If you’re a mechanical keyboards and customization enthusiast, you’ve probably heard of Drop by now.
If you haven’t then we’re happy to share some deets on Drop’s keyboard range – you’re in for a treat!
They used to only sell custom keycaps and other keyboard accessories for mechanical keyboard enthusiasts.
But today they offer fully assembled keyboards with many functionalities under their own brand name.
And they’re stunning.
Are Drop keyboards worth owning
Yes, Drop offers high-quality keyboards that are designed with long-lasting materials. The keyboards are built on aluminum frames and use pretty much the best switches that money can buy.
These things are both priced and built to last. Remember, you get what you pay for, and with a Drop keyboard you’re not spending money.
You’re making an investment in your productivity or gaming prowess.
Drop keyboards are a good alternative for gamers and programmers who are looking for a customizable mechanical keyboard and highly responsive keys.
The keyboards come with a keycapp puller so you can pull out the keycaps either to customize them or to clean your keyboard – this is a nice touch that mother keyboard manufacturers could learn from.
Are Drop keyboards better than other brands?
Drop keyboards aren’t necessarily mechanically superior to to say Razer or Steelseries, but they’re not designed to be. They innovate instead of copy, which is why you see them doing things like offering a 75% keyboard. I also completely dig the fact that they use a detachable USB cable. It might not seem important but I love the options that gives you for cable length and style but also the aesthetic of it all.
Or the fact that they offer keyboards with Elvish keycaps..that are linguistically accurate.
Drop is aimed at those users who really appreciate customization. You can control and edit practically all the aesthetic aspects of their keyboards. From the lighting to the keyboard layout.
Basically, it’s a customizers wet dream.
However, their keyboards are a bit pricey, and all mechanical products suffer at least some rate of failure.
And by pricey we mean like $250 – $350 for a keyboard.
So, just be sure that you can afford that potential outcome i.e. if you’re clumsy and keep spilling soda on your keyboard or dropping it on the floor (no pun intended) then maybe a Drop keyboard isn’t the best choice for you.
Is Drop a good brand name?
Drop is a relatively new brand that manufactures computer accessories such as headphones, and speakers, but its main product is mechanical keyboards.
Formerly called Massdrop, Drop is a company founded in San Francisco in 2012.
They claim that their products are designed and inspired by feedback from the wider gaming and computing community. They sell fully customizable keyboards, as well as removable parts like keycaps and switches.
However, their utility software requires some previous experience in macro creation and key programming as it is not very user-friendly for first-timers.
Do Drop keyboards work with Mac?
Yes, Drop keyboards are fully compatible with Mac via a standard USB port.
In addition, the Keyboard Configurator is compatible with macOS and has full support.
That makes them something of a novelty for customizable keyboards in the Mac market.
Do Drop keyboards work with Linux?
Yes, your Drop keyboard is compatible with Linux. However, some functions and shortcuts will not work because you’re using Linux instead of Windows or Mac OS
Key programming and customization require you to be familiar with QMK Firmware, if not, you’ll need to do your homework.
Do Drop products have a high failure rate?
Drop keyboards do not appear to have a high failure rate or a failure anything above the industry norm of <5%. All mechanical devices will eventually break down and stop working. But as far as out-of-the-box failures go, Drop are absolutely no worse than other keyboard brands.
So, if customization, macro creation, key programming, and RGB lighting control are important to you, Drop is definitely worth considering. Also, being able to choose between switch types such as tactile, clicky or linear is a great advantage.
Are there any downsides to Drop keyboards?
The configuration software is not the best on the market and it requires you to have previous knowledge to use it.
