Royal Kludge RK68 Review Blue Backlit Mechanical Keyboard Bluetooth Wired Mechanical
A keyboard you can use everyday for work and casual gaming, the Royal Kludge RK68 has it all - 65% tenkeless form factor, low latency bluetooth connectivity, hot swappable switches and a PC/Mac switch so, you can toggle between Windows and a Mac computers.
The RK68 blue backlit keyboard is made of a thick plastic outer frame with a sloping design so, the front of the keyboard is naturally elevated. There are 68 keys with PCB mounted switches and plate mounted stabilizers, which means the stabilizers are attached to the top plate rather than to the PCB. The switches support N-key rollover (in wired mode only) and, you get arrow navigation keys built-in, as well as 12 virtual media keys that you can access via the Fn function key.
The RK68 stock keycaps aren't doubleshot like the keycaps on the RK61 keyboard. The RK68 stock keycaps are made of ABS plastic; hence the keycap legend will rub off at some point. The legend lettering on doubleshot keycaps is permanent.
On the plus side, replacing keycaps is fairly inexpensive so, you can always replace the RK68 stock keycaps with different types such as PBT keycaps, which are the best in the business. PBT keycaps are usually made of better quality plastic that doesn't develop the same "greasy shine" as ABS keycaps do. PBT keycaps also produce a deep sounding thump, which is nice if you don't like "clicky" sounding keycaps.
The USB-C charging power port is located in the middle of the rear-side of the keyboard. On the base of the RK68 keyboard, there are four rubber pads, serial number tag and a switch mode for wireless and wired mode. There aren't any feet risers for tilting the keyboard upward.
When connecting via Bluetooth, you get the option to connect via Bluetooth 5.0 or Bluetooth 3.0 version. There is also multipoint connection so, you can also connect the keyboard to up to three devices at the same time without taking up USB port space, which is the main advantage of bluetooth over USB RF (2.4Ghz wireless). As far as bluetooth performance, the RK68 keyboard has very low latency so, you can use it for work and casual gaming.
The RK68 has the same blue backlit illumination as the RK61 keyboard; hence there is no RGB leds; other than a solid blue color option and 20 blue color effects to choose from. You can change backlight effects from the keyboard, as well as increase/decrease brigthness and backlight effect speed. The RK68 can also be reset to factory by pressing Fn+spacebar+Num
While the RK68 looks like a bigger version of the RK61 keyboard and they have a lot in common (e.g. wired/wireless functionality, single led illumination) but, there are differences. The RK68 uses 3-pin hotswappable RK switches mounted onto PCB, which means you can physically remove the switches and replace them.
These RK mechanical switches can be interchanged with 3-pin and 5-pin SMT (surface mount) led switches (e.g. Nk creams switches, Gateron black switches, Akko ocean blue). DIP (Dual In-Line Package) leds are not compatible with the RK68 (e.g. Gateron milk switches, Alpaca linear switches) because of the RK68 RK switches have raised leds that stick out from the socket. The switches seen pictured are brown switch, which have a similar feel to MX brown switches but with a slightly more tactile feedback.
The RK68 blue backlit keyboard weighs 606 grams, which is 100 grams more than the RK61 keyboard. The dimensions are 31cm long , 10cm wide and 4cm high (including the top row of keycaps). There is a 1450mAh internal battery which takes 3.5 hours to recharge and can power the RK68 for 9 hours at full brigthness. There is no USB passthrough ports like on the RK84 keyboard but, the RK68 keyboard has a Mac mode to switch from PC to Mac computer. There is also downloadable software that you can download from RKGamingStore
The RK68 blue backlit keyboard weighs 606 grams, which is 100 grams more than the RK61 keyboard. The dimensions are 31cm long , 10cm wide and 4cm high (including the top row of keycaps). There is a 1450mAh internal battery which takes 3.5 hours to recharge and can power the RK68 for 9 hours at full brigthness. There is no USB passthrough ports like on the RK84 keyboard but, the RK68 keyboard has a Mac mode to switch from PC to Mac computer. There is also downloadable software that you can download from RKGamingStore
The RK68 seen pictured is the new 2021 version, replacing the RK68 (old version). There is also the RK68, which is the RGB version of the RK68. The RK68 blue backlit keyboard comes with four spare RK brown switches, a power charging cable (1.7 meters long) and a dual purpose metal tool for pulling out the switches and keycaps. The switch/keycap puller has Royal Kludge branding on it. The RK68 is available in white and black color with three RK switch options: brown (tactile), blue (clicky) and red (linear). The RGB version of the RK68 keyboard is called RK G68. You can buy the RK68 dual mode keyboard from Royal Kludge or amazon. Check out the Royal Kludge RK920 Rainbow keyboard.
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