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Review: Epomaker TH80-X wireless mechanical keyboard

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

Review sample provided by Epomaker

The Epomaker TH80 series wireless mechanical keyboards are popular keyboards with many variations:

The Epomaker TH80-X is a 75% gasket mounted wireless mechanical keyboard with a 1-inch LCD display and a massive 8,000 mAh battery capacity. The extra long battery life is easily the main selling point for me. That and of course this keyboard looks beautiful and the typing experience is smooth and satisfying.

Specs

Here are the specs

  • Number of keys: 79 keys+1 knob
  • Layout: 75% layout
  • Connectivity: Wireless and wired
  • Battery: 8000mAh
  • Plate material: Iron
  • Keycaps: Double shot ABS material, NAE profile (custom profile)
  • Case material: ABS
  • Hot swappable: Yes
  • Bottom layer: Silicon
  • Sandwich layer: Silicon
  • Cable length: 1.5m
  • Connector: Type-C
  • NKRO: yes
  • Compatible system: Win/macOS/Linux/Android/iOS
  • Keyboard dimension: 340*138*38mm
  • Keyboard weight: ???

The weight is listed as 1.119kg on the website and 0.9kg in the PDF user manual. I have no weighing machine so I can't say exactly how heavy the keyboard is except it's heavy.

Things included

  • Keyboard
  • USB-C to USB-A braided charging cable
  • Keycap and switch puller
  • 3 extra Epomaker Flamingo switches (linear)
  • User manual


It would have been great if Epomaker had included extra keycaps for Mac users because these keycaps are custom designs.

Design


This is a beautiful keyboard with pastel colour scheme with light green, gray and white. Build quality is solid. This is a keyboard that looks and feels good.s

This 75% keyboard has 79 keys. The keys on the right side of the spacebar are Alt and Fn. Delete is beside F12. Page Up and Page Down are missing their buddies Home and End. To use the keys which are not on the keyboard, you will have to rely on Function key shortcuts shown in the user manual (PDF).


There are rubber pieces with good grip beneath the keyboard. The fold-out feet can deploy at two heights to give you a total of three height adjustments. The 2.4Ghz USB-A receiver is stored in a housing just near a fold-out feet and can only be removed with the feet folded out. There's no way for the USB-A receiver to fall out accidentally.


This keyboard isn't low profile but it's not tall enough that a wrist rest is needed.


Low feet height.


Tall feet height.


The top right corner is rounded off and on the side you can find the USB-C port and power button.


That's the knob that can be used to adjust volume or change settings such as:

  • Show an image or GIF
  • Lighting effect
  • Lighting colours
  • Lighting brightness
  • Lighting speed
  • OS mode: Win or Mac
  • Shortcut groups (aka Layers)

When changing the lighting effects, the LCD will update the status accordingly. It's quite helpful to have the names of the lighting effect appear when switching between different lighting effects.

Unlike other keyboards where you can hit a Function shortcut or use a toggle to switch between Mac and Windows keyboard layout, you will have to use the Fn + Knob to switch keyboard layout and this actually requires more steps, four presses to be exact. As someone who switches between Windows and Mac keyboard layout often, this is kinda inconvenient.


The keycaps are made with double shot ABS material, sculpted with custom NAE profile from Epomaker. Design of these keycaps, more specifically the beveled edges, definitely makes this keyboard's aesthetics look and feel different compared to other keyboards.


The four options of switches are as follows:

This review unit came with Epomaker Flamingo switches which are pre-lubed.

These are the specs for the swtiches:

  • Type: Linear
  • Material: POM stem, PC housing, dual spring
  • Pin: 5 Pins
  • Actuation force: 47 ± 5gf
  • Actuation Travel: 1.50-2.00mm
  • Initial force: 35gf min
  • Bottom force: 60gf max
  • Total Travel: 3.80mm
  • Lifespan: over 100,000,000 keystrokes


The typing experience is wonderful. Typing feels light and breezy. Thic thoc sound is on the louder side but not too bad. They also sound slightly more hollow relatively speaking compared to keys which are more dampened, such as those from the Epomaker Shadow-X that I also received for review. If you want quiet typing, definitely go with the Epomaker RT100.

The keys are matte textured and so smooth. I love the texture.


The LCD display is a nice feature to have and it's quite useful.

The LCD display shows the following info:

  • Date and time
  • Caps lock
  • Connection type
  • Shortcut group
  • Photo or GIF

Driver

The driver I've tested are the Windows driver v1.2.69 (beta) and Mac driver v1.2.70.

Keyboard has to be connected to the computer to use the driver.

Here's what the driver can do:

  • Change lighting effect, brightness, speed
  • Create custom function key shortcuts
  • Upload image or GIF to the LCD
  • Adjust date and time on the LCD
  • Program macros
  • Share image/GIF/macros with others


When uploading an image or GIF to the LCD, you can't just hit Save, you have to hit Upload. The file transfer speed is really slow so prepare to wait.

Conclusion

This is a beautiful keyboard. The design aesthetics looks casual to me probably because all the edges are bevel and corners rounded off. If you want a keyboard that doesn't look that serious, this is one to consider.

My typing experience is positive. I would have preferred the keys to be dampened more to lower the typing sound but the sound quality is really subject and down to personal preference. I'm someone who prefers quiet and less noise.

The LCD with status is quite useful. Battery life is awesome since this keyboard has almost 100% more battery life compared to other wireless mechanical keyboards. I've always wondered why mechanical keyboards don't come with larger batteries and now we have a battery life champion.

The main downside for me is it takes extra steps to switch between Windows and Mac keyboard layout. And maybe I would have preferred another modifier key on the right side.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Beautiful casual design with custom keycaps
+ Solid build quality
+ 18 beautiful lighting effects
+ Can be paired to 4 devices (3x Bluetooth + 2.4Ghz)
+ Fast re-connection
+ 8000 mAh battery capacity is huge
+ Macros can be programmed
+ Knob for volume control
+ LCD display that shows time, connection, battery life, image and GIF
+ Works with Windows, MacOS and Android
+ Can work when charging
+ Two additional heights provided by the fold-out feet
+ Wonderful typing experience
- Need extra steps to switch Windows and Mac keyboard layout
- Customising LCD requires cable connection
- Uploading of GIF is slow
- Custom keycap designs may not be suitable for all
- Typing sound is loud and slightly hollow

Availability

The Epomaker TH80-X is available from Epomaker online store

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