The Azio Retro Classic Mechanical Keyboard Review: Eyecatching, But Stiff
by E. Fylladitakis on January 3, 2018 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Peripherals
- Mechanical Keyboards
- Kailh
- Azio
- Steampunk
The Azio/Kailh Typelit Switch
The center-LED “Typelit” switch is the technological highlight of the Retro Classic. The placement of the LED at the center of the switch allowed for the positioning of the characters at the exact center of the keycaps. With the round keycaps that the keyboard is using, backlighting would be very awkward without such a switch.
It is obvious that the design of these switches was inspired from Omron’s Romer-G switch, a product that Logitech has been using for many of their high-end gaming keyboards. We are unsure how Kailh circumvented Omron’s patent on the design but that is not up to us to scrutinize. The switch seems to be a hybrid between the Cherry MX and Omron Romer-G, using the core Cherry MX design for the housing and actuation but having a reformed stem for the LED to be placed at the center of it.
Azio needed a switch to emulate the behavior of old mechanical typewriters and an audible tactile switch is the obvious choice here. We feel that the Kailh “Typelit” switch is a good, yet not perfect match. It is a stiff, tactile switch, feeling much like a stiffer version of the Cherry MX Blue switch. The tactile feedback is clearly audible but not as loud as that of common Cherry MX Blue switches (and their copies). What we did not like is the shortened travel distance that makes the switches less comfortable. It also makes the experience less authentic, as the old mechanical typewriters it is trying to emulate had three to five times the travel distance (i.e. 12 to 20 mm, depending on the type and model) of a typical mechanical keyboard, not less.
The performance of the switch is very close to what Azio has posted in their website, with the minor exception being that our tests indicated the switches actuating quite a bit before their specified average actuation point. In all our tests, the switch would actuate at 1.3-1.4 mm down the travel distance. Azio/Kailh states that the actuation distance is 1.6 ± 0.5 mm, so that is technically within the switch’s specifications, but not very satisfactory. The manufacturer’s rating itself is the problem here, because the X ± 0.5 mm range actually covers nearly 28% of the whole travel distance. Stating that the switch would actuate “about halfway to the bottom” is just as accurate as that.
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ddriver - Wednesday, January 3, 2018 - link
Nobody says there shouldn't be research fanboy.You report news, then investigate, then publish the findings, that's how it works. I don't recall any media outlet delaying initial report until they have the "whole story". News is reported immediately, investigations are reported when they are finished. That's how it works.
I am not making a point about absence of investigation, I am making a point about absence of reporting of a verified issue. There is nothing preventing an initial pipeline story to inform of the issue, with a subsequent detailed story on it to "investigate". Nothing other than the "do not speak ill of intel" doctrine of AT... This is not the first time, this is a reoccurring pattern here at AT when it comes to intel or crapple or other of the AT darlings.
Now if that was an amd bug I am sure it would have been reported right away, without holding off in order to cook up damage control.
PeachNCream - Wednesday, January 3, 2018 - link
ddriver - If you dislike Anandtech and feel the site is biased, why are you reading and commenting on so many articles? It seems like you're very actively engaged as a reader and respond very rapidly to discussion comments - more rapidly that any other individual that regularly makes comments. That implies you spend more time here than even the readers with favorable opinions. That kind of attentiveness doesn't make sense in light of the opinion you seem to present.ddriver - Wednesday, January 3, 2018 - link
Much of the stuff I do professionally takes computational time - rendering batches, simulations, builds... That gives me time to kill waiting for stuff to get done, which is when I comment. God forbid I dedicate any of my free time to AT, that would be a sad day...PeachNCream - Wednesday, January 3, 2018 - link
I didn't ask why you have free time. I'm just curious why you spend quite a bit of it with a website you say you dislike.ddriver - Wednesday, January 3, 2018 - link
There's just too much good stuff in my life. I need bad stuff to balance things out. People tend to lose appreciation of the good stuff if they are exposed solely to it. And of course, wherever I am, I do whatever I can to help out poor mediocre souls ;)edzieba - Wednesday, January 3, 2018 - link
"You report news, then investigate,"Investigate, THEN report. If you get it the other way around, what you are doing is regurgitating, not reporting.
supdawgwtfd - Wednesday, January 3, 2018 - link
Interesting...It appears AT are actively deleting comments?
Tom's hardware has no news on this bug either....
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, January 3, 2018 - link
"It appears AT are actively deleting comments?"The only comments I've deleted this week have been spam. Deleting critical comments is not a good way to do business.
supdawgwtfd - Thursday, January 4, 2018 - link
My belief in you is 0.Many a time i have come across people who claim "i didn't delete anything".
They truth always came out in the end that yes in fact it was deleted and usually by the person making the claim that they didn't delete it at all.
Now... I want out of this train wreck of a website...
Where is the delete account button?
supdawgwtfd - Thursday, January 4, 2018 - link
NOT REPORTING ON REALLY REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT NEWS IF FUCKING BUSINESS SUICIDE!!!Where is the bloody account delete button on this train wreck of a website? Afte 15 years i'm out.