If you’re not too fussy about the fact that this is a clone set, the Akko Macaw offers excellent quality
Akko Macaw keycaps on Amazon
I’ve been looking at budget keycap sets lately and I’m really liking the offerings from HK Gaming and Akko. These serve as budget-friendly alternatives to GMK and ePBT group buys. Akko’s lineup features sets like the Black & Pink, Neon and Macaw. They even have their own proprietary keycap profile called ASA. Today we’re looking at the Akko Macaw, a set based on the GMK Nautilus colourway. The Akko Macaw is going for $60, which is good value for a 157-key double shot PBT set.
Right off the bat I was impressed by the packaging. The keycaps come in a foldable box, and the box literally has stems for each keycap so you actually have to use a keycap puller to remove the caps. Kudos to Akko here, and the thorough packaging makes for a more premium experience, although it is a bit of a mission to get the keycaps out. The box would look great in a keycap collection.
The Macaw set is double-shot PBT, so the legends won’t fade over time, and of course PBT doesn’t shine as easily as ABS. The walls are about 1.5mm thick. The finish looks good and there aren’t any substantial molding marks. These caps have a lightly textured surface, and the legends are nice and clear. The space bar was bent ever so slightly, but just a nitpick and this can easily be fixed with boiling water. This set features the Cherry profile with 157 keys in total, which means there is support for a large variety of layouts.
You may have noticed that I have an affinity for lighter keycaps, so I am being adventurous for a change! The original GMK Nautilus is based on Jules Verne’s novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The set pays tribute to Captain Nemo and his submarine, called Nautilus. We have a beautiful combination of navy alphas and midnight blue modifiers, featuring bright yellow accents. Akko’s version is supposedly based on the Macaw, but as you can see it’s very similar to the Nautilus. I have to say, this is a stunning colourway and I’m getting some eerie deep sea vibes. I’d recommend pairing this with a darker case, but it looked surprisingly good on the thicker white bezel of my custom acrylic case. I didn’t like it so much on the SnowFox though, but you wouldn’t want to use this on the SnowFox anyways because of interference with the north-facing switches. There is actually another OEM clone of the Nautilus from Feker, however I’m not big fan of the alpha colours on that one.
I picked up a little production flaw on the stem walls, and this seems to be present on all of Akko’s keycap sets. It can range from an inconsistent area to there being a complete gap. Luckily this was only on a few R4 keys, but these keys did feel more wobbly than the others. Not a train smash by any means, but definitely mars an otherwise stellar set.
So if you’re not too fussy about the fact that this is a clone set, I think the Akko Macaw offers excellent quality, and that GMK Nautilus design is just mesmerising.
Comparison of Akko Cherry vs ASA on my GMMK Pro with Alpaca Linears (ASA starts at 15 seconds)
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