$129 Budget Custom Mechanical Keyboard - IKKI68 Aurora Review

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/ @andyvnguyen
My stream schedule on Twitch is Monday 5:30PM PT, Wednesday 5:30PM PT, and Saturday morning around 10am PT.
Board: Wuque Studios IKKI68 Aurora Prototype in Mint
Board insulation: Two case rubber sheets removed, removed middle and side gaskets. I also used the rubber layer in between plate and pcb.
Plate: PC plate
Keycaps: EPBT 9009
Switches: Lubed and filmed OA Switches (205g0, TX filmed, TX 65g 14mm springs)
Stabilizers: OA Switches lubed with 205g0 and XHT lube.
Mat: King of LA Deskmat from Bolsa Supply
Timestamps
0:00 Video Start
0:54 IKKI68 Aurora Strengths
1:06 Ethics statement
1:27 Build Quality
2:51 Sound and feel
3:14 Compare to KBD67 Lite
3:18 Silicon gasket design
3:55 Sound Test
5:28 Design of the board
6:13 All the kailh hotswap layout options
6:31 I suddenly enter a cave
7:00 Problems with this board
7:49 The money "trap" with this board
8:01 Who is this board for?
8:08 Constellation vs IKKI68 Aurora
8:26 Color options
8:38 This or NK65EE?
I'm not going to lie. I have "elitist tendencies" and did not have high expectations for this board. On the stream however, I was pleasantly surprised as to how it turned out. There is an mindset within a certain sector of the community that believes that any board that has a lot of dampening/foam is deemed to be designed poorly. There is some validity to that statement, but it is not always true.
These more affordable injection molded polycarbonate cases, when designed around the silicone dampener, lead to a really nice sound. It's not as clean of a clack as you can get out of a metal plate in a top mount heavy aluminum case keyboard, but it is still way better than what we have been able to achieve with affordable aluminum cases in the past.
This board specifically takes it a step further and allows a wide range of customization from the levels of silicon dampening as well as various layout options even within the hotswap pcb. It's definitely a really well-rounded choice for someone coming into the hobby or someone who just wants something secondary board to test things out.
The reverb on some audio tracks was discovered too late after I already set up the premiere so I said screw it LOL.
Let me know what you think of the review in the comment section below!
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Recorded with:
Sony A7SIII - amzn.to/39B3O5Q​
Sony 16-35 F2.8 Gmaster - amzn.to/2QiwARo
Sound recorded via Deity Vmic D3 Pro - amzn.to/3hkEpic

[@jonahking2168]

6:41 the E C H O is U N R E A L

[@HappyB0T]

I thought I was tripping balls.

[@sophv]

Yeah lmao what happened there, thought I had the video open in multiple tabs or smth

[@AndyVNguyen]

I made an editing booboo and the video was already too far gone by the time I noticed it. Consider it an easter egg lol.

[@HappyB0T]

@@AndyVNguyen it happens when you put so many videos up at the speed that you are. I still think your cool ;) honestly it would be funny if you did it every time you said - “ p r e f e r e n c e e “

[@crzybleachfan1]

@@HappyB0T Please do this Andy that would be hilarious

[@HipyoTech]

But how do I buy Andy's beautiful smile?

[@offbrandegg5378]

I can give you one that looks worse than andy's, but it's free!

[@AndyVNguyen]

braces and actually wear your retainers step 2 is harder than it sounds

[@kods_]

@@AndyVNguyen So bad at wearing my retainers you got no idea!

[@Grumpyfoot.]

😁

[@minimalistik]

Gotta join the group buy 😏

[@Max-vp6rq]

I really like your reviews, you say things as they are, without fluff. Your knowledge also shows when you compare the keyboard with other keyboards that you've tried. Thats really useful info and it's priceless! Good video! Thanks

[@chrisr8244]

To be honest used to think you were an elitist. Felt I owed an apology. The more I learned the more I realized you were right and I was just being arrogant despite not even being experienced. Keep up your videos. I like the content.

[@sviz]

Board and sounds look great, dope video man. Got me even more excited for mine haha

[@harriskokkinakos9989]

awesome review, so excited to get mine!

[@jadentonthat2130]

yesss this is the perfect review video of the ikki68 aurora that i needed :))

[@AndyVNguyen]

glad you enjoy it!

[@8bitsamurai6]

The layout is clean af. 👌

[@albioncia]

and one more advantage, it can support standard layout. if you buy non gmk keycap you can skip non standar layout and youre ok with 108 aliexpress cheap tai hao or ukiyo e keycap

[@nayanpitlam5621]

Grogu artisan blends in with the mint colour Amazing video

[@RichardBeans]

Loving these outside reviews lol

[@igieswainebragt]

You deserve way more subs

[@serene4566]

Definitely a competitor with the 67lite but as you mentioned the customizability it seems unmatched for now , not too sure about the NK65EE. Great video as usual Andy, keep at it

[@HappyB0T]

Andy - killing it with the on point reviews. Waiting for my Charcoal ikki to come. Matching the Kam superuser badge and the keyset was a really fun option for this board.

[@akuto2905]

Nice review 👍

[@AT-vj2mz]

Andy is the best keytuber I'm convinced :D

[@AndyVNguyen]

Ty A T!

[@Instinct0425]

This is my favorite budget board of 2021

[@yiepie9822]

i see you everywhere you must have a good taste because i do

[@Instinct0425]

@@yiepie9822 🥂

[@twotwoshibainu3284]

Dope content as usual! I hope the Bluetooth board's software isn't janky though.

[@reecewalesiak1223]

I love your videos!

[@anthong_]

another great thing about this board is that it supposedly comes with a braided coiled cable at no extra cost

[@TheCobaltedge]

IIRC its just coiled, not braided so old school telephone style

[@DetermineGames]

@@TheCobaltedge they actually released some photos of the cable in their discord and its coiled

[@TheCobaltedge]

@@DetermineGames ah i missed that! Thanks for the heads Up - Just checked it out

[@HireMichaelEverson]

So I was speaking to Wuque and Cannon Keys customer service and it looks like they will but out for delivery in early August and they have had no delays. Very nice people. Through my experience with supply chain management that ETA seems reasonable since it's shipping from Wuhan.

[@wagonet]

Great Video 👍

[@dashlord_]

Why the hell are there so many dislikes? :/ This was a great video, keep up the good work Andy.

[@fredneverdead773]

fr

[@AndyVNguyen]

there was a wave that happened right before the premiere even started

[@BIGEUROtv]

@@AndyVNguyen I think you upset a lot of NK65 owners. Ha. ❤️😎

[@fredneverdead773]

@@AndyVNguyen how dare they >:|

[@kurious_kuromi]

I love the dinky little nav keys on this. It's so stupid and cute looking 🥰

[@YonkersDolphin]

Pretty mad at myself for skipping out on this but oh well lol awesome review!

[@muCephei_]

Great video Andy! I have a suggestion. I've been thinking about this for a long time. Assuming there are quite a few keyboard enthusiasts around you, why not do a blind test with all their boards? From entry level to premium, people bring their boards and give a rating of 1-10 for sound and feel and judge the board based on those factors only. No aesthetics or material or how hefty it is. You don't have to have your eyes closed. You can actually do a real typing test but you can't look down to look at the keyboard.

[@tommytypes1721]

NEW VIDEO LETS GOOOO

[@truthxbl]

Imagine U4T's and SA or MT3 in this case. Really looking forward to trying it out.

[@Drew-tm5pe]

This combo will thocc so damn hard sheeeesh

[@DoubleOhSilver]

I'm so hyped for this one. Looks so clean and I love the layout on the right side. Curious to try out the split space too. I don't think it's primarily a beginner board though. Sure it might not be end game, but it's still very good. Most beginner products target a general audience - neutral colors (well, there's also the carbon color, but moving on...) and low customizability with little need for custom badges. Also, it's not that great to gauge other keyboard-acoustics since most of them are aluminum, not all use silicon dampeners, and all of the other small details that change sound. I guess the target audience would then be those who value high customizability and specific aesthetics/personality (mint, Mizu, Devoted).

[@AndyVNguyen]

true, but in customs you typically don't want a one board that fits all as it's supposed to be customizable. injection molded pc boards are a cheaper manufacturing process geared at getting more units out to more people, so i classify it as beginner purely for that. they just decided to added the customizability after the fact to make more people happy, and i think it was a great choice! i use both polycarbonate plastic keyboards and aluminum keyboards and we definitely have to compare the acoustics to one another. i get asked a lot if someone should get the alu version or the pc version. some boards have both options. the idea is to figure out what design choices were made in the board and how that affects the final sound the kbd67lite is more of what you'd consider a beginner board and even that one has a tiffany green type color very similar to this mint! i think manufacturers just realized not everyone wants a black/white/gray keyboard.

[@DoubleOhSilver]

@@AndyVNguyen I see what you mean. I guess the main reason I don't like calling it beginner is because I bought one and I'm not new to this 💀 I really like the Ikki68 and wish I had caught the Alu one. Good point on the sounds too, I haven't typed on as many boards so I wouldn't be able to make good comparisons.

[@manguy825]

June can’t come soon enough for these to ship out haha. How does the typing feel and implementation of the gasket mount compare to the kbd67 lite?

[@HireMichaelEverson]

Looks like it will be delivered early August.

[@offbrandegg5378]

@@HireMichaelEverson late July/early August

[@HireMichaelEverson]

@@offbrandegg5378 that's what they said.

[@8bitsamurai6]

Hope they do badges again cus missed out but I ordered a bt and wired version. That mizu tho.

[@zephyr.r]

YESSIRRRRR

[@itspchu]

lol i died when he entered the cave

[@PaladinSalt]

I definitely didn't treat this group buy as a budget buy so heres hoping that it will be great!

[@DoubleOhSilver]

Same. I spent just as much on badges and brass weight as I did on the board.....

[@PaladinSalt]

@@DoubleOhSilver I didnt want to say that so thank you ha. and plates also in my case

[@ryano609]

@@PaladinSalt More plates in the making too 😫😫. I also thought that the badges were a part of the gb, but with knew found knowledge from Andy. I'm going to get me some of thoooose.

[@PaladinSalt]

@@ryano609 Oh ya the badges were a separate group buy ran on their website back in march. they might run another round but man there were so many badges it was crazy picking out just 5 in my case.

[@ryano609]

@@PaladinSalt Nooo, say it ain't so. Welp guess I wait then.

[@maniak3033]

just waiting until august to get mine. Did you flash yours with a special QMK thing they sent, or did u just use the Ikki68 QMK thing to flash it?

[@aeidein]

With all these new budget keyboards coming out (NK65EE, IKKI68, Bakoneko 60, GMMK Pro, etc) coming out, a video comparing/ranking all of them (and including some older ones like the Tofu) would be awesome at giving newbies an overview and getting them into the hobby!

[@jimmymayer4153]

Lol the cave part

[@soop1558]

still waiting for mine to arrive in august ):

[@Ponker]

Ponker bless

[@hazardmix]

are you gonna do a tactile switch sound test?

[@nitroh4058]

Why so many dislikes? Perfect review video Andy!

[@12345678946513]

Probably an out of place question, but would you try/record a soundtest for a plateless KBD67 lite in the future?

[@AndyVNguyen]

i honestly feel like "plateless" but typing into a silicone layer isn't really plateless at all

[@zoeyvanwijk8687]

the echo is a feature. not a bug.

[@katarixy]

a keyboard for the people lol

[@dooty610]

What happened to the audio at 6:35?

[@zijihuang5259]

why are there so many dislikes on this video

[@rrpokemaster8586]

Can u do a gmmk pro review

[@AndyVNguyen]

i'll be working on it!

[@asynzr2659]

My dell keyboard stop working . Should i buy this

[@johnstonliu]

Absolutely

[@stevenr3544]

pretty sure the gb ended so u cant even buy this anyways

[@alaudbrother]

@@stevenr3544 thankfully there will be extras, another Rensuya collaborative edition, and a round 2!

[@xdelbarrio]

anyone knows if there will ever be a round 2, sad that I missed out on this one :(

[@BIGEUROtv]

Yes there will be.

[@Sakkyun]

The PnC version is on GB right now

[@grahamboles6419]

Baby Yoda!!!

[@franknuggets5295]

bro were did you get that grogu artisan!!??

[@AndyVNguyen]

archetype sold it one time..

[@Agent_Alpha]

is the R1 still worth buying? i don't really wanna wait for the R2

[@AndyVNguyen]

if you're okay with all plastic yeah nothing wrong with it

[@Agent_Alpha]

@@AndyVNguyen yeah totally, makes it even easier for me to bring it outside, thanks for replying!

[@kariyui]

This or kbdfans 67lite r3 starting when this one ends?

[@AndyVNguyen]

There’s a video on my channel that compares both!

[@tylertypewriter]

Can I buy this board?

[@xanira6367]

What's with the 19 dislikes xD

[@lil_syba]

Let's spam likes so that the dislikes look as dumb as they are lol. Great video as always dude ;) the echo easter egg was a very profound moment in my life

[@fenderjbass6463]

Mmmm turquoise board mmm

[@ee1yd]

the options on this are nice, but not a fan of the form factor

[@the.alexkim]

nk65 just looks bad compared to other boards now

[@AndyVNguyen]

it's because they came out with the board first!

[@notyouraverage5527]

u never talked about the customizable led screen tho :(, maybe u didnt have it

[@AndyVNguyen]

wait there's a screen?

[@DoubleOhSilver]

Are you taking about the badges? I haven't heard anything about a screen

[@notyouraverage5527]

@@AndyVNguyen led light; to the right of up arrow, u had a prototype thats why. pcb would have a led light there. option to make a customized plate for led @taekeyboards. i'm dumb lol

[@damnboi3586]

can you buy this now somewhere?

[@AndyVNguyen]

they are planning to do more runs i believe

[@damnboi3586]

@@AndyVNguyen ok, cool.

[@jongsooyoon4779]

you can buy the pnc peaches n cream version. It's currently in GB

[@damnboi3586]

@@jongsooyoon4779 i haven't found a website for the keyboard kit, only keycaps

[@preston9868]

yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

[@PoguliPogalu]

I missed the accessories and badges gb like an idiot :(

[@AndyVNguyen]

oh noooo

[@PoguliPogalu]

@@AndyVNguyen yeah Im sad, I'm hoping there will be extras lol

[@andrec.fennell9255]

What's with all these dislikes :(

[@jlaviews]

If only not green

[@fededimen]

There is a charcoal option and some special colors but I think they won't be the same on every run

[@fededimen]

The charcoal and mint will be the same but the special colors won't

[@blazingsun21]

@@fededimen im pretty sure they will be doing new colors (not mint and charcoal) for next round at the very least

[@missnejjen]

They just announced a peaches and creams colorway if you are into orange

[@jlaviews]

That would be good but site says not available.

[@user-ri7yk1gq9z]

tink kbd67 lite sounds is better

[@AndyVNguyen]

definitely a preference thing!

[@iin.ko_]

hmnmmmmmm

[@DONQUIIIXOTE]

Became interested in mechanical keyboards again about a month ago and this drew my attention this week. Imagine my disappointment when I learn I can no longer purchase one 🥲🤣. Subscribing so I stay up to date

[@AndyVNguyen]

There’s a d60 lite coming up if you’re interested in 60s!

[@DONQUIIIXOTE]

@@AndyVNguyen I’ll check it out, thanks!