Hi chicks, this is CanaryRAM, my name is Aleig and
welcome to a new chapter on lay-in layout. In this case we are going to analyze the EPOMAKER EP84
Let's go
As always, we cannot start if it is not for unboxing.
In this case Epomaker surprises us with a white foam cover wrapping our keyboard,
and behind it we have a compartment that keeps on surprising us.
In this case we have a white USB C cable to match our keyboard.
But the real point comes to its side,
and for once in a life, a commercial keyboard comes with a great set of keypullers.
Looking at the keyboard first, we are facing an ultra compact TKL
called 75% layout.
This EP84 has, as its own nomenclature indicates,
84 keys,
dispensing with only 2 function keys and 1 right modifier.
As for the keycaps of this layout,
they're made of translucent ABS in a retro white tone to combine with the case of our keyboard.
The switches that this unit mounts are Gateron Brown, and you can also choose between Black, Red and Blue.
This Gateron Brown variant as many will know is tactile and you can see it in its own chapter of Switch&Keys,
it offers us a small bump in the middle of the stroke of each key,
which makes us have a real feedback of WHEN runs to the key
On the other hand, all Browns suffer from the same problem.
Its linear ramp in combination with the characteristics of the switches themselves
makes them more like broken linear ones than tactile.
We can solve this at any time simply by removing the switches with the switch puller that comes in the box,
due to this keyboard is HOTSWAP.
Removing all the switches and keycaps to proceed to disassemble the keyboard
I realize that we don't have the typical Tray mount assemble.
This keyboard is TOP MOUNT and simply by removing the tabs that surrounds the bottom,
we have our keyboard disassembled.
Internally it is a cocktail of PREMIUM things,
although they didn't know how to make the most of it.
On the one hand and the most important thing are the stabilizers,
specifically those of the space bar.
These come with dampening between the stab and the PCB
to reduce rattle and wooble from the stabilizers.
However, the rest don't bring it, resulting in too high a sway.
Under the PCB we find two interesting data,
since first we find a cable that passes through a foam sheet.
This sheet avoids excess reverberations in the box when we hit the keys.
The other point is that the cable leads to a daughter board where we have the USBC of our keyboard.
Moving on to the lighting, it is LED SMD per SWITCH
like practically all hotswap keyboards,
so we will have a very good lighting of our keyboard.
Ok, moving on to the functions,
we can find all the multimedia in the F top row
as usual in all commercial keyboards.
To recover our two missing function keys on the keyboard,
it's enough to combine FN + DELETE for the INSERT
and FN + PRINTSCREEN for the SCROLL LOCK
As for the lighting, we can switch between the 19 modes with the FN + PAUSE combination.
The lighting modes can be modified with both the FN + HOME combination to change the tone,
and with FN + ARROW CLUSTER for the speed and luminance.
We also have the combination FN + SPACEBAR to pause the lighting
and FN + PLECA to turn it off and on.
And as in any gamer keyboard, combining FN + SO KEY, we will block the system keys.
I also want to remind you of 3 combinations that for me are fundamental in this keyboard.
The first is the FN + ESC combination, in this case we are going to jump directly to static lighting.
To later be able to modify the color with FN + HOME
The second important combination is holding FN+PLECA,
in this case what we will do is restart the keyboard.
The third and last combination that is very important to me on a hotswap keyboard is FN + F12.
With this combination what we will do is lock the keyboard,
allowing us to press any key without problem due to no command will be executed.
Moving on to the pros and cons, we start with the bad part.
The swiches are southfacing, this together with the sockets and
keycaps that are kinda bad, gives us a weird feedback as a result.
Because we're going to have quite a bit of rattle and wooble on these keys.
The positive part and as we have already seen in this review, is the keyboard assembly itself.
Due to we have a pretty good spacebar thanks to all the blockers.
And we also have a pretty good build, almost similar to many custom keyboards.
The addition of a foam layer is a very good point for this keyboard.
This reduces many resonances in the plastic box.
Another plus point is that the USB-C is on a daughterboard.
In this way we prevent this connector from getting annoyed. If it happens, we can replace to the mainboard.
A curious fact about this keyboard is that we are facing a Keycool KC84.
In this case, what has been done is to remove all the bluetooth components and leave it wired.
This gives us a very good keyboard for a low price. We are talking about the range of $85 (€70)
For that range and having already analyzed several keyboards on this channel,
I can assure you that we are dealing with a TOP TIER keyboard.
Because we have; Hotswappable keyboard, good layout, good construction
and we can readapt it to our liking by changing keycaps, stabs and switches.
The target of this keyboard is for people who stream and play GTA Roleplay.
Because we have a very compact format without dispensing with the function keys.
BUT, if you are doing some roleplay in GTA V and you are a cop, you are going to need a NUMPAD.
Well chicks, I hope you liked this chapter, if so, hit the like button,
subscribe if you are not and hit the bell to watch out for upcoming videos.
As always I leave you all the info and links in the description of this video, and see you in the next one.
See ya fellas!
