Wanna trade for the purples? Seriously though, I’m glad you’re enjoying them! I agree that something in that weight range would’ve been nice. Lighter, long springs can be really interesting so despite them having an interesting spring in their own right, that feels like a missed opportunity within the line.
Not stated who will be making these, but in the renders the stems look a lot like Outemu’s. If that’s the case, these stand a good chance of being quite decent; I got one of their recent shrouded-stem silent linears and first impressions are good. I think “silent but not mushy” would be a fair description of those - though every silent will have some degree of mush compared to a standard switch.
It’s a bit strange that this Alice has better traits than the Akko Alice. It’s not a complete kit, but still. You get south-facing PCB, GMK/VIA support, the cable comes out of the center (which looks a lot better IMO), and you get proper legs (which are also adjustable). I mean, Akko included these silly legs that you have to double-side tape onto the bottom of the keyboard arbitrarily.
Hey, they’re doing the blocked 68 layout, too. Does that layout have a specific name? Four nav keys in a square like the Magicforce68, Ikki68, etc. - seems like the layout isn’t super popular but never fully left behind, either, with another option here and there as time goes on.
I see they went for a badge under the square cluster like the Ikki68 Aurora has - it is a good place to put one.
People usually do refer to it as the MagicForce, but I don’t think it has a formal name. I have a soft spot for it too as the MF68 convinced me there was something to mechanical keyboards after a string of disappointing Blackwidows.
And it is 100% base kit compatible. Even the lowliest base kit will work (well unless you count SP which makes you pay for arrows sometimes… lol.)
I find it ironic that I’m considering the MX Master 3s for the quieter mouse clicks (among other features) while typing on some delightfully loud U4T switches.
I have looked into modding my older MX, apparently it is pretty easy to put in new switches. However what I have heard is that the quieter switches/clicks can feel mushier.
Maybe I will try it one day when I need to change out my dirty scroll wheel or need to put in a new battery.