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

This is a nice, compact mechanical keyboard. It’s 87 keys, so it won’t become my daily driver anytime soon, but its great for certain settings. The keyboard uses a wired, detachable USB-C cable, which should be the standard for all keyboards going forward. It makes swapping keyboards or dealing with a damaged cable much easier. Build quality is excellent. The body is plastic, but it has a great weight to it. The flip-down feet also feel sturdy, and the keyboard should travel well in luggage. The keyboard has a really nice feel on the hands, as well. This version comes with Cherry Black keys, so it’s not nearly as clacky as the model with the Blue keys. I recommend that you choose your version based on the proximity and tolerance of your housemate(s). The real treat here, though, is the color. The lighted keys are exceptionally bright, and outshine both the Logitech G810 and the Razer Huntsman Elite, both of which have beautiful lights in their own right. The lights are easy to set in any of 14 different lighting modes, as well as solid colors. The only negatives I found were that the instructions were just a bit confusing (the translations aren’t great, but the functions were pretty obvious from the illustrations), and the rubber feet on the bottom didn’t have quite enough grip on a wooden desk. Nevertheless, performance and build quality are surprisingly good for a brand Id never heard of.

TLDR: This is a gem of a TKL keyboard and a very nice unit if you intend to either use it as-is out of the box, or if you intended to take it apart and build to suit your particular preferences. Out of the box, the entire keyboard package is solid and provides a great typing experience, especially for the price. The stabilizers are impressively good, with my unit having a lot of grease in the important areas to quiet it down (though it improves with extra lubrication). * Detailed Review * Other reviews say the keycaps are just meh, but in reality the font is really nice and crisp. Many other gaming keyboards in this price range have fonts where the double shot/shine through tooling causes letters like O, Q, R, A, D, B, etc. to be broken with a layer of plastic that prevents the light from continuously shining through. However, these keycaps appear as a traditional font without that problem. Additionally, the caps have more of a PBT texture to them than other ABS keycaps Ive used, which is a pleasant surprise. I think some of the more meh or negative reviews are due to the thinner walls compared to nicer keycaps, but I find these pleasant to use and enjoy the feel. The included switches are in my opinion heads and shoulders above similar priced keyboards with Outemu switches. They have Jixian markings, and are a Kailh style case but the inside is 98% Gateron design. Ive never had a genuine Cherry brand switch to compare, but the design is so similar to my Gateron switches that I had to look at them side by side in order to notice the subtle differences, which were mainly in the size or shape of the metal contacts being ever so slightly different. My keyboard came with Red switches, and while I intended to replace them with Red or Yellow Gaterons, I decided to simply lube these and give them a try long term. I tested some Kailh and Gateron Reds in this case (they fit fine into the hot swappable sockets) and I actually like the sound (lubed) they made better than lubed Kailh Reds or lubed Gateron reds, as they seems to sound slightly deeper and are about as quiet as the Gaterons. Everyone has their preference, but if these hold up long term I will be very happy. If you are intending to use a linear Red type of switch I think these are great. Comparing Red spring strengths, I found these to have slightly stiffer springs than Kailh Reds, which in turn is slightly stiffer than Gateron Reds. I simply held each switch stem to stem and pressed them together to test spring stiffness, using several switches to ensure consistent findings. Edit: These Jixian switches are as stiff as Gateron Blacks, but ever so slightly less stiff than Kailh Blacks. Definitely not Red in in the traditional classification despite them being red in color. I took the case apart and added some foam in the bottom and some felt-like material between the PCB/Plate layer (bought on Amazon). The plate seems to be just painted white steel. The steel plate is the bulk of the overall weight. The plate finish is fine but nothing exceptional. The included stabilizers are actually very nice. They are designed without the little nibs that all the online videos say you need to clip off. They fit tightly in the plate and didnt wiggle around. I did use a sticky cloth tape on the plate when I reassembled the stabilizers just to be sure they would be extra tight, but out of the box they were very good in this regard. Finally, as others have pointed out, its nice to see a removable USB-C cable but I wasnt able to use another standard USB-C cable from my phone - it just didnt fit far enough into the case to plug in. I may have to widen the opening if I want to upgrade the cable. The included USB-C is adequate and quite soft and flexible, but is only about 4 feet long and is quite thin. Its the cheapest feeling/looking part of the entire package. In short, I added foam under the PCB, lubed all the switches, re-lubed all the stabs, used a sticky cloth tape in the stabilizer mount and the same tape on the PCB under the stabilizers. I also added a felt-like modifier between the PCB and plate. Im very happy with the final results and will probably keep the stock keycaps and switches (this isnt my main keyboard). For reference, Ive used a 1STPlayer DK 5.0 keyboard in both TKL and full size styles (with Outemu Red switches), and this is much nicer out of the box, has the benefit of hot-swappable switches, and has some different RGB lighting options if that matters to you. It is very easy to recommend this over the 1STPlayer. Ive also customized a Hexgears GK705 full size, hot swappable keyboard. This and the Hexgears seem to use the same great stabilizers and the Hexgears has a nicer plate in my opinion, since it has a brushed aluminum finish and this is just painted. The quality of the two are similar enough to call it a toss-up and you would choose a winner based on your preferences (RGB vs single LED color on the Hexgears), though I prefer these Jixian switches over the default Kailh switches on the Hexgears (switches become irrelevant if you have a favorite in mind.) I do like these ABS keycaps on this CIY unit better than the stock ABS keycaps on the Hexgears. This is definitely a gem of a keyboard and I expect it will become very popular in the keyboard modding community. I wish they made it in a full size keyboard option.

Have had this keyboard for 2 years now and still doing great! I mainly got it for the looks as I don’t game as much as I used to, but overall better quality than expected. Swapped my keys and switches for low profile otemu browns and low profile keycaps. Haven’t went back ever since. Will update this with pics when I get the chance sometime.

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.

My college-age son is quite experienced with computer gaming and has been using this CIY X77 keyboard for several weeks now. He reports to me that this keyboard does its job well. He said that overall the keyboard feels really good, but the keys rattle a bit (at least this is true for the one we recieved). He says that the rattling makes the keyboard seem a little cheap, although otherwise it doesnt feel cheap at all. Despite the rattle, he says the keys work and feel great. One thing he wanted to be sure to put in this review is that he chose the red switch version, and he said that the red switches are louder than any other red switch keyboard he has used before. Although of course he did not expect them to be silent, still, he was surprised at the sounds the keys make since they have red switches Overall, despite these minor issues, he is very happy with how well this keyboard feels and performs. And of course the RGB backlights are awesome and so much fun.

First, Ill start off by saying I really like collecting budget keyboards. I have 11 boards so far, and this by far has been my favorite and is my new recommended daily board. I was a diehard for the tecware phantom and unfortunately this board just brings so much to the table it easily won me over. 3pin Hot swap sockets (that arent proprietary), great software, removable cable, option for floating key or enclosed key design, great materials, great stabilizers out of the box, ok-ish key switches, and seemingly good keycap quality. The blue switches didnt produce the greatest click / feel Ive experienced so Ill be swapping them out but good enough for anyone who isnt picky. I definitely recommend this board for anyone just starting out or maybe just looking for a side-grade / replacement board. I dont think Ill be replacing this board for a while!

A review for the average person! I have only ever had one mechanical keyboard before and I am definitely not as in to keyboards as most of the other reviewers. I like mechanical ones because they sound and feel nicer than normal ones and I enjoy the pretty colors - thats enough for me. Previously, Ive owned a more expensive mechanical keyboard ($150+) that was ultra, ultra customizable in every backlight mode, so I didnt realize that that wasnt the standard. This one didnt even automatically have a program to customize anything at all, I had to go to the website and download it myself. Which was fine, just an extra step if you want it. The program does have more modes than the fn+f9 gives you, but youre stuck with rainbow/random or one solid color for all of those modes. (My other keyboard allowed me to use the ripple mode with pink as the middle color, purple as the second, and blue as the third color, for example. Or breathing with just white, green, and blue. This keyboard lets you choose either rainbow or solid color, no further customizations beyond that.) It was actually super tricky to figure out how to even make the keyboard lighting look like what the amazon picture looks like, but I got it eventually. You have to download the program and go to gaming mode. From there you can select the color you want, and select specific keys you want to light up as that color. You can then choose a different color and select different keys, etc. When you do this, theyre just constantly lit though. No cool effects. And thats all fine, truly. I was just spoiled by my more expensive keyboard. I didnt buy this specifically for the color options though. I found a setting I like enough and its fine. If I had known, I MIGHT have looked for one with better customization options, but... this is fine. In terms of the keyboard itself, it feels fantastic. My old one had blue switches and Im already an extremely loud typer, so it was a little silly how loud it was. I liked it! I preferred it over a regular keyboard for sure. But that one was a gift, and I also didnt even know there were other options. I got the brown switches this time though and I do prefer them over the blues. Theyre easier to press and still make the satisfying noise, its just sort of a smoother experience all around. I dont know how to describe it, other than it feels and sounds like velvet. I understand that people like blue switches because they like to KNOW when theyve pressed the key. I think you still get that with these but its just... easier to press them. I guess if youre a pretty heavy handed typer or double-tap or hit two keys at once a lot, blues would be better for you. But if you prefer a more agile experience while still getting the clicky noises, browns are definitely the way to go. Im happy with this keyboard for the price. Im only disappointed with the color customizing options because I was used to having more and an easier experience, but again, not the end of the world. Id recommend for sure, ESPECIALLY if youve never owned a mechanical keyboard before. Also, if anyone needs a quick explanation - -Blue switches are the loudest and take the most effort to press (Its not /hard/ to press them but you do need to type with some force. Its going to be harder to accidentally hit a key, more than anything.) -Brown switches are easier to press and make a quieter, still satisfying noise. A good middle ground. -Red switches from what I understand are much quieter and take very little effort to press. There are others but Im not sure where they all fit in. As far as I know, these are the three standard (?) switch options. Oh, I also like that this keyboard doesnt have the numpad. I never even thought to buy one without that before. With my current desks pull out tray, I always had to have my other keyboard slanted to get it to fit next to my mousepad, but this one fits perfectly! The packaging felt a little iffy, but it arrived fine so its whatever.

Ive only had this keyboard in my possession for a couple of days and Ive made the decision to return it. The reason why is that the USB C cable it ships with is the simple rubber coated kind, which my cat is inclined to chew on. I wanted to replace it with a slightly nicer braided cable but no other type C cable in my house will fit in to the narrow housing around the USB C port. Not even the simple Amazon-purchased Anker brand cable that I have several of. This is a deal breaker for me.