Indignant Miao’s new $559 mechanical keyboard has Recreation Boy vibes

Between the Analogue Pocket and the proliferation of recreation emulators on Apple’s App Retailer, retro gaming is greater than stylish in 2024. So, it’s not terribly stunning that boutique keyboard maker Indignant Miao is getting in on a few of that candy nostalgia with its newest mechanical board, the Recreation Boy-inspired AM RGB 65.

However the true shock is that what at first blush appears to be like like a near-$600 elements bin rehash of an existing board is definitely Indignant Miao’s finest mech to this point. 

The RGB 65 is a 65 % format keyboard, however its massive dot matrix LED brow means it takes up virtually as a lot area as most 75 % keyboards. It appears to be like an entire lot like a shrunken-down Cyberboard, however fortunately, it takes extra design cues from one of the vital beloved handheld gadgets in human historical past than from a often mocked rolling dumpster.

The retro vibes are most pronounced on the white and purple variations, however all colours of the RGB 65 have small homages to Nintendo’s industrial design from the unique “DMG-01” Recreation Boy. This features a curved bottom-right nook with six slats mimicking the speaker grill, a detrimental aid D-pad cutout surrounding the USB-C port, and mock B and A buttons on the underside, which substitute the wi-fi charging pad discovered on different AM fashions. One other aesthetic flourish is a Galaga pixel artwork graphic adorning the plastic antenna window that lets the Bluetooth 5.1 and a pair of.4GHz wi-fi connections by means of the all-metal chassis.

Typing on the RGB 65 is a breath of contemporary air in comparison with earlier Indignant Miao boards. The marbly sound signature continues to be current, however the brand new Icy Silver V2 linear switches with their nylon housings and revised inner design give the RGB 65 a deeper, far more “thocky” sound than some other AM keyboard I’ve tried.

I’m relieved to see Indignant Miao making strides within the sound and typing really feel departments. Whereas I’ve personally loved the sound of most prior AM keyboards, it’s all very subjective. And the “meta” round what’s widespread within the customized mechanical keyboard scene continues to evolve. I feel Indignant Miao is doing a positive job maintaining with traits right here, and it must. It is a very costly keyboard that ought to really feel good and sound nice out of the field, particularly when you think about it rehashes an enormous design ingredient from the Cyberboard.

The 200-LED dot matrix panel on the Cyberboard all the time seemed charming, however whereas it’s recycled on the RGB 65, it’s higher carried out and barely extra sensible. As an alternative of being angled away from you and upside-down like on the Cyberboard, it’s flat on the principle deck and simple to see. It’s nonetheless principally a flashy novelty to associate with the RGB mild present beneath the keys, however you should utilize Angry Miao’s site to do some deep customization or obtain absolutely baked presets from the neighborhood. It’s enjoyable to tinker with, even when I find yourself utilizing it as an enormous desk clock more often than not.

However essentially the most underwhelming little bit of the RGB 65 is that this “cyber grey” coloration combo, at the very least compared to the white and “violet fury” choices. It appears to be like slick in its personal proper, certain, however the different two really feel like the place it’s at for the utmost Recreation Boy vibes. Maybe if the grey mannequin used opaque mild grey or charcoal black keycaps, it might channel a tiny little bit of the Game Boy Advance SP or Game Boy Pocket.

Both manner, the RGB 65 desperately wants some see-through atomic purple or jungle green motion (which is one other ongoing pattern), so I hope Indignant Miao considers a less expensive all-plastic model sooner or later. I’d even be keen to sacrifice a little bit of that thock if Indignant Miao can permit itself to not overengineer each little factor from aluminum.

The AM RGB 65’s Kickstarter campaign launches as we speak, beginning at $449 for a bare-bones package (no keycaps or switches) and tops out at $598 for a full prebuilt bundle in violet. Indignant Miao is working an early-bird 8 % low cost for the primary 48 hours of the marketing campaign.

Images by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge