AJAZZ AK820 & AK820 Pro Review: Are These Budget Keyboards Worth 3000 5-Star Ratings?

AJAZZ AK820: The Budget Contender

• 💰 The AJAZZ AK820 is a $36 mechanical keyboard that aims to impress with its features despite its low price point.
• 📦 Unboxing reveals a basic package: cable, keycap puller, and switch puller, with a notable lack of other accessories.
• 🏗️ The keyboard features a plastic build that feels thin and cheap, though plastic can sometimes enhance sound.
• ⚙️ It boasts a gasket mount design, offering a slight flex and dampening typing reverberations, which is impressive for its price.
• 🔊 The interior is packed with multiple layers of foam (PON, EXP, PET, and bottom silicone), a rarity in budget keyboards that usually require modding.
• ⌨️ Keycaps are double-shot PBT but are thin, with unimpressive legends and colors, and are not shine-through for RGB.
• 🖱️ The included switches, described as custom pre-lubed linear, are lightweight but feel clacky and scratchy when bottoming out, leading to an unpleasant typing experience.
• ✅ Despite good build features like a knob, RGB, and hot-swappable switches, the poor switch quality makes the base AK820 difficult to recommend over alternatives like the Kissant KN85 or Epomaker G84.

AJAZZ AK820 Pro: An Upgraded Experience?

• ✨ The AK820 Pro version, priced at $58, offers several upgrades over the base model, including wireless connectivity (Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz) and a small screen.
• 📱 The keyboard is available in white with purple keycaps and includes a dongle for wireless use, along with a knob for volume control.
• ⚠️ The included screen is described as tacky and difficult to program, with non-functional hotkeys, making it a gimmick rather than a useful feature.
• 🎧 The Pro version comes with improved switches: either the Ajazz Gift switches (heavier linear) or the Flying Fish (lighter linear). The Gift switches are noted for a creamy sound and feel.
• 🛠️ Stabilizers are well-lubed on both models, and the Pro version offers a substantially better typing experience due to the improved switches.
• 👎 However, the Pro version still uses the Epomaker Ajazz software, which is considered poor, and the keyboard's clip-in structure makes it difficult to mod without risking damage.
• 🏆 While the AK820 Pro is a good upgrade over the base model and offers a decent experience for its price, it doesn't match the sound quality of the Kissant KN85 or the software support of the Epomaker G84, and aluminum keyboards become an option around $80-$120.