Hello All,
In this post I will be going over the RealForce GX1 and my findings compared to a R3S keyboard. This is an informative post that will show the build and components of the new RealForce GX1 keyboard. This is basically the updated RealForce RGB.
TLDR: This board is completely different from any previous RealForce Boards and does not have the ability to fit into any custom Topre cases. It is a new generation and a first for RealForce.
DISCLAIMER
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES THAT MAY BE CAUSED FROM DISASSEMBLY. THIS IS NOT A GUIDE BUT IS AN INFORMATIVE DOCUMENT. READER ASSUMES ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES. THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY
With the disclaimer out of the way; let’s tear this thing down. 
First thing you will notice is the overall change to the board. This board has a floating key design and a completely redesigned bottom case.
The keycaps are very similar in shape to the OEM Topre keycaps which is a good thing. Only difference is they are more sharp.
This keyboard is very annoying to disassemble in my opinion. It disassembles from the top, similar to the bluetooth R3. There are 10 self tapping screws that screw into some plastic standoffs from the bottom case. Once those are removed you must remove the bottom case screws along the top of the case. After that the bottom will just lift off, no tabs to worry about (slightly nice change).
Left screw is the bottom case screw that screws into the plate. (4x total)
Right screw is the top case screw that screws into the bottom case standoffs. (10x total)
Let’s take a look at the inside of the bottom case. In the above picture the GX1 is on top, and R3S case is on the bottom. You can see the standoffs on the GX1 that poke up from the bottom case, other than that the bottom cases are very similar in shape but they are not interchangeable at all. The GX1 has a thinner bottom case since it does not clip into the top case.
(PCB Comparison)
(Through holes)
(New screw)
Now we can see the PCB (top). Main changes to note are the through holes in the PCB for those stand offs in the bottom case. There is also the addition of 2 new screws on the PCB, they are two big silver ones on the bottom left and top right. These screws hold the PCB to the plate. Other than that we have the same black and silver screws that are littered throughout the PCB to attach it to the plate and housings. One interesting thing to note is the white stickers on the left, these are covering screw holes that pass through to the plate (for black screws). Not sure why these are covered, but could have been some production error or process. You can see the differences compared to the R3S PCB on the bottom.
Now to discuss the “plate”. The plate is also the top case so we have coined the term “integrated plate” for this board. It is an interesting design choice and is unique to this version of RealForce boards but is very Razer-esque. This unfortunately means the ability for this board to be used in any after market cases is not possible as a drop in. There is the possibility of changing the material and or color of the integrated plate if one truly desires but in my opinion it is not worth the effort.
Now to hop into the housings. These housings are a completely new shape, they have an almost pentagon type shape to them. They are very loose in the integrated plate once you disassemble the board, but are very solid once assembled. Nothing really to note with these other than the new shape.
Sliders seem to be the same as the old RGB sliders but with a slight increase in thickness (0.05mm). They are now silenced with poron rings which is a nice upgrade.
Now to the stabilizers. The spacebar stabs got an upgrade to them with some dampening poron around the crosses, as well as on the plate for the overhang to hit instead of just the metal of the plate. This is not present for the other stabilizers. All of them are heavily lubed from the factory with a similar lube to 205g0 which is a nice surprise and makes them sound really nice without modding.
The domes have an interesting new shape to them that matches the housings for the 1u pieces. This is possibly an unfortunate thing as you may not be able to change out the domes on this board for RGB compatible aftermarket versions. The LEDs are supposedly addressable individually but RealForce has not released the updated software for their programming tool for this board at this time (version 3.1.4, it is also only available on Windows). The domes are also available in 30g and 45g, this version is 30g and it is incredibly light for typing so some people may enjoy this board for the light dome weighting.
One last thing to note is GMK caps do not have any interference like was present on the OG RGB RealForce. No binding or other issues like that on this GX1.
Final Thoughts
This board is pretty nice but is built to suit a new crowd of RealForce Topre users. They are definitely trying to capture the “gamer” crowd or in general the average user. This board will likely not have any aftermarket support as it would be difficult to produce specific domes to use for this and there really is not any motivation to since it cannot be used in aftermarket cases. So if you are someone that likes to modify keyboards (I would assume anyone reading this does) this is not a board that you would want to buy unless you plan on creating domes for it, or cases to accommodate. But if you are someone that wants a “premium” gaming board with RGB and not have to mess around with modding, it may be a good choice for you. I do offer USB C dongles that allow you to use custom cables and get rid of the ugly stock cable on RealForce boards, and GX1 is now supported.
Thank you for reading, and if you have any questions please feel free to reach out!
-Beez
