Introduction

Adesso was founded in 1994, and yet the first time I really heard about them was just last year. Their focus had been on various other fields of input devices, including cash registers, visual presenters, barcode scanners and so forth, with only a recent entry into the more PC-centric world. They have since introduced headphones and graphic tablets, and today, we take a look at their latest keyboard, the AKB-63UB also referred to as their Mechanical Typewriter Keyboard. We covered the launch of the keyboard on TechPowerUp before and thank Adesso for providing a sample so we can now do a full review as well.


If you have been paying attention to my keyboard reviews, you will have noticed that this keyboard is remarkably similar to the AZIO MK Retro 01 covered before. In fact, when Adesso contacted me about this, they mentioned right away that this keyboard shares an OEM common to the AZIO variant, so a large portion of that review is applicable here as well. The Adesso AKB-636UB Typewriter keyboard is another attempt at giving customers a less expensive option to the Datamancer keycaps, which did catch many an eye before their price point closed that discussion. This is an attempt at modernizing the old typewriter. In the end, it is more about the novel stock keycaps than anything else. So let us examine how Adesso has gone about it by beginning with a look at the specs below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

Adesso uses a matte blue packaging and put an illustration of the keyboard and the company and product name on the front. This continues on the back as well, with another illustration and some technical specifications listed, and there are some more specs and marketing features on the sides. There is a single flap in the middle with a seal over it to help keep the contents inside in place.


Open the box and you immediately see the keyboard itself. It is surrounded by shaped, cut foam pieces which help protect it on most sides during shipping and handling. Below it is a user guide. It is fairly comprehensive and is only accessory that comes with the keyboard.