Can a cheap keyboard play with the big boys?

IN THE LAB, we often get the latest and greatest keyboards available to use and review, but what about the other end of the scale? We decided to scour Amazon to find the cheapest mechanical keyboard available on Prime that had over four-star reviews. We ended up with a $30 Pictek mechanical keyboard, which, unlike many cheaper models, is a legitimate mech-board, rather than a “mechanical feel” keyboard, which you tend to find listed slightly cheaper.

The first thing we noticed was its weight and build quality. The Pictek PC305 is far lighter than most of the keyboards we usually get our hands on, and as expected, it does feel a lot cheaper. There is very little metal involved and the whole board flexes if you try to twist it. When it’s on a table, it feels OK, though, and despite the ABS keycaps having a gamer-style font, they don’t feel too bad at all. Under the keycaps lie Outemu Blue switches. These are probably the bestknown cheap switches on the market. They are similar to other Blue switches, but they are slightly heavier, at 60g. They also have a louder, more obnoxious click and a stem wobble that isn’t found in higher quality switches. The switches are not terrible, though; in fact, unless you’re used to higher-end switches, and as long as you don’t mind the click, they’re fine. The PC305 does have lighting, but it’s just zoned, with some dynamic effects; it has blocks of color, rather than RGB, but this does give a good result, considering the limitations.