Angry Miao is back with its latest custom mechanical keyboard and it’s a stunner. With “four dimensional” RGB matrix lighting, the Neon80 produces a downright mesmerizing effect that shines from all sides. There’s no screen like the Cyberboard or RGB 65 but the effect is no less alluring thanks to a matrix of more than 3,000 tiny lighting ports. It’s also a great typing and gaming tool that offers top-tier sound, feel, and responsiveness with an artisan’s attention to detail.
Specifications
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Angry Miao Neon80 - Design and Highlights
Angry Miao styles itself a “future art” company, and it’s easy to see why with the Neon80. Available in silver, gray, or white, it cuts an imposing figure on any desk. It’s a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard, but its chunky bezels, tall RGB-clad forehead, and substantial thickness make it a big boy indeed. AM says it’s synthwave inspired and that essence carries through perfectly. It’s simultaneously futuristic and retro, but is ironically one of the company’s most approachable keyboards from an aesthetic standpoint.
With the lighting turned off, it looks neat. Surely not an office keyboard and will still garner questions if you try to use it as one, but it’s the kind of thing that people not in the know could look at and say “oh, that’s interesting.” Turn the lighting on and it becomes something else entirely.
Let’s get right to it: RGB is the star of the show here. If you don’t like bright backlighting, then this isn’t the keyboard for you. Where the Cyberboard has a big RGB matrix screen on the top, the Neon80 replaces that with a matrix of more than 3,000 finely drilled holes. It softens the lighting, acts as a diffuser, and allows the hues to bloom and blend in an entrancing way. It’s fully customizable, too, including downloads from the community so you can make it look exactly as you would like.
This matrix extends around the back and sides too, though it’s brightest on the top where you’ll be seeing it most of the time. The effect when viewed from afar looks almost as if the keyboard has a solid block of dancing leds at its top, from all angles. In a dark room, you’d better believe it lights up your desk. Turn the brightness up high enough, it can light up a room enough that you’ll actually be able to see beyond just your desk (or at least it did in my small home office - 12’ x 9’).
If you pick up the bundle (it’s also available as a base kit without switches or keycaps), AM pairs this with a set of its transparent Glacier keycaps. These keycaps are made of polycarbonate in classic Cherry profile. They’re particularly well suited to this keyboard and it’s showy per-key RGB. Unlike any other keycaps set I’ve seen, these are frosted on the inside and have a glossy outer. This helps diffuse the lighting and help it to blend while still giving it an icy look. It’s in the name, yes, but they genuinely look like keycap shaped ice cubes.
Beneath these keycaps are Angry Miao’s Icy Silver Pro V2 switches, developed in collaboration with Tango Works. These are completely transparent linear switches, pre-lubed, designed to provide a crisp thick and ultra smooth typing experience.
Internally, the keyboard is decked out with an array of acoustic foams to enhance the keyboard’s sound profile. All together, we have an IXPE switch pad with a PET film beneath it to add a crisp pop and marbly sound to keystrokes. There’s PORON plate foam to isolate the sound of the switches and prevent reverberations through the case. Beneath the FR4 plate, which provides a good blend of clack and flexibility when typing, is a layer of acoustic PCB foam, as well as a bottom layer of case foam. It’s a foamed out build. In fact, there’s even a second layer of case foam in the box if you’d like to have an even firmer typing experience.
The whole assembly is mounted on Angry Miao’s three stage leaf spring gasket system. Unlike the majority of keyboards these days that use foam or silicone tabs to isolate the PCB, the Neon80 uses nine separate metal leaves mounted around the perimeter of the bottom case. One half is raised on the stainless steel arm and topped with a rubber button and tiny nub that slots into the assembly to hold it aloft. This keeps the keyboard isolated while also providing a very responsive, bouncy typing experience. These springs can also be adjusted using a separate rubber stopper to provide three different levels of firmness, though I found the stock setting to be just about perfect.
The end result of all this is a keyboard that looks stunning and offers the full custom mechanical keyboard experience with all of the high-end typing flair you could ask for. It’s well-tuned straight out of the box and is fully customizable if you’d like to change it up. Or, if you already have a set of keycaps and switches you’d prefer to use, you take full ownership of the experience and build it out to your own exacting specifications.
The Neon80 is also Angry Miao’s first wired-only keyboard, which has allowed the company to finally embrace QMK programmable firmware. The necessity to remain wired is driven by its lofty power requirements. With all of that RGB to run, it requires enough juice that remaining plugged in is a necessity for a zero-sacrifices experience for both lighting and performance.
QMK programmability is great. While the company’s online configurator and downloadable software were fine, its new VIALite application provides you more options for programming in layers of commands. Like other QMK keyboards, you can assign multiple “layers” of keys, essentially providing you with multiple full layouts for macros, remaps, media controls, and more.
I also have to call out the impeccable build quality and presentation. AM always nails this and the Neon80 is no exception. It comes in the usual briefcase and it never fails to impress. It’s also made from premium aluminum and crafted using a time-intensive precision milling process. The final product is one that is unmistakably premium.
Take a look behind the scenes at the assembly process in the video above.
Angry Miao Neon80 - Typing Demonstrations
Video Credit: NNNNANSEN
Video Credit: Angry Miao
Video Credit: SeungupKBD
Angry Miao Neon80 - Daily Use Impressions
I’ve been lucky enough to try most of the keyboards Angry Miao has released over the last several years. They’re, in my opinion, one of the most interesting companies in the business, blending modern art with keyboards in an admittedly niche but very creative way. The Neon80 is easily my favorite Angry Miao keyboard to date.
The classic TKL design is immediately familiar and I’m a big fan of its larger, bolder footprint. I love that it drips vintage vibes while also taking futurism head on. I’m also a sucker for RGB and the implementation her strikes the perfect balance: it’s alluring but not as in your face as something like the Cyberboard.
That probably seems odd. The keyboard is easily the brightest, most RGB-driven peripheral in the company’s whole catalog. But, by hiding the RGB matrix behind that striking top grille, it has a level of subtlety that’s absent from the Cyberboard. The Cyberboard makes a statement — literally. Its screen is able to display everything from words to full on animations. The Neon80 can be programmed to do the same, but the lights bloom and blend in a way that is reminiscent of an old-school music visualizer.
The typing experience is expectedly excellent. Angry Miao has come a long way with dialing in the typing experience on its keyboards and the Neon80 is competitive with the best keyboards. If you buy the bundle, you don’t need to do anything at all. It’s ready to go, straight out of the box, no fuss or modding needed.
As a whole, the Neon80 is outstanding — if you love RGB.
Final Thoughts
Angry Miao has been on a roll with its keyboards for a while now and the Neon80 is no exception. It offers a sublime typing experience with a unique, eye-catching design that can be genuinely mesmerizing. If you love RGB and have deep pockets, this is a fantastic option and it is well worth backing the IndieGoGo campaign. Be sure to head over and find out more details on the impressive showpiece of a peripheral.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.
