Tap my way through the mechanical keyboard rabbit hole with the Drop CTRL

The keyboard is one of the two parts of a computer setup where flesh and blood meet plastic and metal. (The other is the mouse or trackpad.) Using a keyboard effectively means moving fingers with the precision a computer can comprehend, and it does so faster than the speed of conscious thinking. So, while many people are fine with a cheap or standard keyboard – as long as it tests keystrokes reliably – others do not care to spend something more on something better.

And then the real connoisseurs spend hundreds of dollars ordering parts from around the world to build their own dreamy keyboard – a mechanical keyboard, of course, where each key has its own mechanical switch.

I did not want to go too far overboard when I recently dropped the custom keyboard. Therefore, I decided to get the prefabricated but very customizable Drop CTRL instead. The Drop CTRL is unstable with 100 Hz individual RGB LEDs supporting the hot-swappable Cherry MX-style switches (plate mounting only) that drive the QMK firmware. It has an OEM profile to fix PBT glossy door keys and a choice of switches. Phew. But no, none of that is pointless marketing talk.

I paid $ 225 for a high-profile black model with Cherry MX Brown switches installed (plus $ 15 shipping from the US to Europe; surprisingly cheap). And after 33 painful days of waiting, I finally began my journey through the custom keyboard rabbit hole.

USB-C 1.1

Drop CTRL product image

Drop CTRL

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The first indication that the Drop CTRL is not an IBM Model M that has survived since the PC AT era is the fact that the CTRL connects to a computer with USB-C. And what could be better than a small USB-C port that fits in one direction or another and looks future? Two USB-C ports. There is one left at the back and one at the back right on the keyboard. You can use it to connect to a computer; the keyboard then serves as a USB hub with one port, allowing you to connect an additional accessory through the other port.

Although the connector is the latest and greatest, the USB 1.1 protocol is full speed. That means only 12 Mbps, and the keyboard uses only 500 mA of power. The second port charges my iPhone at about 2W, and charging continues as the computer and keyboard sleep.

The included cable is a USB 3.0 type A to USB type C one. I tried a few cables with USB-C on both sides, but it often did not work. In particular, Thunderbolt compatible cables connected to a Thunderbolt compatible port did not work. Some charging / USB 2.0 cables connected to a Thunderbolt port on the computer did work, and the connection to the USB-C port on my monitor also worked with multiple cables.

Legends about translucent keycaps can be hard to find if the RGB LEDs are turned off.
Enlarge / Legends about translucent keycaps can be hard to find if the RGB LEDs are turned off.

Ilyich van Beijnum

RGB LEDs

After the cable is connected, the LEDs burn under each key and around the sides of the keyboard in a wavy rainbow pattern. The colored lighting certainly gives flair, but it is also functional: when the LED lighting is off, it is very difficult to find the legends on the keys.

Each key has its own set of RGB LEDs that can create 16 million color combinations. On cheaper keyboards with this feature, the LEDs may flicker to some extent, but the LEDs of the CTRL are refreshed at 100 Hz, which means there is no detectable flicker. You can switch between a handful of animations and several solid colors, and you can change other settings for the LEDs with key combinations. I have found that it does not bother me about the RGB animations that take place in my peripheral vision, especially when the speed is a bit off.

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