Quality in build, strange software and configuration
My keyboard came with some delay but it was the notification of the arrival that came too late, before the request to review it came.
So now is the real review, after few days of testing...
Keys are really soft and silent, I think I should have gone with the regular/medium ones....probably will have to order a new set that will needlesly bump the overall price way up, because now returning the keyboard will take forever.
Soft keys have sort of a rubbery/sticky feeling and it really does not feel like you're typing...unfortunately, YT videos do not properly cover the sound that these silent keys make (or don't) and nobody there talks about the typing feel.
The tiny screen is pointless, unless you use it to see the date/time and status of special keys and connections.
I thought I'd be able to do something else with it but no...just wastes battery.
Animated GIFs are just a silly gimmick and I don't see how I could use the screen differently through some programatic interface.
Building your own QMK firmware is tricky as you need to know C and install the whole dev environment just to get a different lighting scheme, for example.
Web app that QMK offers for simplicity is useless as it requires you to have exactly one of the models that that app supports...which of course does not work for this QK108.
NumLock, if you turn it on, keeps the backlight on it constantly lit. It is super annoying and unlike my Epomaker/Aula F99 won't power off after a while.
I also miss similar lighting patterns/effects, especially the one I used on F99 - only the key that you press gets lit, and the color is changing based on the key itself.
With QK108, the best I could do is to have smallest lighting area possible that powers down the quickest, but it still covers few rows&columns and is always in one color...not a best way to use battery power.
Font used on keys is sort of weird&generic, with words on special keys printed with some strange SansSerif style that makes them look cheap.
I even think that Control key on the right side has writing a bit slanted.
There is also a matter of different font size on keys: F1-F12 has big, thick letters, while PgUp/PgDn, Home/End etc have a nice smaller font size which actually looks like it should.
VIA software is strange to use and is complicated.
I find the lack of documentation and explanation of keys a problem, let alone the 'layers'...so all the hype about 'programmability' is just that if regular person can't even understand what the software does.
I wish there was regular application for control besides this web-like version.
Positive things: connectivity is great, and the keyboard is really nicely built, with hefty feeling of sturdiness.
Typing is nice and does not create lot of errors even with this soft/sticky/rubbery feeling, so my hands don't get tired.
Key travel is pretty good for me, and the pressure I have to use is just fine - not sure if regular keys are better or worse in that regard.
Not sure if I should have gone with TH108PRO or maybe Epomaker/Aula F108...maybe when I get the new regular keys I will get hooked.
Only wish there were more ligting profiles that are actually different enough and battery savers.
