Black Lord's latest launch of the AK816 three-mode wireless Gasket structure mechanical keyboard finished product, can be simply understood as a plastic shell version of AC081. There are more three-mode wireless connections, and its button configuration and general appearance are similar to AC081. In addition to the essential difference in shell material and the same Gasket structure, but the Black Lord AK816 as a conventional mass production product, more need to consider reliability and durability, so it did not follow the AC081 set of Gasket scheme, and made changes and adjustments on gasket cushion support. In addition, AK816 is currently only sold separately as a finished product, and the keycap has been replaced by an MDA ball cap, providing red gray, yellow and white theme options, and the value is not lost to the metal version.
The Black Lord AK816 uses 75% button matching, and the difference with AC081 is that the custom metal nameplate in the upper right corner is replaced by a metal volume knob. Among them, there is a slight shaking of this knob, and if it is deliberately pushed hard from the side, there will be a more obvious feeling of astringency. Under normal force, there is no problem, the damping sensation is slightly larger, avoiding accidental touch, and supporting downpress mute switching. The knob surface is a CD disc texture, the side is non-slip textured, and the entire knob supports disassembly and replacement, that is, a third-party other style knob can be replaced.
Like many mainstream 75% of the row, the F-zone as a whole shifts to the left, allowing one more key to be crammed into the right side of F12, which defaults to Home, which can be customized by driving later. The F zone moved to the left, although the interval is reduced, but it still exists, so it has little impact on daily use, and only in games such as RTS and MOBA, it will be easy to misociate, after all, muscle memory needs to be replaced.
The yellow-and-white version of the keycap incorporates a small number of personality keys, such as the shape of the spacebar, the spaceship arrow keys, the alien ESC key and the Nebula Enter key. On the other hand, its iconic triangle lamp is still used, the brightness is moderate, not dazzling, but the uniformity is not too good. In addition, the shell was changed to an all-plastic material, and the upper and lower shells were directly fixed by the snap, without a screw structure. The interface is located slightly to the right in the middle, compared to the one-sided line, for notebook users, this line is more troublesome. Directly below the interface, there is a receiver storage silo, which is very stable and not easy to fall.
In addition, the bottom of the keyboard provides two-stage feet, which has more inclination adjustment than the metal version. And the addition of three-mode wireless, connection mode toggle switch is done at the bottom, but also support MAC and WIN system switching.
Receiver storage
Enter the inclination
Concealed inlet on the inside
Black Lord AK816 adopts a new set of MDA height ball cap, PBT sublimation treatment, fine characters, clarity without problems, but also made a hidden water outlet, the overhead viewing angle is completely free of burrs, the look and feel can be said to be very comfortable. The fly in the ointment is only a very slight deformation. In terms of feel, the surface of this MDA dome cap is relatively smooth, the touch is not too heavy frosted grainy, more delicate and comfortable.
MDA height
The MDA height is actually not too difficult to adapt, the overall similar OEM height, the curvature of the inclined surface is closer to the middle key area. Compared with the general keycaps, the biggest difference is that the contact surface is increased, and the interval between the keycaps is reduced, so some users just get started, and there will be frequent false touches. After full adaptation, the MDA height is very comfortable and fits, especially the fingertip docking is better, and the increase in area reduces the sense of border on the edge of the keycap. Moreover, the look and feel of the ball cap and the appearance value are also quite good.
Black Lord AK816 finished product standard is Jiadalong G yellow PRO shaft body, the shaft body factory self-lubrication, while the amount of lubrication is more, coupled with its own Gasket structure, the bottom feel performance is more stuffy, softer. If you like strong feedback, you can consider replacing other shaft bodies later. After all, AK816 still adopts shaft seat hot swap, anti-paste LED, compatible with most of the three-foot, five-foot shaft body, playability without worry.
It is worth mentioning that the AK816 is equipped with a new satellite axis, factory tuning is better than the previous AC081, AC067, basically ready to use, no noise, but also very stable, no meat feeling. Press triggers from various positions of the keycap for good consistency.
Full key hot swap
Although it is a gasket structure with the AC081, there will be major internal changes. First of all, the upper and lower shells were changed from the original screw fixing to the snap bite. It can be seen that the AK816 internal Gasket gasket, replaced by the previous Poron tampon scheme, has been replaced by silicone strip shock absorption support, distributed in many places on the edge of the shell. The upper and lower shell edges are slotted with silicone strips. In addition, the AK816 inner tank limit is very well placed, without half a bit loose.
Covered with silicone strips
Bottom shell silicone strips
Compared with Poron tampon strips, silicone strips are obviously harder and do not have too much sinking deformation. That is, the gasket of the AK816 is only responsible for soft support and cushioning to achieve the effect of reducing the resonance murmur of the shell. In addition, it is equipped with a metal positioning plate as standard, and the whole is not soft and elastic, which belongs to the hard gasket.
As for the sound absorbing cotton configuration, it comes out of the Poron sandwich and bottom cotton, combined with its structural scheme, the noise suppression is relatively excellent.
Kaihua shaft seat
The keyboard defaults to a 3000mAh lithium battery, the capacity is not small, and the bottom case itself battery compartment is also pre-owned with more space, according to the needs to replace the larger capacity battery.
Compared with the metal version, the plastic-caseD AK816 has joined the current mainstream three-mode wireless solution, supporting 2.4G, Bluetooth and Type-C wired connections, and can also support full-key no-punch in wireless mode. At the same time, the preset has RGB backlight, on the lamp position, white positioning plate, the light emitted is more uniform, and it is gratifying to see that its overall light brightness is not low.
Overall, the Black Lord AK816 belongs to a very good plastic shell Gasket structure mass production keyboard, provided that you do not pursue soft bullets, as long as the shock absorption and silence (cavity sound) effect. At present, the daily price of finished products is 599 yuan, and in today's inner volume market, in this price, G yellow PRO is still more difficult to hold up. So if there are separate kits for sale in the future, it is better to enrich the choice. After all, the finished product is currently only a single feel of G Yellow PRO, and the standard MDA keycaps (unconventional OEM, original height keycaps), hindered by the need to adapt, the audience will be relatively small.