Angry Miao typically specializes in custom-made mechanical keyboards with quirky or nonsensical designs that cost small fortunes. But today, its new Japan-based sub-brand, Dry Studio, announces a Lamborghini-inspired gaming keyboard that looks like a futuristic race car on your desk, but comes at a price that some of us mere mortals can actually stomach.

It’s called the Black Diamond 75, a pre-built 75 percent mechanical keyboard (switches, PBT keycaps, and PCB-mounted stabilizers all included and pre-installed) with an integrated wrist rest, and it starts at just $240. once available on Indiegogo on September 26, with shipments expected in November.

A respectable $240 for the base model or $295 for an even fancier special edition.

The Black Diamond 75 gets its name and design from the Lamborghini Aventador Mansory Carbonado — a supercar stealth fighter that has carbon fiber everywhere and receives the nickname “the black diamond”. In keyboard form, this translates to a hot-swappable plate with an aluminum bottom shell, a built-in carbon fiber wrist rest, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) acrylic side rails, and a top deck that lets you look inside and out of your steel. stainless. Steel leaf spring mounting system. These non-adjustable versions of Angry Miao’s signature crossbows offer a crisp writing feel with just a little bit of flex; It’s a far cry from the super soft, bouncy feel of boarded and plateless boards that are so trendy right now in the custom scene. because much of the Black Diamond’s construction is designed around speed and responsiveness.

You can decorate your desk space however you want, but the Black Diamond 75 may be what catches the eye.

Since this is a mechanical keyboard for gamers (and Angry Miao/Dry Studio can’t help but be very demanding), its specifications are intended to be “esports level”. That means it has a claimed wireless latency of less than 2ms, a 1000Hz polling rate while using its 2.4GHz connection (it also supports Bluetooth 5.1 and wired USB-C), and comes with linear DR switches. Rapid Ice developed jointly with Gateron that features a short actuation of 1 mm and an actuation force of 40 grams. The Mithril Silver color scheme swaps all carbon fiber for aluminum and opts for softer copper leaf springs and KTT Wine Red linear switches, for those who prefer more comfort and are less demanding about speed and stiffness.

Crowdfunding is a chaotic field by nature: companies seeking funding tend to make big promises. According to a study carried out by Kickstarter in 2015, approximately 1 in 10 “successful” products that reach their funding goals fail to offer rewards. Of those that do get delivered, delays, missed deadlines or over-promised ideas mean that disappointment often awaits the products that do get made.

The best defense is to use your best judgment. Ask yourself: does the product look legitimate? Is the company making outlandish claims? Is there a working prototype? Does the company mention existing plans to manufacture and ship finished products? Have you completed a Kickstarter before? And remember: you’re not necessarily buying a product when you endorse it on a crowdfunding site.

I’ve tested the carbon version of the Black Diamond a bit, and while the $295 price tag isn’t exactly cheap (that’s the price of the special edition model I was loaned, with Qi wireless charging and additional forward-facing Lambo-like RGB lights ), at least it’s in conversation with “entry-level custom” boards often found in group buys with very long wait times. (Ask me about me Meletrix Zoom75 group purchase that I’ve been waiting for five months and ended up costing me over $300 when you factor in the keycaps and switches).

I think the build quality and ornate construction of the Black Diamond 75 feels really impressive for this amount of money, especially considering it’s a no-nonsense pre-built board that still allows for all the tweaks and modifications you want. The 2.4GHz connection never had any issues and its 5000mAh internal battery easily lasted me a little over a week with the LED lighting on. Dry Studio claims it can last up to 75 days with the lighting off when used for eight hours a day. day.

Yes, those are Lambo-like taillights on the front of the special edition version of this badge. And yes, you can change their colors or have them display various patterns.

The writing feel is really crisp, but never too harsh on my digits. It has enough flexibility to not cause finger fatigue after a full work day, although your results may be very different with its non-removable wrist rest. I have a tendency to put too much weight on my palms while writing, and the remaining carbon can make this unforgiving at the end of a long day of work, leaving me with red marks for a short time. The perpetual debate between hard wrist rests, soft wrist rests, or no wrist rests comes down to personal preference, but I’d say you might at least want to like hard wrist rests to consider this board.

The Black Diamond’s sound is a bit more marbled and bright compared to most other Angry Miao boards I’ve tried, where AM often uses many layers of foam and all-metal chassis to make each keypress sound a bit loud. softer and deeper. Overall, the Dry Studio board sounds nice unless you’re looking for the deepest sound out there, and that’s where changing switches and keys or making some slight modifications can always help.

1/5

There’s a lot going on here, all over this board, with hard angles and converging lines.

But I must emphasize that it’s the looks department that really gives this keyboard its wow factor. Like Angry Miao’s much more expensive keyboards, if you have the Black Diamond 75 on your desk, you’ll feel like you’ve decorated your space with an eye-catching piece: an avant-garde piece of art that you can type on. Seeing inside the edges of the box never gets old, even if it is distracting when the acrylic collects dust. Transparent technology is back in style and I love what Black Diamond is doing here, although I still wish there was a way to be able to see even more.

Perhaps Dry Studio could go a little further and make an even more translucent version in the future. The thick board is more than heavy enough at around 6.2 pounds, so going lighter with a little more acrylic should be fine. Part of the reason for its large size and weight is the integrated wrist rest, which it might have (and maybe, for some people, Should have) can be removed, but the downside is the brutally solid feel when you put your hands down to type.

Clear acrylic becomes a little unsightly after collecting some dust. I think if you have one of these, you may feel compelled to clean it more frequently than other keyboards, especially if your home has forced air heating or cooling like mine does.

If Dry Studio follows in the footsteps of its parent company, Angry Miao, I’m sure the Black Diamond 75 is just the tip of the iceberg for more out-of-the-ordinary designs. The Black Diamond 75 shows a lot of promise as the first one out, although its looks still may not be for everyone, but I think that’s just part of the charm. If Dry Studio continues to come out with more exclusive keyboards and offers this excellent sample of luxury keyboards at more realistic prices, it’s definitely a win. I’ll be excited to see what comes next in this sub-brand’s portfolio.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge