8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard review (C64 Edition)
Looks can be deceiving in hardware. The notion that mediocre gear is sometimes propelled forward by pretty RGB or flashy marketing isn't exactly revelatory so, when I first got a look at the 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard, I felt equal measures of curiosity and scepticism. Though it has some quirks, I can happily say that the looks of the 8BitDo Retro don't feel like a distraction and just feel like a cherry on top of a decently priced, well-performing mechanical keyboard.
The version I have for review is modelled after a Commodore 64, and it absolutely nails the aesthetic. Unboxing this at the office resulted in a small choir of 'oooh' and 'ahhh'. Admittedly, this room is filled with more hardware geeks and nostalgia heads than most but it's still a testament to its prettiness in person.
The keyboard is made up of a collection of warm greys, muted browns, and then a few accents alongside them. The volume and connection dials on the top left have red accenting, the power-on indicator is a retro-themed red light, and the 8BitDo logo on the front is a rainbow-themed homage to the C64's iconography. If you're nostalgic, you will probably swoon over the aesthetic and I, as someone who only holds second-hand nostalgia for the C64, found myself adoring it too.
The original C64 has a much more streamlined keyboard than this, without the fancy media controls, programmable buttons, and function keys. Yet 8BitDo manages to approximate the feel of the C64, even if it's not a one-to-one rendition. The rainbow of the C64 logo is in a different place, and the placement of keys are much closer to a modern gaming keyboard than the original computer keyboard from 198,2 but it's noticeably a C64 theme without having to state it on the keyboard itself, and this is a testament to its design. 8BitDo has made compromises to not entirely alienate a modern typist or gamer, whilst committing to its theming well.
Size: TKL
Connectivity: Wired, 2.4 GHz wireless, Bluetooth
Keycaps: Dye-sub
