If there was a thing to take away from Computex this year, it was that we would be seeing a lot of wireless mechanical keyboards coming up. CORSAIR and Logitech already had their implementations out before, and there were some options from smaller brands even before these were out, but we are finally beginning to see options come out at various price points, which also means there's something for generally everyone's wallet. One of the first to come out of these Computex announcements is the CD108 BT, an iKBC offering in the form of a 108-key full size keyboard that does not appear to have a natural layout for a wireless keyboard supposed to be used for couch gaming as much as on a desk. But this also means they do not have a lot of competition surrounding the layout and size, and it is hitting retail relatively soon after having been announcement.

Priced at $99, the iKBC CD108 BT generally punches above its weight here. There are definitely some cost-cutting measures even compared to their other wired keyboards we saw before. For one, there is no RGB backlighting or even any backlighting at all. However, iKBC does include the hardware to help make this happen if you wish to solder on your own LEDs, and even has pre-programmed LED controls on the keyboard. Second, we see laser-etched legends here, which are more of a compromise than a full con in that while they do wear out sooner than the doubleshot injected legends iKBC uses on their F/MF-series of keyboard, laser etching enables them to support many languages without needing dedicated plastic molds. The use of the navy blue color on the case and keycaps, especially on the latter, also helps produce a truer-to-color white for the legends as opposed to an off-color white with black keycaps. Finally, Bluetooth 3.0 is used, which works fine, though as a dated implementation of Bluetooth, battery life could have been better, along with the operating range, had iKBC gone with Bluetooth 4.0, let alone a dedicated 2.4 GHz network.

iKBC retains a lot of features that made the brand popular among enthusiasts, be it via the LED controls mentioned above or deciding to go with removable batteries in a covered compartment as opposed to an internal battery. The keyboard takes standard AAA-sized batteries too, and two are provided to get you going for at least a couple of months, which is more than I could say for nearly every other wireless mechanical keyboard today. Thick PBT keycaps provide for a typing experience that helps get past the use of laser etched legends, and the use of Cherry MX switches is a safe bet, though it does add to the material cost of the keyboard compared to similar competing switches.

At $99, the iKBC CD108 BT costs $10-$20 more than the equivalent non-wireless, older CD108, which itself was a good buy for the money. If you are looking for a wireless mechanical keyboard with clean looks and good build quality at a price that won't break any bank, you have to seriously consider it.