So MechLands got in touch and asked us if we wanted to check out a couple of their keyboards. The first is their Vibe75, and the second is their Vibe99. And for the most part, these budget-friendly gaming keyboards aren’t too bad an option if you need a mechanical keyboard to get you started in the world of custom gaming keyboards.
The Mechlands Vibe75 is a bit of a chunky keyboard compared to the more slimline mechanical keyboards we’ve been seeing lately. And that’s mostly towards the back. This though I must say does help with comfort and typing experience though does lack some refinement. The keyboard isn’t exactly weighted, but the metal body and small plate in the base helps with keeping it in place on the desk, as well as the rubber pads too of course. The one we have here as a black, red and grey colourway which is nice, but the blue and white version I must say would suit my setup here. It’s made from ABS plastic, which isn’t quite as premium feeling as say the Attack Shark or Akko keyboards we’ve seen recently, but it’s lightweight and still has a shiny metal-like look to it.
It uses Cherry Profile Double-shot PBT keycaps which look nice and the font looks nice and clean. However, there is no RGG shine through unfortunately making a little harder to see in less than ideal lighting conditions. I haven’t got the best eyesight in the world and I struggled to see the letters under the glow of my monitor screen. It’s a 79 key, 75% compact layout keyboard with a few important function keys down the right hand side and no numberpad, though there is a larger version available that includes the numberpad if that’s what you need.
Typing experience as I say is a decent one as long as the connection is good. I’ll go into more detail in a moment about that. The Vibe75 uses a gasket mounting structure with a pre-lubed plate mount and flex-cut PC plate material. I’ve got MechLands Cream Mint Switches in this Vibe75 keyboard and the sound profile is a lot more clackly than what I’ve been used to for a while. It doesn’t sound too bad, but if you’re more into your thocky sounds on keyboards, you’re going to have to look elsewhere. Switches are hotswappable if you do have your own you would like to use, but I can’t see just changing them to change the sound profile too much. The Cream Mint Switches offer a nice cushioned typing experience with very little bottoming out, but they also don’t need much pressure to actuate either. Gaming wise not bad either. Of course if you’re going to be using this on your desk, make sure you’ve got a decent noise gate on your microphone because the clackiness of these keys are definitely going to get picked up by the microphone. But sprinting round a game of Overwatch the keys felt nice and responsive and even in a slower game like STALKER that I’m playing at the moment, and games where you’re panic bashing keys like in Barotraume, it all felt nice to use, especially the sharp angle of the keyboard face if you raise up the rear stands all the way.
The battery life on this thing is insanely good, which is something I’ve noted on other gaming keyboards in the past. This thing is a champion when it comes to battery, and I must say, it’s lasted the best part of a week and going into a second week, when it’s been in use for pretty much all day every day over said week. Inside is a 4,000mAh battery, and even when the RGB has been active, this Vibe75 has still been absolutely stellar when it’s come to its use time. Of course it does come with a USB Type-C cable in the box for when you do need to charge it. And again, charge time isn’t too long at all either, though I did stick it on for a day’s worth of charge to get back to that status. And having the little info screen on the top right meant I could track when it was running out of juice and needed a fresh charge.
A big selling point of this keyboard is the interchangeable screen on the top right-hand side of the keyboard. By default the screen shows the time, battery status as its a wireless keyboard, its connection status and also whether CAPS lock is on or not. This can be switched out for a control knob if that suits your needs more which controls your system’s volume. Personally, the screen looks way cooler and far more useful, and you can even customise it to show off GIFs.
The Vibe75 has several ways it can connect to your desktop. The first and probably most common way people will use this keyboard is using the 2.4Ghz dongle. However,, using it this way produced some major lagging issues at times. Look at these WhatsApp messages on-screen now. The dongle was plugged in around the back of my gaming rig which is sitting on the desk next to me so it’s not as if it’s far away, and when I typed a single key, my messaging just went haywire. And it was the same within games too. I’d click say the A key to strafe left, and it would keep going because that was the last thing the keyboard recognised as an input. Was very frustrating, especially in more competitive games like Overwatch 2. I had to use a USB extender to bring the dongle around the front of the tower so I could at least get a smooth connection. This could though all be avoided though if you connect it to a desktop with a USB cable. The third way is with Bluetooth which again if the device is next to you, like your laptop for example on the desk, then the connection is lag free. It’s just the 2.4Ghz dongle.
So the MechLands Vibe75 comes in at £65 and the Vibe99 which has the keypad and function keys comes in at £68 at the time of making this review on the MechLands website which I for one think is a bit of a steal, as long as you’ve got the ability to keep the wireless dongle and keyboard both together while in wireless mode. If not, stick to the cable. Its comfort is nice, but the clackiness may not be for you. But there are six screws around the edge so you could potentially take it apart and start putting some more sound deadening into it to get the sound back to being more thocky? Who knows. I haven’t personally done that with mine, because well I’ve had no need to. But the option could be there for you. But as it stands, the Vibe75 is an alright keyboard for the price. Find out more on the MechLands website.
