In recent years, prebuilt custom mechanical keyboards have taken over the market thanks to the rise of the hobby during the COVID season. We now have affordable boards that have features and designs previously available to thousand-ringgit class offerings and for today, we will be looking at the DarkFlash DF98 which is a rather new offering in Malaysia launched a couple of months back.
Before we start, here are a couple of shots of the packaging.
Each retail unit will come with the keyboard, 2 pieces of extra switches for backup, USB-C cable, keycap/switch puller, and extra accent keys.
From the get-go, this is a clean design with its white base and turquoise/white 2-tone keycap color and this is the Interstellar model colorway with another one called Twilight featuring dark blue/white 2-tone keycaps instead. Anyway, the top-right side is where another key element stands out and this is the connectivity switch, allowing users to toggle between Wired via USB-C/2.4GHz/Bluetooth with ease.
Although it is easy to use or “flick” the switch, the tactility is quite minimal and there’s no stop to each connectivity option so overshooting will probably happen multiple times over the course of using the board. However, it doesn’t affect the board and the overall experience during use so no big deal here.
On the topic of connection, the keyboard can be used with Windows and MacOS, as well as iOS and Android mobile platforms. For maximum convenience, have 1 connection to 1 system for triple the fun.
Under the board are the 2-stage feet for easy height adjustment. Although the taller keycaps do make one skip it in some cases if you need it, it’s there to help. Below the right side of the feet, look, the 2.4GHz dongle sits in there tightly! This is a clean and clever implementation so I hope other keyboard designers can take inspiration from this (At least for plastic boards, I know there will be difficulties in CNC-milling an aluminum board just for that purpose).
Time for some core specs. As listed, the DF98 is a gasket-mounted board which means the “main keyboard assembly” is isolated from the case using gaskets of silicones in this particular model, resulting in a cleaner and softer sound. Complemented by mid-plate and case dampening of the same material, the overall sound is quieter than your usual “poron-filled” counterparts with “PE foam mod” that sounds like typing on bubble wrap.
Personally, I’d enjoy the DF98 due to “foam fatigue” of expecting every budget custom mechanical keyboard to sound the same. But for newcomers, no matter foam or silicone, it will be a brand new experience so do try out all sorts of material to find out the best for you.
On the other hand, it uses a PC plate for a more comfortable typing experience and if you haven’t realized, this is a hot swap-capable board with 5-pin sockets so you can swap to any other switch to your liking.
Ah yes, we have to talk about the layout. This is a “96%” or “98%” keyboard depending on the context but most of us in the hobby called it the “1800 layout” in reference to the Cherry G1800 keyboard. Anyway, the goal of this layout is to shrink the traditional full-size layout by removing some of the “almost useless” keys such as Scroll Lock while keeping the Numpad intact for people that use it like accounting or administration.
Speaking of switches, the one we have here is the DF Yellow switch with 48g actuation and about 55g of bottom out. The snappiness is a tad better than, let’s say, the OG mechanical switches CHERRY, thanks to the longer spring. Although a light layer of factory-applied lubrication is in there, I do feel a tad bit of inconsistency in them and certain keys could feel just a little bit scratchy. All keys do exhibit a hint of “scratchy sound” though so what i recommend is to find the smoother ones and swap them into the alphas zone if you do not plan on hand-lubing the whole batch.
The alternative listed, the Kailh Ice Cream switch, is made of full POM material for a smoother and deeper sound. Based on my experience, DF98s with Kailh switches will cost a little bit more than the ones with DF Yellows.
The keycaps are made in the CSA profile which is a “non-uniform” version of an “XDA+SA” with a dedicated height for each row, making typing a breeze for most people used to CHERRY or OEM profiles. As for material, it wholely depends on the colorway it seems, as the official visual denoted Interstellar as ABS and Twilight as PBT.
Another great job done by DarkFlash is the factory lubing and tuning of the stabilizers as there’s practically no ticking for the Spacebar and Enter which are the 2 most frequently used big keys for typing. The Left Shift and Backspace are pretty good too.
Other things are nice to have such as the RGB backlight which is quite bright but mostly blocked by the nature of the non-shine-through nature of the CSA keycaps. If you have the intention to switch out to a set of, let’s say, jelly keycaps or side-printed legend sets, this can work in your favor. With backlights on, the battery inside at 4,000mAh can power the keyboard for 12 hours of continuous usage or up to 30 days if you forgo the RGB ooze.
Despite the board having lots of good aspects that it has achieved with good outcomes, it also has its fair share of disadvantages.
For example, for any gasket-mounted keyboards, I would always try to remove the case dampening or foam first as this is one that affects the overall flex and comfort during typing. Yet there are no screws to be founded so I’d assume it uses some sort of clipping mechanism as like most plastic prebuilt in the market. Yet everything is designed to “deter people from opening it up” so for those who want to mod it, you might not like this at all.
As such, the accessible part of the DF98 might be limited to only keycap/switch swapping and stabilizer retuning.
Additionally, when trying to find its driver on the official website, nothing showed up from the search so I guess there’s no dedicated driver for it as well.
Conclusion
The DarkFlash DF98 is a very affordable keyboard that hosts loads of features to maximize the bang-for-buck ratio of buyers. By offering the experience of custom keyboards with a low entry barrier, this can be one of the great choices to finally drive out that lousy ticking “gamer board” in exchange for a new one that sounds crispy light, and elegant.
From a new user standpoint that wants to “get one and done deal” in terms of exploring the custom mechanical keyboard space, the DF98 is an attractive selection for out-of-the-box usage at RM259.
However, veterans in the keyboard hobby space may want to think and consider the potential cons of whether it is worth the time to open up the thing for modding purposes.
Pros:
- Budget-friendly and feature-packed for its price
- Clean design, especially the wireless dongle holster
- Suitable for those who seek a rather soft typing and light-sounded keyboard without overloading on the “foam factor”
- 1800-layout retains Numpad while only removing a couple of rarely-used keys like Pause(Break) and Scroll Lock
Cons:
- Not user-friendly enough to allow disassembly
- Not tailored towards advanced users who want to fully mod the board
- Limited customization option as no dedicated driver is found to support things like key-remapping
