RK ROYAL KLUDGE R65 Wired Mechanical Keyboard with Knob, 60% Percent QMK/VIA US Layout RGB Backlit Gasket Mount Gaming Keyboard with PBT Keycaps, MDA Profile, 66 Keys Hot Swappable Cream Switch, Cyan

I bought this in March 2025 for £50, I've had plenty of different mechanical keyboards over the past 15 years: Full-size, tenkeyless, 80%, 75%, 60%, Cherry red and blue switches, Gateron brown switches, etc etc. My expectations of this wired RK R65 were modest but to be honest I have been a little bit blown away.The pre-lubed switches are linear, not normally my favourite type, but they are so smooth, and the PBT keycaps are very thick and give that great thock sound and feeling we all look for. I am also really happy with the smoother, rounder keycap profile. That may seem really picky, but I don't think I'll go back to sharp-edged traditional profile caps again. The wider keys like the space-bar don't rattle and they seem well stabilised, surprising for such a cheap board.So now I've established that the typing experience is good, what don't I like?- The grey outer bezel looks metallic from about 3ft away, but it is clearly plastic up close.- There is no all white LED setting. The blue does complement the bronze/brown appearance though.- No shine through keycaps is nice in the daylight, not so nice at night.- Absolute worst thing, that I've not seen mentioned in these reviews, is the initial setup. You can't just plug this keyboard in and go. You have to go to the VIA website after downloading the firmware from the Royal Kludge website, then it wouldn't recognise the keyboard, then it sort of did, then none of the RGB light functions worked, then they did. I don't know if it was actively updating the firmware and that made it start working but I got it working properly eventually. A simple process yes, but not ideal for a peripheral that should at least type out of the box, it's literally a brick until you do that firmware update.- While mine is the wired version, for some reason mine came with a USB dongle and a 3-way switch, which isn't in the press photos and isn't explained in the manual. So no idea what they're for.I would give this a 4.5, but Amazon doesn't do partial stars. It loses 0.5 for that funky initial setup.

This keyboard has a decently fair weight lending to a feeling of higher quality without being bulky, the size is decent which makes storing it a breeze, the tan and black colour scheme recally works well witth this design, the brightness of the LED is not overbearing but at the same time is super immersive and slows yoiu to make some nicer shows with its amount of lighting modes, Bthis keyboard is supper easy to use, setup is fast and simple, overall I cannot recommend this beautifully coloured keyboard any more, this thing is worth it just for the sound alone, it has made every word I type sound creamy with the traditional ‘thock’ this makes it sound incredible withh the custom cream switches, if any of my friends are in the market for a new keyboard this is one I simply an not recommend enough!

Brought this for my niece who said it’s a perfect ‘thocky” keyboard. Must admit the sound of her typing is a very satisfying sound. I personally didn’t like using it as it’s not the UK layout but it’s a loving looking board regardless.

I’ve had this for over 6 months and it works perfectly! Very nice creamy sound which is the reason I bought it!

Love the sounds, design and size.

Really like it, wish the full size version came in the lovely green - makes a great sound when typing

I'm in love with this keyboard. Genuinely, I have nothing I can fault it for throughout the entire time I've used it. The 'Cream' switches that it uses have a beautiful feeling both in terms of how tactile they are, and also from how they sound when being used. I'm not a huge mechanical keyboard nerd, so I'm sure for some people it may not be absolutely perfect, but the colour scheme alongside have some physical media compatibility with the aluminium knob in the top right is great too. Plenty of customisation is available when you use certain keybinds when it comes to the locking and unlocking of F-Key usage, RGB colours and styles, and various other things that you might miss with a 100% keyboard (coming from someone who used to use one quite a lot and is used to working primarily in an office).

It sounds amazing and very smooth to type.