Review

Royal Kludge rk71 Keyboard Review

Royal Kludge rk 71

Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard made in China is an affordable keyboard, which looks like a customizable keyboard. It is suitable for mechanical keyboard novices and users who want to try a customizable keyboard. Although it can’t be compared to premium keyboards like the Filco and Razer, the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard is still worth trying in the same price range as mechanical keyboards. Today, if you are interested, please follow me to see the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard I have bought.

Accessories of Royal Kludge rk71 Keyboard

Royal Kludge rk71

Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard accessories are moderate, including nearly all accessories in other common keyboards. In the box, there is an RK71 mechanical keyboard, 2 Magnetic Pad Foots, 1 Keycap and one Switch Puller, four Replacement RK Switches, a Type-C Cable and a User Manual.

Full View

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The Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard is a 70% layout with a 71-key configuration. In terms of its appearance, it includes two colors: black and white and it is equipped with an RGB backlight. The Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard has an exceptionally compact layout, which is as big as a 14-inch laptop, and it is thin and light enough to carry around.

I’m not quite sure what the relationship is between the rk and the Ganss, but as far as the appearance, they seem that the two keyboards are almost identical. As soon as you get the keyboard, you can see that the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard has a really compact layout. Because it has 71 keys, this keyboard is slightly larger compared to the 61-key one and equipped with more common keys.

With a compact 71-key configuration and standard length of all keys, the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard is well-compatible with the most personalized keycap sets on the market. Compared to rk 61 keyboard, the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard has a dedicated directional key and its keys on the right side are closely arranged, and it will take you some time to re-adapt it and realize its operation blindly. In front of the keyboard, the Royal Kludge logo is printed in the lower right corner.

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And look from its side, you can see that the keyboard itself includes a certain height, which is in line with the ergonomic design. In addition, on the side, there are also indicators and a very nice edge design. The keycaps adopt the sunken design, and when you look from one side, you can’t see the keyboard’s switch at all, which is very nice to keep dust from its inner structure. The keycaps are OEM height so that the keyboard better meets the needs of users and relieves users’ fatigue.

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The Royal Kludge rk71 mechanical keyboard has a clear edge, frosted grain surface and a strong sense of metal. Moreover, the RGB side lights are retained on both sides and can be switched by the FN key combination. The keyboard’s indicator light is displayed on the Capslock key position, or full-key lights flashing prompt.

In addition, the bottom case of the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard does not come with adjustable feet, but through the attached magnetic brackets to adjust the keyboard’s height, which seems to be very advanced. The magnetic feet kickstands are still quite stable. If you do not like to use the brackets, then you should place them in a safe place, otherwise, they will be lost easily.

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The Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard adopts the detachable design and uses the type-c cable connection. The connection slot is relatively wide and can be better compatible with a variety of customized wires. The back of the keyboard is equipped with four non-slip rubber pads and the two attached magnetic kickstands can be fixed in the upper two pads to adjust the height of the keyboard. Besides, there is a special keyboard switch on the bottom to control the keyboard, mainly used in wireless connection mode.

Specs

Brand Name: RK Royal Kludge

Product Model: RK71

Keys Number: 71 keys

Keyboard Color: Black/White

Axis Body: Blue/Red/Brown

Keycap Type: ABS double-shot keycaps

2 Mode Connection: Bluetooth & USB Wired

3 Mode Connection: 2.4G Wireless & Bluetooth 5.0 & USB-C Wired

Backlit: RGB

Layout: 71 Keys 70% Keyboard Layout

System: Windows XP/VISTA/7/8/10 with Bluetooth Adapter, IOS, macOS, Linux, Android

Battery Capacity: 1000mAh

Size: 330*102*37mm

Net weight: 0.64 kg

Battery Capacity: 1000mAh

Key life: >50 million times

Function

When it comes to its function, the keyboard supports a Stabilizer-mode connection and is compatible with Windows and Mac OS. At the same time, the Royal Kludge rk71 mechanical keyboard is equipped with Bluetooth wireless connection and can remember up to 5 devices. In addition, it has the hot-swappable feature, which allows you to replace 3 pins/5 pins switches freely without soldering issues and you can enjoy the fun of making your own unique keyboard.

The Royal Kludge rk1 mechanical keyboard, like most keyboards today, has the NKRO function or N-Key rollover feature that allows you to press multiple keys at the same time without conflict. In wired mode, according to tests, I can press multiple keys at the same time and they are all registered.

In wired mode, I can easily press up to 10 keys at the same time. What’s more surprising is that despite being in Bluetooth mode, it still supports the N-key rollover feature and I press up to 5 keys at the same time without conflict. Personally, 5 keys are more than enough for my daily typing tasks and gaming.

Keycaps and fonts

Because of the relatively low price of the keyboard itself, in order to control costs, the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard uses a set of ABS double-shot translucent keycaps instead of PBT keycaps. Although the plastic case keyboard using PBT material keycaps has been a trend, as the old saying goes, disadvantages must be followed by advantages.

The set of keycaps supports the backlight effect with the white positioning plate, which makes the light effect more comfortable. The keycaps are ABS closed keycaps and use the skin-like treatment about its surface, which has the potential to oil after use for a long time.

For ABS keycaps, it is inevitable. However, this price point of the keyboard is basically equipped with the ABS keycaps and it is normal that its general workmanship is also normal. After all, it is impossible to use it for eight or even more than ten years at such a price. It looks like you’re kidding. Do not be too harsh on it.

Switch

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The Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard uses its own switch. There are three types of switches to choose from: brown switch, blue switch and red switch. Here are the differences between them.

Blue Switch: Blue Switch can offer a quicker and springier response. It can make a crisp click sound for spring and give you a good typing experience. And it can give you precise tactile feedback for ultimate Gaming performance.

Brown Switch: Brown Switch is slightly quieter and easier to trigger than the blue switch. It is suitable for both typing and gaming. Some people prefer the brown switch since it enables you to double tap faster and typists like them because they still have good tactile feedback, but the audio feedback isn’t quite as noticeable as the blue switch.

Red Switch: Red switch is a linear switch, meaning that the force of each stroke at the beginning and the end is nearly identical. According to the test result, most people consider it “smoother” and “faster”, which makes it especially popular among gaming enthusiasts. Red Switch is the best suitable switch used in Office.

Trigger Force: Blue>Brown=Red

Tactile Feedback(Sound): Blue>Brown>Red

The keyboard I bought is a blue-switch keyboard. The Royal Kludge rk71 blue keyboard requires 50g of actuation force, and its work travel distance is 2.2mm and a total of 4.0mm travel distance. Every key of the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard will give you a clear clicky sound. For me, it is very comfortable to use, but not suitable for a quiet office.

Backlight Effect

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Dare you imagine that the keyboard has nineteen different background lighting effects? They are static, SingleOn, Glittering, Tilt, SingleOff, Colorful, Shuttle, UserDefine, Falling, Breath, Rotating, Spectrum, Scrolling, Rolling, Explore, Launch, Ripples, Flowing and Pulsating.

In terms of the backlight, there are other adjusted options. You can use the combination to realize multiple adjustments. For example, Fn+ ins can switch side LED backlight mode, Fn+ END can switch backlight color, fn+ home can switch the backlight mode, Fn+upper/down directional keys can increase/decrease the backlight brightness, Fn+right/left directional keys can increase/decrease the backlight speed.

Besides, if you want to switch to the Wins system from another mode, you can press Fn+A; And if you want to switch to the Mac OS system, you can press Fn+S to realize the switch. The backlight of each key of the keyboard can be customized. If you are interested and like to experience it, you can read the user guide in detail.

Stabilizer

The stabilizer in the space key has a slight wobble, and there will be a rattling sound when using, but it does not affect the use. Besides, there is a factory lube on it. In my view, in addition to the rattle sound, the overall balance performance is good.

Battery Life

The Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard has a built-in battery of 1000 mAh, generally which takes 3 hours to charge fully. When charging, there is a red LED indicator on the spacebar that turns off once the keyboard is fully charged. In general, if it is used normally, it can work for 10 hours continuously after being fully charged, depending on how you use the keyboard, such as, with or without lighting.

I have made an experiment. I can use the keyboard normally for 18 hours or so via Bluetooth with the LED on, which is in power-saving mode. When the keyboard is in saving mode, the backlight will turn off after 1 minute when not in use and goes into standby mode after 5 minutes. This mode will extend the battery life of the keyboard and can be used for a day without being recharged.

Three-mode Connection

Although the keyboard is not so outstanding, the basic function is not outdated. It supports a three-mode connection: 2.4G Wireless and Bluetooth 5.0 and a USB wired connection. It has extremely low latency in the absence of signal interference and can easily switch among 3 different devices with FN + Q/W/E in wireless mode, which will maximize your productivity.

In addition, the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard allows you to connect up to 5 devices simultaneously and switch between them easily. To connect the keyboard to your device, you just have to press FN + P to activate Bluetooth mode, then press FN + any keys from Q W E R and T, and then press FN + P again for 3 seconds until it blinks indicating that the keyboard is now in pairing mode.

Typing Experience

In terms of the typing experience, as expected, the blue switch is very satisfying to type. It has a gentle click sound instead of a shrill and loud one and the tactile feedback is good, which is nearly in sync with the clicks. I don’t have any suggestions for the RK blue switch. When it comes to the typing experience, what I like about the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard is that it has dedicated directional keys and it is slim and compact.

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If you were a 60% configuration or other configuration user for a long time, here it’s worth noting that using a 71-key layout like this takes a bit of transition time. Muscle memory plays a critical role in the process of using the keyboard. We usually tended to press the backspace key in the upper right corner, but the 71-key keyboard is added with extra several rows, different from the previous layout. Therefore, it needs time to adapt.

In fact, I didn’t have much hope for the nice hand feel before, but I find it is beyond my expectation to some extent. The keyboard’s RGB lighting is still quite nice. The keyboard supports multiple backlight modes and you can use fn+ins to switch between different lighting effects. It is a bright spot for me, a person who likes RGB backlight.

The Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard is using Bluetooth 3.0 program and supports connecting 5 devices and to switch through the fn + Q/W/E/R/T. In the typing test, only occasionally latency phenomenon appears. Of course, if you want to play games, I still recommend that you use a wired connection.

Generally speaking, the macro function of many Bluetooth three-mode keyboards will be more or less affected and most are only available in wired mode, but the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard can also be used in both wired mode and wireless mode, which is pretty nice.

Summary

The Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard is an ordinary keyboard at a low price. It uses ABS double-shot keycaps, rk own switch, detachable design, RGB backlight and three-mode connection. It has the property of a customizable keyboard. And if your budget is limited and you are eager to have a cool keyboard, you can learn about it and choose a switch suitable for you.

Well, that’s about all using experience of the Royal Kludge rk71 keyboard. In general, it is a mechanical keyboard for those people who wants to buy a mechanical keyboard for the first time to have a try. If you want to know another layout or brand keyboard, you can tell me in the comment area.

Quickly Link to Royal Kludge rk71:

https://www.good-keyboard.com/rk-royal-kludge-rk71-mechanical-keyboard-70-71-keys-rgb-compact-wired-2-4g-wireless-bluetooth-5-0-gaming-keyboard-for-desktop/

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