By: Aaron Lai
September 13, 2024
It was a couple of weeks ago when I was up late at night and heard murmurs on the internet about the passing of a hockey player and his brother. Dismissing this as fake news, whether out of incredulity or hoping it was not true, I went to sleep. Unfortunately, these events did end up transpiring, as former Calgary Flame John Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were hit by a drunk driver while they were cycling. As a Flames fan myself, I grew up watching guys like Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff, but it was players like Gaudreau that kept me as a fan. When he was drafted, I remember him being one of the smaller players, and I was not entirely sure if he would play his way in the NHL. My first impressions were the fact he brought life to a slower and less exciting team. Whether it was his silky puck handling or his ability to dodge the larger bodies on the ice, he played night in and night out without ever giving up. His competitive nature was refreshing to watch, and his playmaking capabilities were always exciting to see. In his first game, which was right at the end of the season, he scored his first goal on his first shot with a redirection past the Vancouver goalie. However, it was not until his full season debut that he lived up to the Johnny Hockey moniker. Off the ice, Johnny Gaudreau was involved with many charities and nonprofits. He also clearly prioritized his family, keeping close ties with his parents and his own young family. It truly is tragic to see Johnny gone so soon, but he left his legacy in both Calgary and Columbus. In a similar but less saddening vein, today we have the Epomaker P75, which also can be seen as smaller than typical. With a 75% layout, this mechanical keyboard is looking to make an impact with its sleek style and aluminum enclosure. Will this make a mark, or will we see areas of weakness? Let us read on to find out.
Today's review unit of the Epomaker P75 arrived from somewhere in the People's Republic of China. Our tracking information does not exactly show from which city this off-white plastic bag came from, but it is possible it came from their manufacturing address in Shenzhen, Guangdong. This parcel traveled overseas before it was picked up in Canada and delivered the rest of the way with Canada Post. Otherwise, there was a minimal amount of padding inside, which meant we did have some dents on the hard corners of the box. However, there are only one or two small holes on the outside of the plastic envelope. In addition to the P75, we also received the Epomaker EK98, which was reviewed last week by my colleague Ronald Chow.
Once out of the bag, you can see the differences in the design of both retail boxes, despite both being Epomaker products. The P75 container is clean with a mostly black box. The product name can be found on the left side in large font. Underneath, there is a description of "75% Triple-mode Aluminum Gasket-mounted Mechanical Keyboard With Rotary Knob". It might not be the most elegant way of saying it, but the P75 indeed is all these things and a bit more. On the right, we have a yellow outline of the keyboard, giving users an idea of the inside contents. The Epomaker logo is found at the top. Around the back, we have a few more features and specifications highlighted for users to read, but we will explore these features later.
Before we continue, I have grabbed the specifications from the manufacturer's website for your reading pleasure:
Technical Specifications
Brand: EPOMAKER
Model: P75
Layout: 75%
Number of Keys: 81 keys+1 knob
Case Material: CNC Aluminum with Anodized finish
Plate Material: PC
Stabilizers: Pre-lubed Plate-mounted
Screw-in Stabilizer Support: Yes
Mounting Structure: Gasket Mount
Battery: 4000mAh
RGB: South-facing RGB
Hot swappable: Yes
Anti-Ghosting: NKRO
PCB Thickness: 1.2mm
Connectivity: Wired, 2.4GHz, Bluetooth
Polling Rate: 1000Hz for wired and 2.4G, 125Hz for Bluetooth
Keycaps Profile: Cherry
Keycaps Material: Double Shot PBT
Front Height: 22.7mm (including rubber feet)
Typing Angle: 6 degrees
Keyboard Dimensions: 324.2 x 135.6 x 45.3mm
Keyboard Weight: 1.65kg
Inside the box:
- Keyboard
- USB Cable
- User Manual
- Keycap Puller
Out of the box, the Epomaker P75 can be found inside a translucent plastic bag. A large white manual is placed on top to show all the secondary functions and other quick start information of the keyboard. In addition, there are two black boxes holding accessories of the P75. One holds a 1.8m braided white USB Type-C to Type-A cable. The other box holds a combination keycap and switch puller, small hex key, and two more bags. One bag holds a few more keycaps to swap out the colored ones, as you will see shortly. The other one holds a set of three more Epomaker Zebra switches. These are the same as the ones the keyboard comes with, so it is nice to have some extra in case a switch fails down the road.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. A Closer Look - Disassembly and Internals
4. Conclusion
