When picking a keyboard, there are many options available. For those on a limited budget, or that rarely use a keyboard, a membrane keyboard is often used. For those though that spend a lot of time typing, or gaming, mechanical keyboards are used.
However, full sized keyboards are usually pretty big, and a lot of the features go unused. To combat this, a lot of manufacturers have opted to make smaller keyboards. This are also known as 60% keyboards. These are always mechanical keyboards and they always have the number pad missing. They also have the arrow keys missing (although some may have these including by way of pressing the Function Key).
Since there are so many different keyboard manufacturers out there, it would be impossible to list the best ones on this page. However, a list has been compiled here which includes the best 60% mechanical keyboards that are currently available. What this article will do though is give important information to consider when picking one of these.
It should be noted that not all of these keyboards are created equal. Just because a mechanical keyboard is available, it doesn’t mean that it is of high quality. Due to this, it is always advisable that one is bought that has high quality switches on them. This includes those from Cherry, and Gateron. Both of these brands have various switch types in their line up, all of which have different actuation points. The actuation point is how far down the key needs to be pressed in order for the key stroke to register on the computer. Again, this is a personal preference. Thankfully, the higher quality 60% models actually offer their keyboards with a variety of switch types.
An important thing to remember is that some of these key switches can be pretty loud. If you are going to be using it in an office with a lot of people, it is worth considering if the noise from the keys will annoy your co-workers.
Moreover, some of these keyboards also have RGB lighting included, although there are quite a few that do not. If your PC has a lot of RGB lighting in it, it would be advisable to get a 60% keyboard that also has RGB in order to compete the look of the whole system. There are even same keyboards available that allow you to tweak the lighting scheme via software on your PC.
Another thing to look out for is the connector that is used to connect the keyboard to the PC. It is now the case that a lot of these mini keyboards are using a USB C cable to connect to the computer, so for people with older systems, this may not be an option for them. Having said that, it is possible to get a USB C to USB A connector for those that may not have a USB port on the PC, or at least one that is not in use already.
Likewise, the overall strength of the keyboard should be considered. This is based on two aspects. The first is the material that the base plate is composed of. Cheaper models will use inferior plastics for the base plate, meaning that they may not last that long due to the excessive amount of typing that they keyboards are used for. Tied to this is the quality of the key caps. It’s important to opt for a reputable brand since they will use double injected keycaps which are highly durable. This therefore means that they will last for longer periods of time before they need to be swapped out. It should also be noted that not all mechanical keyboards allow the removal of the keycaps. Ones like this should be avoided since it means that customisation further down the line isn’t possible.
This is just a starting point on the things to look for when picking best 60% keyboards. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them down in the comments below.
