CIY X77 Hot-Swappable Mechanical Keyboard/RGB Gaming Keyboard/USB C/Anti Ghosting/N-Key Rollover/Compact Layout 87 Key/Detachable Magnetic Upper Cover/Wired Keyboard for Mac Windows

update: it was due to Win Lock and Fn Lock “features”… I fixed it by disabling them. I liked this keyboard so much that I even bought separate lube for the keys. But unfortunately, the keyboards electric board malfunctioned in less than 1 year and now it doesnt work. For example, I can no longer change the backlight color, right-click, Fn, and Alt buttons dont work anymore, and theres a constant W LED that never turns off. It used to be Windows lock but doesnt work anymore and is stuck. Wish I hadnt put so much time and energy into improving the keys. Really sad...

I bought this keyboard to mod, if that’s what your planning on doing I’d give it like 3.5/6. It easy to swap key caps and switches, but the stabilizers aren’t the best, sometimes they’ll get stuck. The stock switches aren’t very good and the key caps aren’t that good either. So I don’t recommend this keyboard straight up. If you buy it, mod it

I type all day long for work--and find this kind of keyboard is more accurate, less tiring and since I learned touch typing on an electric typewriter years ago, it allows me to type rapidly. The mechanical feel, for me, is a must. This keyboard is affordable and does the job--important that it has the numerical pad section which I definitely need and some gaming keyboards of course do not include. So this is perfect for my non-gaming use. The decorative lights are pleasant when working in dim light.

The CIY X77 is probably my favorite TKL keyboard, if not my favorite keyboard. It’s the keyboard I use daily, unless I’m trying out a different one. Previously, the biggest shortcoming for the CIY X77 were the Jixian switches that use to come in them. This current version has CIY’s EVO Red switches. The switch housing is a bit on the thin side, but these switches are pretty good, especially once they’ve been lubricated. In my opinion, that makes this board usable out of the box. The keyboard sounds a bit hollow out of the box, but a couple layers of foam and lubricating the switches will help that. The X77 also has a pretty hefty steel plate and an easily removable magnetic absorber (The top frame). If you like the floating keys look, you can remove the absorber. This board is wired only; no Bluetooth and no 2.4GHz dongle, but also no battery to deal with and it keeps the cost of the keyboard low. The PCB itself is 3-pin and 5-pin compatible and hot-swappable. The stabilizers are pre-lubed and they’re pretty solid as is. The included USB-C to USB-A cable isn’t bad at all. It’s simple and useable. The USB-C port is recessed, so you may or may not have issues using aftermarket keyboard cables. The only real way to know for certain if a cable will work or not is to try it. There are some braided one-piece cables with 90-degree USB-C on one end and a straight USB-A on the other made by Lisen that are available on Amazon that I know for a fact will fit the recessed port. You can see the image of the cable plugged into the recessed port. If you’re cool with blue and pink, I found this Blue-Pink Basaltech cable worked well for me: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TD8F2G5?th=1 The keycaps are the same as the keycaps on any other CIY keyboard. They’re backlit, double shot ABS. They aren’t bad, but they could be better, for instance, if they were backlit, double shot PBT and thicker. But as is, they’re usable. Being a TKL keyboard means there aren’t a ton of alternate functions that you need to worry about, so it’s less painful to swap out these keycaps, if that’s what you want to do. I use my keyboard for both work and gaming, so the profile and feel of the keyboard are important to me. Of the keyboards that I’ve tried, the CIY X77 has felt the best for me. My own preference is for cherry profile keycaps because I find that the tiny bit of profile difference between cherry profile and OEM profile translates to better feel for me. And the combination of the X77 with cherry profile keycaps has me stuck on this keyboard. Overall, I think the CIY X77 is one of the best wired TKL keyboards available, especially now that it comes with pretty good switches. Despite the ABS keycaps that are on the thinner side, I would still rate this keyboard highly based on quality and price. Most people will probably change out switches and keycaps, but that’s kind of the point of a budget board. You can take a $50 keyboard, use it as the starting foundation of what you want to turn it into, and make it your own.

Very solid board! Love thats its closer to an 80 %board. I recently got into 60 %and I think I like this one more. Overall very good and I recommend!

This is a great board if you want just want it for gaming or if you want to put your modification skills to work. I did buy this board to do some mods to it, it is considered my budget board. I added some foam and some clear packaging tape to the inside, really helped with the echo. For switches I got the linear Ajazz Diced Fruit Peaches and keycaps are from the Sumgsn store on amazon. Stabs are great, just need a little more lube and they dont need to be changed out in my opinion. The top of the case is magnetic, making it super easy to clean. Putting the switches in took a little bit. The holes for the pins are upside down. These are not going to go in the regular way like on a Portico or NK board. If you are changing out the switches, take the board apart and gently tape (two pieces) the plate and the PCB board together, then put the switches in. Take the tape off when done and then screw it into the case. (There is a little plastic piece where three little lights are. Just put a piece of painters tape over that in the beginning and it wont move when taking the board apart.) The download for the keyboard is useless. Refer to the instructions that come in the case, shows all the hot keys for changing light patterns, brightness, and color. Way easier. Do not try and use a different USB-C cord with this board. For some reason all of my personal keyboard cords dont work with this board. I think because the daughter board isnt compatible them. All in all, def worth it.

This is a good keyboard if you are looking for something that that has swappable key switches but not something extremely expensive. This is a smaller keyboard (not as small as those 60% keyboards as it is a bit more spaced out between the directional keys and the main keys). Note that you will not have the number pad on the side so if you are looking for that, this will not work. You do get a smaller keyboard. The default switches are pretty decent gaming keyboard. I have a limited space on my desk at home so this works great for what I need. First thing to note is that the gaming keyboard is NOT wireless. It does utilize a type c cable in order to plug directly into the keyboard which is great. The wire is interchangeable so if you want a longer wire you can change the cable. That being said the wire is already long to begin with. The wire itself is okay material but I am actually worried that overtime it may fray if you happen to be plugging this in and out. It is not made of nylon fiber to keep it from fraying easily. They also could get tangled and twisted pretty easily. That being said, it also does not bend easily but if you do put enough force there will be a more permanent crease where you fold it. This keyboard is a smaller size making it a bit easier to take with you if you need it. It has stands on the side to prop the keyboard up. The grip on the bottom is pretty decent to prevent it it from sliding. This is not what I would consider a 60% keyboard because there is still space between the right of CTRL, Enter, and the direction keys on the right. When I compared it to my other 60% mechanical, they would normally has directional keys on the bottom right with NO space to give it a more compact look. The switches and keys can be removed for cleaning. You can also remove the top frame so you can easily just turn it on the side and spray the debris out. From what I can tell the keys do not look laser on but it does not look like they will rub off very easily even with heavy use. Unfortunately I am sure it will start to rub off over long period of time so be aware of that. I took one of the keys off and it is pretty easy to remove the key switches. It does come with the tools needed to do it. I was able to switch out the switches pretty easily. The default switches are pretty good so far. After a few games and typing, I can say these are okay switches for what I need it for. It may not work for everyone so you can swap it as needed. The back lit default is rainbow color The response if very good and you do not have about any delayed response. I played final fantasy 14 on this and it worked pretty well. It actually made healing a lot easier as I do not have to reach far for the keys. I also tried it with first person shooters and it ran just fine. Overall this is a good keyboard if you are limited on space on your desk or want a keyboard to take on the go. Be aware that this is not 60% keyboard and is slightly bigger. It is less compact but still easy to carry around when needed. The keys did not take too much time to get used to. This is using a type c which is great. The switches are very easy to replace with the tools provided. It also seems compatible which most switches I have tried so far. . The keyboard is pretty well made in terms of sturdiness. It is a good alternative to the more expensive ones.

I just received this keyboard and have not moded it yet but so far it is pretty amazing for $45. I got the black switches since I wanted to try a switch I didnt already have and I liked the gray color of the case over the white one. I planned on changing the switches eventually so it didnt matter to me if I liked the switches or not. Out of the box, the stabilizers are actually surprisingly good. A bit of rattle but for the most part they feel nice and arent loud like how a lot of stock mechanical keyboards come with. I am especially surprised with the feel of the spacebar stabilizers. The black linear switches are a bit too heavy for me. They feel like MX reds with a much heavier spring. My fingers get tired from typing on them for more than a few minutes. But since the board is hot swap, I will probably get some other switches I want to try out. I planned on using this keyboard in my office so I didnt really care about the RGB but to my surprise the RGB was pretty nice. The full RGB customization is not intuitive so I highly recommend consulting the manual to figure out how to customize the RGB fully. With the black keycaps the RBG is not overbearing and does not disturb my coworkers so I will actually be using it instead of just turning it off. I originally planned to turn off the RGB while at the office but even the brightest setting isnt overbearing because of the black keycaps. Because of this I decided to keep the RGB on a static rainbow for pride month :) though I personally like the solid cyan color the most. The cable it comes with is nothing special. Standard USB C to UCB A that can be replaced but there was nothing wrong with the stock. The keycaps are also nothing special. They feel nice to type on but also easily replicable. They wont make the keyboard thocc but good enough for a starting keycap set. I will probably update this review once I change the switches and report the difficulty or ease to do so.

good

This keyboard was very easy to mod. First I got rid of the keycaps and blue switches. Next I unscrewed the plate and removed the pcb. Then I put 2 layers of Gorilla Glue Shelf Liner under the pcb. Now I put 5 layers of blue painters tape on the back of the pcb, make sure you poke holes for the screws. Next I installed switch pads on top of the pcb since I felt there was not enough room for foam. Finally I added a bit more lube to the stabilizers, I went dielectric grease. Then I reassembled the pcb and plate and installed new switches. I went with Akko Starfish switches so I didnt have to lube them. To finish it off I installed some pbt keycaps. In the end I am very pleased with this keyboard.