Yunzii AL66 Aluminum Keyboard

[sswilson]

Latest addition to my keyboard collection (and presumably the last body for the foreseeable future... ).




First Impressions:

Yunzii AL66. Price was $154 delivered through Amazon but their pricing is all over the place with some listings being all-in (including import taxes which this one was) and other listings show the pre-tax price.

Initial impressions are good.... it's not crazy heavy, but still comes in @ 2.6 lbs which is relatively heavy considering it's a 65%.

The switches are a pre-lubed "Milk" box switch. I'm actually quite pleased with them... they sound great, and @ 45g activation aren't overly light. OTOH, total travel is only 3.3mm so they are similar to the cherry speeds that I wasn't completely impressed with in that aspect. I'm going to try a different set of switches, but am not completely sure I won't just revert back to the stock ones.

Keycaps are Double Shot PBT and measure in at around 1.5mm wall thickness so they're beefier than the stock ones I've seen on Corsair, and RK boards, but aren't quite premium.

 

[sswilson]

Poron Switch foam, and a poron "sandwich" foam between the PCB and plate.



As stated above... box style switch, and you can see clearly here that the plate is cut to provide more flex. There's an awful lot of grease on those stabs.





That's as far as I needed to go for the keycaps on the mixed switch setup before deciding that I very much prefer the Duhuk switches, so it's pretty handy that I ordered enough for both the latest M1 and a 65% board.



Set of KBDiy GMK MarrsGreen Keycap Cherry Profile clones. Not packaged as nicely as the Ghost Judges, but of similar weight and wall thickness. As with the GJ Nautilus set, there's bright yellow accent keycaps that I'm considering using (esc, space, and the RH enter).

Functionally, I haven't bothered with the software yet, but I am impressed with the FN functions for the F keys. A double tap on the FN key switches between the number row and function row. It also switches between Del/Home and the Esc/Tilde keys.
edit: I also decided on using these rubber pads on this (and the M1s) which tilt the keyboard(s) somewhere around where the shorter leg option typically is.

Amazon.ca

 

[sswilson]

My keycap set came with 2X 6.5U yellow spacebars instead of 1X 6.5U and 1 6.25U.

Not even sure if I want to use it, but I've messaged the manufacturer to see if they'll ship me the proper spacebar (or issue some kind of refund).

 

[sswilson]

I'm really enjoying the combination of this body with the Duhuk switches and KBDiy GMK cherry profile clones. This keycap set has a similar feel to the Ghost Judge ones I threw onto an M1. I had initially avoided cherry profile replacement keycaps, but havfe to admit that the profile is growing on me.

I suspect the smaller format (65%) body style results in a more solid sounding/feeling typing experience.

Getting a replacement spacebar appears to be on track... pictures have been exchanged and I got a confirmation query overnight WRT 6.25U being the part I'm missing.

 

[sswilson]

Functionally, I haven't bothered with the software yet, but I am impressed with the FN functions for the F keys. A double tap on the FN key switches between the number row and function row. It also switches between Del/Home and the Esc/Tilde keys.

Finally got around to using the software. Seems functional and intuitive (assuming you've used similar software in the past). I was easily able to set a FN+P combination for print screen.

One small bit of weirdness.... the battery charging light is tied to the sleep function so you only see it while the keyboard is active.

Getting the replacement spacebar didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped... they don't have any in stock so my name has gone into a list for replacement if/when they run another batch. Seems a bit sus though that they doubled up on the wrong spacebar... how many packages have they shipped like that since they ran out of the 6.25u spacebars? The keycaps are nice enough, but based on that, I'm not sure I'll order any more KBDiy sets.

 

[sswilson]

Final choice of keycaps for this particular board. I managed to snag a proper set of GMK 8008 (2) keycaps on sale ($49 USD / $103 CDN delivered from the US). The pink legends really pop, and the colour is amazing which is apparently one of the things that GMK excels at.

I'm happy with how this turned out, but I think it also sated my desire to try a set that wasn't a clone. I'll probably stick with higher end clones from here on in though as I can't see myself forking out $250+ just for a set of keycaps.