Drop has go a fashionable retailer of keyboard components similar keycaps, but it besides has a lineup of afloat assembled models for anyone who wants thing that’ll conscionable enactment retired of the box. These see the $99 ENTR, $200 CTRL, and $250 SHIFT. Its latest model, the Sense75, is simply a small different. 

With its gasket-mount design, thick double-shot DCX keycaps, and compatibility with the VIA keymapping software, the Sense75 hits each the latest buzzwords to beryllium a premium keyboard for discerning enthusiasts. And its starting terms — $349 for the afloat assembled mentation successful achromatic — leaves small uncertainty astir the benignant of lawsuit that Drop is targeting here. 

That’s a batch to walk connected a keyboard, and it gives you the close to scrutinize each past item of the Sense75. But it’s scrutiny that the keyboard is ne'er rather capable to withstand.

With its subdued colors, the Sense75 could astir walk for an bureau keyboard erstwhile you disable its RGB, but that’s lone truly fractional true. After all, the Sense75 offers a acquainted operation of existent mechanical keyboard plan trends, including a 75 percent layout, gasket-mount design, and of course, the progressively modular contented measurement knob. Feature parity is nary atrocious thing, but it besides means Drop has its enactment chopped retired if it wants to separate itself from competing keyboards similar the GMMK Pro and Keychron Q1.

I’ve been utilizing the afloat assembled achromatic exemplary of the Sense75, which Drop sells for $349, but determination are a mates of antithetic versions available. The keyboard’s afloat assembled achromatic variant sells for $399, and it’s besides disposable arsenic a bare-bones exemplary without switches oregon keycaps for $249 successful achromatic oregon $299 successful white. 

That’s expensive, considering that the Keychron Q1 has an identical layout and astir identical features — including a gasket mounting system, RGB lighting, and hot-swap sockets — but costs conscionable shy of $180 with keycaps and switches (it’s our existent proposal for the best premium keyboard). There’s an statement that Drop’s keyboard includes arsenic modular the kinds of premium aftermarket components that you mightiness usage to upgrade Keychron’s keyboard, though admittedly lone if you privation the circumstantial components that Drop is offering.

Visually, the Sense75 compares good to the Keychron Q1. Its quality is crisp and well-considered, and similar the Keychron, there’s nary distracting branding connected the apical of the keyboard. Around the measurement dial, there’s nary awkward quadrate similar you spot connected astir of Keychron’s Q-series boards. At a small implicit 3.1 pounds (1.42kg), the keyboard feels weighty and solid, and I conflict to constituent retired a azygous unsmooth edge. I’m a large instrumentality of this cleanable look. 

This understated plan extends to the Sense75’s RGB lighting. Most mechanical keyboards connection immoderate benignant of RGB lighting astatine this point, which usually shines upwards astir (and often through) their keycaps. But portion the Sense75 has some per-key RGB lighting arsenic good arsenic an outer airy strip, its keycaps are wholly opaque, and its outer lighting points downwards, meaning that you can’t spot grounds of either erstwhile they’re turned off. Great quality for RGB haters. 

As standard, the keyboard comes with a acceptable of Drop’s DCX keycaps, which retail for $99 arsenic a standalone set. I wrote astir Drop’s keycap plan last year, but the abbreviated mentation is that they correspond the company’s effort to vie with GMK, which produces what galore enthusiasts judge to beryllium the golden modular of aftermarket keycaps. That means Drop’s keycaps usage thick, high-quality ABS integrative and a double-shot operation with fantastically crisp lettering. The keen-eyed volition spot tiny inconsistencies (my exertion Nathan Edwards instantly clocked that the lettering connected the near Shift cardinal astir reads “Shif t”), but they’re acold amended than Keychron’s banal keycaps and are among the champion you’ll find connected an off-the-shelf keyboard.

While Keychron’s boards (even its affordable sub-$100 K-series models) travel with some Mac and Windows keycaps successful the box, the Sense75 ships with conscionable Windows keycaps. If you’d similar the keyboard to person Command and Option keys alternatively than Alt and “Super” (Drop’s mentation of the Windows key), you tin walk an additional $25 for the Mac keycaps addon. The process of really flipping the keyboard betwixt its Windows and Mac compatibility modes is handled with a keyboard shortcut alternatively than the elemental hardware toggle Keychron uses. But unless you request to power betwixt the 2 operating systems connected a regular basis, it’s a fiddle you’ll seldom encounter. 

A large vantage the much affordable afloat assembled Keychron Q1 has implicit the Sense75 is that it’s disposable with 3 antithetic power types. The Sense75 has conscionable 1 power option: Drop’s Holy Panda X switches. There’s nary enactment for linear oregon clicky reddish oregon bluish switches oregon little tactile browns. Arguably that’s the constituent of the Sense75’s barebones version. But if you were to bargain the barebones mentation of the keyboard successful achromatic ($249) positive a acceptable of white-on-black DCX keycaps ($99), you’d beryllium spending the aforesaid magnitude arsenic the afloat assembled exemplary with nary currency near implicit for switches. It doesn’t look similar a large deal.

Meanwhile, if you were to bargain the barebones mentation of the Keychron Q1 and past adhd the aforesaid Holy Panda X switches and Drop DCX keycaps included arsenic modular with the Sense75, you’d beryllium looking astatine astir $365: $161 for the keyboard, $99 for the keycaps, and $105 for the switches. (That past fig is simply a spot misleading, though: Drop is the lone vendor for Holy Panda X switches, which it sells for $1 each and lone successful packs of 35, which means you person to bargain 3 packs to screen a 75 percent board. This is astir comically user-hostile, but determination are plentifulness of bully switches retired determination for overmuch little money.) This setup gets you a precise akin keyboard for not that overmuch much money, positive a implicit acceptable of switches and keycaps that could ever beryllium repurposed for a aboriginal board.

In fairness to Drop, if you had to take conscionable 1 acceptable of switches to vessel with a keyboard, you could bash a batch worse than the Holy Panda X, and their larger tactile bump feels large here. There’s a thunk to them that you don’t get with brownish oregon linear switches, and combined with the aluminum lawsuit and plate, the keyboard feels chunky and coagulated to benignant connected without immoderate of the high-pitched pinging sounds you tin sometimes get from metallic cases, acknowledgment to gratuitous usage of dampening foam. 

And yet, broadside by broadside with a Keychron keyboard, I acold similar the Keychron Q1. Although some are gasket-mounted, meaning their power plates are suspended betwixt strips of squishy foam to springiness it a small spot of springiness and bounce arsenic you type, Drop’s keyboard doesn’t person astir the aforesaid magnitude of flex. It gives the Sense75 a stiffer consciousness compared to the Keychron that doesn’t precisely shriek “gasket mount.” 

Drop’s PCB-mounted stabilizers (the mechanics that sits nether agelong keys to halt them rattling) are besides acold much rattly than Keychron’s retired of the box. While the abstraction barroom connected the Q1 has a bully popular dependable to it, the Sense75 rattles successful a mode that doesn’t precisely shriek “$349 keyboard.” Overall, it means the typing acquisition lone ever ends up feeling “okay” alternatively than “great,” and I similar the consciousness of Keychron’s sub-$200 Q1.

As good arsenic a deficiency of power choices, there’s besides nary enactment to get the keyboard with a European ISO layout. This is an ANSI- (read: US-) lone board. The Sense75’s switches are south-facing for amended compatibility with aftermarket keycaps, and the PCB’s sockets are 5-pin for maximum compatibility. Opening up the keyboard is comparatively easy, with conscionable six screws connected the underside of the lawsuit to unscrew.

The Sense75 besides supports remapping, but it’s a spot of a weird happening to get acceptable up. The bully quality is that you tin usage the fantabulous VIA bundle to remap the keyboard’s keys, acceptable up macros, and set the keyboard’s lighting. The atrocious quality is that you’ll request to flash peculiar VIA-enabled firmware onto the keyboard earlier it’ll enactment the VIA app. That’s due to the fact that the keyboard’s banal firmware is designed for usage with Drop’s ain configurator tool, which isn’t presently compatible with the Sense75. Support is owed to spell unrecorded adjacent month, but I wasn’t capable to trial the functionality arsenic portion of my review.

A last enactment connected accessories: In the Sense75’s box, you get a keycap puller, power puller, and USB-C cablegram alongside the keyboard. The pullers are nice. The power puller has a acold larger grip than Keychron’s, which should marque it easier connected the hands if you ever privation to region the Sense75’s dozens of switches. But the keyboard’s detachable USB-C cablegram is simply a bizarrely abbreviated 100cm (around 40in) successful length, and I had to usage an hold cablegram to get it to look tidy with my table setup. For comparison, the cablegram included with my Keychron Q2 was a overmuch much comfy 180cm (around 70in) successful length.

The Drop Sense75 sits successful a spot of an awkward portion of the mechanical keyboard market. It’s not that it’s the astir costly keyboard ever sold. But with a starting terms of $349, it’s chiefly competing against DIY models that you assemble yourself astatine home, wherever there’s an anticipation that astir radical volition bash a definite magnitude of tinkering and modding to get the nonstop dependable and consciousness they want. 

Meanwhile, Keychron’s Q1 offers precise akin specs to the Sense75 for nether $200, and I deliberation it’s a nicer typing acquisition to book. Admittedly the Q1’s banal keycaps are obscurity adjacent arsenic bully arsenic the Sense75’s, but with the wealth saved, you could bargain a acceptable of Drop DCX keycaps — oregon GMK oregon MT3 oregon truly immoderate aftermarket keycap acceptable — and inactive person wealth near over. Or if you’re prepared to sacrifice physique prime but inactive privation VIA programmability, you tin walk nether $100 connected Keychron’s V1 (our existent prime for the best keyboard available for astir people). Or you could get a wireless keyboard from Epomaker oregon Ajazz for nether $200. 

With its fantastically cleanable design, high-quality banal keycaps, and tasteful underglow RGB lighting, the Sense75 looks each spot arsenic bully arsenic its terms constituent suggests it should. But a operation of rattly stabilizers and stiff gasket means it ne'er rather ends up feeling it, and hobbyists volition apt inactive person immoderate tinkering to bash to get the nonstop consciousness they want. The Sense75 works retired of the box, but I wouldn’t accidental it feels oregon behaves similar a $350 keyboard retired of the box. 

Photography by Jon Porter / The Verge