Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
The Epomaker RT100 Pro is only available in the Retro White color scheme, but you can choose between the Creamy Jade Switch or Sea Salt Silent Switch V2 mechanical switches. The version we have utilizes the latter. Examining the colors, the creamy white keys surrounded by the pearl white top frame give the keyboard its retro feel, while the three light avocado green keys provide a nice contrast to the overall design. The rest of the keyboard is made with a glossy eggshell white color. On the top right side of the keyboard, there is a screen and a knob.
The Epomaker RT100 Pro is a full-size keyboard with the additional knob and screen. The keyboard measures 433mm in length, 142mm in width, and 45mm in height, and weighs about 1.3kg. During normal use, the keyboard feels sturdy with no noticeable flex. However, there is a small amount of flex when I push down on the keys with a considerable amount of force. Similarly, twisting the frame causes a slight flex of the entire keyboard. None of these flex test results is a concern, since it is unlikely that you would apply the same amount of force during everyday use. The keyboard is angled at 5.8 degrees, with the top edge being about 33mm tall and the bottom edge being about 21mm tall. The bottom edge is tall enough for a palm rest, but that would have to be purchased elsewhere, as it is not included.
The Epomaker RT100 Pro follows the QWERTY ANSI standard with a 1800 layout. Out of the box, there are 103 keys with a screen and a knob. To accommodate the screen, the keys Print, Scroll, Pause, and Ins were removed, while the Delete key was shifted to align with the function keys. Moving further right, there are three media keys and the knob. The keyboard does not have a standard bottom row because the keys on the right of the space bar are 1U instead of 1.25U. It would seem that Epomaker was wrong to label the keyboard as a full-size due to the missing keys. However, the screen can be removed to reveal four slots where the Print, Scroll, Pause, and Ins can be inserted using the extra keys and switches provided in the package.
By default, the Epomaker RT100 Pro has many secondary function hotkeys, which can be found in the manual. This includes:
Fn + R: Connect via 2.4GHz receiver
Fn + A: Windows mode
Fn + S: Mac mode
Fn + Space: Battery check
Fn + Up Arrow: Increase backlight brightness
Fn + Down Arrow: Decrease backlight brightness
Fn + Right Arrow: Increase backlight pattern speed
Fn + Left Arrow: Decrease backlight pattern speed
Fn + Backspace: Turn on or off backlight effect
Fn + Enter: Toggle backlight color
Fn + \: Toggle backlight effect
Press Fn + Q: Pair Bluetooth device 1
Hold Fn+ Q: Toggle to Bluetooth device 1
Press Fn + W: Pair Bluetooth device 2
Hold Fn + W: Toggle to Bluetooth device 2
Press Fn + E: Pair Bluetooth device 3
Hold Fn + E: Toggle to Bluetooth device 3
Hold Fn + Esc: Reset keyboard
Turning the knob on the keyboard will adjust the volume, while pressing it will mute or unmute system audio. To the left, the three media keys can be used to pause media playback, skip to the previous track, and skip to the next track. In Bluetooth, the keyboard can connect up to three devices and toggle between each one.
On the top side edge of the Epomaker RT100 Pro, there is a USB Type-C port and an on/off toggle. The backside of the keyboard is very minimalistic. There are five circular pads to secure the keyboard during use. There are also two stripe-patterned rectangles that sandwich a metallic plate in between them. The plate is held in place by two magnets to cover the compartment that contains the 2.4GHz wireless USB dongle. Right below, there are some sticker labels containing information about the keyboard. There are no adjusted kickstands on the Epomaker RT100 Pro, so the typing angle is fixed at 5.8 degrees. When the keyboard is wired or connected in 2.4GHz mode, the poll rate is 1000Hz, while Bluetooth mode reduces it to 125Hz. Epomaker claims that the latency is 4ms in wired mode, 8ms in 2.4GHz mode, and 16ms in Bluetooth mode. When I tried typing in the slowest Bluetooth mode, I did not find any noticeable lag.
The battery inside the keyboard has a capacity of 5000mAh. Epomaker did not state how long the keyboard's expected battery life is in wireless mode, but during my testing, I was able to achieve about 43 hours. For my test, I connected the keyboard through the USB dongle. I then set the keyboard to never sleep with the circle wave backlight effect at full speed and brightness. The screen was turned on and set to a stationary picture. If we assume this test roughly equates to the battery life under active use, and that you would use this keyboard for 8 hours a day, then the battery life would last approximately five days.
The screen on the Epomaker RT100 Pro is a TFT, or thin-film-transistor, screen. In the picture, the brightness of the screen seems quite dim, but it is actually at a comfortable brightness in person. The screen is not very color-accurate, but it could potentially be an intentional design to increase the retro feel of the keyboard while keeping costs low. By default, the screen displays the date, time, connection mode, and operating system mode. The screen could also display the CPU usage if the system information is synchronized through the Epomaker software. The overall aesthetics of the keyboard does feel retro, but it would still fit quite well in a non-themed setup.
The typing experience of the Epomaker RT100 Pro is excellent. The Epomaker Sea Salt Silent Switch V2, paired with the dampening materials, provides a thocky, creamy, and muted sound similar to soft footsteps in a library. The longer keys, such as the space bar and enter key, are slightly more clicky, but still muted. When the keys are released, the sound of the springs shooting the stems back up produces a medium to slightly high-pitched sound. It seems that my microphone has amplified this sound, so the audio clip makes the keyboard sound much more clicky than it actually is. The click sound is about half as loud as it is presented in the clip. I also did not detect any undesirable pinging or rattling noises during testing. I was never into silent keyboards, because I enjoy hearing a well-tuned keyboard rather than an underwhelming muted thump. However, I really like the sound of this keyboard despite it going against my preferences.
The ARGB backlighting on the Epomaker RT100 Pro is adequate. There are many preset patterns available, which can be toggled through using Fn + \ or the software. The brightness is decent and shines well in a dark room. I usually prefer bright ARGB LED lights, but for this keyboard, it would make sense to even turn it off. Flashy colorful LED lights scream modern gamer vibes, while turning it off would better fit the retro theme.
The Epomaker Driver software offers a lot of customization options. In the "Keyboard Settings" page, the keys can be mapped to other keys, macro keys, media keys, mouse functions, or disabled altogether. Settings for debounce and sleep time can be modified as well on this page. In the "Fn Layer Settings" page, the secondary function of most keys can be changed except the system keys that are displayed in red on the visual layout of the keyboard. Marcos can be made in the "Macro Editing" page. To change the backlight effects, brightness, and speed, you would go into the "Light Settings" page. There is the option for creating custom colors, but this is limited to solid colors only. The "Profile" page allows you to log in, while the "More" page includes Windows startup options and buttons to update the driver and firmware for the keyboard.
The "Display Settings" page is where you create and edit photos to send to the screen in wired mode only. There is the option to draw a picture or upload a photo from your computer. To create a short animation, you can draw multiple frames or upload a GIF file. However, the maximum number of frames is 56. If a GIF exceeds this amount, the frames after 56 will be automatically deleted. Uploading a picture to the keyboard is fairly quick, but uploading a 56 frame animation can take a significant amount of time. Animations created by others can be downloaded in the "Community Share" as well as lighting profiles, configurations, and macros.
Epomaker has also included an AI assistant in the software, but I would not recommend using it. I tried asking how I could change the photo on the screen, and it said the Epomaker RT100 Pro does not include that feature. The answers it gives are also useless since it assumes you are a developer. For example, when I asked how I can change the backlight brightness, it says to "use the 'setLightBrightness' function to set the brightness level (0 to 100)". The software is quite straightforward to use, so an AI assistant is unnecessary. However, if it is included, then I expect it to be functional and helpful. Browsing through the "Community Share" page can also be quite annoying, since it takes about three seconds to load every page. It is a minor issue when scrolling through a small number of pages, but it quickly gets unbearable when browsing through tens of pages.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. A Closer Look - Disassembly and Internals
4. Conclusion
