I have this exact one for two years, it stinks compared to a lot of others out there. It looks nice, most importantly though it has Bluetooth, Wired and 2.4ghz (wireless dongle) mode if that’s what you need in a $30 keyboard. Besides that, I don’t think it’s that good unlike my wireless epomaker th80 se which I got on a deal for $60.
Not my main desktop keyboard anymore because of unhealthy purchasing habits, but I do use it often wirelessly. Bluetooth has been convenient just obviously not as good as 2.4 GHz, which it doesn't have because of the aluminum case, adequate if near the device connected to but noticeable latency at 10 ft~ or less without a clear path.
Was happy with the stock Gateron Red switches (last longer than RK switches in my experience), but I'm the kind of person that prefers silent switches, and I can't speak to how it compares to other KBs these days that basically come modded. I made a couple of changes but it was pretty good to begin with.
At $29.49 it seems like a great starting point, can replace the switches to any that interest you later on. If swapping switches, make sure to remove the board from the case so you can hold the hotswap sockets from the bottom side while inserting the replacements, to avoid tearing the socket's pads (good practice for any hotswap, need tools and experience to fix that).
It was my first small form factor KB and I loved the size for gaming. But if you want a keyboard primarily for gaming I'd look into the recently posted Womier keyboard at $23~ with HE switches. Website app, customizable actuation points, rapid trigger, etc. Won't be as reliable as other more expensive alternatives, but at that price if I didn't already have an HE keyboard I'd jump on it just to try it.
I'm not a huge mechanical keyboard nerd but I like the clickery clak from them so I have 3 for each of my computers, I have an RK Royal for work and it's my favorite, very satisfying action and noise but not a keyboard I'd have if other people were around me, I also have a steelseries and a alienware keyboard and they are 2nd and 3rd respectively, the alienware is crap I'm glad it was basically free.
Polling rate isn't everything, in fact the RK61 you're linking has been measured by rtings: [https://www.rtings.com/keyboard/reviews/royal-kludge/rk61](https://www.rtings.com/keyboard/reviews/royal-kludge/rk61)
And the latency was quite bad by modern standards (17ms+-6ms).
Note: the rtings probably did the test on a non-QMK version, so these numbers could in theory be different with the QMK one, though I have no idea how much it can be improved (and I would be interested to know about it)
Rk61 probably, always buy used, there's an aula win60/68 and that's pretty cheap for me here, but I don't think that magnetic boards are worth the price, there are a ton more budget mechanical
Okay first off most mechanical wireless keyboards are what they call trimode - they work over usb, bluetooth, or 2.4 gigahertz dongle. You can (and I generally do) disconnect the battery completely (o even remove it) and treat them as purely wired. Second, the Keychron Q and V series boards are generally available both in wired only and in trimode. Third... they have been having terrible quality control problems with both of these product lines and I really can't recommend them.
On the other hand, you may find that a better deal would be to get two keyboards, a small, possibly magnetic board for gaming and a full-sized or 96% board for work. For the letter the Monsgeek M2 V5 via is kind of the platonic ideal of a 96% aluminum board. The YMDK YMD96 in the wooden case is a simpler, more compact and I think rather elegant option.
Magnetic boards, you'll have to ask someone else. I have been increasingly disappointed in the options, even the Keychron offerings have some clangers.
For a smaller conventional board, I like the Keychron J2 enough I bought extras for my media laptop and for hacking on... I've been customizing the firmware. Or the RK RK61, though that one really *needs* heavy customization... the default layout is terrible. I have custom layout.json files as well as firmware source and images to improve it rather a lot.
They have a problem that started late 2023 or early 2024 with the very flexible plate and PCB in many of the Q and V series boards with the gasket mount, where over time the switches get loosened and worked out of the PCB by the pressure of the plate and the plate foam, and you start getting bouncing and missed keystrokes. Keychron's customer support is most abusively bad, and they make people jump through all kinds of Hoops to deal with this. I have seen reports that this has been fixed in more recent versions but there's still a lot of old stock in the pipeline, and I have seen reports of people having these problems with more recent boards. My own Q Series boards are much older than the start of the problem but looking at pictures that people have posted it looks to me like the plate foam is just too thick and heavy, and some people have reported that rebuilding the board without any plate foam solves the problem at the cost of some change in the feel and sound of the board.
You may never have an issue but it's a risk.
The m2v5 is perfectly good as an office board, that's actually what I was recommending it for. It's a little bit big and heavy in my opinion for a game board but some people like a battleship.
To get an idea of the sizes and layouts that are available, the Keychron website is actually a good place to just browse to get an idea of what board configuration spark joy in your heart.
I have been a 75% fan since the early 90s, and lately I've kind of flipped to even smaller boards.
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