ikbc CD108 V2 Mechanical Keyboard, Cherry MX Red Switch, Full Size with Mistel PBT Keycaps, Windows/Mac

Needed a quiet mechanical keyboard for work, so I decided to pick up this keyboard as it was reasonably priced, had silent switches, and looked the part.The switches are very silent and surprisingly smooth for stock MX. The stabilizers are also pretty good as well.The build quality is solid. Keycaps are double shot PBT, so they'll last forever, and it has some good weight to it.There is no backlighting, but I can touch type so that's not an issue for me.There really isn't much else to say. It's built pretty well, types well, and is reasonably priced. It's 70% of a Leopold (the best prebuilt keyboards money can buy) for 50% of the price.

I've been looking for an affordable full size keyboard in mx clear switches with no frills. The iKBC fitsthe bill. I almost purchased the previous version, but never got around to it. Then they released this v2 in 2020 which was a surprise.The keyboard has a good weight to it. Not flimsy at all. In my experience, a majority of mechanical keyboards are like this. It has rubber feet at all four corners so it doesn't slide on the desk (although I have my keyboard on a mousepad now). The keycaps feel great to the touch. They're doubleshot PBT, so the quality is greater than the ABS plastic that is found on cheap or non-mechanical keyboards. The keycaps wont become shiny over time and the lettering most likely will never fade under normal usage. I can attest to this with my previous keyboard -- a mx blue keyboard with custom PBT keycaps that I used for about 4 years. Blue switches are clicky and loud. I wanted something quieter with tactile feedback and the clear covers those options. I find clear switches to be much more enjoyable to type on. They have just the right amount of force needed to activate a key. The force is greater than blue switches and I definitely feel a difference. So, for some people this may be a negative as it can tire out your fingers. Personally, I enjoy having that tiny bit of resistance when typing. I make less mistakes compared to blue switches.This keyboard has 4 extra keys -- a mute, volume down, volume up, and calculator key. I find it to be useful, especially the mute and calculator keys. The mute is useful for those times when you are at the computer playing music or a podcast and someone interrupts you. I can quickly hit the mute key to talk to the person and then hit it again to resume. I enter lots of numbers/use a spreadsheet so the calculator key has been very useful. I can hit the cal key and immediately start typing numbers on the keypad. It probably saves fractions of a second compared to clicking on the calculator icon that I have on my taskbar, but it feels more efficient. If you don't find any of the four keys useful, you can use programs to remap the key for another function.The lights for the numlock, caps lock, and scroll lock are a white color. They're not too dim and not too bright so that it's distracting. Since this keyboard has the 4 extra media keys it puts the row of lights in a sort of awkward position. Almost seems like it's hidden. Fortunately, I can see whether the lights are on just fine no matter what position I'm sitting at my desk.The colored keycaps and key puller are nice extras. They are also made in a PBT material. I haven't used it yet, but I imagine they will feel just as good as the keycaps on the board itself. The keyboard also comes with a clear plastic molded cover to protect it.I honestly can't find any flaws in the short time I've owned this keyboard. I guess if I had to find a flaw it would be that the cable is not detachable nor braided. The biggest concern could be the rubber-like/PVC material of the cable. Over time, cables with this material becomes sticky. But that takes years before it shows signs. Overall, if you're looking at clear switches (or an alternative to brown switches), the iKBC CD108 v2 is one of the better options on the market.

We recently started going back in to the office a few days a week and my microsoft wireless keyboard promptly bit the dust (the wireless mouse that came with it crapped out about a year before that) . I purchased the CD108v2 for the office first as I knew I wanted a mechanical keyboard with a num pad, but one with out lighting and looked as subtle as possible. I looked a few of the more expensive options out there and all of them were either too expensive for my tastes or had a bunch of features I didn't need or want. I also wanted something with "quieter" keys than MX Blues. This keyboard fit the bill perfectly. It also had the most key switch options of anything I could find in the price range or even for close to double the price. I get the MX Clear switches because I am a fairly heavy typist and I though the increased spring pressure would help keep things quite since I wouldn't bottom out keys as much.I couldn't have been happier with my purchase and I even got someone else at the office to get the same keyboard for themselves. The only issue was that I had been using a mechanical keyboard at home for the past 3-4 years with clicky blue keys. I liked the keyboard itself but the key caps were ABS and starting to get shiny and, more importantly, in the current world of work from home and video conference meetings the blue switches were getting old. The keyboard itself and the typing experience just didn't live up to my new CD108v2 at the office. I finally broke down and bought another one for my home office and now everything is right with the world (at least as far as my keyboards go).I would not hesitate to recommend this keyboard to anyone, especially if they just want a "nice keyboard" and don't want/need all the RGB lighting and additional features you can find with gaming keyboards. The build quality and materials are fantastic and the keyboard has a night heavy weight to it. It just feels excellent and it looks perfectly in place in a professional office.Switches are a personal preference and I have not used them all. I am not the best typist out there and I haven't tried every switch but for my heavy handed needs/preferences the MX Clears were a perfect choice.