Varmilo Beijing Opera Keyboard Review – Excellent Texture and Unique Style

Introduction 

As is known to all, Beijing Opera is the quintessence of China and the precious cultural wealth of the world. It has gone through thousands of years and has been handed down till now. The mechanical keyboard used to be a necessity for gaming players, but in recent years they have become increasingly popular and widely applicable in many industries. This also shows that it has advantages that the membrane keyboard does not have.

Varmilo Beijing Opera Keyboard is jointly designed by Varmilo and Li Huan, a well-known illustrator, animation artist, and illustrator of the Chinese keyboard series. The traditional Chinese drama image of “Hua Dan” is integrated with keyboard font design and illustration visual art to create the “Hua Dan” (Hua dan is a role, played by a young girl in Beijing Opera) keyboard, which combines ancient and modern aesthetics.

Varmilo is so ingenious that it combines the Beijing Opera and mechanical keyboard, attracting people’s attention. It has made the greatest efforts and gained the utmost success compared with the other brands in the mechanical keyboard industry. It is more and more famous in the industry with its own unique characteristics. 

Categories 

Varmilo Beijing Opera keyboard is just a theme keyboard of Varmilo, which includes many models. According to the number of keys, it includes 68 keys (65%), 87 keys (80%), and 108 keys (110%). In short, every keyboard is different, either in the number of keys, the switch, the USB interface, and so on. There’s always one for you. According to the switch used, it is divided into Cherry switch and EC V2 switch keyboard; According to its name, it includes Miya 68key, VA87M/108M key, MY68/MA87/MA108 keyboard and so on.

In addition to the number of keys, size and weight, they vary in adaptable industry, connection mode, hand feel and function. For example, the keyboard of Varmilo EC V2 switch keyboard includes Daisy, rose, Sakura switch, etc. The switch is more smooth to use without physical contact. Varmilo’s “Hua Dan” keyboard using a Cherry switch is mainly red, blue, brown, silent red, silver switch, etc., this switch body is more commonly used and has a long history.

Of course, the latter costs less than the EC V2 switch. Also, like the Varmilo VD Series keyboard, it supports a dual-mode wireless connection. Bluetooth 4.0 is high-speed, and stable without delay when playing games. And the function is only supported by the Varmilo VD series keyboard.

Next, let’s look at a Varmilo Beijing Opera VA87M wired mechanical keyboard.

Packing & Accessories

We first open the box to see its packaging and accessories, and then we will have a look at it mainly from its appearance, components, functions, details and other parts.

First of all, what’s in the box?

I can’t help praising that Varmilo’s luxury can be seen from its box. In contrast to the keyboard packaging I’ve bought before, Varmilo’s box is very shiny and high-quality. Its front side is the Hua Dan theme painted by Li Huan. The background is black, which looks sacred, noble and admirable. In the top right corner, it reads “Varmilo & Chinese jointly designed limited keyboard.”

After looking at the box closer, I was immediately captured by the beautiful back of Hua Dan’s eyes. On the lower side of the box, the “keyboard artist” is printed in gold. On the back of the box, is the story of Hua Chinese Girls, the introduction, origin and parameters of the keyboard are written in both Chinese and English.

When you open the packaging box, the keyboard is wrapped in a cotton bag and the dust cover is placed on the left side, and the accessories and instructions are placed on the right side. A Bluetooth adapter, keycap puller, two keycaps, a key switch tester, USB cable and a pendant with the theme are also included.

After taking out the keyboard, a faint aroma spreads to the nose. I have long heard that Varmilo’s keyboard is fragrant. I was curious about it before. So it was sprayed with perfume.

I want to add that the switch inside this switch tester is an electrostatic capacitive Sakura V2 switch, and the pattern on this switch tester is the exclusive pattern of the Hua Dan. And only the purchase of the Hua Dan keyboard will be given as a gift. You can see the face of the actor in the center through the transparent keycap.

In addition, the keycap on the switch tester can be removed and replaced with the Esc key. There are two replacement keys left, which are the Caps Lock and the scroll lock.

Take Casp Lock as an example. After changing the keycap, if you press the Caps Lock, the transparent part of the keycap will emit white light to indicate that the user of the keyboard is currently in the Caps Lock state.

Appearance of Varmilo Beijing Opera

“Hua Dan” keyboard is innovative, utilizing Beijing Opera as the theme, injecting the soul of the quintessence of China, costumes, singing style, makeup, props and other elements into the keyboard, “four treasures of the study” in the new era.

The Varmilo Beijing Opera keyboard mainly includes three colors: red, white and black. Its thematic color is black, white as the auxiliary color and red as an ornament. The color is harmonious and beautiful. If you look closely, you can see the opera elements that Varmilo has designed on the keycaps.

On the small keys, the top of each letter will have a corresponding seal character about the Beijing Opera printed on it. For example, it will put the seal characters of “生、旦、净、末、丑” on corresponding keys “S, D, J, M, C” according to the Chinese first letter.

The common Arabic number(1,2,3,4…) are also added with their capital Chinese characters (壹,贰,弎,肆). It looks more characteristic. The original English words on the keyboard couldn’t be found and there are only various Chinese elements, which seems to tell you the fact that the keyboard is from China.

In terms of the direction of the keys, Varmilo changes the four arrows into the names of Chinese traditional sacred animals in Chinese seal characters, while the big keys are translated into Chinese, such as Ctrl, Ente, Shift and the like. The keycaps are printed with images are the space bar, Enter key and ESC key. And the space bar is printed with the “Hua Dan”, and the Enter and ESC keys are printed with Chinese auspicious clouds.

The cover of the “Hua Dan”keyboard adopts the gilt design of Beijing Opera costumes to improve its texture, and the back adopts the “jade belt” design of Beijing Opera, and the metal nameplate is cleverly transformed into a waist buckle.

The fonts of the “Hua Dan” keyboard adopt the terminology in Beijing Opera, which is homophonic instead of the original English letter. In terms of the function keys, the original English words are translated into Chinese accurately, and the authentic Chinese characters show you complete meaning to give users’ a heavy Chinese style.

Its fonts utilize Chinese ancient-style design. The keys of F1-F12 are corresponding to Chinese twelves ancient pitches. Every character is a Chinese ancient letter or seal character. The auspicious clouds and sacred animals are Chinese characteristics as well.

Designs of Varmilo Beijing Opera 

The 87-key Varmilo Beijing Opera keyboard is about 356 mm long, 134 mm wide and 53 mm with kickstands. The 68-key Varmilo Beijing Opera keyboard is about 341 mm long, 108 mm wide and 50 mm with kickstands. The 108-key Varmilo Beijing Opera keyboard is about 442 mm long, 137 mm wide and 53 mm with kickstands.

Both of them are compatible with Wins OS and not fully compatible with MAC OS.

Towards its back, you will find some practical designs. There are two solid kickstands to adjust different heights to satisfy people’s needs. In addition, you can see five rubber strips so as to protect your keyboard from slipping on the ground when folding the kickstands.

As you can see, the Varmilo Beijing Opera keyboard uses a detachable design for its USB cable. It is strange that the Varmilo Beijing Opera 87-key mechanical keyboard uses Mini USB rather than the more popular and common Type-C interface, while its 68-key is the type-C interface. This is a puzzling point that I am curious about now.

There is another considerate design, which is a three-way slot, which helps users to fix the cable and keep the desk order. Although it looks unnecessary, it can play a potential role in your working mood.

In addition, the keyboard adopts the full buckle design without any screw and its internal structure is precise. Without screws, it is pretty perfect from the perspective of the visual effect.

The Varmilo Beijing Opera VA87M keyboard adopts a Cherry Mx switch. When I buy the keyboard, it includes blue, red, brown, silver and silent red switches.

The most successful component of Varmilo is its keycaps. The PBT material is relatively common, which seems to be limited the materials and has space to improve. As we all know, PBT is durable and is not easy to be greasy, which has the ability to save energy. But I want to compliment its dye sub-printing process. Do you what the process is? I have searched for some information and let us learn together.

It is said that dye-sublimation printing (or dye-sub printing) is a digital computer printing technique that uses heat to transfer dye onto materials such as plastic, card, paper, or fabric. The theory in the process is that the process uses the science of sublimation, in which heat and pressure are applied to a solid, turning it into a gas through an endothemic reaction without passing through the liquid phase. The result of the sublimation process is nearly permanent, high resolution,full-color print.

This is the technology. After learning it, I am so attracted by Varmilo’s attitude and conscientious spirit. As mentioned above, the process indeed is complicated and requires many time and energy. The image is permanent and does not easy to be worn out under normal conditions.

The keyboard is equipped with white light, including two modes: solid and breathing mode, whose design is normal.

Functions

For all of us, a mechanical keyboard is used for use. No matter how much it is beautiful, charming, or artistic, its wonderful performance is the most important. The fact proves that the Varmilo Beijing Opera VA87M keyboard is not bad. Its functions are complete, accompanied by some shortcut keys.

The keyboard also contains many multimedia and shortcut keys. It supports N-key rollover and quick lock Wins key. Although I hardly need these functions, I believe they are friendly for those gaming players. If you are working or typing alone, the fast multimedia key is beneficial to relieve and relax.

In addition, the keyboard has a long battery life and can run for more than 300 hours if you don’t use it frequently. It can be used continuously for a month even if it is used every day. What is more, the keyboard can connect four devices (PC, mobile phone, tablet, etc.) at the same time and can switch through shortcuts.

It is compatible with Mac OS, which is mentioned above. Here, I introduce some shortcuts. Generally speaking, the keyboard is suitable for Wins OS at first, so if you want to use the Mac system, you can press Fn and A for more than three seconds at the same time.

After that, the Caps Lock will flash for three seconds and then the keyboard will switch to Mac mode. If you want to switch back to Windows mode, press Fn and W at the same time for more than three seconds. Then Caps Lock flashes for three seconds and the keyboard switches to Windows mode.

If you find that pressing Caps Lock does not blink, the keyboard has been switched to this mode. If you want to change to the original preset mode (back to the Varmilo preset Windows mode), press Fn and Esc and hold for three seconds.

When the keyboard is connecting to the Windows OS, you can press Fn and X to switch on the light. When the light is on, you can press Fn and the right arrow key can switch the breathing light mode and solid light mode. In breathing mode, press Fn+ upper or down key to speed up or slow down the light effect. And in solid mode, press the Fn + upper or down key to increase or reduce the luminance.

Conclusion

There are three advantages I concluded.

1. Excellent texture and workmanship. This is probably the most unusual mechanical keyboard I have ever unpacked. The overall work is excellent in both its image and technology. Varmilo keyboard may be one of the most outstanding and unique keyboards in the current non-custom keyboard.

2. Nice hand feel. The straight up and down feature is attributed to its switch. It won’t be too tired due to its switch and its kickstands on its back.

3. Unique style. Although themed keyboards are more and more common, Varmilo is the leading in the themed keyboard. Its craft is elaborate and its attitude is pretty admirable. The design concept of Hua Dan is a combination of traditional Beijing Opera and keycaps, which is following the current fashion trend.

In addition, it invests much into artistic design, contributing to the dye sublimation process. Its keycaps are enough durable and wore-resistant, which is an advantage beyond most of its competitors.

This article is written through the combination of my understanding, using the experience of Varmilo, and information from multitudes of ways. There may be some things that are not covered, welcome to make your comments.