Introduction

Input Club, Inc., or simply Input Club as shall be referred to henceforth, was, in their own words, "formed by a small group of keyboard enthusiasts who also happened to know something about electronics, design, and engineering" with the goal to foray further into the field of human-interface devices (HID). Their team comprises five equal leaders, if you will, working on the various aspects of what makes up an enthusiast-grade keyboard. They have in the past brought out products including the WhiteFox, K-Type, and Infinity ErgoDox kit, often working together with Massdrop on complete kits and assembled keyboards alike. A fallout then came about between the two brands, which is outside the realm of discussion for this review, and the more independent Input Club has since worked to get new switches built to their specifications, but there have also been proof-of-concept keyboards that were ready to go into the crowdfunding phase for retail availability. The aforementioned WhiteFox had a very successful Kickstarter campaign, and that directly led to the Kira, another Kickstarter campaign that ended recently and just as successfully. Thanks to Input Club for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp.


The WhiteFox was a strong inspiration to the Originative SABER68 we took a look at in 2017, and both are ~65% form factor keyboards, which is understandably not for everyone. With the Kira, Input Club sought to retain a smaller form factor without sacrificing the dedicated keys and functionality of a full-size keyboard. As seen in the image above, it essentially is a ~95% form factor keyboard that removes the gaps between the various key banks in a standard 104-key ANSI layout, which reduces the overall length of the keyboard, making it closer to a TKL (tenkeyless) keyboard in form factor instead. This theoretically allows for end users to reach the keys they want without having to move their fingers as much, and the form factor alone makes the Kira a rare beast in this crowded market of mechanical keyboards. We examine this and much more in this review and begin with a look at the specifications below:

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

One of the things I look forward to in this hobby of mine is the unusual packaging that is afforded to the smaller-scale products brought out by companies that are aiming at the higher end of the market (>$100 in general), and the Kira from Input Club is no different. It arrived in a standard cardboard shipping box, but the actual product packaging is nothing standard. Indeed, we see a luxurious case employed here; it is suitably large and thick to offer protection during transit provided the insides are neat and tidy too. Kira, the theme of light in many languages, is denoted by the stitched logo that depicts rays of light on the front, and the orange color accents also hint at this theme being present throughout the product. Opening the zipper reveals the contents inside, which are separated into two compartments—one for the accessories and the other for the keyboard itself.


The keyboard is held in place very snugly by two sets of hooks and loop fasteners on either side, as well as a molded section inside the packaging to cup it effectively. There are also two sets of accessories that come with the keyboard, each in their own plastic pouch. The first is a set of replacement keycaps in different color options to add some flair and customization options for the end user. We also see colors that are not usually chosen by the more mainstream companies—orange, purple, blue, and pink—for some of the modifier keys on the keyboard, all of which are presented as an infographic for those wondering. These are all thick PBT keycaps (average wall thickness of 1.36 mm) with dye-sublimated legends, meaning they will not wear out any time soon. The use of dye-sublimation as opposed to, say, doubleshot injection, means there is an inherent limitation on the color of the legends based on their backdrop, which is why we see darker legends on a light background only. In this case, the use of black for the legends makes complete sense. Oh, and no backlighting here either owing to the solid plastic base.


The next set of accessories is made up of different things. There is a card that lets you know that the manual, which is really more of a Wiki, can be found online here. Normally, I would throw a small fuss about the absence of a printed manual for accessories such as keyboards. However, having gone through it, I can understand that including every bit of that large knowledge base in paper can result in a small handbook. A simpler quick-start guide would have still been nice, but here too, I remind myself that the Kira, as with just about anything from the Input Club, is open source and any guide risks being out of date.

We also see a metal switch puller here, which already hints at a feature of the Kira, as well as a metal wire-style keycap puller with a spacing for your thumb to rest on. A wire puller works better than plastic ring-style pullers since it doesn't scratch the sides of the keycaps being pulled, so I always appreciate seeing one. Lastly included is a detachable cable for the keyboard itself. Given this is a newer design, USB Type-C is being used, which is also something I appreciate, as readers of our website would know. The cable itself is not braided, black, and terminates in a gold-plated male Type-C connector on one end and a male Type-A on the other. It would have been interesting to see a more colorful or even differently wound cable, but I suppose those can always be accessories for optional purchases.