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PC Companion | Team Wolf Zhuque X05 DIY RGB Mechanical Keyboard
This is an introduction and review of the Team Wolf Zhuque X05 DIY RGB Mechanical Keyboard which comes with the swappable switch.
What are contents?
Team wolf Zhuque X05 Mechanical KeyboardUser Guide
4 extra keyswitches (red, blue, black, brown)
Wire keycap puller / keyswitch remover combo tool
Packaged with soft cell foam
Layout & Size
The Team Wolf Zhuque X05 mechanical keyboard is a tenkeyless keyboard, meaning it has no number pad on the right-hand side of the board and has 87 keys. It also features a fully standard ANSI layout, so there's a standard bottom row - making replacing these keycaps with aftermarket ones, very easy.
A tenkeyless board is also arguably more ergonomic in comparison to a full sized board, as it allows your mouse to be brought closer to the center. However, you do lose the advantage of having a dedicated number grid.
Design
Overall Team Wolf Zhuque X05 mechanical keyboard is quite a minimal and sleek design. Team Wolf Zhuque X05 mechanical keyboard is constructed of predominantly metal - being sandblasted aluminum. There is no plastic top shell, so it has an exposed metal mounting plate (switch backplate). So Team Wolf Zhuque X05 mechanical keyboard has a 'floating key' design, like what's seen on the Corsair keyboards. This allows the switches to be seen a bit, and also allows for the lighting to be more exposed.
The aluminum mounting plate of Team Wolf Zhuque X05 Mechanical Keyboard is flush with the beautiful chamfered edge of the bottom shell - and I think that adds a bit of style to the keyboard. The bottom shell is a unibody aluminum shell, which feels nice and looks nice, but it doesn't have any screw bosses or any connections since that is all handled by a small plastic plate inside of it.
This plastic plate of Team Wolf Zhuque X05 mechanical keyboard features all the screw bosses and the reinforcing ribbing to make the board more sturdy. Furthermore, having a plastic plate above the aluminum bottom shell ensures that there are no potential shorts (if the electronics come in contact with the metal).
The branding, however, is too much for me. The 'ZHUQUE' branding is quite large and takes away from the sleekness of the board. It's also elevated, and there doesn't seem to be an easy way of removing this, unfortunately. The CIY sticker is removable. And the 'Teamwolf' branding is done in the right way and is nice and subtle.
The keycaps of Team Wolf Zhuque X05 mechanical keyboard are actually quite nice, being double shot and ABS plastic. This is nice to see with backlit keycaps, because what tends to be done is the cheaper black coating over the cap and laser etched legends, which will be damaged over time. However, this is unfortunately brought down by the 'gamery' font on the caps.
By the way, Team Wolf Zhuque X05 mechanical keyboard comes with the universal USB 2.0 interface.
Key Switches
The Team Wolf Zhuque X05 Mechanical Keyboard comes with the Gaote Outemu blue switch originally, meanwhile, they are supported to swap.
— The type of mechanical switch
Firstly, let’s know about the type of mechanical switch. There are four types mechanical switch - Red Switch, Blue Switch, Black Switch, and Brown Switch in general. Red and Black being linear actuated keys of light and medium springs appropriately, Brown being tactile ‘bump’ switches without a click, and Blue being tactile with a click that will piss off everyone around you.
— Gaote Outemu Switch
Gaote Outemu key switches, which are just Chinese clones of the famous Cherry MX key switches. Meaning that these have the same cross stems and what not, so these are compatible with Cherry MX keycaps. These, however, are known to be a touch less consistent in comparison and feature slightly larger tolerances. Therefore the quality is also slightly lacking, and that may impact on the durability of the switches. But they do state that these will last 60 million keystrokes each. The Gaote Outemu keyswitches also mimic their Cherry MX counterparts in colors and characteristics.
— CIY Swappable Switch and how to change?
CIY = Change It Yourself. Meaning, we can swap out these keyswitches with absolutely no soldering / desoldering needed. Also meaning, you can customize your mechanical keyboard as you like. All you have to do is pull out the switch with the included keyswitch remover, and then line up the 2 pins with the 2 holes in the PCB, and click it in. And that's it! Meanwhile, it pretty much works with all of the Cherry MX clones, from Gateron to Kailh, Razer, Greetech etc.
RGB Light
The board of Team Wolf Zhuque X05 Mechanical Keyboard lights up different colors in different areas. They use an unusual color combination of white, blue, and green, which in my opinion detracts from the appearance of the keyboard.
Most LEDs in keyboards go on the top of the switch, with the wires going through holes in the switch and then soldered to the circuit board underneath. Since this keyboard allows the switches to be removed, the LEDs are surface-mounted to the circuit board and have no connection to the switch. This is nice, but presents some problems. For one, the light is below the switch instead of on top of it, meaning the switch itself needs to either be transparent or have a hole to allow the light through. Also, since most switches are not designed with SMD LEDs in mind, they may not have enough room at the bottom for the LED. The Gaote switches used in this keyboard are specially designed for these kinds of LEDs, and are recessed at the bottom to leave room for the LED, have an extra large hole to allow light through, and while the bottom of the switch is white plastic, the top is transparent. This allows the light lots of room to shine.
Conclusion
For general keyboard user, Team Wolf Zhuque X05 Mechanical Keyboard is a good choice because of high cost-effective.
Pros:
Swap the switch as you like.
Can equip with four types keyswitch at the moment.
Can change the original switch into Cherry RGB switch if you like.
Suspension keyswitch cap, easy to clean.
Cons:
White ABS material keyswitch cap, easy to slip and get dirty after long time use
USB cable cannot be change
The click of Gaote switch is larger than Cherry switch
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