iQunix F97 Trimode Wireless Mechanical Keyboard Review: Colorful Color Scheme, Compact Layout

Aluminum factory iQunix recently launched the F97 series of three-mode wireless mechanical keyboard, as an upgraded version of the old F96 series dual-mode Bluetooth mechanical keyboard, the series of keyboards continue the aluminum alloy shell and compact mating layout, and provide three-mode wireless connection, RGB backlighting, shaft body hot swap and other mainstream configurations. As an upgraded version of the F96 series keyboard, the F97 series also continues the series' consistent rich color matching style, the first launch of three different colors, named roaming guide, typing research institute and unknown, and recently launched a new color matching "ski", with a variety of shaft body schemes, further enriching the user's choice space. We have also recently received the typing institute and the unknown of these two color schemes, let me bring these two color schemes to appreciate the brief review.

Packaging & Accessories:

Both keyboards are packaged in the iconic black carton and still look very delicate. The brand LOGO and model logo of the hot stamping process are provided on both sides, and the paper seal with different color schemes in the middle still has a good recognition performance.

In terms of accessories, the two keyboards are basically the same, providing transparent dust cover, USB Type-C cable, key puller, shaft puller, cleaning brush, receiver + extension module, manual, sticker and warranty card. Differing in terms of replacing keycaps, typing institute color matching offers four personality keycaps and Mac replacement keycaps, while Unknowns only provides Mac replacement keycaps.

Appearance & Details:

The color matching of "Typing Institute" adopts the overall black and gray with fluorescent green color scheme, and the main key area position adopts the black keycap with the fluorescent green character scheme, which is more convenient for users to identify daily. Most of the other keys use cement gray keycaps with fluorescent green characters or patterns, and fluorescent green personality keycaps also play a good finishing effect. The overall contrast style scheme can bring a stronger visual perception and be more in line with the aesthetic preferences of young people to highlight their personality. Several fluorescent green personality keys have also added theme names, brand LOGO and other logos, bringing higher brand recognition, and the compact layout of 100 keys with aluminum alloy bottom shell also has better performance in visual texture and touch.

"Unknown" as a whole is a retro style of gray and white keycap matching, the personality key part is embellished with rose red, blue purple, dark gray and off-white collocation looks clean and soft, elegant and calm, with a simple and smooth fuselage line, but also makes the keyboard more advanced. The addition of rose red and blue-purple keycaps also brings color jumping to the keyboard, making the look and feel more agile. The compact key layout also greatly reduces the space occupied by this series of keyboards, and the independent arrow key area and number key area can also better meet the daily use needs of users. Of course, the compact layout will have some mistact situations when you first get started, or you need to be familiar with it for a period of time.

The top position of the keyboard provides a USB Type-C interface for data transmission and charging, and the inverted interface scheme also makes the cable fastening more secure and difficult to fall off. In the middle is a nameplate trim with a brand LOGO, and inside is a wireless PCB module, which avoids interference with the wireless signal and makes the keyboard more recognizable and more beautiful.

The all-aluminum bottom shell bezel continues the detachable scheme of the F96 series, and the four bezels are secured by a built-in corner position screw, which is very convenient for removal and installation. The detachable design can also better play the user's DIY spirit, create a different shell color matching scheme, and better highlight personal preferences for trendy colors. For example, the "Typing Institute" uses a black built fluorescent green border, which has a higher recognition performance and is more in line with the keyboard theme style.

The bottom of the keyboard adopts a simple style, due to the change in the position of the signal area, the bottom does not have the F96 series of black plastic plates that are very eye-catching, the bottom shell is more integrated, the bottom is slightly convex design scheme, which can provide more use space for the keyboard, but also makes the bottom shell more layered, and the overall look is more beautiful. The upper part provides two anode aluminum metal feet commonly found in customized keyboards, which are consistent with the color of the keyboard shell, which can provide users with an inclination of about 6° to ensure input comfort. Wired/wireless toggle switches are provided below the feet to facilitate users to switch between different connection modes, and anti-slip foot stickers are also pasted in the bottom two corners to ensure the stability of keyboard placement.

Keycaps & Shafts:

iQunix F97 series three-mode wireless mechanical keyboard provides CHERRY MX shaft body and TTC gold powder shaft, fast silver shaft and other shaft body collocation, the author of these two keyboards are TTC shaft version, "typing institute" for fast silver shaft; "unknown" for gold tolk shaft V2. Both shafts are linear hand feel scheme, the fast silver shaft adopts 45gf trigger pressure, 3.4mm total stroke, the trigger stroke is only 1.08mm, pressing up brisk and fast, very suitable for fast-paced game scenes to use. Gold powder shaft v2 has 37gf trigger pressure, 4mm total stroke, 2mm total stroke, light and smooth feel, bottom stable rebound with the hand, light trigger characteristics also allow long-term use will not produce fatigue, for daily use, code words or very suitable. Their large key position is a balance bar structure, the feel is crisp and clean, and the dragon bean part is also lubricated at the factory, which can keep the feel longer.

iQunix F97 series three-mode wireless mechanical keyboard is equipped with a full-key shaft body hot-swappable solution, compatible with the mainstream three-foot shaft, five-foot shaft and other shaft body, so that users can easily change their favorite shaft type, experience different shaft body feel, but also let the keyboard have higher playability. In addition, this keyboard also adds sandwich silencer and bottom sponge, which can effectively suppress the cavity sound and murmur produced during tapping, and with the all-aluminum bottom shell scheme, it also makes the percussion feel more stable and solid, and the percussion sound is more pleasant.

In terms of keycap collocation, these two keyboards are equipped with a set of abs keycaps with original height, which do not support light transmission effects, and the overall workmanship and details are still relatively good. The keycap patterns and characters on the "Typing Institute" are very clear, and they have a good visual performance. ABS material keycaps are delicate and smooth to the touch, and the sandblasting process also makes the feel more dry and has better oil resistance. Compared with the KDA height dome cap of the "Roaming Guide", these two color-matched keyboards are still suspected of "shrinking" in the material and process of keycaps.

iQunix F97 series three-mode wireless mechanical keyboard has a non-light version and RGB backlit version, the author of these two keyboards are RGB backlit version, using the lower light position scheme, support 16 million colors of light color adjustment, with the built-in 17 kinds of lighting mode, lighting performance is still relatively good. These two keyboards use silver metal positioning plates, which also have a certain bonus for lighting performance, however, the "Typing Institute" is still slightly inferior to "unknown" in lighting performance, and the lighting performance of these two keyboards is slightly worse than that of "Roaming Guide", of course, this is also related to the gap between keycaps and the color of keycaps.

Usage test:

iQunix F97 series three-mode wireless keyboard provides wired, 2.4Ghz and Bluetooth 5.1 three ways of connection, for mainstream operating systems, mobile devices have a good compatibility performance, for multi-platform, multi-device user performance is still very friendly. The MacOS system key has also been adapted, and it can be switched between Windows and MacOS through FN+TAB, which is still very good in use. At the same time, the three connection methods of this keyboard support the full-key no-flush scheme, which can avoid the operation errors or interference caused by key interference, and it is more convenient to deal with various use scenarios.

The keyboard adopts a built-in lithium battery solution, a lithium battery of about 4000mAh, and a low-power wireless chip, which can provide about 260 days of battery life in a backlightless state, and the endurance is very strong. With the highly convenient USB Type-C interface and the charging and using scheme, users do not need to worry about insufficient power to affect daily use. This series of keyboards also continues the key combination operation scheme of iQunix's keyboard, which is roughly the same as that of several other series of keys, which is very friendly to iQunix keyboard users and can be more convenient to use. It provides wireless mode switching, multimedia control, lighting adjustment, program calls, checking keyboard battery status, factory reset and other functions in the key combination section.

The three-mode connection scheme also allows the series of keyboards to be used on different platforms and devices with good compatibility performance, with the addition of sandwich sound-deadening sponges and noise-reducing bottom sponges, it also reduces the internal cavity of the fuselage, reduces all kinds of noise generated during tapping, and allows users to get more pleasure when tapping. Shaft hot swap program also brings more playability to the keyboard, users who do not like toss are ready to use, no need to adjust, users who like toss can replace the keycaps and shaft body by themselves, optimize the feel and tapping sound, and better take into account the needs of different user groups.

summary:

iQunix F97 series three-mode wireless mechanical keyboard continues the original streamlined compact key layout, and then with the current mainstream three-mode connection, hot plug, RGB backlighting, silencer and other configurations, with the TTC shaft body excellent feel and long endurance performance, further improve the user pain points, but also bring a better experience. At present, the three colors of the F97 series keyboard have been put on the shelves, the non-light version is priced from 1099 yuan, and the RGB version is priced from 1299 yuan, and users who like it may wish to pay more attention to it.