It’s all there, of course. There iscase foam, there is PCB foam, and the stabs are lubed. It’s just that there’s either not enough of one thing (foam) or too much of another (lube), culminating in a product that has a lot of great ideas behind it but stumbles when it comes to the execution.Is it a badboard? No, not really, but at this price point there are better alternatives to consider. This keyboard comes in a 65% format – bringing you an extremely compact design without sacrificing the convenience of arrow keys. This is a creamy-sounding keyboard out of the box. My first introduction to mechanical keyboards was the SteelSeries APEX TKL Pro which, while it is a very good keyboard, I have come to realise with experience – The Apex TKL Pro is not the most refined experience when typing or hammering away at an article or game – you can hear it a mile away.

For those of you that love a braided and coiled keyboard cable, there is 11 different variations, all designed specifically to match the keyboard frame colours. Overall, the XTRFY K5 Configurator provides one of the most versatile custom keyboard builders around. Unboxing K5 RGB Keyboard Unboxing Xtrfy took it a step further with the K5 65% gaming keyboard. They built an entire custom keyboard configurator where you can customise almost every aspect of your new keyboard from the base, keycaps, keyboard frame and even options to build it yourself or have someone do it for you.

INTRODUCING CHERRY XTRFY.

As with all of Xtrfy’s products, the K5 RGB Compact is driverless, meaning that you control its features via the board itself as opposed to through a software kit. That’s fine with me, as I am not a macro user and aside from changing the RGB I rarely customize my keyboards, but if you’re into tweaking and tinkering with rebinds and the likes you may want to think twice. Still, the vast majority of gamers won’t ever need any software, and the board is pretty easy to use so all of this is no problem if you ask me. The same can be said for the foam on the bottom of the case. It’s extremely thin and while it’s of course better than having nothing there at all I do feel like this could be improved. It’s not as bad as with the PCB foam (that just really feels subpar) but still. This keyboard is a custom edition of the Xtrfy K5, featuring CHERRY MX Silent Red switches and Tai-Hao PBT keycaps. A combination that brings you a satisfying, quieter and more premium typing experience.

Something that caught my eye with the K5 RGB Compact (I will sometimes refer to it as ‘K5’ throughout this review) is that it’s the first mass-produced keyboard that I’ve seen with a shine through case. I’m not much of an RGB fan when it comes to my daily driver keyboards but I love a good light show on gaming keyboards, and if that’s something that you’re also a fan of you will absolutely love the K5 RGB Compact in the transparent white color. The board also has a button combination that you can use to boost the RGB (you will need a USB 3 port for that though) and that really brings out the goods. Sure, it’s completely useless as far as your gaming performance goes but oh boy does it look good.On the K5, everything from the switches, stabilizers and keycaps to the cable, frame and even the little plate for the logo is swappable. Custom parts are available separately so you can add what you want to the K5 Compact Barebone. The K5 comes in two different editions as standard. And to give you all possibilities of customizing your keyboard, everything from the switches, stabilizers and keycaps to the cable, frame and even the little plate for the logo is swappable.