard for each jobs, this has labored nicely in each situations.

Like all new keyboards, the primary few makes use of take some getting used to as I appear to overlook the best way to contact kind, however I shortly received used to the important thing positions. The 68% structure is the half that takes the longest to adapt to moderately than the switches. Shedding the operate row means F5 and the amount keys transfer to a layer, and as somebody who lives in spreadsheets and distant desktop periods at work, that’s the compromise I discover most. The devoted arrow cluster and the column of navigation keys on the proper go a good distance in direction of making it usable, and it’s a far simpler transition than a real 60% board.

My pattern has Jade Peak switches, that are linear with a decrease working pressure. PIIFOX classifies the sound stage as thocky, whereas the Ripple switches are the quietest.

Because of the linear nature of the switches, I discover these a lot quieter than a tactile swap. The one noise is from when the swap bottoms out and creates a type of comfortable muffled noise. I don’t discover it as intrusive as many different switches, and my colleagues haven’t moaned concerning the noise.

The 40 gf working pressure is gentle sufficient that it encourages a lighter typing fashion when you cease bottoming out on each keystroke, and I’ve discovered no unintended double presses in a few weeks of heavy use.

For gaming, I’m removed from a aggressive gamer, so I gained’t recognize the responsiveness of switches as a lot as others however have discovered the efficiency to be good.

Typing Sound and Acoustics

That is the place the Muse65 Professional punches above its worth. The inner layering is extra thorough than I anticipated from a board at this cash: a Poron swap pad, an IXPE swap pad, a PET sound damping sheet, swap seat foam and backside case foam, all sitting below a flex minimize polycarbonate plate.

The result’s that the hole, metallic ping you get from low cost mechanical keyboards is absent. Bottoming out offers a reasonably deep, muted sound moderately than a pointy clack, and there’s no case resonance to talk of. The stabilisers are plate mounted moderately than screw in, and they’re the one space that offers the sport away; the spacebar and the Enter key have a barely rattlier notice than the alphas. Nothing that wants fixing, however a lubed screw in stabiliser would have been the crowning glory.

Value and Different Choices

The PIIFOX LUNA Muse65 Professional with Jade Peak keys is obtainable from piifox.com for $96.40. Delivery to the UK then prices $13.90 with an estimated 7-14 days transport time. On the time of writing, this works out at £81.50, which is sort of affordable.

For Jade Spike, it’s $97.40, and Jade Ripple is $101.50. Together with transport, that’s roughly £82.30 and £85.30 respectively.

Keycap units then price $33 and additional units of mechanical switches prices $5.25/$6.65/$9.45 respectively, so about £24.40 for keycaps and £3.90 to £7 for switches.

There are two caveats with shopping for direct. The primary is import fees. PIIFOX state that clients are accountable for customs charges, and whereas UK import VAT needs to be collected at checkout on consignments below £135, it’s price checking your order complete earlier than you commit moderately than being stunned by a dealing with price on the door. The second is returns. This isn’t offered by Amazon UK, so if one thing goes unsuitable you’re transport it again to the producer moderately than dropping it at a locker.

For alternate options, the plain one is the Ajazz AK820 Professional, which is £79.99 from ajazz.co.uk. It’s a 75% board moderately than 68%, so you retain the operate row, and it has a TFT show, a knob, the identical 4,000 mAh battery and tri mode connectivity. It’s gasket mounted moderately than sandwich mounted, which some folks want. On paper it’s the closest rival, and the truth that it’s offered from a UK web site with UK pricing removes the import query solely.

If you need a model with an extended monitor report and higher UK assist, the Keychron K6 Professional is £109 in UK ISO structure from The Keyboard Firm. That buys you QMK and VIA assist correct, an aluminium possibility and a real 65% structure, however no display screen, no knob on the bottom mannequin, and a a lot smaller battery. You’re paying round £27 extra for the model and the assist moderately than for options.

The Epomaker vary covers the identical floor from round £50 upwards, although the cheaper fashions drop the wi-fi, the froth layering or the display screen. Beneath about £60 you’re typically selecting between options moderately than getting all of them.

General

The Muse65 Professional is quite a lot of keyboard for round £81. The display screen and knob modules are the headline characteristic, and in contrast to quite a lot of gimmicks they’re genuinely nicely applied, dropping out and in of the swap sockets in seconds with no instruments and no cables. The layered foam and flex minimize plate give it a typing sound that might not embarrass a board costing twice as a lot, the Jade Peak switches are easy and light-weight, and the 4,000 mAh battery means you may kind of overlook about charging it.

The compromises are actual, although. The RGB is essentially wasted behind PBT keycaps that don’t shine by, which is an odd resolution on a board that markets its lighting. The plate mounted stabilisers rattle barely on the bigger keys. The knob not being pressable is a missed alternative. The configuration route is dependent upon a 3rd social gathering net portal moderately than official QMK or VIA tooling, and the three month battery guarantee is brief for a product that leans so closely on battery life.

For me, the structure is the deciding issue moderately than any of the above. I like a quantity pad and I’d take the additional keys over the compact footprint each time, which is why I requested PIIFOX for the Grid98 as nicely. If a 68% board fits how you’re employed, and you’re snug ordering direct from a model with little UK presence, that is good worth. If you need the identical characteristic set with a UK return handle and a operate row, the Ajazz AK820 Professional at £79.99 is the extra smart purchase.

I’m James, a UK-based tech fanatic and the Editor and Proprietor of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Captivated with all issues know-how, my experience spans from computer systems and networking to cell, wearables, and good residence units.

As a health fanatic who loves operating and biking, I even have a eager curiosity in fitness-related know-how, and I take each alternative to cowl this area of interest on my weblog. My various pursuits enable me to carry a singular perspective to tech running a blog, merging life-style, health, and the most recent tech developments.

In my educational pursuits, I earned a BSc in Data Methods Design from UCLAN, earlier than advancing my studying with a Grasp’s Diploma in Computing.

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