Packaging and Accessories

Themed keyboards, especially if part of a whole series, usually have matching packaging. This holds true for the Akko Black&Gold 3098B with its two-piece packaging that comes inside a plastic wrap. The outer sleeve is where we see most of the colors, with the base black and gold (really yellow) accents matching the keyboard inside. The company logo and product name are alongside a render of the keyboard on the front, and there is a simplified render on the back with the multi-modes feature again mentioned there. The sides are a yellow that tries to come off as the gold in the name, with a sticker that notes the switches for the sample inside. There are no seals, with the inner box simply sliding off the outer sleeve.


The inner box, also made out of cardboard, has a simpler design with a mostly black color scheme. The Akko logo in a radiant purple greets us on the front, and a double flap on the side keeps the contents inside in place during transit. Opening the box, we see a thin foam cover on top of even more foam on the sides. There is a lot of added protection for the keyboard even before we see the keyboard inside two layers of its own. The top layer is a molded plastic cover that can be used as a dust cover as well, and there is soft foam wrap all around the keyboard for further protection in transit.


A QC sticker and manual are underneath the keyboard. The manual comes in both Mandarin and English (online copy here) and goes through the various pre-programmed functions on the keyboard. Given this is a fairly big feature set update, I recommend keeping it close for when you need to make the most of the keyboard. The other accessories are actually inside a separate cardboard box, not just underneath folded cardboard as with most keyboards. Akko includes a nice metal-wire keycap puller with its logo on the handle and wires long and thick enough to easily remove keycaps for replacement and/or cleaning without the risk of scratching the sides as with the cheaper plastic-ring pullers most others include. The detachable Type-A to Type-C USB cable points towards the use of Type-C connectivity on the keyboard. It should not surprise you anymore, but there are more Akko logos on the cable connector housings. With notches which are presumably used as guides for the physical connection on the keyboard, the Type-C housing is shaped differently. There is also a small Akko-branded, similarly colored USB dongle to use the keyboard in wireless 2.4 GHz connectivity mode.


Given the Akko 3098B is as close to a full-size keyboard as possible without being one, we have plenty of room for novelty and replacement keycaps on top of the base set. As such, Akko continues its tradition of being generous with a whopping twenty replacement keycaps in the gold color scheme. These are thick PBT keycaps (average wall thickness 1.42 mm) with doubleshot injected designs, such that we have a deep yellow base and black legends. The injection marks are on the bottom only, making for clean aesthetics when installed on the keyboard. Backlighting is really not a consideration with these opaque keycaps, and the focus is instead on the novel color, including four novelty keycaps as with separate Akko keycap sets (Akko logo, cat's paw, flower, and Koinobori).