Angry Miao rose to prominence on the back of its Cyberboard, a Tesla Cybertruck-inspired custom mechanical keyboard that surprised the keyboard community with its bold LED-matrix screen. Since then, it has released a number of other keyboards that we’ve been lucky enough to look at. Each has been interesting and unique in its own way, blending the art of design with innovative features and outstanding typing.
The company is back with what we feel is one of its best releases yet: The AM RGB 65. Launching to Kickstarter this month, the keyboard takes the screen from the Cyberboard and shifts it into a smaller form factor. All of the advancements in typing and performance we’ve seen with its last several keyboards are all present: adjustable leaf spring gasket mounting, refined switches and keycaps that save you the trouble of lubing, acoustic foams, easy disassembly when you want to change things up, 2.4GHz wireless, and more. It’s Angry Miao, which means it’s anything but cheap, but it’s a remarkably good keyboard that quickly becomes the centerpiece of your desk.
Specifications
- Current Price:
Angry Miao AM RGB 65 - Design and Highlights
The AM RGB 65 a “compact” custom mechanical keyboard built by people that know their craft. I put the word “compact” in quotes because, while it uses a 65% layout that trims the function row and compresses the navigation and editing cluster to a single column, it adds a large screen along the top housing a matrix of 200 LEDs (5x40). It’s compact in width but there’s enough space to house two or three more complete rows, so it tops a full-size keyboard with its vertical footprint. Thankfully, this is where you’d want the extra space if you’re a gamer or just prefer to keep your hands closer together.
It’s a chonky boy in the best way. The added width and dot matrix screen give it a very retro vibe that the rest of the case leans into. It’s made out of heavy, precision-milled CNC aluminum. The bezels and chin are wide enough to further evoke that vintage feel, and it’s thick with a natural incline toward the back. I didn’t need a wrist rest to type comfortably but others certainly might.
It’s full of embellishments too. The bottom right has a single angled bezel with decorative striping. Around the back, by the center USB port, is what looks like a second screen with a screencap from Galaga but is actually just decorative. The USB port rests inside a cavity shaped like a D-pad. On the bottom, the weight is shaped like an A and B button (A is the Angry Miao paw print logo) inside another bit of decorative millwork. One of the default screen animations shows falling tetrinos that fill up the screen, wipe, and start all over again.
In short, it evokes all of the retro feel you could hope for. I was sent the gray version but it’s also available in white and purple. To my eye, these bring back even more of those nostalgic feels. Traditional Game Boy beige, or purple the translucent version or my old favorite N64 controller.
And this is part of the charm of Angry Miao. The company is dedicated to creating products that embrace art just as much as being functional peripherals for your day to day use. Retro keyboards are nothing new, but while other companies content themselves on pulling it over with colored plastics, AM takes things to the next level with labor intensive CNC machining and stringent quality control so the end result is eminently premium.
Though, that much is apparent from the minute it arrives at your door. Take it out of the shipping box and you don’t find the usual cardboard box with a sleeve jacket. No, the RGB 65 comes in its own briefcase with custom-cut foam to keep it safe in transit. Underneath the keyboard is an accessory pack with alternate leaf springs and some replacement fasteners, a custom cable, a 2.4GHz wireless dongle, and a second layer of case foam.
The screen is a feature borrowed from the Cyberboard. It was the defining feature of the Cyberboard, but I actually like the way that it’s applied here even more. Where that keyboard was highly angular and placed its screen on an angle tilted away from you, the RGB 65 places its screen on the same degree as the keys, so it’s visible at all times. Given the name and its emphasis on lighting, this is probably going to be a positive for anyone considering this keyboard.
It’s also fully customizable. You can download premade animations from the community through the DIY site or create your own with frame by frame animation. My only gripe is that colors tend to render much lighter on the actual keyboard than the website. Pure red will look pink, for example, so you have to take his into account when applying your colors.
That same approach applies to the internals of the keyboard. Though Angry Miao offers a fully assembled version (barebones is also available for less), you’ll find that it incorporates many of the advancements and trends we’ve seen in custom mechanical keyboards over the last few years.
For starters, the switches — Icy Silver Pros, a lightweight linear switch — are pre-lubed, exceptionally smooth, and sound great right out of the box. The stabilizers are also pre-lubed and free of any tick or rattle whatsoever. There are layers of optional foams to tune the sound, though I think it sounds great without anything. You’ll need to remove these if you buy the pre-built and prefer a foamless build.
Altogether, we have PORON plate foam to isolate the sound of the switches and dampen reverberation in the case. Below the switches is a layer of IXPE switch foam for added pop. And beneath that is a layer of PCB foam, and finally a thin layer of case foam (with a second in the briefcase). There are also multiple layers to the case construction which works well to eliminate reverb and hollowness within the case.
The gasket mount system is the same we found on the AFA. Inside the case, the PCB rests on a series of small metal springs. These aren’t coil springs, mind you. They’re more akin to levers. One side screws into the case while the other is angled upward to hover in the air. At the very end of the spring is a second silicone plug that slots into a port on the PCB, holding it aloft.
The tension and bounce these springs provide can be customized. A rubber insert fits into one of two holes below the spring and allows it to flex more or less depending on where it is inserted. Placing it all the way at the end provides a firmer typing experience while putting it in the middle slot offers the most flex. There are two sets of springs provided, copper and stainless steel, which also impacts how much bounce they offer.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an Angry Miao keyboard without wireless functionality and it has that too. You can connect to up to three devices over Bluetooth and one device using its 2.4GHz dongle. For gaming, you’ll definitely want to use Bluetooth. With the case being made of metal the way it is, you can’t take the keyboard far away from the source without the connection becoming stuttery but it worked well for me centered on my desk about a meter from my PC.
To power all of those lights, it comes with two 5,000mAh batteries for a whopping 10,000mAh of battery life. The lightshow will still drain that relatively quickly, so I would plan on recharging about once a week regardless. If you turn the lighting down or off, you can extend that to a month or more.
Angry Miao AM RGB 65 - Performance, Typing, and Gaming Impressions
Over the years of covering Angry Miao keyboards, I’ve been able to see the way it has advanced its typing and gaming experiences. The original Cyberboard was very neat and attention-grabbing but it took several revisions and multiple keyboard releases to really dial in the sound and feel of the keyboard. I feel like the Relic 80 the company really came into its own and offered a typing experience that felt well honed in both sound and feel, competing with the best mechanical keyboards you can buy today.
The RGB 65 continues that trend. In fact, it’s very similar to the Relic 80 in both sound and feel — which isn’t a surprise because it’s made with the same overall structure and switches! That’s a very good thing, however, because it means that the RGB offers a truly stellar sound and feel with the premade version.
With the prebuilt configuration, it offers a very marbly sound signature. It’s very smooth and consistent sounding, without any hint of sharpness on any key. The keycaps on the gray version are the same as on the last several AM keyboards: they’re translucent with gray legends, custom molded to have thick walls and a higher pitched typing sound when bottoming out. If you bring your own switches and keycaps this will obviously change.
The typing feel is soft and has noticeable give under the fingers thanks to the springs and the flex cuts lacing the PCB. While not bouncy, per se, there’s enough movement where you can see the impact at a glance. It’s the kind of keyboard you can type or game on for hours and not get fatigued.
The Icy Silver Pro switches, while light, really don’t seem as sensitive as their 37 gram actuation force would have you believe. I was able to transition to them rather easily, which surprised me since I’ve been on a heavy tactile switch kick lately. But, they sound and feel excellent, and that light weight makes them very good for gaming.
As a gaming keyboard, the RGB 65 has a lot to offer. You can easily remap it, record and assign macros, and program in multiple layers of commands with the AM Master software. I like to keep the Caps Lock key set to access my secondary commands and then another set for a gaming profile. It’s very versatile, though still not as rich as VIA, which I wish there was support for. Because of the screen, and likely other elements I’m unaware of, that’s not possible.
The wireless functionality is very good. With 2.4GHz, I wasn’t able to tell any difference compared to gaming using the wire. You can rely on it to provide a level of responsiveness that works well even for competitive games.
Angry Miao AM RGB 65 -Typing Demos from the Keyboard Community
The following typing tests are produced by some stellar creators. Keybored is one of my all-time favorites and is a fun watch, even if you’re not a keyboard enthusiast. MaiziChao is a new find for me, but his cinematography is fantastic. Please give both of these creators a subscribe if you like their videos.
Video Credit: Keybored
Video Credit: MaiziChao
Final Thoughts
The AM RGB 65 is an excellent custom mechanical keyboard and is, in my opinion, the best the company has released so far. Custom mechanical keyboards are a niche, and expensive custom mechanical keyboards, a smaller niche within that. But if you’re looking for something unique that will also leave you you wanting to come back to your PC, this is the keyboard for you.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes
