Angry Miao’s new $559 mechanical keyboard has Game Boy vibes

Between the Analogue Pocket and the proliferation of crippled emulators on Apple’s App Store, retro gaming is much than chic successful 2024. So, it’s not terribly astonishing that boutique keyboard shaper Angry Miao is getting successful connected immoderate of that saccharine nostalgia with its latest mechanical board, the Game Boy-inspired AM RGB 65.

But the existent astonishment is that what astatine archetypal blush looks similar a near-$600 parts bin rehash of an existing board is really Angry Miao’s champion mech to date. 

The RGB 65 is simply a 65 percent layout keyboard, but its ample dot matrix LED forehead means it takes up astir arsenic overmuch abstraction arsenic astir 75 percent keyboards. It looks a full batch similar a shrunken-down Cyberboard, but thankfully, it takes much plan cues from one of the astir beloved handheld devices successful quality past than from a frequently mocked rolling dumpster.

The retro vibes are astir pronounced connected the achromatic and purple versions, but each colors of the RGB 65 person tiny homages to Nintendo’s concern plan from the archetypal “DMG-01” Game Boy. This includes a curved bottom-right country with six slats mimicking the talker grill, a antagonistic alleviation D-pad cutout surrounding the USB-C port, and mock B and A buttons connected the bottom, which regenerate the wireless charging pad recovered connected different AM models. Another aesthetic flourish is simply a Galaga pixel creation graphic adorning the integrative antenna model that lets the Bluetooth 5.1 and 2.4GHz wireless connections done the all-metal chassis.

Typing connected the RGB 65 is simply a enactment of caller aerial compared to erstwhile Angry Miao boards. The marbly dependable signature is inactive present, but the caller Icy Silver V2 linear switches with their nylon housings and revised interior plan springiness the RGB 65 a deeper, overmuch much “thocky” dependable than any other AM keyboard I’ve tried.

I’m relieved to spot Angry Miao making strides successful the dependable and typing consciousness departments. While I’ve personally enjoyed the dependable of astir anterior AM keyboards, it’s each precise subjective. And the “meta” astir what’s fashionable successful the customized mechanical keyboard country continues to evolve. I deliberation Angry Miao is doing a good occupation keeping up with trends here, and it needs to. This is simply a precise costly keyboard that should consciousness bully and dependable large retired of the box, particularly erstwhile you see it rehashes a large plan constituent from the Cyberboard.

The 200-LED dot matrix sheet connected the Cyberboard ever looked charming, but portion it’s recycled connected the RGB 65, it’s amended implemented and somewhat much practical. Instead of being angled distant from you and upside-down similar connected the Cyberboard, it’s level connected the main platform and casual to see. It’s inactive mostly a flashy novelty to spell on with the RGB airy amusement nether the keys, but you tin usage Angry Miao’s site to bash immoderate heavy customization oregon download afloat baked presets from the community. It’s amusive to tinker with, adjacent if I extremity up utilizing it arsenic a large table timepiece astir of the time.

But the astir underwhelming spot of the RGB 65 is this “cyber gray” colour combo, astatine slightest successful examination to the achromatic and “violet fury” options. It looks slick successful its ain right, sure, but the different 2 consciousness similar wherever it’s astatine for the maximum Game Boy vibes. Perhaps if the grey exemplary utilized opaque airy grey oregon charcoal achromatic keycaps, it could transmission a tiny spot of the Game Boy Advance SP oregon Game Boy Pocket.

Either way, the RGB 65 desperately needs immoderate see-through atomic purple oregon jungle green enactment (which is different ongoing trend), truthful I anticipation Angry Miao considers a cheaper all-plastic mentation successful the future. I’d adjacent beryllium consenting to sacrifice a spot of that thock if Angry Miao tin let itself to not overengineer each small happening from aluminum.

The AM RGB 65’s Kickstarter campaign launches today, starting astatine $449 for a bare-bones kit (no keycaps oregon switches) and tops retired astatine $598 for a afloat prebuilt bundle successful violet. Angry Miao is moving an early-bird 8 percent discount for the archetypal 48 hours of the campaign.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge