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Are PBT keycaps worth it?

reddit.com › r › MechanicalKeyboards › comments › une7qf › are_pbt_keycaps_worth_it

I've seen HyperX's pudding caps go for a hefty pricetag Those are some of the cheapest keycaps on the market, so if they are too pricey for you, I don't think you're gonna be replacing your keycaps anytime soon. Answer from Deleted User on reddit.com

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › are pbt keycaps worth it?

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: Are PBT keycaps worth it?

May 11, 2022 -

A month and a half ago I bought myself my first mechanical keyboard: the hyperX alloy origins core. I was told that the abs keycaps on it would last about 6 months before shining but my most prominently used keys (wasd, shift, spacebar and some others) are already very shiny to the point where the difference can be slightly felt by touching them.

I wanted to know if this is an issue that could be solved with PBT keycaps and, if so, what set is best for my keyboard? I've seen HyperX's pudding caps go for a hefty pricetag

I've seen HyperX's pudding caps go for a hefty pricetag Those are some of the cheapest keycaps on the market, so if they are too pricey for you, I don't think you're gonna be replacing your keycaps anytime soon.

ABS will shine practically immediately in my experience. PBT is not in general much more or less expensive than ABS, they are just different. ABS can do brighter colors and is a generally softer plastic. PBT is more rigid, so there is a sound difference as well. If you just want some shine-through caps and your primary concern is reducing shining, especially if you just want black caps, you should have no problem finding cheap PBT keycaps on Amazon or Aliexpress that will work just fine. If you like the pudding cap look, you can look for that too. In fact it looks like HyperX's are $20 on Amazon, which is pretty cheap for a 104 key keycap set. Here is a white version for even cheaper if you're in to that .

reddit.com › r/budgetkeebs › what's your pbt tier list?

r/BudgetKeebs on Reddit: What's your PBT tier list?

September 2, 2023 -

I'm curious what your "budgety" PBT brand tier list is, and why. To me, the most important thing in PBT, the main reason for using PBT, is shine resistance. A good keycap set with high% PBT content will resist shine for years. But I also care about texture, which is usually better on PBT due to it being a "more grainy" type of plastic.

These are my preferences from top to bottom. What are yours?

1. PBTfans

Double-shot. The top tier, very expensive, absolutely perfect, the absolute best. Also always includes ISO options in their sets. But oh boy they're expensive. Too expensive for me.

2. Ghost Judges

Double-shot. Very high PBT content, doesn't really shine, and very affordable. Quality-wise they're very good. And contains tons of kitting for all keyboards (even ISO). But the colorways are a little bit boring/slightly janky and there are no novelty keys though. Because... (see next point)

3. KeeBox/Shenpo

Dye-sub. Made from the exact same OEM factory as Ghost Judges, at slightly cheaper prices. Downside is that their colorways are literally taken from the 1990s, with basic gray/beige plastic. But at least the PBT plastic quality is the exact same. The savings are most likely because they don't ask for any "fun colors" during their OEM's manufacturing, and they ask for dye-sub instead of double-shot manufacturing. And since they're made by the same factory as Ghost Judges, there are no novelty keys here either.

4. Aifei "Icon" aka "version 2" series (also being rebranded by G-MKY and others, you can recognize them by the keycap icons, but Aifei is the actual manufacturer since it literally even says "Aifei" in chinese on the novelty keys)

Double-shot. They have very high quality PBT plastic too, but their keycap text is so janky, with very uneven fonts on the keys. Like in the same word, you will see the first three letters in bold and the remaining ones in normal weight. They're all like that due to the molds, unfortunately. They also lack novelty keys, and they don't have any ISO support (only their older, low-quality ABS sets do). A shame... They should fix their molds to fix the bad fonts and add like 4 ISO keys and their sets would become a much better value.

Their "Icon" "v2" series is better, as mentioned. But anything that doesn't have the icons on the keycaps should be avoided, since this is what "v1" looked like. Try zooming out in the browser to a smaller size, to really see how bad it looks in real life even at lifelike scale. Notice how "En" is bold and the rest are normal? Unfortunately even "v2/Icon" has that issue, but to a much lesser extent. On v2, the most annoying key is the "Code" key (their name for the Windows key), where the "e" is about 50% bigger than it should be, so it reads like "CodE"... sigh. Why can't they make better molds? But other than the molds, the quality is great.

I hope Aifei keeps improving. They started out as a GMK clone manufacturer with terrible "v1" keycap legends, and then started making their own colorways and improved molds in "v2". So now we just need a "v3" where they become high quality. That would be great. Let's hope next time is better!

5. ePBT

Mix of double-shot and dye-sub. In-between cheap and expensive. They used to be good/very good, but suddenly has atrocious quality control now (check all images in that album), with many people receiving sets with uneven wall thickness, fragile stems, very rough edges, even has big holes and grip/claw marks in the plastic. Be very careful. But if you're lucky enough to avoid the scuffed sets, you'll have good quality PBT here, which deserves a higher ranking IF you get a good set. They just can't be universally trusted/recommended anymore, until they restore their former quality control standards.

6. Random noname dye-sub PBT sets

Because dye-sublimation requires heat which is too warm for ABS (it would melt), they're actually forced to have high PBT content, so the plastic itself is honestly not bad and will resist shine very well.

The bad thing is the dye-sublimation process itself, which is hand-aligned with machines that produce more than 40% error rate IF the operator does their best to align the sheet. And if the operator doesn't care at all, the error rate is even higher (which is absolutely the case on the cheap noname sets).

The issue is that two things must be aligned when making dye-sub: The operator must place the key itself on a "pole" which holds the key, and they can easily misalign the keys on those rods so that they're slightly rotated or angled. And then, the operator must place a plastic sheet perfectly in the machine, otherwise every key will be misaligned. Both of those operations have huge amounts of human error.

So the prints/text on most keys will be misaligned by 1-2 millimeters. So while dye-sub has potential to be a great thing for anti-shine (due to being required to have high PBT content), you'll instead have to live with misaligned text.

I personally can't stand seeing things like "the entire ASDF row being 1 millimeter lower than the other, centered rows", or "the X key is 2 millimeters to the left instead of centered", or "the T key is rotated and not straight". And in case of reverse dye-sub (light text on dark keys, where the whole key must be painted on all sides), the defects are even bigger since the stretching of the sublimation sheet causes "color fading/gradients" along the bottom edges of the keys.

Such defects are common on dye-sub due to the nature of the manufacturing process. Reviews for dye-sub sets are funny, with tons of people giving them 5/5 and proudly posting images of the sets, but if you zoom into their customer images, it's always the same story: A bunch of misaligned keys all over the keyboard. Logos/graphics being all over the place. And alphabetic letters that often look more like a "comic sans, fun misalignment for kids" set than a serious keyboard.

I personally can't stand to look at it after I've noticed the issues. But for someone without OCD who doesn't look closely at things, they're a very good option at a very low price, since you get high anti-shine resistance due to the high PBT content (which manufacturers can't really lie about, since the aforementioned dye-sub heat would literally melt ABS and therefore forces them to use high PBT content).

But if reliable alignment matters to you, then you should only look at double-shot sets, where perfect alignment is literally baked into the mold itself already.

7. Akko / KineticLabs PolyCaps (double-shot sets)

Decent colorways. If their plastic wasn't so atrocious I would rate them much higher. All PBT must contain some ABS to be workable in the factory (to allow for double-shot molding and to reduce warping), but Akko takes it to a whole new level and has more ABS in theirs than any other name-brand manufacturer.

Akko's "PBT" is cheaply made by "WinMix" and is mostly ABS with a tiny bit of PBT content. The saddest thing is that the Akko plastic mix is so poor that the quality is practically worse than ABS, and the plastic shines within 2 weeks for most users, maybe 2 months if you take great care of them. :/ It's a shame... A quick Google search illustrates the problem, with tons of users reporting shine in 2-3 weeks.

They also have an awful texture, which is super smooth, like typing on slippery marshmallows. Even though the molds would play an effect in this, this "slippery surface" is probably mostly due to the low amount of PBT, since the PBT plastic is what adds the rough texture to better keycap sets.

Their prices are also too high. At those prices, you can get Ghost Judges / Shenpo instead, which are much higher quality.

The reason why KineticLabs PolyCaps is included in this title/section is because they use the same OEM manufacturer for many of their double-shot sets, so they suffer the same low quality PBT as Akko. But be aware that KineticLabs also sells newer Dye-Sub sets instead, which are definitely higher PBT content (as mentioned earlier), so those sets are probably good quality.

What's your list?

I'm aware that I haven't included a few other brands, such as CannonKeys aka NicePBT (which are US-based with custom designs/molds, but made in China by Alibaba/Taobao manufacturers).

I'd love to hear from others on your preferences/rankings!

I never bought akko keycaps, but the ones that comes with my akko 5075b are very good quality, being using for months and not a sign of shine. Also I loved the thock sound profile on ASA keycaps.

Akkos shine? At least not with my sets.

reddit.com › r/keychron › quality of keychron pbt keycaps?

r/Keychron on Reddit: Quality of Keychron PBT keycaps?

November 14, 2022 -

between the BoW and developer sets for my new Q5 - have Keychron stepped it up with their PBT quality? heard mixed since some of the dye sub have faded coloring on the sides. would be great if you can share you experience with them if you own one of these sets. thanks!

I'd recommend avoiding Keychron's keycaps unless you really like one of the colorways or need the low profile sets. They aren't necessarily bad, but there are certainly better options available for a similar price. I have the OSA PBT set in "dark black" (whatever that's supposed to mean) and after a few weeks they started to develop shine. That doesn't really inspire confidence considering they are supposed to be PBT keycaps which almost never shine, unless the Keychron set is some sort of ABS/PBT blend like the CannonKeys CXA sets. I recommend considering Drop DCX or PBTfans for keycaps.

I have the XDA Retro set and they are very nice PBT. Nice and thick, no shine after lots of gaming on them.

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › pbt vs abs keycaps? strictly typing feel only. no sound, no aesthetics concerned.

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: PBT vs ABS keycaps? Strictly typing feel only. No sound, no aesthetics concerned.

October 5, 2022 -

Hi all, I've been wondering about this for some time now and wanted to hear opinions from other more experienced mech board users.

When it comes down to purely typing feel, with complete disregard to how it sounds or how it looks, do you have a prefer PBT or ABS keycaps?

I have a Rantopad mxx that came with Gateron reds and cheap thin abs keycaps. I tried to switch the keycaps out with thick Mistel keycaps(PBT) and I've found that I actually prefer to use the keyboard with the cheap abs keycaps. I did consider the possibility that I may just prefer the abs keycaps because I am more used to it and thus, forced myself to try out the mistel keycaps for over a month. I still didn't like it.

Next, I tried using both keycaps on an IKBC cd 87 v2 with Cherry brown switches and here, I didn't seem to have a strong preference as far as type-feel went.

(I have to mention that I made sure sound wasn't a factor by having loud music on while testing out both boards for a long period of time.)

So here is the reasoning that I have come up with so far and wanted to see if any of you out there has had a similar experience:

I think what was bothering me with the Mistel keycaps on the Rantopad was actually the weight of the keycaps itself. The Mistel Keycaps are considerably thicker and heavier and therefore, I felt like the switches weren't bouncing back up(after being pressed) as quickly as it would with the lighter abs keycaps: The sheer weight of the keycaps seem to be slowing down the process of the switches coming back up. This wasn't as apparent on the cherry brown switches, but I could really feel the difference on the Gateron red switches.

I ask because I am finally thinking of going the custom route(after buying so many budget boards whenever they go on sale) and was wondering if I shouldn't consider thick pbt keycaps at all if I was going to stick with light linear switches.

Would like to hear what others think and would appreciate any advice.

When it comes down to purely typing feel, with complete disregard to how it sounds or how it looks, do you have a prefer PBT or ABS keycaps? No. If you close your eyes, and block your ears, there is no way to determine one from another. The only sensation you have left if the surface texture, and weight, and of course profile, and that depends on the molds of the keycaps. You can't feel the difference between ABS or PBT. Some keys are heavily textured and some are not. It has nothing to do with the material. Many on here will probably tell you that PBT is rougher, and ABS smoother. This is not so. Texture is down to the molds used. Polycaps PBT are silky smooth for example, but GMK are far more textured and rough despite being ABS. Tai Hao are like sandpaper, for both ABS and PBT. Any plastic will just conform to the mold that creates it. PBT isn't "rough" and ABS isn't "smooth"... either will be as rough or smooth as the molds that make them. As for weight, again, that has nothing to do with ABS vs PBT. Technically, one is indeed more dense than the other, but in reality, it depends on how thick they are, and that is again, down to the molds. You can have heavy or light caps from either material. Sound is effected though, as the hardness of the two materials is different. To the touch alone though, you will not tell one from the other. You will have preferences for keycaps... we all do, but if you did an actual blind test based on feel alone, it will be based surface texture, profile and weight. You would simply not be able to tell the material if all you could do was type on them while blindfolded with headphones on.

PBT all the way. It comes in a variety of textures, but one fairly consistent difference is that ABS tends to feel "stickier/catchier" on the fingers, like they grab onto your skin oils more. PBT feels dry and always effortless to run your fingers across. It is a very pleasant feeling and one that I wish ABS plastic had, though a lot of the newer GMK sets I've received are nice and dry. PBTFans is the worst PBT I've felt, and lo and behold, it's only partially PBT, and contains some mix of ABS. Novelkeys cherry, IFK, knockoffs from aliexpress and amazon, all those PBT keycaps feel nice on the fingers, but EPBT is the GOAT. There is something about the texture, material and shape to those keycaps that just put every other set I have to shame. Get you some EPBT keycaps (PBT, not ABS) and I guarantee your fingers will be happy.

reddit.com › r/wootingkb › abs or pbt keycaps? (read body)

r/WootingKB on Reddit: ABS or PBT Keycaps? (read body)

August 1, 2024 -

Hello! As someone new to building keyboards, I'm curious about the differences between ABS and PBT keycaps. Specifically, is there a noticeable difference in sound between the two materials? Additionally, do ABS or PBT keycaps impact the reaction time of Wooting switches? Lastly, which material is generally considered higher quality?

(I like "thoccy" sounds)

ABS keycaps are generally more silky and smooth, while PBT keycaps have a more matte and textured finish. Durability wise, PBT keycaps are more resistant than ABS keycaps due to their more rigid nature. They are less prone to developing a shiny texture when worn. Althaught, the quality of a keycaps is not defined only bye this material. It's not as simple as PBT best, ABS crap. Some of the most popular (and pricy) GMK sets are almost exclusively made of ABS. In terms of sound, the material of keycaps is not the most significant factor. Thickness and the profile of the keycaps have a greater impact. Typically, dual-shot keycaps are less thocky compared to dye-sub keycaps. Larger profile keycaps, such as SA or KAT, often produce a deeper sound than XDA or DSA. In my opinion, dye-sublimated OEM or Cherry thick PBT keycaps offer the best balance of quality, durability, sound, and price, although it ultimately comes down to personal preference. Finally, the material of keycaps does not influence reaction time.

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › what does everyone think of the recent flurry of inexpensive double shot pbt caps? last time i checked (~5y), double shot pbt was "impossible", but now i'm planning a build and they're available and cheap.

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: What does everyone think of the recent flurry of inexpensive double shot PBT caps? Last time I checked (~5Y), double shot PBT was "impossible", but now I'm planning a build and they're available and cheap.

May 5, 2024 - They are also using blends of PBT and ABS to help the doubleshotting process go smoother. Some are also using ABS as the "shot material" and PBT as the outer material. ... https://old.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/19edwm7/akko_keycaps_issue_are_they_really_pbt/kjc8w7s/

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › pbtfans keycaps quality and retro 100

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: PBTFans Keycaps quality and Retro 100

February 8, 2024 -

Hi guys,

I just received the Retro 100 set from PBTFans. I was long looking for a decent quality and decent design keycap set. I watched over the last months several youtube videos and PBTFans appeared to be one of the best sources for good PBT doubleshot keycaps.

I am quite new to the hobby and I wouldn't consider myself an enthusiast at all. I just wanted some decent keycaps for my Keychron. Before that I tried out several (around 6-7) other sets. Some of them I found decent, others not so much. Some of them were from established mass manufacturers, others from aliexpress (some good, some not at all) and again others from small niche manufacturers. Most of them costed 30 to 50$. The last one from the niche manufacturer ~80$.

Some of them I could live with but I still did not have any set where I really liked the quality AND the design. I hoped by spending much more now, and after seeing the good youtube reviews, I would finally find what I am looking for. I also like the design on their website.

But oh, god, how much was I wrong.

The set is so bad, I am not even sure I am going to install it.

So, what is the problem?

Many letters look wobbly (backspace, enter, and other modifiers
some have the keycap color ON the legend color
some legends look too fat while others look to thin
some of the distinctive keys with additional dye sub legends look just terrible

I was thinking about contacting KBDFans about it to solve this issue. But to be honest, I do not really need the money back. I am just pissed that they try to sell these things for so much money while offering not much more than the lowest aliexpress quality. I spent now more than 200$ (incl. shipment, different additionally needed sets and plus taxes) and I even have sets from aliexpress here that have much better quality for less than 1/5 of the price.

This is ridiculously bad price for the offered quality.

My suggestion: Be carefull with PBTFans keycaps!

PS: I'll attach some pictures now. I don't have time now to comment on them. I'll try to do this later.

Pbtfans? Always stick with the icon mods.

I was thinking about contacting KBDFans about it to solve this issue. But to be honest, I do not really need the money back. Why not? After all, they're a triple A vendor on the mktrust list ( ͡º ͜ʖ͡º)

reddit.com › r/keyboards › any recommendations for keycaps

r/keyboards on Reddit: Any recommendations for keycaps

March 26, 2024 -

So I recently treated myself to a epomaker rt100 with their wisteria tactile switches. And boy... What an upgrade from my razer huntsman mini. The only thing I'm not too happy with is the non shine through keycaps. Does anyone have reccomendations for mda ANSI double shot pbt keycaps that more or less match the color scheme?

I reccomend using the keycap finder linked on this subreddit https://keeb-finder.com/

The RT100 has south-facing LEDs. Normal shine-through keycaps won't work. You might be able to find front printed shine-through keycaps though.

reddit.com › r/keychron › low-profile pbt keycap pics/review (+comparison with stock k3 keycaps)

r/Keychron on Reddit: Low-Profile PBT Keycap Pics/Review (+Comparison with Stock K3 Keycaps)

July 22, 2021 - My hands aren't exactly enormous, but are thicker than average so that's probably my fault, not the stock keycaps' fault. Edit: While the PBT keycaps are obviously wider at the bottom, I measured the tops (the typing surface) and it's the same for stock vs PBT 1.45cm.

Find elsewhere

Google Bing Mojeek

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › why is it so hard to find pbt "shine through / backlit" keycaps sets ? does nobody use them ?

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: Why is it so hard to find PBT "Shine Through / Backlit" keycaps sets ? Does nobody use them ?

November 7, 2022 -

Hello

As the title say, why is it so hard to find PBT "Shine-Through/Backlit" keycaps sets ?

I am in the process of buying a new keyboard (i have a Ducky Shine 6 PBT right now), one of my criteria is to have RGB lightning with "compatible" keycaps because i use it mostly in dark/black environment and i want to be able to see the legend.

Even more so as i am switching to a new layout (from ISO AZERTY to ANSI QWERTY US) so i will not know all key by memory for a little while.

So in the process of trying to find a keycap set that i like, i realized it's very difficulty to find anything in "PBT Shine Through" and i am wondering why ?

Is it because of lack of demand ? Because from what i have seen RGB keyboards seems to be quite popular in the keyboard modding communities and recommended models from reviewers are often RGB too.

Or is it because they are difficult or costly to make ? But i have still found a few at low price so i don't think it's the case.

The only ones i found are the series from YMDK (https://ymdkey.com/collections/backlit) and the Pudding keycaps from HyperX (https://hyperx.com/products/hyperx-pudding-keycaps-pbt-full-key-set?variant=41031691600029), that's it.

If you can explain me why they are so rare please do :)

i realized it's very difficulty to find anything in "PBT Shine Through" and i am wondering why ? Just lack of demand I would imagine. RGB isn't anywhere as near as popular in the custom keyboard scene as they are in the gaming scene, and while many boards have per key RGB, is it used only as aesthetic backlighting and not for legend shine through. There are some good reasons for this. Most custom boards use a south facing PCB, which means that on MX switch equipped keyboards, the switch is the correct way around to match the keycap profile. Because of this, the LEDs are at the bottom of the switch, so wouldn't light the legend very well, as most keycaps have the legend at the top. This is preferable, because if you have them switches north facing, like in gaming boards, and cheaper mechanicals, Cherry profile keycaps can hit the switch housing before the switch actually bottoms out. This badly affects the typing feel and sound. As keyboard enthusiasts care about these things, they would rather sacrifice less important things such as LED legend shine through. Having Legend shine through, means that the legends need to be clear or translucent. This means that keycaps that are light in colour don't look good during the day, or in bright lighting, or with the LEDs switches off. It also limits the number of designs you can have. Just think of all the great keycap designs that use different colours for legends. There would be no GMK Laser, or Dracula, or Darling etc. Most keyboard enthusiasts can touchtype, so don't need to see the legends while they type. There are some around though. Tai Hao make a few double shot PBT shine through sets, and they're actually good caps. They use their own profile called Cubic... it's quite good. Like a taller Cherry profile. I also like the surface texture of Tai Hao caps... it's rough, like sandpaper. Some hate that though.

I think many of the pudding type keycaps have shine through. RGB doesn't seem to remain consistent through the hobby and sees heavier use in the gamer aesthetic and significantly less so in the custom hobbyist side. Many of the more expensive boards don't offer RGB at all. There are some alternatives that hit multiple bases, like these that allow RGB and also allow folks to show off the switches.

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › good pbt keycap vendors?

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: Good PBT Keycap Vendors?

March 12, 2022 -

Hey all. Just wondering what some good PBT keycap vendors are; I recently purchased a Keychron K8 and it's a great keyboard, but the ABS plastic fingerprints are driving me nuts. I have the RGB edition but I'm not really looking for pudding; I like the motif the board comes in, or a black/grey/red would be cool. Open to any and all suggestions, I was looking around Amazon but felt like a lot of them were cheap sets.

NovelKeys has some great PBT options.

https://thocstock.com/keycaps

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › pbt keycaps are so worth it.

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: PBT keycaps are so worth it.

March 5, 2021 -

I just got a set of doubleshot PBT keycaps after using stock ABS keycaps and MAN it feels so much better. It's rougher in a good way and not nearly as greasy even if my hand is a little oily. Little to no shine. Wish I made the switch sooner, to be honest.

Cheap PBT is nicer than cheap ABS usually. Try POM now.

PBT is the better material, IMO. Some ABS caps just look greasy. Plus PBT sounds and feels so nice.

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › are pbt keycaps worth it? also, how much could i get a set for, and where?

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: Are PBT keycaps worth it? Also, how much could I get a set for, and where?

February 17, 2013 -

I just got a new mech (MX blues), and I feel as though I could do with some nicer keycaps. Everyone talks about how much better pbt caps are. I was curious as to what your thoughts are, and also where I could buy a set if I choose to.

Also, can anyone attribute a different overall keyboard feel to changing keycaps? Even if its just thin to thick or something subtle like that.

PBT is gods gift to keycaps. They last longer. Feel better. All around much better than regular ABS keycaps or even doubleshot ABS. I don't like POM much either. Banggood has cheap ones $17 I believe - These are thin/medium size. Their texture feels really good compared to the ones on the yellow Ducky Shine 3. I would say they are a good bang for your buck if you wanna test out PBT. Vortex has some cheap thick PBT sets which costs ~$45 - I've heard they are good, but most people find their font on the legends quite ugly. I on the other hand never look at my keycaps so it wouldn't bother me. They are releasing a new set soon though, which will have better looking legends. There are also other places that sells 'em, but I reckon these are the cheapest ones you'll find. Many other costs around $100 etc. I also recommend thick ones over thin ones. Edit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vortex-Green-Double-Shot-Thick-PBT-104-Keyset-Cherry-MX-Keycaps-/231099852343 http://www.banggood.com/buy/pbt.html

I have ordered PBT caps but I have not gotten them yet so I can't give you a full description of them. From what I have read on other posts is that it is grainy texture and is not as smooth as ABS Caps. I could be wrong but this is what I have read. Thicker PBT Keycaps can change the sound of a keyboard because of the thicker material it is composed of. I personally am getting them because I want something that doesn't attract as much oil such as ABS Caps on the Ducky Shine 3. As for where to get a set, you can look for groupbuys on geekhack. There is also ebay (qtan), vendio (also qtan), banggood as well as other vendors from China. The only downside is that it will take a long while to ship.

reddit.com › r/wootingkb › how good are the wooting pbt keycaps?

r/WootingKB on Reddit: How good are the Wooting PBT keycaps?

October 4, 2024 -

How do the wooting Doubleshot PBT keycaps compare to others at the same price point? (£25 here in the UK?)

I have them, both the black and the white sets as I mix the two on my Wooting 60 HE+. No complaints.

I haven't tried them but I have tried a few others. Generally the physical quality of the caps is similar to other PBT caps. Differences can be the quality of the legends.

reddit.com › r/budgetkeebs › budget keycap thread: post your favorites!

r/BudgetKeebs on Reddit: Budget keycap thread: Post your favorites!

July 28, 2022 -

I know if you search this sub there are various recommendations and Amazon vendors to search for, etc but I thought it would be great if we could have a running thread of recommendations with links so people could reference and add to them over time.

Post your favorites!

One keycap set that people tend to get is the Honey XDA keycap set.

I would say. Higher price budget would be any of the Akko sets on Amazon. They provide enough coverage for almost all layouts.

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › can you get a good pbt keycap set for $25-30?

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: Can you get a good PBT keycap set for $25-30?

May 20, 2021 -

I saw these things on Amazon. Hipyo Tech did a review on them and he didn't hate them. I'm not a pro gamer I just want something that looks nice. These keycaps look amazing but I'm a bit worried about the quality. https://www.amazon.com/Keycaps-Sublimation-Japanese-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B08L1MYTTX/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=hk%2Bgaming%2Bkeycaps%2Bxda%2Bprofile&qid=1627751667&sr=8-3&th=1&psc=1

Happy Balls has some solid PBT sets on Amazon for $25-35 USD. Just installed a set on an old board I wanted to refresh a little.

To answer your question in the title, yes, you can get decent quality PBT keycaps for that price. Just expect some warping or fuzzy legends. If I were you, I would check aliexpress if you can deal with long shipping times.

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › high-quality pbt sa keycaps - do they exist?

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: High-quality PBT SA keycaps - do they exist?

November 4, 2021 -

Looking for a set of high-quality PBT SA keycaps that are either coming up in group buy or are otherwise available.

Sadly all of my favourite sets are ABS, and most of the PBT sets I find are low-quality Aliexpress specials.

Looking for something, ideally, similar to Bliss or Olivia aesthetic, or even just a good old BoW or WoB - muted and subtle.

Any leads?

Akko has PBT doubleshot keycaps that look very similar to bliss. They aren't quite SA, but rather ASA which is a little less tall. They are also very affordable and come with great compatibility. ASA Black & Pink

If you don't mind MT3 instead of SA, the /dev/ttty keycaps from Drop (second round) have insane level quality! Super thick, and they have a great feel and texture.

reddit.com › r/mechanicalkeyboards › are high-end keycaps worth it?

r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: Are high-end keycaps worth it?

October 1, 2024 -

Was wondering if these sorts of ridiculously expensive keycaps are worth the price? When I look for keycaps I usually stay under £40, I've also seen people say that GMK keycaps are very high-quality but some of them cost over £100, seems ridiculous to me for a keycap set but I'm also aware this hobby can get stupidly expensive so I was wondering if they are actually worth it or is that only for hardcore keyboard fetishists?

Hardcore keyboard fetishist here Worth is 100% subjective, but personally the quality of high end keycaps is pretty hard to beat if you notice things like feathering, you hate blurry legends, or you prefer thicker keycaps. The fact that double shot legends will functionally last forever vs dyesub wearing off (I have seen this happen so many times with heavy use) doesn’t hurt either. The fact that the retail markup (how much more they charge than it costs them to make) is much lower on gmk, sp, and other high end caps vs cheap garbage on Amazon also softens the blow for me personally. I like knowing at least someone isn’t scalping me. At the end of the day though, you could just buy some nice blanks and fix all the issues I mentioned above too for half the price- if blanks were your thing! So it is all subjective- just depends on what you want out of your set. If none of what I mentioned above bothers you good! Keep it that way- your wallet will appreciate you.

Welp. You posted these keycaps and now I’m in love with them and might have to buy them.

reddit.com › r/wootingkb › highest quality budget keycaps?

r/WootingKB on Reddit: Highest quality budget keycaps?

May 15, 2024 -

What are in your opinion the highest quality budget ? I'm not ready yet to spend almost 100 bucks on a set.

I had to save up for my Wooting and can't immediately spend so much on expensive sets.

https://novelkeys.com/products/cherry-ember $15 sale, originally $85. amazing quality for the price

People really pay $100 for keycaps? I thought only I wasted money on useless things.

reddit.com › r/keychron › are keychron's pbt caps a good choice now? (keychron k4v2 owner with the stock doo doo abs caps)

r/Keychron on Reddit: Are Keychron's PBT caps a good choice now? (Keychron K4V2 owner with the stock doo doo ABS caps)

September 15, 2022 -

I've seen conflicting opinions about how good Keychron's PBT keycap sets are, but they are all pretty old so I don't know if they're any better now. What's the current vibe around these caps? (For reference, I'm looking at these: https://www.keychron.com/collections/all-keycaps/products/cherry-profile-double-shot-pbt-full-set-keycaps-camel)

I've seen the shipping price isn't too bad to get them to me in the UK and they're cheaper than buying a set from a local store (not to mention those sets do NOT have all the caps I need. Buying from Keychron ensures that the odd layout of the K4 will have every key accounted for)

Any feedback appreicated

Keychron PBT keycaps are PBT keycaps, there are really nice to use. But I ordered a set that was somehow, misprint, with letters bolder than others. It was quite deceiving... But aside the looking side, the rest was all perfect. For the record, I ordered another one a few weeks later (because ISO-FR were in stock) and it arrived perfectly printed, aside of the fact that french layout as some keys with 3 variants (normal keypress, shift+keypress, and alt+keypress) and the third variant is not printed on caps... Another deceiving shipment, but fact is I know all keys by heart so it's not a problem for me, altought it could be for many people. I'd say, order YMDK, GMK or Kprepublic keycaps, they probably will be better than Keychron's. EDIT: Just wanted to say, since I started using PBT keycaps, I can't go back to ABS, it's much nicer to type with, really. It's probably a matter of personal taste, but I love PBT.

I have the Royal and the WoB sets, they're very nice quality. I think they're nicer than the sets that come with their keyboards. They're not transparent, I hope you know that. Try looking for resellers (they're on keychron.com under "where to buy"), maybe you can find them locally. Alternatively try Amazon, or EU resellers. You can probably get them faster this way and if there's any issue with the keycaps (I didn't have any) you don't have to deal with Keychron (they're absolutely terrible at support).