Wind Studio has been a reliable name in the custom mechanical keyboard hobby, producing keyboard kits with consistent quality and finish. The Wind X80 is the latest keyboard in its lineup and in many ways its most traditional. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some tricks up its sleeve and Wind Studio’s unique sense of style, however. Starting at $305, it’s an interesting kit with a lot to offer.
Specifications
- Current Price: Starting at $305 (See Vendor List Below)
- Layout: 80% F13 TKL, WK/WKL
- Typing Angle: 7 degrees
- Dimensions: 364.6mm x 140mm x 34.6mm (final size at gb production and different from the prototype size)
- Material: 6063 aluminum case,brass/aluminum/mirror stainless steel PVD weight block and front accent piece, brass/copper/mirror stainless steel PVD weight bar
- Mount: PCB Gasket Mount, Plate Gasket Mount,Sandwich Mount
- Gasket Mount Plate: 1.5mm, FR4,PC,ALU,PP
- Sandwich Mount Plate: Aluminum, 1.5mm, 8 colors available
- Case Material: 6063 Aluminum
- PCB: : Non Flex Cut,1.6mm Thickness, Wired Hotswap, Tri-mode Hotswap (4400mAh Battery, 2.4g/bluetooth/wired), Soldered PCB
- Polling Rate: Wired 1000Hz, Tri-mode (1000HZ in 2.4G and wired,125HZ in Bluetooth)
- Software Support:Wired on VIAL,Tri-mode on VIA
Wind X80 - Group Buy Information
The Wind X80 is available for group buy from July 25th to August 8th. Kits begin at $305 and extend to $410 with its variety of configurations. Fulfillment is expected to occur in three to six months following the conclusion of the sale. Purchase can occur through a regional vendor or directly through Wind Studio.
Canada: https://www.ashkeebs.com/
Vietnam: https://thekeebs.store/
Thailand: https://ntchkeys.com/
Malaysia: https://www.rebultkeyboards.com/
Philippines: https://zionstudios.ph/
Singapore: https://pantheonkeys.com/
Japan: https://basekeys.jp/
Indonesia: https://kukey.studio/
South American: https://fancycustoms.com/
Europe: https://keygem.com/
United Kingdom: https://mechboards.co.uk/
Taiwan: https://www.inpad.com.tw/
Others: https://windstudio.store/products/gb-wind-x80-keyboard-kit
Wind X80 - Design and Features
The Wind X80 is a CNC-milled aluminum keyboard kit with an enthusiast’s fit and finish. Based out of Shenzen, China, Wind Studio has been designing and delivering such keyboards since its debut in 2021. Without exception, these kits have been delivered and appreciated by the keyboard community for their unique design elements, fit and finish, and their typically quite clacky sound signature. Its X-series, which includes the X, X65, X98, and now the X80, has been its most popular and carries a strong visual identity.
The Wind X80 may be the new kid on the block but it’s easily the most accessible. Compared to the compact X, X65, and X98, it’s more traditional with a traditional tenkeyless layout. There are a couple of changes, such as an extra F13 key and the ability to have a WinKey or WinKeyless layout and top case, but just about anybody should be able to pick it up and feel right at home.
That simplicity also extends to the build process, which is mostly straightforward and aided by a detailed build manual. There are a couple of tricks to be aware of, but there are no crazy new mounting styles to throw off newcomers. Instead, it provides choices that aren’t confusing but that still offer an enjoyable amount of choice and the ability to tailor its sound and feel.
You can tell right away that it’s a Wind Studio keyboard because of its three-piece case design. Each of the X-series keyboards have featured a similar, eye-catching aesthetic: a top-case and bottom-case, split with a wrap around accent ring. With the X80, that goes a step further with a colored bottom weight. There’s a neat RGB accent on the front under the nav cluster that, on the silver version I was sent, matches the purple of the midpiece and bottom weight.
Each piece of the case design is very intentional. No matter which angle you view it from, it offers something unique and interesting. From the top, you have the F13 layout with the unique light bar (which looks a little like a bridge). Angle your head a little bit to the side and it almost looks like the keyboard is floating. This is because the bottom wedge is inset from the side, intentionally giving the illusion. The side also has multiple seams from the midpiece to wear the bottom case and the weight come together. Turn it over onto the bottom and you have the colored weight separated from the rest of the case with an inscribed brass accent bar.
Interestingly, the rear of the keyboard also offers a lot of visual appeal. You can clearly see where the bottom accent weight meets the top case. It has also been milled with contours surrounding the USB port. While the uninitiated may look at this and find it to be simple, contoured CNC machining is more complicated and costly to pull off. It's these kinds of small touches that set small run custom keyboards apart from mainstream keyboards, even as affordable aluminum pre-builts are becoming more plentiful than ever.
The sheer amount of customization options are the other thing that set it apart. You can choose from nine different colors for the case, each with a different rear accent for matched contrast. There are five anodized colors: black, violet, silver, dark gray, and dark gold; two e-coated whites: a traditional e-white and a creamy retro e-white; and two spray-coated colors: orange and green. You can mix and max the material used for the front RGB accent bridge from the anodized case colors or PVD-coated mirror finished silver or black stainless steel, complete with chamfered edges. The rear weight strip comes in brass, copper, or mirror-finished black PVD.
Those options are all for aesthetics but there are plenty of options for the internal configuration too. You can choose either a wired hot-swap or soldered PCB. Or, if wireless is more your thing, you can also choose the tri-mode PCB which can work wired, over Bluetooth, or with a 2.4GHz receiver, so you can have a full, 1,000Hz polling rate for wireless gaming. All three are customized using VIAL, an app similar to VIA, which is web-accessible and offers complete freedom with remapping, macros, and creating multiple layers of keymaps. The PCB also provides lots of options for building, including stepped Caps Lock, split Shift, 7u space, ISO support, and more.
To customize the sound and feel, Wind Studios provides four different plate materials to choose from: PP, polycarbonate, FR4, or aluminum. I’ve listed these in ascending order of stiffness and the pitch of your keystrokes while typing.
Each of these is used with a set of dumbbell gaskets for the first of its three mounting options, which provide another way to customize sound and feel. The gaskets actually make up the first two mounting styles. Using tabs surrounding both the plate and the PCB, you can choose to gasket mount with either. The feel between both is similar but the sound slightly changes.
Alternatively, you can build the keyboard using something Wind Studio calls sandwich mount. Inside the included carrying case (which is very nice, by the way), you'll find two different midpieces. One, which is used for the gasket mounts, is a frame that holds the PCB assembly and creates the middle accent. The other is a complete all its own that replaces the other options. This is “sandwiched” between both halves of the case and still provides the accent. It is the firmest typing experience by far.
There are also lots of optional foams you can pick and choose from, or ignore entirely. There’s IXPE switch foam for pop, PORON plate foam, a more porous PCB foam, case foam, and foam for the battery compartments if you chose a wired kit. Each foam changes the sound of the keyboard slightly to prominently, and the case foams provide a firmer typing experience.
As is usually the case with custom mechanical keyboard kits, you have to provide your own switches, keycaps, and stabilizers. While many outside the hobby consider this to be a negative, and it does indeed add onto the cost of the kit, all three are core elements keyboard hobbyists will want to choose for themselves as they are absolutely central to the personalization aspect of the hobby.
Drop x GMK Serenity Keycaps
With that in mind, it’s time to take a little detour to talk about the switches and keycaps I chose for this build. I was sent the anodized silver version, which has a light purple/lilac accent and rear weight. I’m not much for pastels being the manly man that I am, so I struggled a bit with what keycap set would look best with it. Polycaps Hippo, created by keyboard YouTuber, Hipyo Tech, was an early stop. But again… pastels.
Then, I remembered: Drop + MiTo GMK Serenity, available in-stock on Drop. This keycap set is composed of a deep, royal purple with darker modifiers adorned with colorful legends. The Keycombs Kit adds as bunch of colorful honeycomb keycaps to the mix, adding a bit of a rainbow to the mix.
If you’re new to custom keyboards, GMK is pretty much considered the best of the best. It’s a German plastics company that has manufactured just about every major keycap design since well before COVID. Its keycaps are highly sought after for their vibrant colors and designs. Its keycaps are made of doubleshot ABS plastic, which is better for the light pop sound in vogue right now. But really, it’s about aesthetics. GMK is the GOAT as far as the community at large is concerned.
The problem is that most keycap sets produced by them require you to join a group buy, pay upfront, and then wait months and months, and sometimes upward of a year, to actually receive. By the time the keycaps arrive, will you still be interested in the design or even typing on the same keyboard?
That’s where Drop comes in. As a large vendor, it’s able to keep numerous GMK sets perpetually in-stock and ready to ship right away. GMK Serenity is one of those sets. They were generous enough to send over the set for this build, and I thank them for it, because they absolutely bring the entire thing together.
You can check them out here, if you’re interested. But be forewarned: GMK keycaps don’t come cheap. The Base Kit retails for $140 and the Keycombs are another $50. This isn’t just Drop marking things up either. Just about everywhere, these things cost a lot of money unless you purchase them through group buy because they’re such a limited commodity.
Thankfully, Drop has its own GMK competitor with its DCX keycap line, which are just as high in quality if not more so. I have used them on many builds and will continue to do so because they’re hands-down, one of the best values in high caliber keycaps out there, available in-stock, today.
The switches I went with are Laguna Blues from Bolsa Supply. They’re a long-poled linear switch that comes very well pre-lubed from the factory. They sound and feel great with a delightful pop when bottoming out. At this point in my keyboard career, if I can avoid lubing switches, I do, and this switch makes it completely unnecessary. Plus, they’re pretty cheap! When I bought them, they were only $10 for a pack of 35 switches. Three packs are required for a TKL layout, which is a very reasonable price for such an excellent switch.
Wind X80 - Assembly
Assembling the Wind X80 isn’t difficult, but don’t be an idiot like me. Read the manual. There is one important difference which you’ll see very soon.
For the most part, it’s the usual affair of lubing and installing the stabilizers, adding the foams and plate and switches (or sandwich plate if you’re going that route). But, if you’re using the gaskets, you have to put the midpiece/frame between the plate and PCB. As you’ll see in the gallery below, I didn’t do that and tried setting the assembly on top like past X-series keyboards, then wondered why the case wouldn’t close all the way.
RTFM. Lesson learned.
The only thing I would like to see changed in this process is the ribbon cable. They’re finicky and the locks on are prone to breaking if the ribbon gets pulled. I would much rather see a traditional JST or magnetic connector like we’ve seen on other boards of late.
Wind X80 - Impressions and Typing Demo
With everything built, I really like what Wind Studio has created here. Each of its keyboards in the past have been very clacky, at least how I chose to build them. The X80 has more body and depth to its sound using the plate gasket mount, PC plate, and some foam. PCB gasket mount is similar but, to my ear, loses some of its liveliness. It’s poppy but not thin sounding and has good volume, even with the PCB foam installed.
There’s a nice softness under the fingers with the gasket mounts. You can see the merest amount of flex when typing normally. It isn’t bouncy but isn’t the slightest bit harsh to type on. I built mine using IXPE, plate, and PCB foam, by the way, so the case is designed to accommodate different foam configurations without sounding dead or totally foamed out like some keyboards.
The sandwich mount is interesting but not my thing. It’s firm like an integrated plate — because that’s essentially what it is. It offers a very consistent sound and feel across the keyboard. If you like a rigid typing experience, it’s the way to go.
Of course, how you choose to build it will impact both sound and feel, so let’s look at some different typing tests so you can see first-hand examples of some different sounds it can produce. Please remember to give these folks a subscribe if you enjoy their videos and, as always, I thank them for sharing their typing tests to better illuminate custom keyboards like the X80.
[Editor’s Note: At the time of publication, few typing samples are available. We will add more over the coming days
Video Credit: BokehhBob
Video Credit: Wabi Sabi
Video Credit: Taeha Types
Video Credit: Scooped Bar
Final Thoughts
The Wind Studio X80 is a great keyboard kit that expands the company’s offerings in an important way. While it’s not the most adventurous, it’s accessible and easy to achieve a good sound and feel with a good amount of variety for your personal taste. The design is classic Wind Studio and has a great attention to detail. For $305, it’s in the middle-tier for custom keyboard kit pricing, but offers a good value for TKL fans and those that appreciate small, yet meaningful, design touches.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.
