The Fantastic Ikki68 Aurora Budget Custom Keyboard Available for Pre-Order Tonight

Quite a number of budget-friendly custom mechanical keyboards have made it onto the market in recent times, but Wuque Studio’s Ikki68 Aurora may just be the most promising one yet. If you’re looking to get into the custom keyboard scene without spending too much, you may want to pre-order this keyboard tonight.

So what’s so interesting about the Ikki68 Aurora? Well, for one, it is a gasket-mounted custom keyboard with a modular twist. Wuque Studio calls it a “variable gasket mount system,” which gives users the option to install (or omit) four “chips” to change the sound profile and typing feel of the keyboard.

If you want a more muted, firmer typing experience, you can install all four of the chips into the Ikki68 Aurora. If you prefer a bouncier, softer typing experience instead, you can remove these chips accordingly. It’s a pretty smart implementation that’s not found on other custom keyboards, especially at this price point.

Aside from its gasket mounting system, the Ikki68 Aurora also supports multiple layouts despite the fact that it has a hotswap PCB. The different layouts include split backspace, split right shift, split left shift, split spacebars, as well as ISO enter. Hotswap keyboards usually have a fixed layout, so the Ikki68 Aurora’s multiple layout support is definitely a unique feature.

Another attractive feature of the Ikki68 Aurora has to be its optional Bluetooth support; a feature not typically found on the majority of custom keyboards, believe it or not. However, while the wired model of the Ikki68 supports VIA and QMK, the Bluetooth version does not. Instead, it uses a custom software, and you’ll need to get a separate battery for the keyboard as well, much like the Bluetooth version of KBDfans’ KBD67 Lite.

Other specifications of the Ikki68 Aurora include a polycarbonate case, an aluminium plate, support for screw-in stabilisers, underglow RGB lighting, and it even comes bundled with a storage case and coiled cable. But just like any other keyboard kit, the Ikki68 does not come with switches or keycaps; certain colourways of the keyboard don’t come with stabilisers either.

Now, how much does the Ikki68 cost? Four different colours of the keyboard are offered: the Mint and Charcoal models cost $129 (about RM520) or $155 (approximately RM625) for the Bluetooth model, while the more limited Aurora x Mizu and Aurora x Devoted variants cost $159 (around RM640) and $195 (about RM790) respectively.

The price difference between these four models is due to several factors. The Charcoal and Mint Ikki68 Aurora do not come with stabilisers, while the Mizu and Devoted models do. The Devoted is also bundled with 75 tactile switches manufactured by JWK, which drives up the price of the keyboard even further.

As mentioned, the Mizu and Devoted models of the Ikki68 Aurora are also limited colourways; the former is only offered in 1,000 units, while the Devoted version is even more limited at only 500 units.

Even though Wuque Studio’s Ikki68 Aurora is not the most affordable budget-oriented custom mechanical keyboard, its modularity and attractive features make it a very compelling product. More details on the Ikki68 Aurora can be found right here, along with the list of vendors that will have pre-orders for the keyboard.

If you’re here in Malaysia, you can place your pre-order of the Ikki68 Aurora from Singapore-based vendor Hex Keyboards this midnight at 12AM. Alternatively, you can also pre-order the keyboard directly from Wuque Studio the next day at 12AM on 25 February.