Havit KB487L keyboard review: PBT keycaps on the cheap

Mechanical keyboards are nice. But they’re additionally dear, no less than more often than not. The common retail worth of the final 5 keyboards I reviewed is 200 freakin’ {dollars}, which might elicit justified scoffs from anybody who’s by no means heard the phrase “N-key rollover.” 

So I bought the Havit KB487L, the most affordable board I might discover on Amazon from a model I truly acknowledged, for just below 40 bucks. I needed to see if I might discover a keyboard that anybody on a price range would recognize, and with out having to sacrifice an excessive amount of. 

And I discovered it! Sort of. The Havit board is technically sound, with strong building and some shocking goodies, like actual PBT keycaps. But it makes just a few structure choices which are simply baffling. If you’ll be able to stay with just a few of its quirks—and also you don’t really need the 10-key space it gives—it’s an excellent price range possibility. 

Price When Reviewed

$38.99

Best Prices Today: Havit KB487L keyboard

42.29

$42.99

Havit KB487L: Design

At first look, this appears to be like like every other tenkeyless (TKL) board, with a coloration scheme that’s a bit retro and impressed by the favored Carbon keycap set. But look somewhat nearer on the proper facet of the board, and also you’ll spot a wierd inclusion. This design crams a 10-key space into simply three columns of keys. It’s kind of like a “1800” structure, as seen on keyboards like Keychron’s Q5, however much more compacted. 

Michael Crider/IDG

We’ll get to that odd structure later (as a result of there’s loads to say about it). The different distinctive function of the Havit board is the inclusion of PBT keycaps. PBT stands for polybutylene terephthalate, a extra premium kind of plastic than you often get on price range keyboards. For instance, Razer asks 30 bucks—most of the price of this whole board!—simply to improve from fundamental ABS keycaps to PBT. These are additionally doubleshot, which implies that the legends are separate items of plastic and can by no means put on out. 

Other than the distinctive structure and the shocking inclusion of high-end keycaps, that is your fundamental price range mechanical board. The solely decisions are Red linear switches, from an organization known as Jixian that I’ve by no means heard of. All components are plastic, together with the PCB deck, and the braided cable is mounted in place. The plastic case consists of toes with only one alternate typing angle. 

Michael Crider/IDG

The keyboard technically consists of backlighting, however just for the 10-key space, Num Lock, and Caps Lock keys. This will come into play while you’re utilizing (or disabling) Num Lock. Otherwise, it’s a easy, efficient design. Those premium, high-profile keycaps give it a barely retro look, with a coloration scheme that’s distinctive, if not completely authentic. If you need a keyboard that stands out with out spending any extra cash, it will do. 

Havit KB487L: Typing expertise

One of the extra subjective benefits of PBT keycaps is a greater, “rougher” texture to typing. These keycaps do get a little bit of that, although they’re extra clean and slippery than some premium units. With a super-tall profile—formed like Cherry or OEM, however nearly as tall as SA—typing on these linear switches with lengthy key journey feels form of old style, like a keyboard you’d get with a Dell desktop in 1995. 

Michael Crider/IDG

It is, for need of a extra definitive phrase, good. You’re not going to get the identical “clonk” or springiness you’d really feel from a extra premium typing-focused board, or the smoothness and relative quiet you’d discover from a gaming board. But although it has somewhat low-cost stabilizers and lots of “ping” in its physique, it achieves the satisfying typing that first-timers and price range consumers are in all probability on the lookout for. 

The PBT keycaps assist make up for a scarcity of different goodies. There are usually not hot-swap switches, no RGB lighting, no programming choices. And at this worth level, that’s advantageous…although I’d have appreciated a non-fixed cable only for the sake of simpler routing on a desktop setup.

And then you definately begin with the structure. Oof. 

Havit KB487L: Layout woes 

Okay, so presumably the unusual structure was designed with the concept of conserving a 10-key space obtainable to the person in a a lot smaller dimension—once more, paying homage to the 1800 structure from many years in the past. The downside is that this: It’s pretty clear that whoever designed and permitted this structure doesn’t truly use the 10-key space, which is so widespread in accounting, information entry, and comparable fields. 

Because the 10-key is restricted to simply three columns, it omits the -, +, and Enter keys on the suitable facet. And as a result of it’s crammed into the house of a TKL board, it additionally chops off / and * keys, and sticks the Num Lock within the Function layer, together with the Scroll Lock, Pause, and Print Screen keys. This goes to create fairly big usability issues for anybody who’s used to devoted 10-key enter, which instantly undermines the operational premise. (I requested a number of 10-key customers, and so they agree, they’d somewhat simply use a separate gadget than attempt to enter information on this board.) 

Michael Crider/IDG

But right here’s the kicker. Because the superfluous 10-key is taking over the house the place Detele, Page Up, and Page Down could be, it additionally has to share house with these keys. So with Num Lock disabled, all six of these keys are actually within the high layer…however apart from Page Down, they’ve all moved round. The Delete key specifically is 2 keys over and one down from the place it needs to be, which performs hell with my muscle reminiscence. 

If it looks like I’m piling on, contemplate the next: In the identify of including performance, this structure messes up each the usability of a full-sized board and that of a TKL board. It’s a baffling design resolution that I can’t consider was examined very a lot in any respect. 

Should you purchase the Havit KB487L?

The Havit KB487L is an undeniably good worth. It could be so even with out the upgraded keycaps, however with them it’s completely implausible if you happen to’re on a shoestring price range. The typing expertise, whereas removed from premium, is punching method above its price ticket. Without every other frills, it’s an excellent and cheap entry into the mechanical keyboard house. 

Michael Crider/IDG

That’s assuming you’ll be able to take care of the extremely bizarre and unintuitive structure, in fact. Anyone within the 10-key space for its personal sake might be turned off anyway, however those that can’t make changes for less-often-used keys like Delete or Print Screen will even discover it exhausting to make use of. 

If you may get over that quirk, and also you’re on the hunt for an excellent worth, you’ve discovered it.