Gallery Monsgeek M1 Keyboard "build"

[sswilson]

I was initially going to document this in the peripherals area, but figured since I'm taking pics I'll throw it into the gallery area.



My first foray into a mid range Keyboard. Well reviewed CNC'd aluminum body that cost me $145 + $32 HST/Handling to get here from AliExpress. No initial pics of the body as I jumped right in to disassemble it and those parts are currently in the corner warming up after spending the day in the back of a CP van. One thing that presents itself immediately is how heavy this bloody thing is. I thought the Royal Kludge RK84 was decently substantial, but this thing weighs in @ 4.32lbs which is just shy of double the RK84's 2.2lbs (and that is fully assembled with switches/keycaps while this is barebones). Definitely hearkens back to the old IBM keyboards that you could use as a club should the need arise.

I will say (without pictures to back it up.... ) that it looks and feels amazing!







So.... reading/watching the reviews/unboxings on this thing, I was going by an early review which showed the screw mount stabs as a possible mod thrown into the box that you could use to replace the existing plate mounted stabs if you wished.... that's not the case with the model I got. There are no stabs installed on the PCB so my first step is going to be lubing these stabs and installing them.

I've ordered an "FR4" plate to try swapping out the existing PC one, but it's still in transit so that will be a later "mod". (And one I'm not sure will make any difference, but I wanted to get the full customizable experience so why not give it a shot).

 

[sswilson]

Round 2:





Lubed stabs installed and plate re-assembled. I'm surprised at how tight the tolerances are on both the stab mount holes and the plate standoff holes. Both setups are so tight they have to be snapped into place before securing them with screws.



PCB/Plate assembly with Oil Kings (for now). I've got switches, keycaps, and a different material plate inbound, but these will do until they get in.

 

[sswilson]

Round 3



Here's the unassembled upper and lower. The translucent material in the bottom half is a thick silicone insert that I can only assume would be where the battery compartment would be if this were a wireless version. The Copper coloured bits on either side are an insert which I could easily replace with a 3D printed one in the colour of my choosing. (I checked... there's already a model file on thingiverse.... ).





There's a non-conductive sheet that sits on the bottom of the case. The PCB+Plate connects via a single plug, and has a foam underlay (presumably mostly for sound dampening). It's a floating gasket mount design with 8 silicone mounting points (there's also another 4 spare mounts in the box).

Bottom pic is fully assembled just waiting for keycaps.







And there it is in all it's glory sporting the temporary keycaps. (I'll post final pics when they finally arrive). Looks and feels great. It's heavy enough that if you try to move it or pick it up, your initial impression is that it's stuck to the table. (Final weight came in @ 4.4lbs). The quality of the machining appears top notch, and I can't see any obvious flaws in the anodizing. Only downside (from my POV) is the lack of height adjustment, but I'll either just get used to it, or possibly grab a set of those laptop "feet" I posted about earlier last week.

 

[Shadowarez]

checkking Ali ooof there are some of these at $324 i must dig further into these see if itll be better then theCorsair i have that has been replaced 3 times in 2 years for Random dead internals.

 

[sswilson]

checkking Ali ooof there are some of these at $324 i must dig further into these see if itll be better then theCorsair i have that has been replaced 3 times in 2 years for Random dead internals.

I've seen them as low as $140 over the last couple of weeks. Regular price from AKKO store appears to be around $160, but even that, if you leave one in your cart long enough they'll send you a $10 USD coupon to sweeten the deal.

Still early days, and I'm waiting on some final pieces so I'm not going to offer a full opinion on the completed build for a while, but first impressions are really good.(I cannot stress how heavy this bloody thing is.... think of a 5lb sack of potatoes and that's the weight you're dealing with in a relatively small package.)

 

[sswilson]

Via works out of the box without needing to track down some sketchy JSON file. Not sure what QMK is/does, but apparently this is QMK compatible.

 

[Caldezar]

Curious what your final tally was after keycaps, switches, etc?

How dense is that foam dampening? That looks almost like silicone in the picture. Everything looks like it fits together incredibly tight.

I wonder if you could get some kilmat squished in below the non-conductive to dampen the sound even more. 0.o

 

[sswilson]

Assuming I don't get hit with any more taxes/duty.....

$145 for the keyboard
$35/40 for the switches (I bought 3X50 for $59)
$47 for the keycaps (Ghost Judges)
$17 for the extra plate (not really required)

So, awfully close to $250 + an extra $32 taxes/brokerage. Pretty much on par with what a Keychron aluminum frame would have cost me and less expensive than a similar Drop model would have been. I'm counting on liking the Duhuk switches on this board, but if I don't I've got more than enough Oil Kings and they sound pretty damn good as well.

There's three different batches of foam.... one thin that's between the switches/stabs and the PCB, one relatively thick between the plate and the PCB, and another relatively thick one on the bottom of the PCB between it and the bottom of the case. it's a fairly dense foam, and yeah I don't think there's a ton of room left in there.

So far I'm liking the sound profile, and I'm not noticing any hollowness that would be caused by lack of dampening material (and apparently that bottom non-conductive piece is supposed to help with that as well). I'm holding off on declaring whether I love it or not until I get the intended switches + keycaps installed. Then I'll get a chance to see what I think of the different material plate, and decide if I want to apply the tape mod they provided.

 

[Caldezar]

Wow, you got a solid price on everything. I'd have expected another 100 on top of that price overall.

 

[Bond007]

Assuming I don't get hit with any more taxes/duty.....

$145 for the keyboard
$35/40 for the switches (I bought 3X50 for $59)
$47 for the keycaps (Ghost Judges)
$17 for the extra plate (not really required)

So, awfully close to $250 + an extra $32 taxes/brokerage. Pretty much on par with what a Keychron aluminum frame would have cost me and less expensive than a similar Drop model would have been. I'm counting on liking the Duhuk switches on this board, but if I don't I've got more than enough Oil Kings and they sound pretty damn good as well.

There's three different batches of foam.... one thin that's between the switches/stabs and the PCB, one relatively thick between the plate and the PCB, and another relatively thick one on the bottom of the PCB between it and the bottom of the case. it's a fairly dense foam, and yeah I don't think there's a ton of room left in there.

So far I'm liking the sound profile, and I'm not noticing any hollowness that would be caused by lack of dampening material (and apparently that bottom non-conductive piece is supposed to help with that as well). I'm holding off on declaring whether I love it or not until I get the intended switches + keycaps installed. Then I'll get a chance to see what I think of the different material plate, and decide if I want to apply the tape mod they provided.

That's a lot more than I would pay for a keyboard, but considering what appears to be excellent build quality and expensive to produce parts, it seems like a great value compared to the big name brands. Keep us posted!