Review: AJAZZ AK980 wireless mechanical keyboard

Review unit provided by the MIKIBY

The AJAZZ AK980 is a 96% wireless mechanical keyboard selling at just USD 89.99 at the time of review.

The bottom line is this keyboard looks good and works well and pricing is reasonable.

There are several switches to choose from and my review unit came with the Merrard Switch and the typing experience is satisfying.

Specifications

• Layout: 96% Layout, 97-Key, Knob and Screen
• RGB: South-facing RGB
• Color Choices: Purple-White-Blue, Black-Gray-Yellow
• Switch Choices: Ajazz Murad 3-Pin Linear Switch
• Structure: Gasket Mounted
• Battery: 8000mAh
• Connection: Wired Type-C/Bluetooth/2.4G Wireless
• Size of Product: 416.7 x 148 x 19.4mm/16.41 x 5.83 x 0.764 inch
• Weight of Product: 1140
• Keycaps: Double-shot PBT Cherry Profile Keycaps
• Case material: ABS injection molding
• Hot Swappable: YES
• NKRO: YES

Things included

• Keyboard
• Keycap and switch puller
• 2x replacement switches
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• User manual

Design

Design of the keyboard looks good. There are actually two colours available: Starry Night Gray, Violet Purple. The body is made with plastic and build quality is decent, not too plasticky.

The back has four rubber feet with good grip on the table.

And there are some funky graphics to jazz, pardon the pun, things up slightly.

The foldout feet only has one option for height adjustment. Under one of the feet is the storage area for the 2.4Ghz wireless USB-A receiver.

The keyboard supports connection for 2.4Ghz, cable and Bluetooth up to three devices. There's also Mac and Windows switch, and unlike other keyboards you don't have to use keyboard shorts to switch to Mac and Windows layout after using the switch.

Side profile looks simple. The key caps are cherry profile.

This keyboard is much bigger than those 75% - 80% keyboards. So make sure you have space on your table.

Having the numpad is useful for those who work often with numbers.

One downside for Mac users is the R-Ctrl/Cmd key is not beside the Spacebar, and there's no R-Opt key. And even if you switch to Mac layout, that key is actually a R-Ctrl and not a R-Cmd. And the driver for customising the keys is only for Windows OS.

The small 1.14 TFT colour display shows info for connection mode, time, light effects, battery life, custom GIF, etc. The knob by the side can be used to adjust connection, system, backlight brightness/speed, RGB mode/color, volume and language.

RGB lights are beautiful and there are 20 lighting effects to choose from. Keyboard shortcuts can be used to control the lights. The keycaps are opaque so the lights do not go through the keycaps, so typing in the dark is difficult.

Configuration list

Here's the configuration list provided on their product page. Interestingly, there's a model with the 4000 mAh battery capacity instead of the 8000 mAh, so make sure you get the correct model.

Switches

Below are the options for switches.

The one that came with my review unit is the Merrard switch.

The thic-thoc typing sound is slightly thinner compared to the deeper sound that I prefer, but it still sounds good.

Battery life

Battery capacity of 8000 mAh is big when many keyboards have only 4000 mAh. With RGB lights on all the time, including daytime, battery life is 3-4 days if you type the whole day. If the RGB lights are only on at night, battery life is weeks.

Since there's the battery life indicator on the display, you'll always know when to charge the keyboard before it runs out of battery.

Conclusion

The AJAZZ AK980 is a simple almost full-size keyboard that works great. The pricing is reasonable. I don't have major complaints except for the location of the R-Ctrl/Cmd key for Mac users.

Availability

The AJAZZ AK980 keyboard can be purchased from the MIKIBY online store and Amazon US (cheaper).