Introduction

The Wuque Studio ikki68 Aurora is a budget injection molded Polycarbonate keyboard. It comes in a total of 4 different colorway during the round 1 launch; Charcoal, Mint, Mizu, and Devoted. The price differs for each different model; $129 for both Charcoal and Mint, $159 for Mizu, and $195 for the Devoted. The Charcoal, Mint and Mizu edition comes in a standard package with just the case, a basic coiled cable, Printed Circuit Board (PCB), an aluminum plate, and a hard carrying case. The Devoted edition costed more but it came with a set of JWK Devoted switches (Tactile). The overall keyboard is a beginner friendly keyboard, as the default PCB is in hotswap only and the PCB comes with multiple layouts. The keyboard is also a gasket mounted keyboard and it comes with a set of silicon gasket and poron foam gasket. The multiple options allow beginners to have a fantastic time with choosing how to customize the keyboard to their preference.

Typing Experience (Flex/Bounce)

The overall typing experience of the keyboard is rather stiff despite having removable gasket columns to allow customization for flex and bounce. However, the design of the PCB did not have any flex cut to allow flex when the key is pressed. However, this was later resolved in the round 2 ikki68 aurora with its multiple flex cuts PCB. The round 1 has a much stiffer typing experience and it felt similar to typing on the D65 or a top mounted keyboard. The keyboard overall typing experience is decent and surprisingly good, for beginners to minimal flex of the round 1 when changing the gasket configuration provide a unique and interactive experience.

Sound & Sound Isolation

This leads me to the sound and the sound isolation. The sound of this keyboard is extremely muted. This is because the keyboard comes with a mandatory piece of silicon plate foam. The silicon plate foam is so thick that it absorbs all the sound coming from the switches. The silicon plate foam prevents the switch sound from traveling outwards and immediately muting the keyboard. The keyboard also do not have an extremely good resonance as the case is made from plastic so the sound is similar to other polycarbonate case resulting in a hollow sounding keyboard.

The gasket provides a decent amount of sound isolation, however, as mentioned the silicon plate simply mutes the entire keyboard. Hence, in my personal opinion render the gasket slightly pointless. Even if the keyboard was in a top mount configuration, the sound of this keyboard will still be equally muted. It would have been better if the keyboard could be built without the silicon plate foam, as that will allow the keyboard sound to travel outwards which the gasket will help to isolate it from reverberating through the polycarbonate case.

Case Quality

The overall case quality of the Ikki68 Aurora is well constructed and sturdy. When you are holding it, you know you’re holding a plastic keyboard as the weight gives it away. The keyboard is not the heaviest keyboard out in the market and it is also not the lightest keyboard out in the market. The keyboard comes with an option to purchase a separate brass weight. The weight comes with an interesting aurora design laser engraved onto the brass weight. The weight helps to give the keyboard a little heft to it, pushing the keyboard from an estimated 1kg built to an estimated 1.5kg built.

The keyboard case comes with printed engraving for both Mizu and Devoted edition. The Mizu edition comes with a opaque case with 2 koi fish printed on the USB side of the case, while the devoted has a transluslent case design with vines printed on the USB side of the case. The overall design helps to bring out the specific theme of the keyboard. Each of these special edition keyboards are meant to be paired with their specific keycaps; Mizu with GMK Mizu or KAT Mizu, while the Devoted with GMK Devoted.

The case quality is slighly above what you expect from the commercial off the shelves keyboard; Leopold, Ducky, Logitech. Those cases are typically using injection molded ABS plastic. Hence, the case typically feels a lot less rigid and they are also typically molded to be thinner. The Ikki68 Aurora case is slightly thicker in that aspect and it helps to give it a better quality feeling. It still has the plastic feel to it, but it’s a lot more rigid and thicker. However, if you really try to bend it the case do have a little flex to it, especially the top case.

Conclusion

The Ikki68 Aurora is a perfect beginner board if you’re purchasing the standard edition in Mint or Charcoal for the Round 1, the Round 2 standard Edition offered a variety of colorway. The pricing of the keyboard is reasonable for what you’re getting. The PCB having multiple layouts for a hotswap keyboard, it comes with the bluetooth ready option with the change of a PCB, the keyboard also comes with a coiled cable and a case. Having all these items factor in, the overall pricing of the keyboard is really worth in all aspect. The fact that it also offer the option to change up the weight of the keyboard with the base built at an estimated 1kg and adding on an additional brass weight at 400g.

These options offer the perfect balance for any beginners who just started out or has been dabbling in the hobby for awhile and is still unsure what they prefer. The keyboard also offer the option of having different mounting style and gasket material further enhance the overall experience. If people who are just joining the keyboard enthusiast hobby are not sure what keyboard to purchase as their first keyboard, the ikki68 aurora will their needs perfectly.

Potential Alternative

The current market has multiple additional options for people to try out the keyboard hobby, the QwertyKeys QK65, Keychron Q1-3 series, KBD67 Lite, Cannonkey Bakeneko 60/65, etc. are all perfect alternatives to the ikki68 Aurora. They are all priced at similar price range, if you’re looking for an alternative to fit your preference better you may choose to look at the other keyboards for reference.

Scoreboard

Category	Score
Typing Experience (Flex/Bounce)	8/10
Sound & Sound Isolation	6/10
Case Quality	8/10