Introduction

During my unplanned hibernation in Taiwan last year, I had the opportunity to catch up with the man behind Mistel Keyboard, the name that has brought us several split keyboards in smaller form factors under the popular Barocco series, including the MD600, MD650L, and MD770. Each of these progressively got bigger in size, but none were larger than the surprisingly regular, older MD870 SLEEKER TKL keyboard from Mistel. So imagine my surprise when I heard that the company decided it was time to get going with another larger keyboard, and a full-size one at that. Enter the X-VIII then, pronounced "X8," and thanks again to Mistel for sending a review sample to TechPowerUp.


You might have figured out that the name is a bit of a departure from other Mistel keyboards, with the lack of the "MD" in front and no "number of keys + 0" rule in place. Yet, "X-VIII" can be interpreted as 10-8, which in turn can be taken as 108. That happens to the number of onboard keys here, so "X-VIII" ends up working out after all to denote that this is a full-size keyboard. You might also have noted that the photo above, taken from the Mistel website, looks different from the preview image. I had known last year that Mistel was working on their own keycaps, including perfecting the mold for different doubleshot injected colors. I did not have the time to visit them while they were operating, unfortunately, but the X-VIII is their first product after the sets were done, and there are two regular editions and one limited edition as far as keycap sets and colors go. We are taking a look at the Glaze Blue version in this review, and the edition above is called Gloaming to reflect twilight. The limited edition is BumbleBee, with a characteristic yellow, including on the case itself. All three share the same base, however, so this review helps represent them all as we begin with a look at the specifications below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

Mistel keyboard packaging has always been customized to the product, with different color schemes that have little in common sans the company name, logo, and product information. This continues here with the X-VIII product box, with very little different except perhaps the lack of an actual keyboard render on the front. We also see a "Designed by Barocco Mistel" here, which is interesting, and perhaps deliberate? The Cherry MX logo confirms the use of Cherry switches, and we see a mostly bare back with some specifications, contact information, and QR codes that lead you to the product page and manual on the Mistel website. The SKU sticker is the only way to tell the exact configuration of the keyboard inside, and we see salient marketing features on the side. A double flap in the middle keeps the contents in place during transit.


Opening the box, we see the keyboard enclosed not only inside a wax wrap to keep it free of dust, but also underneath a molded plastic hard cover that adds further protection during shipping. It can also be used as a dust cover for the keyboard. There is more cardboard all around to isolate the keyboard from other accessories, although the manual is seen underneath. The manual, which comes in multiple languages, can be downloaded from the Mistel support page and is quite detailed. It is common across the USB-only and USB + Bluetooth versions, so you need to ignore the wireless connectivity and battery usage/charging sections for models that only have the wired mode, as with my sample. The other accessories are found underneath cardboard layers at the top.


Mistel provides a detachable black male USB Type-A to male USB Type-C cable, which points towards the Type-C connectivity on the keyboard. There is also a plastic ring-style keycap puller, although it terminates on the other end in a more intricate design that makes this fairly unique aesthetically. Practically, however, it can still scratch the sides of keycaps when used, so I would have rather seen a metal wire keycap puller as with basically every other Mistel keyboard before. There is also a novelty keychain, which actually has a spare switch and keycap on a shape that is definitely inspired by a grenade. I would encourage my US readers to refrain from taking it to places with officials or security renowned for their lack of humor—yes, I am referring to the TSA. That said, it is still a neat little thing I was not expecting to see here.


The last set of accessories also comes in a plastic pouch and consists of two replacement keycaps. This gives us the first look at Mistel's own keycaps, which definitely reminds me of what Signature Plastics has been doing for years. This Glaze Blue version comes with an R4 1u novelty Esc keycap with the same fighter plane design we saw included on some other replacement keycaps in previous Mistel keyboards. The other is a an R2 keycap that really only fits on the Caps Lock key and comes with an indent on the right side for those who prefer this design over the default one. Both keycaps are pretty useless as far as backlighting goes and made out of thick PBT plastic (average wall thickness 1.48 mm) with very well-done doubleshot injected legends in yellow. No backlighting to be seen here, however, so I expect more of the same on the stock keycaps in a move that has become popular with these custom color sets despite doubleshot injection having the capability.