Level of concern for Chinese keyboards?

I have been poking around fleabay and amazon for cheap mechanical keyboards (preferably brown switches), and came across some interesting cheapies.. like Royal Kludge RK920 and Blazer K751. Sub $55 keyboards that look okay, and have decent reviews.

Now the attention has turned to what should my concern level be for these cheapo tech having malicious shit running from the board or in the cable? Unnecessarily paranoid, moderately concerned, or buck up and pay the fair market price for something of less shady origins?

Royal Kludge is a known entity, very nice budget stuff. Never heard of Blazer though. I wouldn't worry about malware though. I think that's just paranoia.

If you want cheap, do you mind if I asked a few questions, might be able to point you in the right direction.

Do you want lighting? If so, what color?

Full sized? Tenkeyless? Ultra compact?

Aight.. I figured I just need to up my dosage or just refold my tin foiled hat, but in this day and age may as well ask how paranoid-patty I should get.

Full size.. back lighting would be amusing, but not overly a deal breaker... hence the sub $60 colored row ones. Preferably a decent wrist rest..

Hey man, you don't have to explain to ME about foreign government paranoia. Imagine explaining to people why using free chinese antivirus is a bad idea, when it's supplied by companies KNOWN for actively spying on their customers. (Tencent, Qihoo, Baidu, etc)

OK, so... here's some VERY off the top of my head suggestions:

IF you can up your budget some, this is probably the best you're going to find. I'm probably going to pick this one up for a work keybaord, personally. Gateron switches are absolutely FANTASTIC, neck & neck (or better, according to a lot of people) than Cherry.
https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Backlight-Magicforce-Qisan/dp/B01HHTFSIK

This one is in your budget, but has Blue switches, not brown. Excellent switches, I just bought my wife this keyboard, only the RGB version. The click is loud, but it's not awful. The build quality on this is just awesome.
https://www.amazon.com/EagleTec-KG010-Industrial-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B015MPQQ0A/

Redragon is another known entity, but again, blue switches and not brown. MOST budget boards will be either blue or red switches, sadly.
https://www.amazon.com/Redragon-K557-Backlit-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B01N7G9CRE/

This one fits your needs, but never had experience with this brand:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bra...-Black-Brown-Switch-Computer/32758836680.html

Another option might be buying used? I'm about to replace my Logitech G710+, has cherry brown switches, with o-rings to make them a bit quieter. Would probably do $60+ shipping or so.

Oh hell was that your thread I was reading then? It seems it was. That's more or less where I got the idea that cheapie chinese keyboards maybe functional. Thanks for the info.

I may peep on that if/when you list it. Debating on the 'takes two ports up' nit to pick. Also I am not certain I would use the other buttons around the left and top edges, but seems reasonable they won't get in my way too much. Hell, maybe I will find a use for them.

Being paranoid in this day and age is perfectly reasonable. I have my keystrokes encrypted at the kernel level because I'm so paranoid. Even if I have a keylogger on my computer, the person receiving the keystrokes just sees gibberish.

Yeah, I run Zemana Anti-Logger (which also contains anti-malware and anti-ransomware). I switched after Malwarebytes shit the bed, like it a lot more.

Modi, as for the extra ports: Any keyboard with a built in USB hub will use 2 ports these days.

Zemana doesn't have keystroke encryption like SpyShelter does, so it's not as effective against keyloggers. SpyShelter encrypts keystrokes across all applications at the kernel level, so even if you let a keylogger through by accident, the keylogger is useless. Just worth mentioning that glaring difference between the two.

Careful, there are a lot of mechanical switches out there, Chinese made that are not getting the greatest reviews. Then there are companies that are coming out with pseudo mechanical switches that use the term 'mechanical' loosely.

Whatever you find make sure you hit youtube and watch videos on that exact keyboard. Also, hit up Amazon for real user reviews.

Make sure the board uses at minimum Gateron switches and you should be fine. The hardest part about buying the cheaper boards usually is finding out exactly what type of switches it uses.

Using Outemu/Gaote, Gateron, or Cherry will be fine. I would avoid kailh but they've been making improvements. TTC and other brands should be avoided though.

Kailh have been good for me on the one board I have with them, the only issue I've had is the keys need some Teflon grease once in a while if the stem start squeaking.

I actually spoke to the owner/manager(or some sort) at MechanicalKeyboards.com, and he says that the Kailhs are his favorite budget switch. Apparently the really stepped up the quality on them. I know Thermaltake is offering a 5 year warranty on their Poseidon X board, which has Brown Kailhs.

Me personally? I'm just going modular and Gateron Blues. If I want to swap, it's literally just pulling and replacing. 30 minutes tops.

I am starting to love the postings from China or Hong Kong as I slum around for knock off keyboards.. their benefits get rather.. interesting.

Carefully improved the space Jian and Enter key, play more sexual, feel more comfortable.

Click to expand...

So APPARENTLY Kailh really ARE blowing it out of the water right now.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/kailh-mechanical-keyboard-switches-speed-box,33987.html

These are supposed to feel better than Cherry AND Gateron, and on par with Zealios.

I personally have a Drevo mechanical keyboard. I have the Tyrfing brown switches. I've had it for a while now and I love it. Great price and switches to me are fine. I also have a Cooler Master 10 keyless with blue switches. I actually prefer the Drevo instead.

I bought a Zalman Z-Machine RGB KB with Blue Kailh switches, while I have gotten used to it over time, I still feel like Cherry switches are nicer to type on, having owned a couple different KBs with various Cherry switches. That's just my personal preference though, even if I were to compare Kailh blues with Cherry blues.

You don't have anything to worry about security wise (typically) if the keyboard uses the Windows HCL driver and is wired -- (ie - you don't have to install specific software driver to use the keyboard -- or it's advanced features).

Thanks for the 411. Oddly I found a twice used Corsair Strafe w/ brown switches on CL for forty bones.. jumped on that, found it still clicky with the keys bottoming out, and then added blue orings to it. I really enjoy the experience more, and happy not going over my 'testing the waters budget'.

Royal Kludge is actually a decent budget choice... buddy of mine has one that I've spent some time on, no complaints.