The custom keyboard hobby has exploded, but the vast majority of popular options today all keep compact layouts. What about for those of us who need a keyboard with an numpad for work but that can also be used for gaming? That’s exactly where today’s keyboard kit comes in: the Wind X R2 from Wind Studios.
The Wind X R2 is a reasonably affordable custom keyboard ($305) that aims to bring you the best of both worlds. It’s simultaneously compact but also manages to include the full numpad, as well as a trio of customizable navigation and editing keys. The designers at Wind Studio have also made a point to include all of the key features you would expect from a premium custom keyboard: foam dampening, masses of customization options, a soft feel and poppy sound that can also completely tailored to meet your needs. In fact, the Wind X R2 is quite a bit more customizable than most other keyboards you’ll find at this price.
If you’re looking for a custom keyboard that won’t break the bank and blends gaming and productivity into one stylish package, look no further: the Wind X R2 is for you.
Specifications
- Current Price: $305 (Wind Studio)
- Anodized, CNC Milled Aluminum Case
- PORON Gasket, Top Mounted, or Silicone Gasket Design
- 10 Available Case and Accent Colors
- Customizable Weight and Front Accent Pieces
- Wired Hotswap, Bluetooth Hotswap, Wired Solder PCBs available
- Separate PCB for the Numpad
Wind X R2 - What Is It?
As you might have guessed from the name, the Wind X R2 is the second round of the popular Wind X custom keyboard kit. It features the same “65-percent with a numpad” layout as the original, but Wind Studio has made a number of improvements to set it apart. For ease of reading, here’s everything that’s been updated with this revision:
In short, this new version includes more customization options, a slimmer PCB for improved flex, improvements to the typing experience thanks to the differences with the plate, the option for PCB or plate mount stabilizers, a new top mounting option, a new Southpaw version for left-handed typists, and a new Bluetooth wireless option. Put another way, the R2 takes everything that was good about the original and expands upon it.
The Wind X R2 is a unique keyboard. Its layout is unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s a compact full-size keyboard in the vein of an 1800, so its width is just slightly wider than a tenkeyless, but removes the entire function row for a slimmer design. It keeps dedicated arrow keys and three customizable navigation and editing buttons between the typing cluster and numpad. It takes the popular 65-percent layout, then, and attaches a number pad.
This design is honestly fantastic, assuming you don’t use function keys regularly enough to warrant having dedicated F-buttons (the Wind X 98 is a better fit if you do). It strikes an excellent middle ground between being compact enough for gaming and leaving enough room for your mouse and also having a numpad for productivity work (or macros in MMORPGs!). If you’ve liked the 65-percent layout but couldn’t live without a numpad, this is the keyboard for you.
The Wind X is also strikingly stylish. It uses a three piece case design that comes together to create layers of color in the middle and bottom. Of the ten available colors (see the gallery), Wind Studio allows you to choose any for the top, middle, and bottom case pieces. The key here is that the middle piece is the “core” of the keyboard, both stylistically and in its overall construction. The top and bottom cases fit on top of it to create a sandwich of your own custom style.
To illustrate this, I was sent the black and orange version. The middle piece was orange. The top and bottom case are black and act as frames that attach onto the core. In the picture above, you can see how they come together to create its unique aesthetic. In my opinion, this is one of the most original and unique designs in custom keyboards today.
Each piece of the case is made of high-grade aluminum, meticulously milled. Of the ten colors, seven are anodized and three (blue, pink, and white) are coated with an electrophoresis process, also known as e-coating. The finish on my sample was perfect, inside and out.
It’s important to note that as of this writing, the group buy has concluded and the in-stock sale has run its course. It’s entirely possible that the keyboard will return for a third round group buy or come back in stock for immediate purchase as it did here. In-stock sales tend to be more limited in color choices. This time, there were variants of Black with Pink, Grey, and Orange or a cute Pink and Blue.
Knowing that, I still want to take a close look at just what Wind Studio offers during the course of its pre-order sales, because there were tons of customization options and it’s hard to imagine a R3 offering less and will probably only expand the options.
You could choose from:
- Ten colors for the top, bottom, and middle case
- Bluetooth or wired hotswap PCBs or a soldered PCB
- Brass or black PVD finished stainless steel rear weight
- Brass, black PVD stainless steel, or polycarbonate (to show RGB) front accent
- Seven different plate materials (polycarbonate, POM, aluminum, carbon fiber, FR4, brass, or stainless steel) with plate or PCB mount stabilizer options for each
Once it’s actually built, you have even more options. The keyboard supports three different mounting styles. You can use the set of included PORON foam strips to use a traditional, soft, isolated gasket mount. Or, for a different typing experience, you can use the included set of silicone gasket tabs, similar to the QwertyKeys QK75 and JRIS75. Or, if you’d rather have something a little firmer, this new model allows you to top mount the PCB instead.
There are also lots of options available through the included foam kit. Altogether, you’re given traditional plate foam, PCB foam, and case foam. You also have a second layer of case foam for more dampening and less flex, a layer of PE foam to add pop to the typing experience, and another layer of PE foam that goes on top of the plate. With these options, you can dial in the sound and feel of your keyboard with an exceptional amount of control.
I have to admit, I was a little thrown on why you would need a layer of PE foam on top of the PCB. Usually, this layer goes below the switches only to change the sound of your typing. But this layer of foam actually acts as a thin layer of damping to reduce reverberations ringing throughout the case. Interesting!
Another interesting feature of this keyboard is that the number pad uses its own PCB. Usually, keyboards use a single circuit board no matter how long it may be. For flex, however, this is a bad thing because the added length makes it much harder to achieve the same soft typing experience you’ll find on smaller keyboards. Here, the two PCBs connect with a simple ribbon cable and the problem is solved. With the USB daughterboard, that means the keyboard uses a total of three circuit boards!
Finally, as you expect, the Wind X R2 is fully customizable with QMK, VIA, or VIAL. These open-source softwares allow you to easily remap keys at the firmware level, which means that they’ll work identically whether you’re on your PC at home, using another OS, or taking your keyboard into work with a strict IT policy. There is not software required once the keys are remapped, so you’re free to set multiple layers of keys and come to rely on them no matter where you are.
Wind X R2 - Assembly
Given the additional PCB and multiple mounting options, the Wind X R2 was a bit more complicated to put together. If you’ve assembled a custom keyboard before, you shouldn’t find this much more difficult, but I would still recommend following the build guide Wind Studio has posted to their Discord. It guides you through some of the questions you might have, like how the build differs between between silicone (insert tabs in pre-cut slots) and PORON gasket mounts (apply the foam strips, lay plate on top, and top mount (no strips, just screw the plate into place). It also goes over what to do with the three extra pieces of hard foam (one goes around the LEDs to prevent light bleed, the other fill in the battery compartments on the wired version).
For my build, I went with a traditional PORON gasket mount. I prefer a very soft typing experience with the bubbly, isolated sound profile of PORON. I did try silicone and top mount, however, and both are easy to apply and have different sound profile and feels. This hobby is all about subjective impressions, so I would encourage you to try each. The only one that can’t easily be undone is the PORON gasket mount since the strips use adhesive to stay in place. Save that one for last.
I used Gateron CJ switches, provided by Wind Studio, and EPBT VOO ABS keycaps, designed by Wind Studio, but purchased by me, shipped overseas from Australia. I also used a set of C3 Equalz V3 stablizers purchased from TheKey.Company. I lubed the stabilizers with Krytox 205g0 and holee modded each stem using the teflon tapes included with each stabilizer kit.
I prefer the foam sound — call me crazy or old fashioned, I do. So, I used all of the included foams, except for the thicker case/bottom PCB foam. I wanted to preserve a bit of additional flex.
The whole process took about two hours, including lots of pictures of the entire process. This is fairly standard for a custom keyboard build, not including the time it takes to prepare the switches and stabilizers. One thing I did find is that switches tend to pull out with keycaps when using the PE plate foam, so if you have to take off keycaps, you’ll need to plan on re-installing the switches too. This may be different with some of the firmer plates (I used PC).
Wind X R2 - Performance and Typing Sound and Feel
How the keyboard feels and sounds will depend on how you build it. With my configuration, I found it to be soft and delightfully clacky. The PE foam gives it a characteristic pop without dominating the sound profile, which I liked. It’s also nice to finally see a keyboard embrace a higher pitched sound profile instead of the deeper thock that’s been in vogue lately.
With a traditional gasket mount, the typing experience is expectedly soft and isolated. There is no reverberation throughout the case, no resonant pinging sounds. There is visible flex, even when typing normally, but it’s not so pronounced that you’ll actively notice your fingers shifting when you type. Instead, the keystrokes seem cushioned and are less fatiguing than harsh, fixed-plate prebuilts.
The layout is excellent. I’ve used compact keyboards for so long that I have really begun to miss having a numpad (you’ll see another review coming up soon with one!). I don’t do much work that requires a number pad, truth be told, but I love it for gaming. In MMOs in particular, I map all of my keys to it and then triple the amount of keybinds using modifiers. With VIA, you can also program these keys to act as shortcuts or media controls, increasing their utility further.
I also am in love with the look of this keyboard. With the EPBT VOO keycaps, it matches perfectly. As it should, given that Wind Studio designed the keycap set. But the Black and Orange is so unique — so much so that finding a matching black and orange keycap set is actually rather difficult! Akko Carbon, Mistel Gloaming, or even a traditional White on Black would also look very good. I recently got in Domikey Geek Dolch which also works perfectly and deepens the sound too, pictured below.
Here’s a short video showing the keyboard in person and a typing sample with the EPBT keycaps.
Final Thoughts
The Wind X R2 is an excellent custom keyboard, whether you’re looking for something unique for gaming or need a keyboard that can pull double-duty as your work companion. It’s extremely well designed and well-built, offering one of the most unique aesthetics I’ve seen in a mechanical keyboard yet. The sound profile bucks the thocky trend and instead goes with a clean, soft-spoken clack (though you can tailor this with your choice of switches and keycaps.
At $305, it’s expensive compared to pre-built gaming keyboards but quite reasonable among custom keyboards. This is a step up from your entry level kit and it shows in fit and finish. At the same time, I like that you’re really getting more for your money here in the appearance of the final build. There’s nothing at all generic about it, and I love it for that.
Ultimately, like all custom keyboards, whether or not it’s your cup of tea is subjective, and that’s perfectly fine. For my part, it does a great job of merging the world of work and play and is truly one of the most unique keyboards I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing. Should an R3 or another in-stock sale occur, I highly recommend giving this keyboard and the wider Wind Studio catalog a closer look.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.
