Varmilo Minilo review: A gorgeous little keyboard missing one big feature

Price When Reviewed

119

Best Prices Today: Varmilo Minilo VXB67 keyboard

One of the very first mechanical keyboards that I purchased was from Varmilo, a Chinese model centered on easy designs with strong parts. Solid sufficient, in reality, that I nonetheless use that board regularly, even after modifying it a number of instances. So I used to be excited to take a look at one of many firm’s newest fashions in a extra official capability, seeing how Varmilo had improved in the previous few years. 

Further studying: See our roundup of the best gaming keyboards to find out about competing merchandise.

The Varmilo Minilo VXB67 design

The Minilo VXB67 is a beautiful little board, mixing delicate hues with high-quality plastic and understated lighting into an interesting complete. It’s additionally sticking with these high-quality parts, with a compact however high-quality plastic physique and fully customized electro-capacitive switches (extra on these later). 

The low level of the design is its complicated operate key structure, which is exacerbated by an lack of ability to reprogram any keys in any respect. This offers the Minilo a steep studying curve even in comparison with different compact keyboards, and it insists that you simply adapt to it as a substitute of the opposite approach round. But in case you can forgive this quirk, and also you’re not searching for straightforward customization, it’s a high-quality providing with some distinctive attraction in a sea of samey gaming and typing boards. 

Compared to extra utilitarian designs, like Logitech’s MX Keys Mechanical and even Keychron’s Q collection, or the bombastic disco gentle present of gaming keyboards, the Minilo is pleasantly understated. The plastic case has a double-layered impact, with an eggshell-colored exterior and a layer of minty inexperienced immediately surrounding the keys. These colours are continued into the keycaps themselves, accented by a splash of blue on the modifier keys. I believe it might look nice subsequent to that new Fractal Design Terra case from Computex. If you’re not a fan of this specific “Eucalyptus” mixture, there’s a pink-themed “Mendozae” choice obtainable as effectively. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

The attractiveness lengthen to the remainder of the board. Note the emblem on the underside proper, which lights up (and could be disabled in case you please), and the matching inexperienced backside plate with its engraved steel badge providing you with all of the producer and mannequin particulars. There’s lots of cautious and really interesting work put into this board, as you may count on from a producer that focuses so intently on its colourful particular editions. Double-stage keyboard toes are a pleasant shock, ABS keycaps (as a substitute of the extra premium PBT) barely much less so. 

The structure is a variation of the favored 65% semi-standard, although I discovered a few the alternatives to be odd. The Delete secret is simply above the arrow cluster, as a substitute of within the upper-right nook as in most comparable designs. Some of the operate layer structure is unusual, too: F-keys alongside the highest are apparent sufficient, however who seems to be for the Print Screen key on L, or media keys from T to P? More advanced {hardware} features, like controlling the lighting or pairing by way of Bluetooth, require a dive into the consumer handbook. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

For instance, the board has no energy change. It’ll auto-sleep after 30 minutes, and re-awaken with a double-tap of the house bar. To flip off the white LEDs, you press Fn+X. To pair a brand new Bluetooth gadget or change between present paired gadgets, press Fn+Q, W, or E… which is able to flash a lightweight on 1, 2, or 3, even though these keys aren’t those you’re urgent. To change the highest row from the default numbers to the operate row, press Fn+Page Down. None of those operations are indicated on the keycaps themselves. Oh, and there’s no handbook within the field: You should seek for it on Varmilo’s help web site, including one more little bit of frustration to all this.

Perhaps worse, there’s no option to change any of those pre-programmed features. That’s a particular ding towards the design in 2023. Budget boards like the excellent G.Skill KM250 can get away with that, however Varmilo can’t, particularly on a compact board the place a snug and intuitive structure is essential for usability. This is the largest disadvantage of an in any other case wonderful product. 

What concerning the Varmilo Minilo VXB67 switches? 

This board comes with switches designed completely by and for Varmilo. That’s not precisely unusual lately — half the gaming keyboards appear to have “custom” switches, which typically means an organization like Kailh or Gateron made them, probably with somewhat additional design work, probably not, and re-branded the outer casings. That’s not the case right here: The “Jasmine” switches on our assessment unit are electro-capacitive, and pretty distinctive for it. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

“Electro-capacitive” used to consult with a design that used a sliding stem in addition to a rubber dome between the switches and the circuit board registering key presses, leading to a particular “thock” really feel that made the Happy Hacking keyboards common. That isn’t what Varmilo’s electro-capacitive switches do. There’s no sheet of rubber domes, every change is solely contained in its personal Cherry MX-style housing. What the electro-capacitive time period refers to is the stem and leaf design, which doesn’t require direct contact like a typical MX-style change, actuating the press by mere proximity as a substitute of the same old “click.” This signifies that from the highest of a keypress to the underside, the one resistance you are feeling comes from the stem sliding alongside the change housing and the spring itself. 

If all that looks as if Greek to you, right here’s the TLDR model: The EC V2 switches on this board are very {smooth}. The “Jasmine” variant of the change isn’t simply color-coded to match the keyboard, it’s additionally a speedy linear design, in order that they’re barely lighter than most switches with a quicker activation. If you wish to sort flippantly with out bottoming out (urgent down till you may’t anymore), you’ll be notably happy with these switches. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

And that’s an excellent factor, because you don’t have every other decisions. While most keyboards on this value vary include hot-swap change sockets that allow you to customise the switches, Varmilo omits the function on the Minilo. That’s not out of any form of stinginess: The distinctive properties of those EC switches make them incompatible with different MX-style change designs, even when they appear very comparable. If that additional flexibility is vital to you, there’s one other barely costlier mannequin of the Minilo with customary MX switches, hot-swap sockets, RGB lighting, and a 2.4GHz wi-fi dongle. 

But once more, even with the restrictions, these switches are very good. Smooth and quiet because of boxy stems, an all-plastic physique, and a little bit of silicone between the plate and the PCB, this board was surprisingly low-volume in an empty espresso store even with out switches with “silent” properties. It’s a disgrace that ordering the EC V2 switches or the hot-swap sockets are an either-or proposition. 

How does the Varmilo Minilo VXB67 evaluate to the competitors? 

Varmilo asks rather less than $110 for the Minilo VXB67 on its web site, with a selection of a number of electro-capacitive change variants. It’s about $5 extra in case you go for the mannequin with customary MX switches and hot-swap sockets, which additionally enables you to join by way of a wi-fi USB dongle along with Bluetooth and upgrades the lights to RGB. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

However, postage to the U.S. makes the value shoot up significantly — round $150 whole for me. Buying from third-party distributors on Amazon or the MechanicalKeyboards.com specialty retailer brings the value again all the way down to the $110-130 vary, relying in your change decisions. 

That places the Minilo within the midrange class for mechanical boards, competing with wi-fi non-gaming designs just like the Keychron K6 Pro. In that context, the query turns into clear: Do you need a very fairly, very high-quality keyboard with primarily zero customization choices (together with programming), or a board that’s much less eye-catching however permits you to customise to your coronary heart’s content material? 

Michael Crider/Foundry

I can’t reply that query for you. But I can say that there’s no purpose for Varmilo to omit programming choices, even when the electro-capacitive switches take hot-swapping off the desk. You’ll should study this board, not make it conform to your consumer model. It’s an oversight that’s laborious to forgive when each different board on this value vary presents not less than some form of programming choice — even Logitech. 

If you may get over that limitation, the Varmilo Minilo VXB67 is a wonderful little board that’s equally comfortable in your desktop or in your laptop computer bag. Just don’t count on it to be particularly accommodating.