This review is on a series of keyboards provided by the manufacturer Epomaker for review, this one being the ‘Epomaker EK98’. You can check out the HE75 Tri Mechanical and the EPOMAKER x AULA F65 keyboards by clicking their corresponding hyperlinks.
The Epomaker EK98 is retro as all heck. A design rooted in the likeness of the Famicon, this is one of the company’s 98% sized keyboards, boasting multiple connectivity types (Bluetooth/2.4GHz/Wired over USB-C), customisable keys via hardware and software modifications, and a numpad—making this keyboard my ultimate daily driver. I got the EK98 a little over two weeks ago along with the F65 and HE75 keyboard and have been spending time mushing the keys to bits in DJMAX, ripping it apart (gently), and all in all going about my daily work routine. The EK98 replaced my Logitech K845 mechanical keyboard for the last two weeks and has since become a permanent replacement thanks to how versatile and soft the typing experience is, even with its quirks.
To get it out of the way now, yes, one of those quirks is just how quickly the surface collects dust.
Our EK98 comes in a nice cardboard box, complete with the keyboard, a USB-C cable, a keycap and switch removal tool, three extra switches, and a manual. Unlike the other two units, this one doesn’t come with a plastic cover over the board, instead the company simply opted to place the EK98 into a plastic bag. The white, red, and blue keycaps on this unit are concave as opposed to the flat curvature the F65 and HE75 go for and this unit, too, supports well-over ten kinds of RGB lighting directly off the keyboard itself which are toggled via the function keys. The caps the EK98 come with do not light up through the cap but rather around it, but the keyboard’s brightness output is more than enough to see this unit in the dark. Touch typing is a necessary skill though—go play Typing of the Dead and get your skills sharpened!
Oh, and like the other keyboards I’ve covered, just about everything this kit comes with can be recycled—don’t let the box rot in your closer, toss it into a blue bin!
The EK98 is much more spacious than the other units, instead opting for spaced keys and a heavier “thonk” sound. The unit can be purchased with three different types of switches, all though I’m unsure of which one exactly ended up in my hands. The ones that have come with the unit require much more force compared to the F65’s and the HE75’s, making it less than ideal for rhythm games like DJMAX. But you can replace the switches that you’d commonly use for games that require fast button presses as all the caps and switches are easily replaceable. As for productivity, this keyboard is my go-to choice because I prefer hovering my keyboard whenever possible and unfortunately, I have a habit of accidentally pressing keys I didn’t intend to all the time. The EK98 also has a two-stage kickstand, giving you a lot more control over how much of a tilt you’re looking for.
In terms of customisation, this unit is incredible. The switches and caps can be swapped to anything 5 pins and below and the EK98 software lets you change everything from key positions to custom RGB settings and the USB polling rate. It is worth noting that I did run into troubles setting up the driver software primarily because Malwarebytes considered a part of the software to be malware per its heuristics, making the “Audio Ripple” RGB setting unavailable for me until I noticed what was wrong—something to keep in mind if you run into the same issue. It is also an unsigned application. And speaking of software glitches, I did run into an issue with the unit becoming unresponsive occasionally when the computer wakes up from sleep. Nothing an unplug and replug can’t fix, but I can’t say I’ve ever owned a keyboard with an issue like this.
I also ran the EK98 through its paces on my Xbox Series X and had no issues with either wired or wireless. The adapter is located snug within a side of the kickstand, which admittedly took me far longer to find than it should have.
The EK98 serves a great productivity purpose. It’s a great piece of hardware with a couple of software quirks. But I think the customisation potential more than makes up for its odd shortcomings. At the price point, if you’re looking for a near full-featured keyboard with a retro aesthetic, you can’t go wrong with the EK98.
You can purchase the Epomaker EK98 from the company’s official website for $82.99 USD ($66.39 at the time of this writing). Free standard shipping is available for most countries as well.
