mechanical keyboard Opinions about buying low-budget mechanical keyboard ( redragon or other if you think there's a better option )

[SaberHosneyDev]

Hey, Its my first time buying a mechanical keyboard EVER.

I'm thinking about buying Redragon kurama k552 (87 keys) or k551 (104 keys) , but there's few things I need to know before buying a - any - mechanical keyboard.

 

Where I live a $30 is roughly quarter of the salary XD ( and I don't have a fixed job ) so the highest I can go for is about $35 and will probably use it for few years before even consider to buy another, the reason I'm saying this maybe you guys think redragon keyboards is not made to last which is not a good thing or maybe there's a better options!

 

Is all mechanical keyboards switches can be replaced with the tool ? (specially the models I mentioned if someone tried em)?

Since I game A LOT I will probably consume the WASD + QWERF, CTRL, SPACE, SHIFT and TAB quicker than other keys, if they started to not register or to repeat ( I found a lot of people online saying this happens with some keys they frequently use) does changing the switches fix it or that means I need to replace the whole keyboard?

 

Is there any things I should consider while buying the mechanical keyboard except the switches blue/brown/red?

Is there anything I should avoid while using it, or things I should do?

 

I had a dell membrane office keyboard that I bought used for $5 and it worked just fine for over year and half, I'm writing with it right now actually.

I basically want a mechanical keyboard cuz I know it lasts longer, a membrane usually lasts about year or two with me, so I'm expecting a mech to last at least 6 years but I'm doubting it with the reviews I saw about the low-budget keyboards, some said their gaming keys specially WASD started to miss or repeat after few months.

 

for the switches part, after I searched continuously for about 6 hours, I came to conclusion that cherry mx is the gold standard for mechs specially the brown one that combines both being quiet and tactile. But again thats only available in mid and high end ones

 

It will be my first time using a mechanical keyboard so I know it will be a nice upgrade in the experience specially since I use my computer at least 8 hours a day. what I'm trying to determine here is if the low-end keyboards and by low end I mean $35 or less is a viable option or not but I have zero experience with it so I'm really confused and thinking about just buying another generic membrane

 

Sorry for the long text  and thank you in advance.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

I had a k552 reds version.

It was great, way better than any membrane

but I have to say, a 30 $ one is not going to give you a full expirence

[Slottr]

45 minutes ago, SaberHosneyDev said:

Is all mechanical keyboards switches can be replaced with the tool ? (specially the models I mentioned if someone tried em)?

Since I game A LOT I will probably consume the WASD + QWERF, CTRL, SPACE, SHIFT and TAB quicker than other keys, if they started to not register or to repeat ( I found a lot of people online saying this happens with some keys they frequently use) does changing the switches fix it or that means I need to replace the whole keyboard?

If youre comfortable with soldering yes

But in all my time using mech keyboards, Ive never had a switch die on me. If it were to 'die', its more likely the pcb rather than the switch itself.

 

45 minutes ago, SaberHosneyDev said:

Is there any things I should consider while buying the mechanical keyboard except the switches blue/brown/red?

Its all personal preference

 

45 minutes ago, SaberHosneyDev said:

for the switches part, after I searched continuously for about 6 hours, I came to conclusion that cherry mx is the gold standard for mechs specially the brown one that combines both being quiet and tactile. But again thats only available in mid and high end ones

Or gateron, or kailh, or zealios or...

 

There isnt really a gold standard, as I mentioned, switches are all personal preference

[SorryBella]

30 minutes ago, Slottr said:

There isnt really a gold standard anymore

FTFY. With how wide the market right now anything can pretty much last you for at the very least 2 years of heavy abuse.

 

If OP worries a lot about switch longevity they should consider hotswappable boards, but honestly soldering kits from aliexpress would cost them far far less than that.

[SaberHosneyDev]

6 hours ago, Helpful Tech Wiard said:

I had a k552 reds version.

It was great, way better than any membrane

but I have to say, a 30 $ one is not going to give you a full expirence

Honestly I have no idea what to expect from a " full experience ";
May I ask how much time you used your k552 before you change it? And was it because of a technical problem with it or just wanted a better one?

[Dr0y]

On 12/7/2021 at 2:52 AM, SaberHosneyDev said:

May I ask how much time you used your k552 before you change it? And was it because of a technical problem with it or just wanted a better one?

about one year and a half cause I couldn't tolerate the spring ping anymore ... you should check if the k552 you want to get is hotswappable or not ... if it is then it's quite easy to replace the switches with either an original outemu one or something that I would say would be better like some akko (really inexpensive) or boba. 

 

On 12/6/2021 at 7:05 PM, SaberHosneyDev said:

for the switches part, after I searched continuously for about 6 hours, I came to conclusion that cherry mx is the gold standard for mechs specially the brown one that combines both being quiet and tactile.

cherry is clearly not the golden standard ... well not anymore ... and imo the cherry brown are really meh compared to other tactiles I've tried

 

be aware that the k552 sound really hollow and that the metal plate tend to amplify the sound of the switches specially the spring ping ... I had some blue and got tired of them not cause of the click jacket in the first place but cause of the spring ping that was resonating through all the keyboard.  I'm in the quite slow (cause lack of motivation) process of modding and I hope to improve things a bit with some foam and padding inside ... also some tape mods and a stabilizer lube job ... will probably put some akko ocean blue in there too just to get rid of the outemu blue