Introduction

iKBC, which stands for "The Keyboard to Cheer you up", was founded in 2007 by a group of keyboard enthusiasts and focuses on designing and manufacturing quality mechanical keyboards for keyboard enthusiasts. They operate under the same parent company as Vortex, who sold the CORE keyboard we saw earlier this year. The two brands have worked together on a few firsts to the enthusiast keyboard community, including PBT keycaps, backlit doubleshot PBT keycaps, programmable 60% size keyboards (Poker), and more. With Vortex becoming a brand more well known, iKBC decided to step up their game as well and has expanded globally recently with an emphasis on well-built products that meet the demands of the mechanical keyboard community. Today, we take a look at their F87 RGB TKL keyboard, and thanks again to them for providing the review sample.


The F87 RGB is one of three form factors iKBC currently sells, the others being a full-size F108 where the numbers stand for the number of keys on the keyboard and the Poker, a 60% keyboard. The C-series has no backlighting and is thus different from the F series which has 16.8 M color backlighting advertised. The F87 RGB comes in white and black color options, and there is also a special metal case edition that goes under the MF87 name. It is a bit confusing when I mention it so, but this is their way of adding or removing features while keeping parts inventory as simple as possible. I have here the F87 RGB in white, and let us begin with a look at the specifications below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

iKBC is using a fairly standard style of packaging here with a mostly matte black cardboard and glossy bits around to show the company name, product name, and use of genuine Cherry MX switches on the front, and there are some salient specifications on the back. A sticker over one of multiple switch options confirms which one you have inside, and a seal on the back helps keep everything inside in check.


Open the box and you see.. nothing? There is in fact another cardboard box inside with a primary and side compartment, and in the side compartment is where some of the accessories are included. The manual itself is on top of the keyboard in the other compartment, which rounds off what you get. Beware though that the manual includes incorrect information - it talks about macro record and playback features which are non-existent on this keyboard, for example, and then also says the keyboard uses ABS plastic keycaps, which is not the case either. For accurate information, please refer to their new website instead.

The manual does have some useful information pertaining to backlighting, however, so hold on to it for a while. What you might find more relatable immediately are the replacement PBT keycaps in a solid black color and the nice wire-style keycap puller. There are five of each of the blue and red replacement keycaps provided, and iKBC thinks the most popular use would be for QWEASD or the arrow keys, but the OEM profile used here had a couple conforming to R4/row D and the rest to an in-between of R3 and R2 that fit most rows on the keyboard without seeming out of place. There is no backlighting through these of course, so it is more for aesthetics and functionality - if you can discern the slight change in sculpture at the top.