Get the Touchmax Touch65 here
Gone are the days where you have to pay in excess of $300 for a customised mechanical keyboard
Today we have a very interesting board for review in the Touch65. This keyboard is designed by Touchmax, a company that specialises in customised peripherals. It’s great to see companies catering directly to keyboard hobbyists, and Touchmax has a wide selection of products that range from DIY kits to macro pads and coiled cables.
Pricing is always an issue when it comes to custom keyboards, but these kits are very affordable while offering premium quality. The Touch65 has all the bells and whistles of a full-fledged enthusiast keyboard, featuring a gasket-mount design, comprehensive sound dampening, and wireless connectivity.
The Touch65 is available as a barebones kit or fully assembled, and this is the assembled version featuring the Pinky Cream colourway and pre-lubed Grey Wood linear switches.
This board actually comes with a polycarbonate mounting plate, which is not something you’d expect at this price. The sound dampening includes a Poron switch pad on the PCB, Poron dampening foam between the PCB and mounting plate, and case foam. The keyboard makes use of silicone gaskets that gives it a nice flexible feel. The stabilisers are pretuned and I found the quality to be really good. Overall this is an amazing typing experience and I love the poppy sound profile. You’d be hard-pressed to find any similarly priced prebuilt that sounds this good.
I’ve actually reviewed a few longer-stemmed switches recently, and I’ve taken a liking to their sound profile. Like the Epomaker Wisteria and Akko v3 Cream, the Grey Wood switches are loud and thocky. They come prelubed with some lube applied on the slider rails and stem legs. This is a 3-pin switch featuring the Kailh housing style, although the bottom housing is a bit wider so a Kailh switch opener won’t actually work. It has a bottom out of 53g so it’s going to be great for typing and gaming.
The Pinky Cream version comes with XDA keycaps, and this is a uniform profile meaning all rows are the same height. The colourway is a combination of cream keys and purple legends that complement the white case. The case has a natural incline and it felt really comfortable to type on. There are dual flip-out feet underneath so you can adjust the typing angle to your preference.
The Touch65 has Bluetooth 5.0 and 2.4 GHz connectivity. The keyboard supports 1000Hz polling rate when running on 2.4GHz and it felt very snappy with no input delay. To connect, plug the receiver into your device, then use the switch on the back to change modes. I got mine to work with plug and play, but you can also press Fn + R to enter pairing mode. For Bluetooth, the pairing combination is Fn + Q, W, and E, and as this implies you can save up to three devices on the board. If you’re having trouble, consult the manual for further instructions. The backlighting will automatically go off after five minutes of idle, and the keyboard will enter deep sleep after 30 minutes.
This board features the popular 65% layout, which strikes a great balance between small form factor and robust functionality. In addition to a dedicated Delete, PgUp, and Pg Dn key, the Touch65 has a pressable volume knob, so you’re able to adjust the volume and mute. This is a great feature especially if you’re a media junkie like me. You can find the Fn layer in the keyboard manual, which can be downloaded from the Touchmax website. This keyboard has a Windows and Mac mode, which can be toggled on the back of the board.
The Touch65 has full RGB with a total of 18 colour modes. You can cycle through the modes with Fn + \, and there are controls for brightness, speed, and direction. I don’t typically like thicker bezels on my keyboards, but I must say the XDA keycaps work really well with the bigger frame. This is just the board you need to complete that perfect tabletop setup.
You can find the accompanying software and keyboard manual on the Touchmax website. The software has all the expected features, including key remapping and backlighting controls. you can actually map your own Fn layer, which is always a feature I’m looking for. I was able to add multimedia controls and a quick launch for my browser and calculator. There is a macro recorder and even a custom backlighting tab where you can create your own RGB modes.
The Touch65 is another step forward for accessible and affordable DIY kits. Gone are the days where you have to pay in excess of $300 for a customised mechanical keyboard. It’s really great to see brands like these making the keyboard hobby accessible for everyone.
headtr1p 