Gadgetory

what defines a premium mechanical keyboard is it the build the simplicity of the design features like RGB lighting programmable macros the switch type I think it's safe to say that we all have our preferences when it comes to mechanical keyboards some may not like having RGB lighting some may want pretty much everything that could on a mechanical keyboard some may just prefer a simpler and cleaner looking keyboard that can just get the job done for instance take this corsair k95 platinum mechanical keyboard i was fortunate enough to test it out and you can check out my full review over here but to sum it up it was Corsairs best offering that came with all the bells and whistles like RGB lining programmable macros dedicated media playback buttons detachable wrist rest and a faster switch that I fell in love with instantly all for $200 now on the opposite end of the spectrum there's this guy the input club night fox that's set to retail for a hundred and eighty nine dollars and check this out it's plain simple very compact that's for sure when compared to the K 95 but it's still a keyboard that's targeted towards a completely different demographic you may recall my review of the white fox of wild back and I absolutely loved it because of its compact nature build and the seamless integration with my setup but most importantly I felt like I was being part of an enthusiast community just so you're aware you can preorder both the night box and the white fox from the corner store that's directly managed by input Club expected shipping date on these models are set to February 18th of 2018 and you can check out my full review of the white fox if you're interested right over here but today we're going to be talking about the night fox and see what it brings to the table when you compare to the white fox which you know I long to see isn't that different but we'll get into it but first a quick message from our sponsor so it was kind of love at first sight you know there's really nothing like this exterior I love the metallic color the tinted glass panel the RGB fans at the front it's basically a see-through case and who doesn't love that your graphics card can go vertical the top is radiator friendly and the right side is so unique when exposed thanks to these cable covers so you can show off everything you've got with age 500p my coolermaster check it out inscription below alright so from a design perspective there's not a lot to talk about here since it resembles the white fox this guy features dark black primarykey caps and bright color accents that contains just a hint of orange but my sample was a bit brighter and from my conversations with input Club they're working very hard to achieve that strong red accent with the production models so that it can complement the rest of the keyboard as for the layout you'll be missing out on dedicated function keys and the numpad is totally out of question but you can program commands to the keys through software and we'll talk about that shortly the build quality is absolutely top-notch I have nothing more to add from what I said in my white fox review the main chassis is constructed out of cnc anodized aluminum and the keys are PB TDI sublimated for the best longevity plus it resists fingerprints and grease really well unlike some other plasticky caps have encountered on some other mechanical keyboards honestly you're paying $189 for the premium materials to complete the night fox the paint job takes time and labor eventually ax cost so please do keep that in mind before even considering this now don't expect things like RGB lighting with a night fox it's just not going to happen in fact out of the box you won't find LED backlighting whatsoever the black text on the dark key caps makes it extremely difficult to distinguish certain keys and darker environments but on the other hand the lighter key caps on the white fox reflects the ambient lighting from sources like the monitor or a table lamp which makes the letters more legible to the eye so LED lighting isn't completely necessary for the white fox but the night fox certainly needs it now I was told by input club that existing owners of the night Fox and the white fox will be able to purchase an LED lighting kit for 10 to 15 dollars but that involves soldering so if you're comfortable with that you obviously do have the option to add lighting they are working with a few LED options like red and white to see which one would perfectly complement the color scheme of the night fox and yes you'll have the option in the web site later on where users will be able to purchase this keyboard that comes with backlighting out of the box the cable is detachable and graded my sample uses the standard microUSB connector but the production model will come with a Type C USB connector so kudos to input Club for that the attention to detail on this cable is just staggering I don't think I've ever come across a USB cable that has instantly given me that wow factor it complements the black and gray color scheme really well I didn't experience any kink for mation plus it's not as thick as Corsairs offering but I wish that the cable was a bit longer especially if it's being routed to the rear i/o of your PC the night fox comes with input clubs newly designed heyco true mechanical switches these are using a box switch architecture from chi-wah that's totally different from Cherry MX the company claims that they're structurally superior to Cherry style meaning they've redesigned the slider that results in less wobble with every keystroke and they've expected it to last a lot longer now my prototype sample didn't come with these switches built-in because input Club was still in the process of developing hako so unfortunately I won't be able to give you guys my full verdict on these switches but from a specs point of view they are linear and feature one point nine five millimeters of actuation overall travel distance of three point six millimeters with about 55 grams of actuation force and they support led styles that are SMD or through-hole so the end user can actually add their own flavor of LED lighting as long as it meets the specification now do note that the white fox can be pre-ordered with a variety of switch configurations including heyco true Haeckel clear which features lighter tactile actuations than hako true there's also Cherry MX clear and some more options from kiowa the night fox only ships with heyco true so do keep that in mind alright so the white fox and the night fox are plug and play keyboards so technically it doesn't require a driver software to operate but if you intend to add shortcuts to keys like adding media playback buttons function keys etc you're gonna have to do that manually by downloading a few programs and I'll link them in the description essentially you would have to go through the exact same process of reinstalling drivers through zadig configuring the layout online or through a dedicated software and then flashing the keyboard using the DFU utility it's definitely not as user friendly as some other mechanical keyboards that I've encountered in the past so please do take that in mind before even considering pulling the trigger on one of these guys I also want to quickly mention that my experience programming the layout on the prototype sample of the night fox was definitely challenging so just to quickly sum it up I went through the same exact process as can figuring the whitefox with this guy but the PCB for some reason wasn't able to or the driver software was not able to identify the PCB and there were some quirks with just trying to flash the preferred layout of my choice on this guy we didn't really work out so I had to obviously get in touch with the input club I had to go through like three hours of troubleshooting to actually finally make it work and so like I said I've been working with the prototype sample I'm sure that the production samples won't have a problem and of course they do have a full manual on their github forums so you can definitely check that out and I'll leave a link to that in the description if you want to take advantage of that step-by-step procedure well there you guys have it the night fox from input club it certainly is an interesting and unique keyboard in the market because for one it's it costs a hundred million dollars which is super expensive for a keyboard and when you compare that to something like the k95 from Corsair or even the Logitech G pro which is just twenty or thirty dollars cheaper than this guy I think you're getting a lot of features with both of those keyboards like the K 95 the GPRO then this so this is certainly targeted towards a certain type of audience someone who's just desiring a simple stealth looking keyboard that just looks cool with their setup and of course the build quality because these key caps are super expensive they're PT die sublimated so it's really durable and of course the aluminum unibody chassis and just the way how it looks I think it's quite unique so I definitely hope to hear your thoughts on the night fox remember club I certainly have to wait for the full production sample to test out the new hako switches and how they play out well when compared to the MX cherry offerings so definitely leave your thoughts on this guy I meet both harken axe thank you so much for watching make sure to subscribe for more summer content and we'll see you in the next one you