I’ll start with a few disclaimers about this review:
I’m not receiving any compensation from Cannonkeys or Keyreative. I used to do some streaming on Twitch, mostly IC/GB reviews, but haven’t in the last several months, and I was never sponsored or otherwise received compensation from vendors or manufacturers. I’m just a rando that loves keyboards and signed up for the trial.
While Cannonkeys did send me these caps for free, I am expected to return them. By the time I post this, I’ve had repacked the caps and sent them back to Cannonkeys. Details about the PBS trial can be found here. In the trial sign up form, I did tell them that I would share my thoughts publicly, so I’ll be linking this post in their Discord.
While I would love to have had more time with the keycaps, I was only able to really daily drive them for a couple of days, and not in my preferred layout. Ideally, I’d have used these caps on my dededecline Gridiron, but I didn’t have full coverage. Also, I couldn’t test as many configurations as I would have liked and I only compared against a few other profiles. I tested with what I have in a relatively similar setup to what I use daily.
Finally, I won’t be providing sound tests. That may be disappointing to some, but the reality is I simply don’t have the equipment to showcase the keycap sounds with the high level of polish that many in the hobby have come to expect. I suspect many others will come out with sound tests and do comparisons, so I leave that aspect of review to those folks.
Why Trial PBS
Another disclaimer: I’ve disliked every uniform profile I’ve ever tried. KAM, XDA, DSA, uniform SA, in addition to others I’ve have tried at meetups.
So why did I sign up for a trial of uniform profile keycaps? It was at least partly because the designer is Matt3o. MT3 /dev/tty was one of the first custom keycap sets I ever purchased, and MT3 and MTNU are both some of the most comfortable profiles for long periods of writing code, in my opinion. But for me, neither is ideal for use with a planck layout: the usually-low typing angle on ortholinear boards makes the really tall caps unwieldy for me. MTNU was a step in the right direction height-wise, but the rougher texture isn’t my preference, and they are still pretty tall. Currently, I use KAT keycaps with my Gridiron. This profile is also mostly too tall, but they are smooth and comfortable for typing at low angles.
Colors
Cannonkeys was transparent about the fact that I was going to recieve just a random bunch of caps of varying colors and legends, but enough to cover a 60% with my choice of 7u or 6.25u spacebars. I opted for 7u.
All but six caps I received were of the “stealth” colorway (black-on-black), and the rest were BOW (black-on-white). Thus I can’t really comment on the vibrancy of the colors. However, these being from Keyreative, I would imagine that the colors could be just as vibrant as any other dye-sub KCH, KAT, or KAM keycap set.
Legends
The legends on all of the keycaps I received are centered and all-caps. The legends seem quite crisp compared with my other PBT dye-sub sets (KAT, CRP, MT3), though I can really only say this with confidence for the 6 BOW caps, which are individual alphanumerics. The text mods are all stealth and seem just as crisp, though it’s kind of hard to tell due to the low contrast. The font does seem a bit thinner than the font used on standard KAT BOW. Mods and arrows are all text, at least in what I received: UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, SHIFT, SYS, PG DN, ALT, and END. There are also a few keycaps which have small dots.
Smoothness
These caps are really smooth. Prior to receiving this set, I had been switching between CRP R6 on my Geonworks Glare65 and KAT BOW on my Gridiron. Excluding my SP SA keycaps, the CRP and KAT keycaps are the smoothest I own. The PBS caps are just as smooth, if not smoother.
My SA keycaps are also very smooth, but are also very glossy, so my fingers tend to stick on the surfaces. My hands don’t really sweat much, but after long typing sessions, they sweat enough that eventually my fingers fail to easily glide from one row of SA to the next. Instead, my fingers sort of stick so I have to intentionally lift my finger off the current key to move to the next. Think of it like having to do high-knees to take a few steps. Does that make sense?
All this to say, the caps are very smooth and matte and don’t stick to my fingers, even after long periods of typing. I’d say they are just as smooth as KAT or CRP.
Scoop
As I am not a keycap designer --or designer of any kind-- I am probably going to use incorrect terminology in the next couple of sections. When I say “scoop” I am referring to the area on the top of the keycap where my fingers rest when I am in home position. The PBS scoop is quite comfortable. One of the things I’ve disliked about other uniform profiles is how easy it is for my fingers to accidentally slip from one key to the next. I don’t have that same problem with these caps: the scoop seems just deep enough that I won’t wander without knowing it.
Sides
When I say “sides” I’m talking about the highest points of the scoop around the edge, like the rim around a skatepark bowl. Sometimes these are really sharp as they come to a thin line, like CXA keycaps where, at least for me, the transition from one row to another is jarring due to the abruptness of the edge of each key. On the opposite end of the spectrum, XDA keycaps offer no edge at all: being almost completely flat (perhaps a bit convex even), there’s no edge to keep my fingers on home. With PBS, the edge is distinct enough to let me know I’m at the edge of a key, but soft enough that gliding my fingers from one key to the next isn’t abrupt or unpleasant. Also, the homing keys (scoops of course) have only slightly higher sides than the rest of the keys.
Homing Keys
I never use scooped homing keys. I always use bars or dots. I don’t’ know if there’s going to be a bar or dot homing style, but the scoops feel quite natural: they’re the same profile but the sides of the skate bowl go a little higher. I think the scoop homing shape works well here though: the keys don’t feel unnatural or foreign amid the rest of the profile the way cherry scoops usually do.
Stabilizer Compatibility
Cannonkeys did call this out as something to be watchful for. I don’t have an extensive array of stabilizers, but the ones below are the ones I’ve used most recently and/or will use going forward.
| Stabilizer Type | Size | Installation Location | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owlabs Screw-In | 2u | Gridiron | Moderate binding, binds on push | |
| TX AP 2023 Screw-In | 7u | Glare65 solder PCB | No binding, good return, would use | |
| TX AP 2023 Screw-In | 2u | Glare65 solder PCB | Moderate binding, binds on push | |
| TX AP 2023 Screw-In | 2u | TX stabilizer tester | Moderate binding, binds on push | |
| TypePlus x YiKB Screw-In | 2u | TX stabilizer tester | Slight binding*, binds on push | |
| Swagkeys Knight Screw-In | 2u | TX stabilizer tester | No binding, good return | |
| Swagkeys Knight Screw-In | 7u | TX stabilizer tester | No binding, good return |
*So I am still figuring out how the hell to lube these stabilizers consistently, so perhaps some additional lube in some undiscovered cranny might help; the impression that I get from the binding feel is that the stems are being pushed inward slightly and the additional friction might be alleviated by additional lube. But that’s just a guess.
Conclusions
Well I’m no Theremingoat, but I’ll try to be brief. I really like these keycaps: the are smooth and have soft edges, and are a great height, whether you’re typing on a high-angled board like the Glare65 and low-angled ortholinear boards like the Gridiron. I can’t wait to try a full set.
Bonus Round: low-profile switches
Coincidentally, I purchased several low-pro switches from SwitchOddities a few weeks ago. I don’t have any low-profile boards in my collection yet though, so my “bonus round” of testing is in a little 3d-printed switch tester.
Lofree x Kailh Low Profile - Ghost Linear, Phantom Tactile, Wizard Clicky
- The keycaps are quite tight on the switches. One switch actually tried to kill me when I initially removed the cap. The pin stuck my finger and drew a bit of blood. But anyway. But the cap fits fine and doesn’t hit the tester on bottom out.
Gateron KS-33 Low Profile - Banana Tactile, Chocolate Tactile
- The keycaps fit nicely and separation is not difficult. However, the keycaps do hit the bottom of the tester.
