Introduction

Varmilo made a giant cultural debut on TechPowerUp with the MA87M (now just MA87) Beijing Opera keyboard dedicated to celebrating China's Hanfu cultural themes. It is also one of the keyboards that used the debuting Varmilo electrostatic capacitive version 2 (EC V2) switches. Back then, the company was only satisfied enough with the linear switches, which meant three of the four switches had been released. I am still wanting to cover the other two switches, and perhaps I will in due time, but the fourth switch just got released, so here we are. Thanks again to Varmilo for sending us a review sample!


The fourth switch is called the Varmilo EC Ivy V2. It is a tactile and clicky switch, which means there's more going on inside beyond the electrostatic capacitance mechanism for actuation, with a tactile bump and audible click feedback mechanism added as well. No surprise then that it took longer to make! With the EC Ivy V2, Varmilo put out the latest version of its Forest Fairy green keyboard theme, which is fitting given the Ivy switch name and color scheme. I have here the MA108 Forest Fairy, a 108-key full-size keyboard, which is another custom design from the company that goes beyond just a custom set of keycaps. While not as flashy as the Beijing Opera theme, there is a lot going on here, which we will cover in detail in the review that begins with a look at the specifications below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

There are two reasons to start with the shipping packaging, the first of which is that Varmilo also operates a web shop as a primary source of their keyboards for customers around the world. So taking a look at how the keyboard ships is critical, and we see a box of nearly perfect size with just enough space around the keyboard packaging to house two foam pieces that snugly hold it together from all sides. Secondly, a set of accessories is found here as opposed to inside the keyboard box. We also see the SKU sticker on the side that confirms the keyboard inside.


This unexpected set of accessories contains four replacement keycaps, including for Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, and Num Lock, with a small cutout hosting a lens on the lower section of the top of the keycap to allow for LED lighting to shine through indicator lights on the keyboard. The MA87 keyboard from last time omitted the Num Lock for obvious reasons. These keycaps have a light green PBT base with thermally sublimed legends that are a darker green, and the font in quite a green manner too. Just look at the deliberately chosen leaves depicting the alphabets here, which I suspect will be a love-it or hate-it affair with our readers. I personally love them, and more so with the fourth keycap which is a 1u R4 profile unit that has an artistic depiction of a bird on the top and sides alike.


Varmilo had previously sent in a switch trial kit to help compare their new EC V2 (electrostatic capacitive) switches to the Cherry MX Red, Black, and Blue switches the company also uses in their keyboards. As mentioned before, missing there was the EC Ivy V2, so I ended up getting a now updated and complete switch kit, too. For the photos above, I swapped the Mandarin text base out for the English one, which was just below it. Given we already took a look at the three linear EV C2 switches (Daisy, Sakura, and Rose) before, and since the subject of this keyboard review is the EC Ivy V2, shown above is that very switch in closer detail. This is a 3-pin switch with a, well, ivy-colored slider and wall surrounds for some dust and spill resistance and keycap wobble reduction.


The actual product box comes inside a plastic seal, and it is a lot tamer than the one on the Varmilo Beijing Opera keyboards. We get a white base wrap over the thick cardboard and a splash of colors on the front that spills over to the side as well. On the side, we see a similar sticker as on the outer packaging that confirms the exact SKU inside. It is only on the back that we see the Varmilo name and contact information in Mandarin and English. That's it, nothing else! Two double flaps on the side keep the contents in place during transit.


Opening the box shows why that box may have felt longer than usual in hand, and it is because the accessories are housed to the right of the keyboard as opposed to to the top as per usual. The keyboard is housed inside a wax wrap and underneath a molded plastic clamshell for further protection. The clamshell may also be used as a dust cover. Underneath the keyboard is a folded bilingual pamphlet that serves as a warranty card and also houses a QR code. The link takes you to this page, and as I write this, going to page 3 will take you to the online manual itself. The manual is shared across the Varmilo MA 80/100/110% keyboards, which this MA108 belongs to, and the various instructions in broken English need to be deciphered to figure out what is applicable to which keyboard. Thankfully, it is not too bad and alleviated by the fact that there aren't a lot extras on the keyboard. There is also a detachable keyboard cable, all green to match the theme and with a bulky cap towards the client-end. The cable goes from a male USB Type A connector to a male mini-USB connector, which points towards the use of mini-USB on the keyboard itself. The connectors are gold-plated for additional corrosion resistance. Last but not least, we get a metal-wire keycap puller, which I prefer over the plastic ring that can potentially scratch the sides of keycaps, with a cool crystalline green base that has the Varmilo logo etched into it.