Glorious PC Gaming Race Gmmk TKL - Barebone, ANSI-LAYOU

I am writing this review on October 13, 2022. The MCU installed on my board is the VS11K28A, which is not compatible with QMK. This appears to be a 4th revision of the GMMK TKL; revisions 2 and 3 are compatible with QMK. The keyboard itself is quite nice for only 50 or so dollars. The riser feet do almost nothing, and it feels a bit low coming from a keyboard with more pronounced riser feet. There is little to no room in the case for any foam/polyfill, but mine did come with a small sheet of foam preinstalled in the case. The proprietary software you need to control RGB/macros is windows only, and is pretty lackluster. I could not find anything on a 3rd party software compatible with this keyboard. If this is something that matters to you, I would look elsewhere. I wish I knew this before I bought it, but for the price you cant get much better. I would not hold out for any official software updates; the GMMK 2 and Pro use a different software and I believe theyve given up on supporting the GMMK 1.

This keyboard is dampened extremely poorly. Very loud pinging when even gently typing and its not from the switches (tested with Halo Clears). If you flick the base itself you can hear the loud ping. Typing with it flat on the desk doesnt help and neither does typing on a deskmat. It is the case itself. Im going to try adding dampening foam under the PCB and see if it helps. Will report back.

usb-c, hotswap, formfactor that supports many keycap combos. check, check check,. plus its good quality for what you get. greater starter board if you like to hotswap a lot.

I love this, I love that it gives you the option to build your dream board without having to only use a 60%. I love my aarow keys & the 9 above them. So I was desperate to find the perfect 70% - this made that a reality. The software is pretty awesome for a more up & coming brand too! The one downside that cost this a star is that you have to cut the 2 little legs off depending on your choice of switches. I really didnt mind since I have a board for linear, one for tactile & one for clicky & since I know these are my favorite linear switches, I am keeping them on this board - but for some people this can be an issue & I totally understand why.

It is metal! flat plane easy to clean

My first diy keyboard and this was so much fun. easy to use and sounds great.

I dont need any other expensive brand keyboard when i have this one. I have wasted so much money on good keyboards. This keyboard is crazy fast with silver switches and the typing sound is just amazingly quiet. There is NO ding sound in ANY of the keys when you type or play. This is the keyboard you need, not the expensive ones. Glorius...... Thank you for making such good product.

Flash points: - Extremely high quality for the price. Mostly aluminum body, thick braided USB, feet angle is great. Hard to top in price range. - Hot swap PCB constructed well - inserting and removing switches has caused ZERO issues (NOT SO ON ALMOST TWICE AS MUCH DROP CTRL, WHICH FAILED AFTER 2 SWITCH REMOVALS) - RBG light dispersion & patterns standard but quality My only complaint would be to eventually move to an all aluminum chassis for better sound, but they are solving for this by releasing the all aluminum GMMK Pro. Overall, nothing even close in the category. Hot swap opens up an entire switch world for the consumer to explore With the GMMK. Quality is very high for an entry level board. Don’t hesitate if on the fence - it’s a great board.

The market for full size custom keyboards is basically non existent so there isnt a ton of choice. This one is almost great. Build quality is good. LEDs are bright. Design is pretty clean. But the tolerances are not great though. Ive had a ton of trouble getting my switches socketed in properly. Its not easy to open up the case for modding. The best thing this has going for it is that its regularly in stock. But if there was a viable competitor Id have gotten that instead.

This is a great option for the budget oriented consumer who wants to build there own mechanical keyboard with there own switches and key caps. It is fantastic! Only with Glorious would actually make a useful software to use. It works for RGB controls, but horrible for macros.