Because many users now use laptops for office work and games, but they are unwilling to give up the tapping experience of mechanical keyboards. As a result, a wireless mechanical keyboard with a tri-mode 87-key design appeared on the market. The design of removing the numeric keyboard is indeed a bit inconvenient in terms of user experience, but it also brings the advantage of being more compact and portable. In addition to being smaller, what new experiences can the current tri-mode 87-key wireless keyboard bring? This time we will review a DAREU A87 Pro tri-mode mechanical keyboard to see how far the current 87-key mechanical keyboard has evolved.
The DAREU A87 Pro tri-mode mechanical keyboard is available in two styles: Black King Kong and Sky Edition. My review this time is the Black King Kong version. The keyboard as a whole is composed of three colors of black, white and yellow, which looks very coordinated. The overall volume is indeed smaller than the 98-key and 104-key mechanical keyboards, at the expense of the numeric keyboard. Users who often use numeric keyboards need to get used to it slowly. The three indicators of the keyboard are located in the lower right area of the front, which are the upper and lower case indicator, the battery indicator, and the indicator of the 2.4GHz/bluetooth wireless connection.
In the right area of the keyboard, DAREU provides a slot for receiving a wireless receiver, which is very user-friendly. After all, the main feature of the 87-key keyboard is to take it out for mobile use. If there is no storage slot, the wireless receiver is easy to lose.
There are 5 non-slip feet on the back of the keyboard, and the support brackets in the upper left corner and upper right corner are equipped with 2-stage adjustment. The USB Type-C slot at the top of the back is still DAREU’s traditional hollow design on both sides, so the Type-C cable of some Android phones is not compatible with this keyboard.
In the past, many tri-mode mechanical keyboards were mainly switched by the combination of Fn+number keys when switching devices. Although this method is also very convenient, it is obvious that there is no dedicated adjustment button to come faster. The DAREU A87 Pro has an adjustment button on the upper left side of the keyboard, through which the three modes of 2.4GHz wireless connection, wired connection and Bluetooth wireless connection can be quickly switched. Such an adjustment button design is very efficient for switching devices. As soon as I use this button, it feels like it should be standard on tri-mode keyboards. In addition to PCs and laptops, the keyboard is compatible with Android and iOS operating systems, so phones and tablets can also be paired via Bluetooth.
This keyboard adopts a high-purity PBT two-color keycap scheme, the surface has a matte texture, there is no oiling problem, and it is very convenient to clean and maintain. In terms of switches, Sky V3 is used. This switch provides a life of 80 million strokes and a trigger pressure of 40±3gf. Big keys like SHIFT, Enter and Space also use a well-optimized satellite switch. There is no shaking when hitting the big keys, and the balance when hitting is still very good.
Moreover, many of DAREU’s mechanical keyboards support users to replace the switch themselves. This keyboard also continues this fine tradition, not only supports hot-swap, but is compatible with almost 99% of the mechanical switches on the market. In addition, a key puller is provided in the package, and users can either replace it with a DAREU Violet Gold switch, or replace it with other compatible mechanical switches. In addition, there is a brush and several keycaps in the package. The former can make it more convenient for users to clean the keyboard, and the latter can bring some fresh visual experience when the user is tired of the keyboard.
Although the tapping experience of the mechanical keyboard is very comfortable, it will be very distressing if the sound interference affects the normal life of others. DAREU has apparently noticed this too, and they designed a new fenced Gasket structure for this keyboard. A high-toughness noise-cancelling silicone pad is used between the inside of the keyboard and the bottom case, which significantly reduces the sound of keyboard tapping.
For gamers, the absence of RGB lighting always feels like something is missing. Although the DAREU A87 Pro keyboard is small in size, the RGB lighting effects are still preserved. In addition, the lighting effect can be controlled by combination keys such as Fn+[, Fn+], Fn+↑, Fn+↓ and Fn+Pause, and the Fn key can also form a multimedia combination key with F1-F12. However, these key combinations are not displayed intuitively on the keycap, so users need to memorize them themselves. Personally, I feel that it is better to list the key position information of the key combination in detail on the keycap. Otherwise, for many novices, it is still very troublesome to adjust.
Of course, after the RGB backlight effect is turned on, it still affects the battery life of the keyboard itself. Fortunately, the keyboard has a built-in 4000mAh lithium battery, which can provide 7 days of battery life when the RGB lighting effect is turned on. And if the RGB lighting effect is turned off, the battery life of the wireless connection can be increased to 45 days. Moreover, the keyboard also has a smart sleep function, which can enter the sleep state when the keyboard is not in use.
In addition, DAREU A87 Pro also supports full-key no-overrun function, which is very important for games that require a combination of multiple keys to form skills. It can be seen that this keyboard also has a good performance in the game experience, that is, when you use it, try to choose to play some games that have little effect on the number keyboard.
Overall, the DAREU A87 Pro tri-mode mechanical keyboard is not only distinctive in appearance, but also has a lot of design optimization in the way of tri-mode connection and the tapping experience. If you don’t use the numeric keyboard often, but want to get the smooth typing experience of a mechanical keyboard, then this mechanical keyboard will definitely not let you down.