8Bitdo Retro Mechanical Keyboard, Bluetooth/2.4G/USB-C Hot Swappable Gaming Keyboard with 87 Keys, Dual Super Programmable Buttons for Windows and Android - N Edition

Absolutely awesome keyboard. Really easy setup out of the box. Typing on it feels awesome, and it's super responsive. Great feedback and feel, and the keyboard is solid and set at a great typing angle. Of course, it's got a great vintage aesthetic, and really evokes a nostalgic and calming feel when I use it and see it on my desk. I'm excited to use more features and set up the included buttons and joystick.

8bitdo is known for their wireless controllers and it seems like they've decided to expand into mechanical keyboards. This is a great first attempt by them! I have a couple mechanical keyboards so I'm not an expert by any means, but I'll try to make it make sense for newbies. I have a Redragon K556 Pro that I used to type on before I got this and 8bitdo's has blown that out of the water. Battery life: The battery life is fantastic. I can't get my redragon to last more than a couple days even with turning off the keyboard at the end of the day. I haven't had to charge the battery yet for 8bitdo's and I started using it around early November 2023. Can't remember if it was bluetooth or 2.4 so I'll update when I check next time I'm in the office. The switches: I swapped out the switches in my Redragon for speed silvers which I do love, but I also love the switches on the 8bitdo keyboard. If you're a newbie to mechanical keyboards, the switches they use on 8bitdo's are the Kailh White switches which aren't super noisy, but aren't linear either. They're tactile. They're louder than speed silvers but still type nicely and aren't as loud as cherry blue switches. The clickiness volume sounds like a normal keyboard so your coworkers won't be super unhappy with you unless you're an angry typer like I am, lol. They sold me on the Kailh switches so if I ever decide to switch, that's what I'm using. The keycaps: I swapped out my keycaps on my Redragon which have a KCA profile. I wasn't super happy with them because I kept mistyping. I'm more of a Cherry girl. If I had to guess which keycap profile these were, these look a lot like DSA or XDA which are probably more my speed. They remind me of the XVX XDA profile keycaps actually (also sold on amazon), which are about same height as a normal keyboard's keycaps. That was smart because that makes this as close to a normal keyboard with the benefits of a mechanical keyboard. It's great for those who are thinking about swapping to a mechanical keyboard but also don't want to sink $$$ into one or wasting money trying to find the right keycap profiles for their typing style. The big red buttons: These are just so fun to use! It took me a second to figure out how to program them, but the instructions included were very helpful so I figured it out. They also weren't on fragile paper and I have it hiding under the buttons. It came with stickers too. I programmed my two to be Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V because they are my most used buttons and they work great when I remember to use them. My coworkers love to come over and mess with me by clicking them. These are wired, but the wire is long enough and unobtrusive. Was this worth it?: Absolutely 100% worth it. Mechanical keyboards get so costly. The fact that they made this keyboard $99.99 is extremely accessible when you consider that mechanical keyboards can cost hundreds. I hope to see a full sized version someday. No lie, I also wish they sold the keycaps because I absolutely love the retro aesthetic of this keyboard. It feels good and looks good so I would recommend this.

I bought this keyboard because I was looking to build a nostalgic custom for several hundred dollar, then I found this beauty for only 99$. Out of the box, this thing is simply a treat. It's colorways just nail it, and bring back that old Nintendo nostalgia (I myself indulged in the Famicom variety). It has rubber-sleeved cables, which for a product like this is actually a boon, because the rubbers sleeves feel just like the controllers of old. Just as well there are the power buttons, which plug in via a 3.5mm jack at the back of the keyboard and really drive the message home. All around great presentation; it's thematically perfect. Then comes build quality. The board does feel a little hollow. It has a plastic shell, and no inner foam layer to fill things out (at least it doesn't sound or feel like it does, I don't really know for sure). However, it does have an aluminum plate which helps provide a good amount of thock, and the keycaps are dye-sub PBT which give them a nice noise that's on the lower side of the register. The switches themselves are Kailh Box White v2's. Now if Kailhs are a turn-off for you, I'll just say that I used to be the same way. However, Kailhs have come a long way through the years, and these are actually pretty good. Overall the switches feel quite consistent, they have good response, and they are nice and clicky (settling them in nicely with the keyboard's retro theme). Furthermore, the PCB itself is hot-swappable. So you can also change out the switches for whichever you like if you'd prefer something else (just make sure everything's compatible). What truly surprised me however were the stabilizers. I don't know exactly what they did to them, but they are silent; no rattle whatsoever, at least in my unit. Very nice play from a keyboard in this price range. Then there are the power buttons, which are much more useful then you might think. The buttons themselves have a nice texture that makes them feel great in the hand. They have a good weight to them, and they have a solid rubber bottom. So they'll stay put on any surface you place them. The switches within each button are the same as on the keyboard. So they feel nice and clicky with good response. At times, I have found myself just pushing the buttons over and over again only because it was so satisfying to do so. In addition to their nice build quality, they are programable using 8bitDo's companion software. I myself programed them to F5 and F8 so that I could use them as quick and easy quick-save and quick-load buttons when playing games on a controller. As I said before, there is companion software that allows you to reprogram the keyboard as you see fit. Just as well, there is an A and a B key on the keyboard itself which you can use as programmable hotkeys however you like. For connectivity, you have either wired, Bluetooth, or 2.4ghz. I never did try Bluetooth, but the wireless 2.4ghz is quite good. While I did have issues here and there with the 2.4ghz, causing it to randomly, and not that rarely, repeat the last input upon infinitum. Pressing any key would resolve the issue immediately. The battery life is very good as well. I've had the board since release, and have only charged it maybe twice. All and all, it's a great wireless board, and that's not including the nostalgia it perfectly recreates. For the price, you're getting a great entry-level offering into the high-end mechanical keyboard market, and in comparison to the likes of Corsair, Logitech, Razer, and the like, you're getting a heck of a lot more bang for your buck. Just and overall great product.

This review comes after six months of daily use for work, and play, using this keyboard. Appearance: I like it. it is reminiscent of the C64 keyboard but not exactly the same. It doesn't blind you with RGB lights either, which is great. Durability: I don't see any fading of the lettering on the keys. Everything is still working. Feel: I like the feel of the keys, but not everyone will. You have to push the keys down further than on some keyboards. I also like the sound they make over that of past keyboards; it's like a duller clicky sound. Connections: I have always used it with the USB cable. It offers the use of both Bluetooth or Wi-Fi if you want to use it wirelessly, but then you have to charge or power it in some way. Annoyance: There are "engraved" lines running around the keyboard and they can be hard to clean if something gets in there. Bonus feature! Since the keyboard uses a type C port for USB, it can be plugged directly into an IPad and it works instantly (I used the cable that came with the IPad). No need for an adapter like most keyboards would need. Of course, you have to think about power when doing this. Either it will use the IPad power or it uses an internal battery, I'm not sure which it uses in this case. I just remembered today that this came with two big buttons and a little joystick, so now I'm trying to think of something to use them for. I have not used any of the other features like the keyboard mapping software, the profiles, or the two programmable buttons between the alt and ctrl keys on the right side. Since everything else is so well made, I assume that those things would work well too. Summary: So far, I think it is my favorite keyboard, over the forty years that I've used keyboards.

To start, 8bitdo scores top marks for aesthetics and quality. From the meticulously coordinated color scheme to the retro-style keycap accents to the Japanese characters paying homage to the fact that the Famicom released exclusive to Japan in 1983 - the visual craftsmanship alone justifies the keyboard's asking price. "But wait," they said, dangling your childhood in front of you, "there's more to it than just classic good looks." The top left console comprising the dials and pairing/macro buttons are high quality. The connectivity dial snaps with reassuring heft. The volume dial feels premium and confidently notches into place. And there are tiny lights above the pairing and macro buttons to show when they're in use. Then there's the classic red power LED at the top right, next to the metallic accent panel overlining the keyboard. Very nice attention to detail. To give an idea of the value proposition: toward the top right in one of my pictures you'll see one of my custom keyboards that I built basically from barebones. There's the Monsgeek M1W lavender chassis, the Morandi linear switches underneath the Cannonkeys Minty keycaps, and the various bits of custom work I did within the chassis to get the sound profile to my preference. The Cannonkeys Minty keycaps alone - just the keycaps - run $70 before tax and shipping. (The overall custom kb runs $260 before tax and shipping.) So what 8Bitdo offers, as a whole keyboard, is pretty compelling. And that's not even touching on the gigantic two-button gizmo they include in the box. It's built like a brick, with the underside lined edge to edge with high quality rubber. And dude, they factory lubricated underneath the buttons. Seriously. I popped off my buttons (I did a whole switch swap to linear switches because I'm not a fan of clickys) and the buttons are factory lubed where they interface with the lower housing to slide up and down. Bonkers attention to detail at this pricepoint. A couple caveats (but not enough to remove a star): while the keycaps, dials, and accents are high quality, the chassis *feels* (and sounds) like a $100 keyboard. It's rather plasticky and ultimately a bit hollow. This is appropriate given..... that's the MSRP. But coming from the Asus Azoth ($250) and my similarly priced and custom built M1W, this keyboard practically begs to be cracked open and modded. The marketing seems to hint that this can be the case, since hot swappable switches are advertised. Unfortunately, the assembly design is very unfriendly to experienced keyboard modders. There are 5 screws underneath the keyboard that need to be removed - four of them sit under the rubber feet, which need to be ripped off since they're fastened with adhesive to the chassis. This is fine, since the feet can be re-attached and reglued neatly and without much fuss. But the 5th screw is maddeningly under the center sticker. So you either need to rip off the sticker, which will feel worse than ripping off the rubber feet, or get a hobby knife for a neater approach like administering a circular cutout around the screw. Again, for the asking price, what you get is completely justified by the aesthetic design and high quality keycaps, accents, and accessories. The chassis is true to msrp (this is not necessarily a compliment for those who regularly use more expensive custom keyboards), and making the chassis easier to crack open for experienced modders to get in there and get to work making it feel more premium would take this over the top. Besides, I spent hours blowing on cartridges just to get them working. I spent days and weeks fidgeting with remotes running on years old batteries scavenged from some dusty corner in the garage, figuring out how to get the TV to stop skipping Channel 3. Think some rubber feet and a sticker's gonna stop me? THINK AGAIN, 8BITDO.

You can't compare this to aluminum keyboards and the like, but as far as plastic keyboards go I would say this is very solid and has a little weight to it. I've experimented with some nameless, generic brand, and/or cheap mechanical keyboards over the last two years. They have issues with lower than normal battery life, inconsistent wireless/bluetooth performance, or cheap-feeling cases. The 8BitDo Retro has none of those issues. The design is really what drew me in. I'm a fan of the retro 80/70s look here. I just wish I knew they were going to make other designs because I think I prefer some of 8BitDo's later stuff, especially their IBM-inspired design. Also, while I love the look of everything from the keys, the colors, and overall design, my one nitpick is the branding "retro keyboard" at the top that kind of bugs me. That bit could have gone on the back. And then there's the Kailh Box White switches that are used in most of 8BitDo's keyboards. I was always a fan of Cherry MX Blues 10-15 years ago and then I took a huge break from the keyboard hobby. This was one of the first keyboards I bought when I got back into things, and it is the first clicky switch I tried. The difference in quality, typing feel, and sound is night and day from my old MX Blues. Clicky switches are not for everyone but I think it goes together with the Retro aesthetic 8BitDo is going for. They sound really good in this plastic case, and that includes the spacebar and stabilizer-backed keys, which I usually have to modify or mess around with in some way to make them sound the way I want. It is hot swappable so you can put other switches in if you want. There's no RGB. I'm not an RGB guy but at the price point you might expect it although I think that wouldn't fit with the retro theme. There are, of course, a lot of keyboard options at this price. Whether or not you buy this will come down to the aesthetics and the switches. I will say it might not be cheapest for what it is, but I can vouch for the reliability and overall construction of the keyboard after about a year of use.

I consider this keyboard a perfect piece of tech. Everything just works amazing. The battery life, bluetooth and wireless connection are second to none. The look, the feel, the sound and the layout (tkl) is perfect for me. I've tried quite a few mechanical keyboards the last few years and this is by far my favorite. I'd like to buy the Commodore 64 and the PC style too, but i just can't justify it yet, although i've been tempted to.

I have used a few mechanical keyboards over the years, but there is something about the way these switches feel, it legitimately feels good typing on this thing, I've mostly used cherry and romer g switches, usually tactile with a few clicky, these clicky switches are a big surprise, not as loud as others not as sharp of a click, just very satisfying. Actually very recently I got to try out some linear switches and I really liked them, and was worried I wouldn't like this keyboard, I was even looking into buying replacement linear switches, which you can do with this keyboard if you want, but it's just such a delight out of the box. So the keys feel good, that's probably the most important part, I don't believe 8bitdo's software is out yet, so programming the keys is still done directly on the keyboard, I would like to see legit software soon though, The volume knob works but won't earn any awards, it can freely spin in either direction lowering or raising the volume, so it can look like it's pointing towards low volume when you turn it up, it's a small issue. The input knob is awesome, I often switch between my pc and my steam deck and I love how easy it is. the 2.4 feels great and I've had no issues on bluetooth. It looks good, it just does, I've actually always liked the idea of having a retro style keyboard, this ticks all the boxes for me while still being a fully featured keyboard at a great price. It's all plastic but it feels nice, I thought the strip at the top that says 8bitdo and has the lines like an nes would just be a sticker but it's a printed on piece of plastic, much nicer. The power button is gorgeous. This thing is awesome I love it, now I'm rambling because it just feels nice to type, so I'll end it here, if you think this looks good then you should buy it.