The iQunix A80 Explorer. Ah, what an interesting looking keyboard. The color and look of it is mainly why I bought it (that and it was on sale. Still is, at the time of writing, though I don’t know if they’re ever NOT on sale…). I hadn’t heard of iQunix before I ran into this board but I’m pretty impressed with it now that I’ve got my hands on it.
As its name suggests, this is a 80% board in a compact layout. The most interesting and unique feature about this board though isn’t its compactness, but the F-row that comes at you at an angle. That and the color – not a hue you see everyday on a keyboard, that’s for sure. It doesn’t give you a lot of switch options on purchase but it’s hot-swappable so I got mine with Cherry Browns since I’m not a huge fan of Gateron switches and Cherry Blues ring too loud for my ears these days.
So, straight out of the box, this keyboard has a lot of features: RGB lighting, hot-swap sockets, wireless and bluetooth 5.0, multi-device connectivity, Mac compatibility, a nice curvy profile, etc. The list is long! Even the cable is colored like the board.
Here are some pics below:
I’m really digging the yellow-orange color of the underbelly, though I don’t think there will be much occasion to see it except when it first comes out of the box. But just knowing it’s that color adds a nice touch to it.
Typing experience-wise, it feels pretty nice. There is a slight tang to some of the keys but it’s nothing loud enough that it’ll bother most people too much when typing up a storm. I’m actually liking the feel of the Cherry Browns in this board so I might just keep these in there for the time being.
One minus to the board is the lighting. It’s not very bright, which means it’s not that noticeable. The color of the lights also feel really muted. Maybe it’s the housing on the switches that’re blocking the shine since they have a plastic covering over the led instead of a hole, but it’s really not adding much to the board as it is now.
I chose white lights to show how much shine-through there is (refer to picture of full keyboard above for more). It has a 5-pin PCB though, so that’s a plus!
Besides that, this is a pretty decent mech board. It has two different sized feet for more angle if you’d like but sits at a nice angle even if you want to lay it flat.
Verdict? I’d recommend this board. It’s a good choice for something under $200 (specifically $169 when on sale). It may not be an aluminum keyboard, but it sure does a good job of looking and feeling cool.
Well, that’s it for today. Thanks for sticking around and I hope to see you again soon!
EVERY DAY A MYSTERY 