Best budget TKL hotswap keyboard

[penguin1]

Hi, I am looking for a good budget hotswap keyboard to a friend who is getting a pc. I was thinking of a keyboard like this Tecware Phantom, and putting gateron yellows in it, but I did not know if there was anything a little more solid. The Glorious GMMK was sold out, so I didn't know where to look. Thanks for all support!

[seon123]

Be aware that the Phantom uses Outemu hot swap sockets, so they only work with Outemu switches, unless you want to file the metal pins on each switch. Outemu does have high end switches, e.g. the Bobagum, Boba U4 and Boba U4t. The Phantom Elite uses Kailh hot swap sockets, but doesn't seem available.

 

Another option could be the Womier/Gamakey K87. It's a bit more expensive, at ~$80, but it's available with Gateron Yellows, and it's still hot swappable with any switches.

https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Gateron-Swappable-Partitioned/dp/B08JTFN419

Some videos by :3ildcat on it:

Spoiler

 

 

Another option could be the Keychron K8, with hot swappable variants starting at $80. Aaaand now that I've checked out the site, I guess the Keychron C1 is also a thing, and closer to the Phantom in terms of price. $55 for the hot swappable variant with white backlighting. These come with Gateron switches and Gateron hot swap sockets, so they  should support any switches. Doesn't seem that great otherwise, though.

https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k8-tenkeyless-wireless-mechanical-keyboard

https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-c1-wired-mechanical-keyboard

[penguin1]

1 hour ago, seon123 said:

Be aware that the Phantom uses Outemu hot swap sockets, so they only work with Outemu switches, unless you want to file the metal pins on each switch. Outemu does have high end switches, e.g. the Bobagum, Boba U4 and Boba U4t. The Phantom Elite uses Kailh hot swap sockets, but doesn't seem available.

 

Another option could be the Womier/Gamakey K87. It's a bit more expensive, at ~$80, but it's available with Gateron Yellows, and it's still hot swappable with any switches.

https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Gateron-Swappable-Partitioned/dp/B08JTFN419

Some videos by :3ildcat on it:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Another option could be the Keychron K8, with hot swappable variants starting at $80. Aaaand now that I've checked out the site, I guess the Keychron C1 is also a thing, and closer to the Phantom in terms of price. $55 for the hot swappable variant with white backlighting. These come with Gateron switches and Gateron hot swap sockets, so they  should support any switches. Doesn't seem that great otherwise, though.

https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k8-tenkeyless-wireless-mechanical-keyboard

https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-c1-wired-mechanical-keyboard

Do you know if there is a black variant?