u/DSWBeef

Hey all just shopping around for my next board. Possibly an aluminum board. Right now my absolute max budget is 150$. I don't really care about via or qmk as whatever software usually just works for my needs. Getting into internal modding a bit. Is it really worth it to go from like an inky 75 at 80$ all the way up to a Rainey 75 at 150$? In the middle between those two I was looking at the wave 75 and nd75. Any thoughts are appreciated

https://preview.redd.it/e9gwqna1a6zg1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a976ff29cbe6b8759a6845ab36528700ca6c62c3

https://preview.redd.it/d5vo1is1a6zg1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3846946729d097cd95b75b6a3b0051bfa240c012

https://preview.redd.it/f8nhjnw2a6zg1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=349ebaef0b5cb97956fcee855421a9e7203548d1

Current Build: Kiiboom Phantom 81 v3

Kiiboom Crystal switches (if anyone has a good suggestion for more marbly great rgb translucent switches please let me know)

Thekapco Nekomancer Keycaps

Nekomancer Desk mat

Nekomancer Wristrest

So i joined this hobby back in jan of 2026. In that time ive tried the following keyboards:

GMMK 2 96: Got this board from my brother many years ago and used it up until I found just how deep the hobby goes. An amazing starter board and hell I got it for free. Had kailh white pandas on them and GMMK aura key caps. Shelved it when I wanted something without a numpad

Yunzii B75 Pro: Now this... this was nearly perfect. Loved the lavender color, the cocoa cream switches. Used this for about 2 months then started getting into higher end boards. Still fondly display this board.

EPOMAKER X AULA F75: Very similar to the B75 but wanted a black board for a ancient egypt theme I was going for. This thing honestly sucked, switches wouldn't lock in right and my f3 stopped working entirely. To aulas credit they sent me a new one free of charge so now I have 2. Just meh.

Yunzi Al65 Gateron Zero: This was my first alum board. I loved it, I got it for $65 on amazon and I used this for about 2 weeks. Learned from this that I need a bigger board. Returned

Chilkey Foxy65: Youd think with me saying I wanted a bigger board I wouldnt have tried this. FALSE. The rgb was perfect, It had a knob but no matter what I did I couldnt get it to sound how I wanted. Returned

MK Inland 3 Barebones: First barebones kit. Put on Akko starlinks and The Kapco Nekomancer. Again couldnt get it to sound how I wanted and read many issues with Inland boards. Returned

AKKO MOD007 V5 HE: My first HE board. The color. Oh my god the color was amazing. AND A KNOB? AND A SCREEN?!?!? I really wanted to love this thing. But I just couldnt get a magnetic switch to sound how I wanted. And with me not playing much shooters (More an mmo player) the rapid trigger tech just didnt do anything for me. Returned

Vter Feker Galaxy 100: Got this for my WFH set up (numpad needed) slotted on hmx cthulhu swtiches and ali express GMK terror below keycap dupes and this is honestly my favorite sounding board. Its like a mix of marbly and thocky. I still to this day want to get my personal board to sound like this. KEPT and used on WFH setup

Elecfox Inky75: So this was almost perfect, aluminum, sounded great, felt great, but it was missing something.... hmm... THE KNOB. Ive learned from this point onward I needed a knob. Almost kept it just cause for 80$ this was a steal for a great 75 alum build. Ultimately Returned.

It was at this point I started to rethink my thought process

Saw some tik toks for translucent boards and Went back to a brand I loved

Yunzii X98: This was close too, but ultimately the RGB felt lacking for being a translucent board. Again found out I like TLK to 75% boards. Sounded great, was VIA and QMK compat. But ultimately returned

NOW WE GET TO THE BOARD IVE Fallen in love with

Kiiboom Phantom 81 V3 Clear: This feels perfect, it has the weight like a alum board but it just looks so god damn good. It feels amazing. I took off the stock clear keycaps and placed my The Kap Co Nekomancer caps and it sounds even better. Has a knob and the software is acceptable. No via or QMK which is stinky and a deal breaker for many but not for me. Now I wanna delve into modding and make it sound just a bit more marbly. But thats a lesson to learn for another time.

https://preview.redd.it/jpibpp1ur5zg1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6123366044045443f91a4f25c8557c692b393d3d

https://preview.redd.it/b5nwa7xur5zg1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82aad5bba96a0b0a0e05a44ff65f87a235ff8f87

https://preview.redd.it/ozs62dvvr5zg1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd328cf47d17a9a6daeedfe1561fcc86b404b48a

Current Build: Kiiboom Phantom 81 v3

Kiiboom Crystal switches (if anyone has a good suggestion for more marbly great rgb translucent switches please let me know)

Thekapco Nekomancer Keycaps

Nekomancer Desk mat

Nekomancer Wristrest

So i joined this hobby back in jan of 2026. In that time ive tried the following keyboards:

GMMK 2 96: Got this board from my brother many years ago and used it up until I found just how deep the hobby goes. An amazing starter board and hell I got it for free. Had kailh white pandas on them and GMMK aura key caps. Shelved it when I wanted something without a numpad

Yunzii B75 Pro: Now this... this was nearly perfect. Loved the lavender color, the cocoa cream switches. Used this for about 2 months then started getting into higher end boards. Still fondly display this board.

EPOMAKER X AULA F75: Very similar to the B75 but wanted a black board for a ancient egypt theme I was going for. This thing honestly sucked, switches wouldn't lock in right and my f3 stopped working entirely. To aulas credit they sent me a new one free of charge so now I have 2. Just meh.

Yunzi Al65 Gateron Zero: This was my first alum board. I loved it, I got it for $65 on amazon and I used this for about 2 weeks. Learned from this that I need a bigger board. Returned

Chilkey Foxy65: Youd think with me saying I wanted a bigger board I wouldnt have tried this. FALSE. The rgb was perfect, It had a knob but no matter what I did I couldnt get it to sound how I wanted. Returned

MK Inland 3 Barebones: First barebones kit. Put on Akko starlinks and The Kapco Nekomancer. Again couldnt get it to sound how I wanted and read many issues with Inland boards. Returned

AKKO MOD007 V5 HE: My first HE board. The color. Oh my god the color was amazing. AND A KNOB? AND A SCREEN?!?!? I really wanted to love this thing. But I just couldnt get a magnetic switch to sound how I wanted. And with me not playing much shooters (More an mmo player) the rapid trigger tech just didnt do anything for me. Returned

Vter Feker Galaxy 100: Got this for my WFH set up (numpad needed) slotted on hmx cthulhu swtiches and ali express GMK terror below keycap dupes and this is honestly my favorite sounding board. Its like a mix of marbly and thocky. I still to this day want to get my personal board to sound like this. KEPT and used on WFH setup

Elecfox Inky75: So this was almost perfect, aluminum, sounded great, felt great, but it was missing something.... hmm... THE KNOB. Ive learned from this point onward I needed a knob. Almost kept it just cause for 80$ this was a steal for a great 75 alum build. Ultimately Returned.

It was at this point I started to rethink my thought process

Saw some tik toks for translucent boards and Went back to a brand I loved

Yunzii X98: This was close too, but ultimately the RGB felt lacking for being a translucent board. Again found out I like TLK to 75% boards. Sounded great, was VIA and QMK compat. But ultimately returned

NOW WE GET TO THE BOARD IVE Fallen in love with

Kiiboom Phantom 81 V3 Clear: This feels perfect, it has the weight like a alum board but it just looks so god damn good. It feels amazing. I took off the stock clear keycaps and placed my The Kap Co Nekomancer caps and it sounds even better. Has a knob and the software is acceptable. No via or QMK which is stinky and a deal breaker for many but not for me. Now I wanna delve into modding and make it sound just a bit more marbly. But thats a lesson to learn for another time.