Photos and Features

Right away when I got the Realforce RGB out, it was clear that this is a completely different design than the Realforce 104u. In fact, the design is a lot close to the Type Heaven than the 104u. That is because it has a thinner bezel and the side profile has the same L shape of the Type Heaven. The Type Heaven was a most budget focused Topre keyboard, but I wouldn’t consider it all a downside. The new thinner bezels look much better and give the Realforce RGB a more modern look. They dropped the rounded edges for crisp corners as well. The entire keyboard has a flat black finish except for around the four keys above the number pad. All in all, the Realforce RGB has a simple and clean design with just the tiny Realforce branding up in the top right corner.

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The Realforce RGB is a full sized keyboard, meaning it has an F key row, Direction pad, and a number pad. The gaps between each are 3/8ths of an inch, or in other words about the same as on most keyboards. Frankly, from most points of view, the Realforce RGB looks like any other keyboard. I love that they went with a simple and traditional font for the legends as well, it seems like a lot of companies go crazy with weird fonts to make their keyboards stand out. The layout is even standard down on the bottom row where most of the “gaming” keyboards change things up. This means the Realforce RGB supports custom keycaps completely.

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Beyond the normal keyboard layout, Topre did add a whole list of function layer combos. Using the function (Fn) button you can change all of the F keys into different functions like being able to open up your calculator or web browser. There are also media keys and the ability to swap the caps lock and CTRL key locations if you want. All of the backlighting controls are over in the home keys. You can flip between three user created profiles using the page up key, set to standard LED colors using the Insert key, flip between lighting effects with the home key, adjust the brightness with the delete key, turn on a lighting demo mode with the page down key, and also turn the lighting on and off all together with the end key. I would have loved to see controls for full programming of each key like Cooler Master and Ducky have, but with this being Topre’s first backlit keyboard this is a great start and you can still use the software for that detailed control.

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Up above the number pad, they have highlighted these keys by making the area around it glossy black. This is the volume controls and they don’t require the use of the function layer at all. As someone who never uses function layer keys, this is huge. The last button is an interesting one. This is how you can flip between the keyboards three actuation points. When you do it, the keyboard flips between three colors. Sadly the colors don’t really help unless you know what each means. I think a three LED indicator might be a better way to show this. Speaking of LED indicators, between this row and the number pad the keyboard has four LEDs, each with a label showing what they represent. The first three are normal and the last is a key lock indicator for the key lock function (f12 key). The lock button works in conjunction with the software, you can set as many keys as you want to be locked out. Perfect for people who want things like the windows key locked.

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On the underside of the Realforce RGB, there are a few things going on. For starters in the middle is a while sticker with the model and serial numbers. It also has all of the required certification logos and the Topre Corp branding. For feet, the keyboard has four small rubber pads, two on the front angled edge and two along the back. Then there are the two flip out feet. The feet have rubber on the ends as well but it is harder and they have little to no grip. Lastly, we have the USB cable. It looks like the standard hidden detachable cable, but the cable is not detachable. The cord does, however, have three directions it can be run out the keyboard. Directly out the back or down the two channels that go out the left and right sides.

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The back edge of the Realforce RGB is as clean as they come, with its flat black finish and no hidden logos or extra styling. The only thing going on back here is a single exit point for the USB cable. The cable is not detachable like most other higher end keyboards and there isn’t any fancy sleeving. They use a thick rubber on the cable however and the cord has a Velcro strap attached with the Realforce logo on it to help wrap up any extra cord length or to help pack the keyboard up when transporting.

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Pulling a few keycaps off finally gives us a peek at what really makes the Realforce RGB special. Not only does it use Topre capacitive keyswitches but they are a new RGB design. Let’s start with the Topre design for those who maybe only know about Cherry MX switches. Topres are considered a mechanical design but share more with a rubber dome than a Cherry MX style keyboard. Each switch has a slider and the top enclosure that sits above a rubber dome and under that is a conical coiled spring. The dome gives the key it's feeling but the spring is what actuates the keyswitch. The spring starts to touch the PCB below it. The PCB senses how much of the spring is pushed, so for this keyboard, they can change the actuation point without changing any mechanical parts. These are a little different than past Topre designs because they use a clear casing to let light through from the RGB LEDs. The stems are also very close to what Topre used in conjunction with Cooler Master for the Novatouch only they are white this time. The backplate also is white to help give the RGB lighting something to light up.

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For keycaps on the Realforce RGB, they didn’t skimp out. The caps are all double shot with a transparent plastic as well as a black plastic. They seem to be ABS, not the PBT that past Realforce keyboards have, but this is still a huge improvement over any other backlit keyboard. Most just do painted ABS, not doubleshot. The keycaps are also extremely thick.

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The keycaps have a nice OEM profile as well when we check them out from the side.

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