Overall and Final Verdict
It’s funny when the KeyedUpLabs ES-87 came in all I really had on my mind was how it opened up possibilities for customization. After living with it for a while I found that its best quality is actually its build quality. KUL put together basically the equivalent of a tank for a keyboard. As it turns out both aspects go together really well. I wanted to customize the keyboard to show it off at LANs and given the level of abuse a keyboard can take when moving to and from events the quality of the ES-87 will come in handy for a LAN keyboard as well. It’s a TKL so the size fits as well. I had a good time using the available casings as well as keycaps to give the keyboard multiple new looks but I’m most excited about painting one of the cases to my own custom color, just as soon as I get the right keycap set.
The ES-87 was a step above the Quickfire Rapid as well as the Code keyboard, both keyboards I have been personally using over the years. I didn’t have the quality issues that those boards sometimes seem to have. The ES-87 is lacking a larger full sized brother for use in the office and maybe even a smaller 60% model. Also on a more personal note I would love to see a model with full backlighting or at least the option to add it myself like a few keyboards do. Most enthusiast keyboard don’t aim for the backlit crowd but I feel like the ES-87 bridges the gap between an enthusiast board and a high quality keyboard that gamer or hardware enthusiast might want to customize and make their own. Not to mention for LAN use a little backlighting would go a long way in those dark rooms!
At just under $130 the ES-87 isn’t cheap, in fact it sells for more than a Quickfire Rapid-I. It is however cheaper than the TKL Code. It is worlds above both in quality though. So would I recommend the ES-87? Heck yeah I would, but only if you are looking for a board without backlighting. When it comes to that I have to default back to competition.
Live Pricing: HERE
