Why two types of keyboards? Well, we’re not really talking about two types as such, the closest comparison is comparing a membrane keyboard with a mechanical keyboard. Are there really two types of keyboards? Well, certainly not in shape, but the sensations and performances are completely different and that’s why they are called “types”. Something similar happens here when we talk about custom and game, where sometimes the line is too narrow between them, something that does not happen in the rest of the types.
Custom keyboard, what is it?
It’s a type of device that on its own you wouldn’t say is different, but the background really tells us otherwise. It is, as its name suggests, a fully customizable keyboard where the extremes meet when in some cases we can configure the chassis, the plate, the switches, the keys, the lighting system as we wish. and even the cable.
You have to open your mind here, let’s not imagine the typical rectangular keyboard, here the possibilities go through keyboards of all kinds of shapes, but if there is anything where a custom keyboard stands out, it’s in two factors: materials and keycaps.
The materials range from aluminum, Plastic oh PBT until marble and other metals such as magnesium. The possibilities here are enormous and it is difficult for our imagination not to see its craziest needs solved. As for the keycaps (technical term designating the keys) it is directly another world. Shapes of all kinds, transparent, embossed, of various famous themes, it’s really hard not to find something we like among the thousands of options we have.
Even USB cables are customizable in color and shape, texture and materials, that is, a custom keyboard is precisely that, a device made totally to our liking as we imagine it, yes, that is not cheap at all.
Are gaming keyboards also custom keyboards?
Well, that’s a complicated question, because mostly they’re not, but there are many exceptions and growing, so it needs to be explained. A gaming keyboard, as a rule, is factory preset with a layout, design, keycaps, and ultimately a mass-produced, mass-produced model for the market. But (and this does not happen in all models) some parts of them are sold by the manufacturer himself or even other external ones that can be changed to taste.
Normally these are the keys, which as a rule do not come with PBT and therefore the manufacturer offers a kit with this type of keys which are of better quality, but at the same time and if we have a widely sold switch like the CHERRY MX or the OUTEMUAmong other things, many stores also offer custom kits that we can buy for our keyboard.
Here you have to pay attention to the specific model, because although the keys fit, many manufacturers vary the space between them, which means that a kit that fits as such cannot be installed because space is not enough. For this reason, gaming keyboards on some occasions could be pseudo-customized, as well as models with a detachable cable that can also be swapped out.
