Closer Examination

The Shurikey Gear Hanzo is a 65% form factor keyboard, but that statement alone would be doing it injustice. It is quite unlike any other such keyboard I have tested and really showcases the potential of plastic case keyboards in a world where minimalist designs with aluminium cases are becoming the norm for smaller form factor enthusiast keyboards. My mind immediately went to the i-Rocks K76M with its LEGO-compatible cover, another keyboard that brought fun to the design. Just in this manner, Shurikey Gear managed to grab my interest more than the vast majority of keyboards I have reviewed to date. The industrial retro theme is apparent even outside of the three-color themes, with four rivets on the side that are for function and form, too. There are also two knobs in the top-right corner as an attention grabber, but these are again associated with functionality. The rough lines all around and separated kickstand on the top are other examples of this. It may look like a toy, but is assembled like a working tool.

I have the "Western Desert 002" theme here, which I personally thought was the most unique-looking of the three currently available themes, though all three are quite striking to begin with. This is even before we get to the replacement cover itself. There are multiple colors at play no matter which theme you go with, with branding in the form of the logo on the default space bar keycap as it comes out of the box. The keys themselves are a regular bank of alphanumeric keys with two extensions on the right and the knobs and two large indicator lights taking up room for symmetry with the four keys below. This allows for dedicated arrow keys, but also a dedicated delete key. Puritans may complain about the poor space utilization, with 65% keyboards generally allowing for a few more keys; instead, we get standard-sized keycaps, which results in a keyboard that takes up more room than the average 65% keyboard in all dimensions—you can fit a 75% keyboard into the footprint of the Shurikey Gear Hanzo.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle, but as a metal badge inserted into the ABS plastic case. A note here also confirms this is not a retail unit, but, rather, for marketing purposes only. Short cutouts in the case add to the design language, one that fits the aforementioned metal badge. Four long rubber pads on the corners keep the keyboard from sliding around on the desk, and then the cool implementation of the kickstand comes in to allow it to slide 90° down to act as a set of feet with more rubber pads for added friction. It can be raised back up for when you don't need it, which is the default position out of the box.


In this default position, we notice a cutout to accommodate the USB cable heading into the Type-C port at the top-right corner of the keyboard, which makes for quite the snug fit with the housing on the provided cable, but still works to where the housing was obviously shaped with the kickstand in mind. When the stand is used, there is of course nothing in the way of the cable. The cable is the usual 6' long and plugs into an available Type-A port on your PC, where USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data alike.


One of the core elements of the Shurikey Gear Hanzo is "refit," which the company uses as a term to describe the customization options of the design. The four screws on the sides are shaped like rivets, but are in essence thumb screws that easily come off. These have "Shurikey Gear" printed along their circumference, but are not positioned exactly alike when screwed in. Such small details hold the Shurikey Gear Hanzo back from being a more premium offering, but this is nothing compared to when I was unfortunately able to push the top two screws in past the threads after three sets of uninstalls and installs, which results in a freely rotating action without the screws coming out easily. I perhaps was overzealous, but did let the company know in case it can be addressed somewhat with a fixed end point for the threads. Turns out Shurikey Gear knew of the issue already and has seemingly addressed it for the final versions.

The top two screws secure the kickstand in place, and with all four removed, you can separate the keyboard into three primary pieces. This allows the top cover to easily be removed even with the small number of interlocking plastic tabs holding it in place on top of the four screws. Once done, it is a simple matter of swapping to the replacement cover, which is olive green and makes for a totally new keyboard aesthetic bundled in at no additional cost, at least for the first batch. The company plans on making more such detachable components in the future for further customization options.


A look from the side shows the multi-layered, multi-colored construction of the Shurikey Gear Hanzo to better appreciate the retro industrial design. It also confirms the use of OEM profile keycaps, though the taller profile case almost makes them seem lower in profile by comparison. The five rows aboard the Hanzo are thus sculpted and contoured for an easier transition than from most mechanical keyboards, assuming you get used to the smaller form factor. The provided keycap puller works quite well—I will note that some of the keycaps were looser than I'd like. This could be a result of the new ABS plastic mold, and I will give the benefit of doubt to Shurikey Gear since the company let me know that keycap improvements are ongoing as we speak. Similar to the popular GMK sets, the stock keycaps are all thick ABS plastic with doubleshot injected legends and do not support backlighting in either of the colors we have here. Some of the legends were less cleanly injected than others, and I expect to see this rectified for the paying customer, too.


No matter the theme, there are four switch options with the Shurikey Gear Hanzo in the form of the four new Varmilo EC V2 switches we saw on the previous page. My sample uses the EC Daisy V2 linear switch characterized by a yellow stem placed in a transparent top housing with the Varmilo branding. Columns have been put around the Cherry MX-style crosspoint stem design, which makes for some dust and spill resistance with the switches. This is a 3-pin switch, but the electrostatic capactive nature of the switch means it is not compatible with the usual mechanical switch hotswap sockets, which is why Shurikey Gear could not go with this feature for the Hanzo. The stabilizers themselves are lubed well and plate-mounted.


Here is a look at some of the replacement keycaps installed on the keyboard. As mentioned before, I have no idea why a numpad Enter keycap was thrown in as well. Shurikey Gear does say that the company will sell 167-key keycap sets of all three themes to be used on all compatible keyboards, so if this color scheme appeals to you, you can look forward to trying it out on your keyboard, too.