Budget low profile switches keyboard?

[Yo Whats Up]

So i've got 50 euro budget for a new kb, i've been using logitech k270 all my life, 4 copies of that kb for the last 9 years, but i think it's finally time to upgrade, this kb has no modern features and cannot press more than 4 keys at once. So i had no idea what to get like at all, and then I found this article https://www.cherrymx.de/en/blog/low-profile-keyboards-overview.html , this is exactly me:

 

It’s no secret that mechanical keyboards with CHERRY MX switches have been extremely popular in the last decade – for gamers, a keyboard with mechanical key switches can make the difference between life and death in hectic gaming battles. But for a small part of PC users, especially those used to cheaper rubber dome keyboards or laptop keyboards, mechanical keyboards have a steep learning curve because of their key height. That’s where the CHERRY MX LOW PROFILE switches come in: with a 35% reduction in height yet no compromise on switching characteristics and typing feel, these switches offer the best of both worlds to these users.

 

These keys are short just like my k270's, perfect! So i went looking for keyboards containing one of those cherry mx low profile switches, and i found some, but unfortunately, none that are cheaper than like 90 euro, and since my budget is only 50 euro, it looks like i can't afford these switches right now, unless you guys know a keyboard with them that is 50 euro or less?

 

So then i decided to look for other keyboards with low profile switches that are cheaper, and i found this one https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Cooler-Master-SK652-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B09G9FZLF5/ it has 3.9/5 rating out of 35 ratings

according to the specs https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/peripheral/keyboards/sk652/ on cooler master's site it uses these switches https://keybumps.com/switches/ttc-low-profile-red.html which have the same specs as the cherry mx low profile red switches, like literally 1:1, i read somewhere TTC is a chinese brand so most likely a cheaper imitation of the cherry switches, but are they good? should i buy this keyboard? or is there anything better for my budget? i need the switches to be low profile cuz i'm used to the k270 which is a rubber dome keyboard with short keys

[Poinkachu]

23 minutes ago, Yo Whats Up said:

So i've got 50 euro budget for a new kb, i've been using logitech k270 all my life, 4 copies of that kb for the last 9 years, but i think it's finally time to upgrade, this kb has no modern features and cannot press more than 4 keys at once. So i had no idea what to get like at all, and then I found this article https://www.cherrymx.de/en/blog/low-profile-keyboards-overview.html , this is exactly me:

 

 

 

 

These keys are short just like my k270's, perfect! So i went looking for keyboards containing one of those cherry mx low profile switches, and i found some, but unfortunately, none that are cheaper than like 90 euro, and since my budget is only 50 euro, it looks like i can't afford these switches right now, unless you guys know a keyboard with them that is 50 euro or less?

 

So then i decided to look for other keyboards with low profile switches that are cheaper, and i found this one https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Cooler-Master-SK652-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B09G9FZLF5/ it has 3.9/5 rating out of 35 ratings

according to the specs https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/peripheral/keyboards/sk652/ on cooler master's site it uses these switches https://keybumps.com/switches/ttc-low-profile-red.html which have the same specs as the cherry mx low profile red switches, like literally 1:1, i read somewhere TTC is a chinese brand so most likely a cheaper imitation of the cherry switches, but are they good? should i buy this keyboard? or is there anything better for my budget? i need the switches to be low profile cuz i'm used to the k270 which is a rubber dome keyboard with short keys

Not a total KB afficionado, but I hardly heard about TTC switch. The only time I hear TTC is when it's about mouse micro switch & mouse encoder.

Specs are usually more or less the same between brands when it's about common switch colors.

Eh well, been in the same boat as you, too used to cheap Logi KB, too used to it's profile. Good thing I found what fits me right off the bat :x

 

The Cooler Master profile gonna be higher than K270 one's. Taller keycaps + Taller switch (compared to membrane). It's low profile compared to standard switch & standard profile keycaps, but not as low as your usual membane.
If you want something as low as K270, it's gonna cost something. AFAIK, Either Keychron, Some Redragon's model, or Logitech G915.

[Yo Whats Up]

After giving it some consideration, i ended up getting the keyboard cuz it was almost 60% off and it's a good kb based on specs. If the keycaps do indeed end up too tall compared to my k270 i can just buy some from aliexpress smth like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004613613325.html since the ttc switches use the same mx stem as the cherry mx, they're basically almost 1:1 copies of the original low profile cherry mx switches but just made by a chinese compan, at least that's what i read. Obviously not much i can do about the taller switches but i haven't even received the keyboard so who knows maybe it's fine, if 95% of people use normal height switches then me using low-profile, even tho i'm used on shorter ones, will probably be fine, riiight?

 

I was thinking of getting the red dragon horus k619, but the sk652 was on a much better deal and red dragon's switches did not breathe much confidence when i read the specs, they basically say nothing about em, the the keycaps are supposedly 4mm tall cuz u can tell by their pics on amazon page, i measured my keycaps with a tape and got about 4-4.5mm so basically same height, but for some reason the k619's keycaps look basically flat https://luciferle.com/2022/06/24/redragon-k619-horus-review-an-accessibility-nightmare-but-a-cute-one/ (check 2nd pic) so i was afraid they'd be too short possibly idk, plus the entire keyboard of cooler master is just better

 

On 11/23/2022 at 11:22 PM, Poinkachu said:

Not a total KB afficionado, but I hardly heard about TTC switch. The only time I hear TTC is when it's about mouse micro switch & mouse encoder.

Specs are usually more or less the same between brands when it's about common switch colors.

Eh well, been in the same boat as you, too used to cheap Logi KB, too used to it's profile. Good thing I found what fits me right off the bat :x

 

The Cooler Master profile gonna be higher than K270 one's. Taller keycaps + Taller switch (compared to membrane). It's low profile compared to standard switch & standard profile keycaps, but not as low as your usual membane.
If you want something as low as K270, it's gonna cost something. AFAIK, Either Keychron, Some Redragon's model, or Logitech G915.

What kb did u find that fits u right off the bat?

[person123456789]

On 11/23/2022 at 3:48 PM, Yo Whats Up said:

So i've got 50 euro budget for a new kb, i've been using logitech k270 all my life, 4 copies of that kb for the last 9 years, but i think it's finally time to upgrade, this kb has no modern features and cannot press more than 4 keys at once. So i had no idea what to get like at all, and then I found this article https://www.cherrymx.de/en/blog/low-profile-keyboards-overview.html , this is exactly me:

 

 

 

 

These keys are short just like my k270's, perfect! So i went looking for keyboards containing one of those cherry mx low profile switches, and i found some, but unfortunately, none that are cheaper than like 90 euro, and since my budget is only 50 euro, it looks like i can't afford these switches right now, unless you guys know a keyboard with them that is 50 euro or less?

 

So then i decided to look for other keyboards with low profile switches that are cheaper, and i found this one https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Cooler-Master-SK652-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B09G9FZLF5/ it has 3.9/5 rating out of 35 ratings

according to the specs https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/peripheral/keyboards/sk652/ on cooler master's site it uses these switches https://keybumps.com/switches/ttc-low-profile-red.html which have the same specs as the cherry mx low profile red switches, like literally 1:1, i read somewhere TTC is a chinese brand so most likely a cheaper imitation of the cherry switches, but are they good? should i buy this keyboard? or is there anything better for my budget? i need the switches to be low profile cuz i'm used to the k270 which is a rubber dome keyboard with short keys

Keychron K3 Non-Backlight

[Poinkachu]

1 hour ago, Yo Whats Up said:

After giving it some consideration, i ended up getting the keyboard cuz it was almost 60% off and it's a good kb based on specs. If the keycaps do indeed end up too tall compared to my k270 i can just buy some from aliexpress smth like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004613613325.html since the ttc switches use the same mx stem as the cherry mx, they're basically almost 1:1 copies of the original low profile cherry mx switches but just made by a chinese compan, at least that's what i read. Obviously not much i can do about the taller switches but i haven't even received the keyboard so who knows maybe it's fine, if 95% of people use normal height switches then me using low-profile, even tho i'm used on shorter ones, will probably be fine, riiight?

 

I was thinking of getting the red dragon horus k619, but the sk652 was on a much better deal and red dragon's switches did not breathe much confidence when i read the specs, they basically say nothing about em, the the keycaps are supposedly 4mm tall cuz u can tell by their pics on amazon page, i measured my keycaps with a tape and got about 4-4.5mm so basically same height, but for some reason the k619's keycaps look basically flat https://luciferle.com/2022/06/24/redragon-k619-horus-review-an-accessibility-nightmare-but-a-cute-one/ (check 2nd pic) so i was afraid they'd be too short possibly idk, plus the entire keyboard of cooler master is just better

 

What kb did u find that fits u right off the bat?

Redragon K618, there's others with pretty much the same height, like keychron, Corsair K70 Low profile, but it was the only one available to me at that time that fits my budget & the sets of extra buttons & features that I wanted (mainly volume wheel & macros, and hotswap switches).

 

Basically, it's a knock-off of Logitech G915. Same size & layout & height.

That blog link you gave, the picture of the keycaps in the 2nd pic is from bottom, so yea it's flat looking. The top side is pretty much like standard keycaps, curved.

 

K619 & K618 difference is that K618 can be connected using either wire/bluetooth/or wireless, I only ever used wired though.
Sooo yeah, objectively speaking :
- the person who wrote that blog should've bought K618 if s/he wanted a wireless one.
- Ultra-low profile switches that K618/K619 uses won't fit standard keycaps. At least not without some DIY-ing.

- Cherry stem doesn't always means ALL keycaps will fit, cherry stems only means the stems uses "plus" shaped stem to attach keycaps to.

The person who wrote that blog really should've researched more before buying. Lookin at the review just made me think that s/he wanted a scapegoat for lack of research.

 

But yeah, the keyboard isn't perfect, there is some down points here and there, but considering the price, me, I don't hate it.

- The switches is redragon proprietary switches, in my country the redragon distributor sells it. Dunno about US.

- The switches is made by outemu. The brown one sucks. Outemu is common goto switches for cheap mech keybs.

 

As for your idea of getting a low profile caps, well :
1. Make sure it will fit
2. Most likely it will be higher than K270 still, because the CM switches sits on top of the plate, while K270 membrane layer is inside. Just pointing it out. At worst you'll end up with keys as high as original keycaps, while there's a weird gap between the bottom line of your low profile caps with the plate.

[Yo Whats Up]

26 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Redragon K618, there's others with pretty much the same height, like keychron, Corsair K70 Low profile, but it was the only one available to me at that time that fits my budget & the sets of extra buttons & features that I wanted (mainly volume wheel & macros, and hotswap switches).

 

Basically, it's a knock-off of Logitech G915. Same size & layout & height.

That blog link you gave, the picture of the keycaps in the 2nd pic is from bottom, so yea it's flat looking. The top side is pretty much like standard keycaps, curved.

 

K619 & K618 difference is that K618 can be connected using either wire/bluetooth/or wireless, I only ever used wired though.
Sooo yeah, objectively speaking :
- the person who wrote that blog should've bought K618 if s/he wanted a wireless one.
- Ultra-low profile switches that K618/K619 uses won't fit standard keycaps. At least not without some DIY-ing.

- Cherry stem doesn't always means ALL keycaps will fit, cherry stems only means the stems uses "plus" shaped stem to attach keycaps to.

The person who wrote that blog really should've researched more before buying. Lookin at the review just made me think that s/he wanted a scapegoat for lack of research.

 

But yeah, the keyboard isn't perfect, there is some down points here and there, but considering the price, me, I don't hate it.

- The switches is redragon proprietary switches, in my country the redragon distributor sells it. Dunno about US.

- The switches is made by outemu. The brown one sucks. Outemu is common goto switches for cheap mech keybs.

 

As for your idea of getting a low profile caps, well :
1. Make sure it will fit
2. Most likely it will be higher than K270 still, because the CM switches sits on top of the plate, while K270 membrane layer is inside. Just pointing it out. At worst you'll end up with keys as high as original keycaps, while there's a weird gap between the bottom line of your low profile caps with the plate.

What is this plate thing you speak of? Does my k270 have such a plate thing? I googled keyboard plate and found nothing

 

33 minutes ago, person123456789 said:

Keychron K3 Non-Backlight

I looked at the keychron but they were a bit too expensive for my budget, plus this particular model with the ultra slim keys are basically laptop-like keyboard they're almost flat

[person123456789]

1 hour ago, Yo Whats Up said:

I looked at the keychron but they were a bit too expensive for my budget, plus this particular model with the ultra slim keys are basically laptop-like keyboard they're almost flat

They don't feel anywhere near laptop switches

[Poinkachu]

5 hours ago, Yo Whats Up said:

What is this plate thing you speak of? Does my k270 have such a plate thing? I googled keyboard plate and found nothing

 

I looked at the keychron but they were a bit too expensive for my budget, plus this particular model with the ultra slim keys are basically laptop-like keyboard they're almost flat

By plate it meant the keyboard's enclosure top layer area where the keys are located.
Plate mounted stabilizer = the stabilizer is mounted on the top layer of the keyboard enclosure.
PCB mounted stabilizer = the stabilizer is mounted on the PCB, inside the enclosure.

I posted some pics about the difference of design between my keycaps & somewhat standard fullsize cap in other thread.
feel free to take a look if you want to see.

 

The area colored red in the 1st pic below is the top layer (plate) (Pic is the CM keyboard you linked)
in the 2nd pic, the recessed area where the switches are located is the plate, when referred to. This is also pretty much how your K270 design is, try taking off they keycaps, you'll see the similarity.