Aftermarket keycaps are one of the best and easiest ways to customize your mechanical keyboard, but there’s a problem: though there are lots of sets to choose from, when you’re buying low-cost keycaps on Amazon, quality issues run rampant. Warped space bars; funky, oddly spaced legends, colors that look ever-so-slightly and maddeningly off. Every purchase feels like a roll of the dice: you might get a good set but you may be stuck returning it with days of wasted time behind you.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you could purchase a high-quality set from a company like GMK. These sets are highly regarded for their quality and great colors but exceptionally high prices ($150+ in group buy and easily double that after for many) and months, or years, long wait times make it an option with too many caveats to bear for many of us (though there are some sets that Drop offers in stock, but they’re the exception to the rule)
That’s where Drop’s DCX keycaps come in. Today, we’re looking at two sets, DCX Latte and DXC Jasmine. Neutral-hued and relaxing, these sets are perfect for the plant and coffee lover and can match a wide variety of keyboards. At $99 each, ready to ship now, they’re great options to add a little zen to your desktop.
Specifications
- Current Price:
- Manufactured by Drop
- Profile: DCX (Drop Cylindrical X)
- Material: Doubleshot ABS
- Compatible with Cherry MX switches and clones
- Made in China
Drop DCX - What Is It and What Makes It Special?
First off, let’s talk a little bit about what DCX is and why it exists, at least from my perspective as a mechanical keyboard enthusiast that loves personalizing the tools of my daily trade. DCX is the second keycap profile/series from Drop and is nothing less than a direct answer to GMK, what many enthusiasts consider to be a gold standard for quality. GMK is a German plastics company that has worked with designers to deliver the vast majority of the most popular colors and themes in the entire keyboard hobby — even inspiring the masses of clones which currently litter the listings on Amazon.
The problem with GMK, at least until recently, is that its production times were astronomical. At one point, their timeline between paying for a set and actually receiving it was close to two years. On top of that, several of the sets people had waited so long for wound up coming with colors that didn’t match the renders, leading to mass upset. This isn’t so much an issue with GMK as it is the designers greenlighting these disparities, but when you’re waiting 18 months for a keycaps set you paid $150 for and it’s not even the thing you thought you were buying? That’s pretty unforgivable.
That’s where Drop comes in with the DCX line-up. You see, Drop had already been making its own keycaps for years in a taller, vintage-inspired MT3 profile. It had the production capability. So quietly, behind the scenes, they invested in molds and production systems to create their own GMK competitor.
Like GMK, DCX keycaps are made of doubleshot ABS plastic. This means that the legends are formed from a separate piece of bonded plastic and will never chip, fade, or peel. The profile, or shape, is almost exactly the same. Knowing it was going head-to-head with GMK, and would inspire direct comparisons, the company went to work to ensure it could one-up the German legend in a number of ways.
Drop invested heavily in incredibly tight tolerances for ultra-crisp legends — some of the best in the business and one of the most common shortcomings of cheaper keycaps. The sprue marks from production are almost invisible while you can clearly discern these stem-points on GMK. The exact composition of the plastic is also such that the keycaps are more resistant to shining, a common shortcoming of ABS.
Across the board, Drop DCX keycaps are built to an impeccable standard that’s more than capable of competing with GMK. Flat out, I’ve used a number of sets from both companies and would choose DCX every time. Not only do you have the qualities described in the paragraph above, each of which is an enhancement over GMK, but the finishing on DCX is flat out better. GMK sets sometimes come out of the box with an inconsistent reflectiveness… it’s difficult to describe but it almost looks like a surface coating was applied, sprayed on, but haphazardly. This isn’t every time but I’ve had two sets of my last six have this quality and it’s immediately disappointing every time.
The biggest reason you’re likely to go with DCX over GMK is that the sets are both cheaper — usually $30 to $50 less than the average $130-150 group buy pricing for a GMK set — at $99 and are available to ship right away. There’s no waiting. The company also has sales multiple times throughout the year dropping the prices to $79.99 or even offering Buy One, Get One Free sales.
The end result is a cheaper set of keycaps that’s at least as good, even if you’re a harsh critic, and that’s readily available. On top of that, because Drop is a big company, they’re able to offer support should you find any problem with your product. Drop is now owned by Corsair; this isn’t a tiny vendor with a handful of employees (no offense to keyboard vendors, of which I am a frequent customer).
The biggest drawback to DCX is that there aren’t as many color themes available as GMK has produced over the years or as you can find shopping on Amazon. As of this writing, there are currently themed sets available. There are some gorgeous ones, as well as staples like Black on White and Dolch, but if you’re looking for something hyper-specific, you may not find a match. Since its release, Drop has regularly released new colorways, however, and is working with designers to come out with new sets regularly.
Why DCX and Not a Cheaper Clone from Amazon?
This is the big question. Even though Drop DCX keycaps are cheaper than GMK, they’re still about 2.5x the price of the average set of PBT keycaps available on Amazon. While I’m not here to shame you for choosing those sets (I’ve purchased many over the years), here are the big reasons why:
Design Theft: While this is a contentious topic, the vast majority of the themes you’ll find on Amazon and AliExpress have taken the themes from existing sets and copied them, hence why they’re known as clones. You can argue about whether using the same colors is unethical, the reality is that those sets had a single designer that put the work into making the original keycap set happen. They get nothing from the cloned set; another entity is literally profiting from their work while they can do little more than watch.
With that said, most of these “clones” are from GMK sets that are no longer available and can cost upwards of $250 to buy on the aftermarket. That’s crazily expensive and I blame no one for refusing to pay that much, especially when you’ll be going through forums or Reddit and hoping the person you’re dealing with doesn’t take your money and run. Scammers happen.
Quality: While there are plenty of good clones out there these days, there are still lots of quality issues. This is most common in the legends on the modifier keys. Shift frequently looks like Shif t. Ctrl and Alt are sometimes off-center or otherwise misaligned. The text on Backspace is super hit or miss. Flip them over and you’ll often find that the stems are missing channels due to the manufacturing process, making them more prone to snapping with use. Colors are also frequently off because these sets are usually made from PBT instead of the original ABS.
I’ve also had issues where certain keys are warped — and not just the spacebar. It’s incredibly frustrating to have one single key sound completely dead. You wouldn’t think you’d notice it when you’re typing and bottoming out keys at 100 WPM. But you do notice it, and it’s grating.
The truth is that you get what you pay for. If you’re on a tight budget or new to the hobby, spending $100 on keycaps can seem ludicrous, let alone GMK prices. But for quality, consistency in finish, durability, and sound, it’s worth paying for something like DCX.
Now, onto the sets for today!
Drop DCX Latte
With all of that background out of the way, let’s get into the keycap sets we have in for review. Starting with DCX Latte, we have a brown and beige theme, as the name implies, inspired by coffee. It’s perfect for a brown or beige keyboard. The legends on this set are also brown. It comes with around 150 keycaps, including a 6.25u and 7u spacebar, as well as a three-way split spacebar for Alice and 40% keyboards.
I really like this set. There’s something that’s just kind of relaxing about it. There’s nothing bright or bold about it. The particular shades of beige and brown it uses are perfect matches for the coffee theme too. I see this set and I think about coffee beans and cappuccinos.
Apart from that, there just aren’t very many brown keycap sets that are readily available out there. I know, I looked. When I purchased my QK80 from QwertyKeys, I thought I would be clever and get the unique brown colorway. Imagine me trying to find something that was a total match and coming up short; I wound up having to buy a matching set directly from QwertyKeys are a bundle. If Latte were out then, I would have scooped it up in a second.
Drop DCX Jasmine
Jasmine is a set that was designed by one of the community’s most popular, well-known designed, MiTo. MiTo is the mind behind legendary sets like GMK Laser, Pulse, Pixels, and more. He even designed to Noctua keycap set.
Here, we have a very neutral theme inspired by the plant. It blends beige alphas with green legends with light green modifier keys and dark green accents. It’s perfect for green or beige keyboards, but one of the strengths here is its versatility. While Latte might not fit well with certain colors, Jasmine goes with a wide array of keyboard case colors, making it easier to choose as a complementary match.
Like Latte, this set features several spacebar options and additional keys to support different layouts. This set does go a bit further by offering accent keys where Latte lacked them. You have alternate Escape and Enter keys, as well as a second set of arrows for common points of contrast. Or you can keep everything consistent with light green and beige. The only exception to this is the Numpad Enter, which curiously lacks a light green base key.
Thoughts on DCX Latte and Jasmine
Both of these kits are high-quality and worth picking up if they match your keyboard. They have far more in common than they have different and that works to their benefit. They both feature the same high quality construction and exacting legends. They both have great texturing on the keycaps that feels comfortable to use. There are also alternate homing keys (F,J) so you can choose whether you want bars or scoops on these keys.
Compatibility is another major strong suit. These kits are made to support the most common layouts available today, including less common ones like 40% or Alice. They each have 7u spacebar options and alternate bottom row keys to match. I also really like that they support multiple options for the navigation and editing columns found on 65% and 75% keyboards. They support split spacebar, split backspace, HHKB, split shift. If you can name an option, Jasmine and Latte probably support it.
There’s one variation on the 96% layout that may be difficult to fill out exactly as you would like. This layout, essentially a compact full-size, sometimes features four keys above the numpad. DCX is capable of supporting that but could potentially struggle with the exploded 96% layout, like the Wind Studios’ Wind X98 that also has a shortened navigation column breaking the letter keys from the numpad. Here, some novelties could help prevent doubling up on keys or putting mismatched keys in place just to complete the keyboard. Plus, novelties are fun, so hopefully they release some sets that add these in the future.
Given the similarities, albeit Jasmine’s additional accent keys, you’re free to pick the set that matches your keyboard the best. That also includes the rest of the DCX line-up. so it really comes down to finding a color match. I originally requested these to support a pine green keyboard kit we were receiving for review. That fell through but I already have homes for both.
Overall, DCX Jasmine and DCX Latte are fantastic sets. They offer excellent build quality, consistency, and a poppy sound signature that’s similar to what enthusiasts love about GMKs. Their neutrality and layout support makes them highly versatile. Since there’s so much crossover between the DCX sets, you can choose whichever colorway works best for you without fear of finding some big disparity between them. Drop has done keyboard building a service with the DCX colorway and there are precious few criticisms that I can make against it. It’s a GMK competitor with improved quality, better prices, better availability, and great layout support. What’s not to love about that?
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes. Some articles may contain affiliate links and purchases made through this will result in a small commission for the site. Commissions are not directed to the author or related to compensation in any way.
