This article presents photos of the Keychron Orca echo (a sample unit provided by KOPEK JAPAN CORPORATION), along with the author’s comments.
Please note that these are photos of a “sample unit” only.
Please keep in mind that it may differ from the retail version, and that changes may be made to the retail version.
Disclosure of Our Editorial Position
KOPEK JAPAN CORPORATION provided the Orca echo as a review sample. In this article, the author reviews their impressions from using the unit. The unit used was an early sample. Its specifications and operation may change in the retail version.
The Keychron Orca echo Sample Unit in Photos
Let’s take a look at the photos.
Packaging
The Keyboard’s Exterior
The keyboard has a matte-black finish and feels premium enough that you wouldn’t guess its body is made of plastic.
The top of the trackball is approximately 34 mm high, noticeably higher than the existing keycaps.
The trackball also sits next to the adjacent thumb-cluster key, so depending on how you press that key, your thumb may touch the trackball housing.
There are two independent tenting legs, which you can raise to your preferred height.
The body is made of ABS plastic, but the tenting legs appear to be aluminum and feel exceptionally rigid.
With the legs folded, the keyboard is at 0°. You can also set it at 5° or 12°.
There is a raised frame around the keyboard, and low-profile third-party keycaps may sit below it.
The trackball housing is about as wide as two keys. Since it sits on the PCB, it has a fair amount of height.
The ball bearings are probably made of synthetic zirconia, and the four-point support gives the ball a stable feel.
The trackball uses a 19 mm ball.
Despite its small diameter, the ball has some weight to it. It seems to use that weight to compensate for the cursor-control difficulty typically associated with a small trackball.
A horizontal rotary encoder is positioned inside the left thumb cluster.
The torque felt about right, but I think it would be easier to assign it to scrolling and similar functions if it spun a little more freely.
On the other hand, I think the torque is sufficient for tasks such as volume control.
The touchpad also seems to need some software-side refinement. For example, even when MB1 (click) is assigned, it does not respond to window drag-and-drop.
Scrolling also felt slower to respond than when assigned to the rotary encoder.
I hope the software will be further tuned in these areas.
Keycaps and switches
The keyboard uses low-profile keycaps with the same slope across all rows.
The short skirts seem designed to reduce the chance of interference with the switch plate.
Compared with keycaps such as the Jezail Funder LAK/LCK, these feel thinner, so the typing feel may be lighter.
This will likely come down to personal preference.
The cross-shaped stems are well molded, though some fit slightly loosely on certain switches.
However, this may vary from unit to unit, and the keycaps do not come loose easily, so I consider it within an acceptable range.
The switches are the newly developed Keychron Apex POM low-profile switches.
Made from POM, a material with strong self-lubricating properties, they operate smoothly.
There is a slight scratchiness to the sound.
The keyboard uses a Keychron Nova socket.
The key switches’ most notable feature is their Cherry MX-compatible footprint.
Compared with standard Cherry MX-compatible switches, the retention clips are a different height.
This suggests that even if the PCB and socket are shared, a switch plate of a different thickness would be needed to use Cherry MX-compatible switches.
Compared with the Keychron Apex POM low-profile switches, the Gateron LP 3.0 has a housing of similar height, but its center post is clearly thicker.
I remember being very disappointed when the Gateron LP 3.0 was released because its thick center post made it incompatible with existing Cherry MX PCBs.
By contrast, I think this newly developed low-profile switch may well be an innovative design that finally makes it possible to share a PCB and socket with standard-profile switches.
However, its typing feel has yet to be evaluated against the Kailh Choc V2 low-profile switches that were introduced in Japan first.
I hope the lineup will expand in the future.
Current Concerns
With the sample unit, there is a concern that it may interfere with third-party keycaps.
On the sample unit, the screws securing the switch plate to the bottom case are pan-head screws that protrude several millimeters above the switch plate.
As a result, they may interfere with keycaps with long skirts, such as the Jezail Funder LAK.
Interference was confirmed when using LAK keycaps.
One current workaround is to replace them with ultra-low-profile screws (M2 × 4 mm).
This observation applies only to the sample unit; the retail version has not been evaluated.
Also, depending on the keycap size, the keys to the right of the trackball case may interfere with it.
- First published:
- Last updated:
- Review method: Based on the physical unit
- References and sources: Physical unit
- Conflict of interest: Product provided: Yes; monetized links in this article: No
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