Epomaker EK68 review - Epomaker lying again claiming they made this kit, they didn't. It's a GMK67.

Epomaker claims on the box for this keyboard that it was "designed and manufactured by Epomaker, this is false. This keyboard was released in late October '23 as a white label kit from Zuoya on AliExpress, one of the largest seller of CIY kits. Epomaker released this in early December '23. If they made this kit, why is a white labelled version released months before; because they are lying yet again.
EPOMAKER IS HARMFUL TO THE KEYBOARD COMMUNITY AND NEEDS TO BE A THING OF THE PAST. They markup existing products and also hobble them with their firmware/software, make false claims, and provide zero after sales support. Got the wrong item, too bad. Item not working after a week, "so sorry, here's a 8% coupon off of anything from the store, go buy it again!" "You ordered X but we sent you Y, what's the problem?"
We, as hobbyist must speak with our pocket.
Today I review this non-Epomaker designed keyboard, a white label kit with a steel plate that stock, does not sound or feel as good as the barebone GMK67 kit. (Review on the GMK67: • GMK67 a 65% 3-mode gas... )
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00:00 Channel Intro
00:10 Video intro and my thoughts about Epomaker
01:30 Here is the box
02:15 Time top open it up and see what's inside
04:10 And here is the Epomaker EK68, err I mean, the Zuoya GMK67 White Label
12:08 Funky key cap legends
13:15 Let's get technical!
14:50 Closing thoughts
18:00 Sound test
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Music used for intro: Metre - Lost
Additional Music by BenSound.com
Music: Island Soul by SKIRK is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Support by RFM - NCM: bit.ly/3CVerxF
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[@erwark]

It might be a rebrand, but it looks nicer. That finish looks good!

[@MechKeyboards]

I think it looks nice in all of the colors, black, grey, and white.

[@TheAlixSH]

Ouch. I ordered a V65 like 5 hours ago from Aliexpress and I noticed there was the V65 R2 for the same price and so I requested cancellation of the order and a refund. Do you think I risk them not refunding me or what?

[@MechKeyboards]

I would not hold my breath, especially if it's already been shipped. Good luck!

[@simpusedan]

just as I thought, here in my area the same board was sold as Vortex Series GT-65, the difference here is the board was using CSA profile keycaps and aflion blue sky switch as one of the switches option (the other was Jwick t1, jwick black, gateron Yellow and the gateron Brown) but the interesting thing on the vortex one is, it already has durock plate mount stabs pre-installed even for the barebone kit. it's actually a good board for its price but yeah this is one of the cases where a lot of brands have the same product but rebranding it into their own brand (like feker75 with nextime 75 etc) which is actually not a bad thing IMO because it guaranteed the availability in every country with competitive prices.

[@MechKeyboards]

I agree, rebranding is fine, and sometimes companies have limited regional distribution under a specific model name; Epomaker is claiming it designed and manufactured it when it is nothing but a reseller.

[@WilliamcbellCbells-oz1gc]

@@MechKeyboards same as vortexseries, indonesian brand that claims its their original design 😞

[@jasono312]

I think I'm going to stop buying from Epomaker. In addition to the shady marketing tactics, it seems like the overall quality of "their" keyboards has gone down relative to their competitors like Akko where you can get similar products only with better switches and better stabilizers for less money.

[@alexyagos9873]

i bought this keyboard with gat yellows and the quality is so nice and the price was very good, and they have a very well established amazon store page so i wasz able to get free shipping. regardless of if they have rebrands their catalog of high quality affordable board is really unmatched. Not buying from them makes no sense really.

[@MarbsMusic]

I have to wonder if for some of these companies if they change more than x number of things can they claim design. The GMK67s I have all have plastic knobs, same inside as this but not as nice. As they are barebones it looks like Epomaker added or "changed" the board by adding switches and keycaps then I don't know if I have found a GMK67 that color. I pose this because while I haven't been in the hobby that long I see this rebranding as their "own" being pretty standard. There are often some "minor" changes but not enough that most US companies would claim as their own design.

[@MechKeyboards]

I'mm not an expert in Chinese law, but do know that some of these rebrands are bound to regions they can sell them in, though many on AliExpress tend to "bypass" the process. A little over a yeah ago, Epomaker tried to claim, by presenting forged government documentation trying to state that they and only they had the right to sell the Dukharo VN96 outside of China, despite Dukharo owning the rights to the keyboard. They made an attempt at an apology, but nothing Epomaker states can be trusted. www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/x9t3ns/epomaker_with_big_apology_and_promises_to_do/

[@raf.nogueira]

In my opinion the only keyboards worth trying from Epomaker are the TH80 and the Feker IK75… FL esports, Akko, Gamakai and others have way better value for the quality

[@MechKeyboards]

Since Epomaker is only a reseller, the TH80 is the Keydous NJ80 and Feker is also its own brand. All of the keyboards they sell can be sourced from the original manufacturer or another reseller of it. Though I would have agreed with Akko a year ago, not so much anymore. Their QA/QC has been pretty abysmal.

[@ibzmav]

Nice vid, could be better if there was no music in the background.

[@MechKeyboards]

Thanks. When I have no music, I'm asked to add music; when I do, I'm asked to remove it. Can't win for losing on this topic 😂

[@Orlyy]

I don't like epomaker in general, lol. I asked them to cancel an order, and they conveniently waited 3 days to respond (shipped that day), and if I returned it not even opened I still pay 35% restocking fee. Disgusting.

[@MechKeyboards]

They truly need to no longer be in business, IMHO.

[@hunibuni]

Seems this is the common way that Chinese products and branding work, it doesn't matter if it's keyboards or headphones or anything else, you will typically see the same model released under several different brands, with little to no differences between them. I don't think this is a bad thing about Epomaker specifically or that they are "lying" If they changed up a design they bought rights to, to make it a little unique and then produced it in their factory they may feel that qualifies as them designing and manufacturing that version of it. Doesn't seem like sharing designs between brands is bad practice in their culture. When buying from China you pick your products based on the model/style you like (no matter which brand is selling it) and best price; because brands don't hold the same exclusivity and longevity in China as they do elsewhere. You'd be hard pressed to track down the original creator/brand of a Chinese design so that you can have some sort of "brand loyalty" to them. It seems that eventually they sell their designs to be used, modified or not and sold by other brands and that's a deal between them that we shouldn't be upset about. People are free to sell and share their IP as they see fit. Now when they make crap that quickly qualifies for the trash bin, that's an environmental issue we should all be concerned about; or when they steal the designs of non-Chinese brands; offer no support, use toxic materials that render their products akin to bio-weapons....etc then we've got a real bone to pick.

[@MechKeyboards]

Epomaker has no factories, it is a brand only. Many keyboards are white labeled and rebranded; I've never seen one company release another company's design and call it their own.

[@hunibuni]

​@@MechKeyboards Womier and GamaKay do the same thing like they both sell K66, 68, 87 (only very slight differences if any) Both Epomaker and HK Gaming sell a GK61. I don't think the Chinese "brand" system works at all like ours does. I can give much better examples using headphones because I take way longer to buy them than I do keebs. Boltune BT-BH011, TaoTronics TT-BH046, Utaxo UT-BH003 possibly more, are all the same design of headphones, released repeatedly by different "brands". Bluedio Victory and Wavzs KT-1 are the same thing and people got all up in arms about the later selling "a rip off", when they bought the rights from whoever originated it in China fair and square. They do this across the board with all sorts of products. Keyboards are no different. I have never seen a Chinese design originator complaining about the clones so I have to assume they are selling the rights and their system is just way different than what we are used to. Seems like the factories will produce and customize the designs for whatever "brand" wants to sell the product. When I shop for Chinese products I try to find all of the clones of a product I like and then choose the lower price of them, the brand never matters unless they offer a warranty or something that makes them stand out from any other "brand" selling the same clone. Sometimes only the colorways or some other details are different but at the core they are all clones. When they claim to have designed it I think that's really what they mean, they put their own spin on a pre-existing thing. All of this certainly can be confusing for the customer for sure. I just get pissed about the toxic stuff or the stuff than breaks. I care way less that they clone each other.

[@MechKeyboards]

@@hunibuni Womier changed their name to Gamakay, they are the same company.

[@MechKeyboards]

Many companies worldwide white label or white box products, it's standard business. It is not standard to state unequivocally that one brand designed and manufactured a white labelled product.

[@hunibuni]

​@@MechKeyboards I see, if they changed their name that's fine, I initially thought that could be the case but when I searched it seems like both are still functioning brands and not really like a rebrand you would see in "the west" where the old products are quickly phased out. If you search for either Womier or GamaKay you are going to get hits as if both are still running/being supplied to the public separately and simultaneously. For example Womier and GamaKay have separate store fronts on Amazon and Womier is using marketing like "NEW Womier 68 Keys..." on their Amazon Store front. Also for customer service of Womier boards you don't go to GamaKay you go to some other "company" called XVX. I don't really try to sort through their business models for that reason. I get your point, about them claiming they designed/manufactured it exclusively, it's just that Chinese companies lie so much I think most of us have learned to take their marketing lingo with an entire salt block, or just don't buy at all. Chinese companies will sell things as "gold" just because it's yellow and metallic. We'd almost have to boycott the entire nation until they shape up as a whole. Most people who buy Chinese stuff are accepting that they are shady and lots of customer diligence is required in exchange for it being cheaper. So do you know who actually owns the rights to the designs Epomaker is claiming as their own? Have they publicly said Epomaker is stealing/lying or filed any type of legal complaints?

[@miguelangellostguardia2493]

Tambien han copiado el driver del GMK67, una verguenza. Excelente video.

[@MechKeyboards]

Gracias!