Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
The Epomaker Tide 65 is a standard 65% keyboard when it comes to appearance. It is important to note this keyboard comes in three different variations, including Blue, Purple, and Black. In terms of the finish, the Black and Purple models are an anodized aluminum, while the Blue model is electrophoretic. Our particular model is the Black variant. Epomaker opted to use an aluminum case with double-shot PBT keycaps, which has a consistent appearance across the board. The keycap design fits well with the case, matching the bronze accent found on the chamfers around the edge of the case. The Tide 65 features a standard high-bezel design, keeping the keycaps almost level with the frame of the keyboard. Epomaker chose to place minimal branding on this keyboard, with it only on the underside weight. I personally appreciate this as someone who likes minimal branding. The knob is very smooth to use and operates the volume as you may expect. For those unfamiliar with knobs on keyboards, manufacturers commonly use knobs as a volume dial. The Tide 65 does not come with a wrist rest or adjustable feet so you will have to adapt to the typing angle, which I personally found to be quite good. I found no issues with typing on this keyboard, but your experience may vary.
The Epomaker Tide 65 measures in at 320mm length, 114mm width, and 21.5mm height according to Epomaker's manufacturer page. I believe these measurements do not factor in keycaps and only measure the front of the case. I approximated a height of 40mm at the top of the keycaps. Given this design, this is quite standard for a 65% design. This size also makes sense, given the layout. In terms of mass, this weighs in at 1285g, not including the detachable cord. This might seem heavy for such a small keyboard, but when we consider this is a fully aluminum keyboard, everything makes sense. Going into the build quality, the top deck shows no flex when pushing between the small gaps of the keyboard as you may expect form the metal build. When pushing into the keys, there is a good amount of flex provided from the gasket structure. We will expand more on this on the next page. I did not have to try to bend the keyboard, as there was no possible way for me to bend this case with my bare hands. I was quite satisfied with the build quality, as aluminum is something I have been accustomed to, and am glad to see more keyboards moving in this direction.
The Epomaker Tide 65 comes in a 65% QWERTY ANSI layout. The standard 65% layout typically has sixty-seven to sixty-eight keys depending on whether or not we are using a split or divider between the arrow key cluster or not. A split helps to separate the arrow keys from the rest of the main keys by adjusting the bottom row, making for a less cluttered appearance. The Tide 65 uses a split in addition to a knob, reducing the number of keys to sixty-six. The ANSI layout is the standard American layout, which uses a single row Enter key, as seen in some of the earlier images. The keyboard uses a standard bottom row for its key spacing. For those who do not know, 1U standard for a single unit, meaning a 1.25U keycap is 1.25 times wider than a regular one. As such, all of the bottom row keys aside from the spacebar and arrow keys are 1.25U. For the average user, the typing experience will feel relatively the same, as the only difference is the smaller right shift and some missing right modifier keys.
The Epomaker Tide 65 has full N-key rollover, meaning every single key pressed will register even if they are all pressed simultaneously. This means there will be no ghosting issues, where some keys may not be registered. Gamers and fast typists who have fast actions per minute or words per minute will benefit from this, as it will allow more keys to be recognized at the same time. In reality, people usually only need 6-key rollover, so the addition of N-key rollover is nice for extremely fast typists who can reach about 250 words per minute. The inclusion of N-key rollover has become quite standard among keyboards, so this should not come as a surprise the Tide 65 has it as well.
The secondary functions can be accessed by holding down the Fn key on the bottom right side before pressing the indicated key. Normally, we would break this down into shortcuts, lighting effects, and function key combinations, but the Tide 65 is a special case. There are listed shortcuts on the user manual, but when it comes into practice, it does not make any sense. This seems to be a case of reused shortcuts from another keyboard, as it references a lot of combinations that utilize the F keys. The issue comes into place when you realize the Tide 65 does not have an F-row, meaning none of these functions are actually possible. Upon further investigation using VIA, I found that most of the shortcuts were placed in layer 7, which is not actually accessible unless you remap the current layers. As such, I will explain what you can access simply using the Fn key alongside another key.
Starting with the functions that offer more functionality to the keyboard, we have the T key, which will change the keyboard to USB mode. I found that this is actually necessary if you want to adjust the keyboard using VIA, which is a software I will explain in more detail later. The P key will change it to the 2.4GHz mode if you want to use the included dongle, which I personally prefer. There is a nice slot on the back of the keyboard to store the dongle. Lastly, Q, W, and E keys will change to Bluetooth mode for up to three devices. These keys will help get you started up and to function the keyboard properly.
In terms of combinations that allow you access the full functionality of a keyboard, the Esc key will double as a tilde, while the 1 to + keys act as F1 through F12. To get access to your missing homing keys, they are surprisingly not attached to the visible homing keys, but to the square brackets and the quotation mark key. The left and right square brackets act as Home and Scroll Lock in respective order, while the quotation mark key works as your Print Screen. I am surprised that Scroll Lock and Print Screen took priority over Delete and Insert, but you can change these functions to whatever you want in VIA, so it does not really matter. Lastly the Windows key will activate Windows lock for all you gamers who need it.
Continuing with the lighting, we don’t actually have too much to talk about. The '/' key will cycle through different RGB lighting modes, whereas the comma key will change the hue or color. The up and down arrows change the brightness, while left and right control the animation speed. Generally speaking, the lighting control on the keyboard is good enough, but once again, it can be adjusted in VIA. Finally, Z will toggle the lighting effects on and off.
As for the keycaps, these are made out of PBT plastic or polybutylene terephthalate, as previously mentioned. I personally prefer PBT, as the material is harder and resists shining better. The lettering is printed out on the top of the keycaps using a double shot process, which is created by injecting plastic into two different molds and pressing them together. Double shot offers the same or better quality of printing compared to dye sublimation, offering great quality in the case of the Epomaker Tide 65. The coloring and legending are sharp. In terms of warp and shine, PBT is an excellent material as it is decently resistant to both of these qualities. The font used is quite sharp and consistent with the rest of the board, which is something I find nice. Underneath the keycaps, you can see the typical MX stem. This means you can replace the keycaps with another set. This keyboard uses south-facing lights, which is good, as there will be no interference problems using Cherry profile keycaps, although these are OEM profile. I should note that the space bar is oddly north facing, but this should not affect any popular profile of keycaps. I have had an experience where a single key was flipped on another keyboard, and I ended up bending pins on one of my switches because I did not realize. Flipping this socket the other way would be nice, but this is a very small detail that does not affect much. In regard to thickness, they are about 1.3mm thick, which is really good, but a little uneven for each side. The significance of the thickness of a keycap is important for the feel and pitch. To keep things simple, thicker ones have more depth and produce a deeper thock, while thinner ones produce a higher pitch sound.
The Epomaker Tide 65 features the Epomaker Zebra switches. These switches are linear by nature with a smooth travel from beginning to end. The Zebra switches have a travel of 3.8mm due to it having a longer pole on the stem. This is a slight alteration to the standard travel specifications for many mechanical switches opting for a slightly shorter total travel. The total force required to actuate is roughly 40g for operating. These switches have a rated lifespan of 50 million keystrokes, which is quite long. The Tide 65 is also hot-swappable, meaning you can swap these at any time if they start failing.
Even with these specifications, it is quite hard to picture what these switches actually feel like, so I will try my best to explain. For a stock switch, the Epomaker Zebra switches are more than acceptable. The linear characteristic gives a very smooth travel. If you have used a standard mechanical keyboard before, it will feel quite normal. With that said, the Zebra switches are good and offer a good value. These are also the same switches we received with our Epomaker P75.
Moving on to stabilizers, we have plate-mount Cherry stabilizers. If you are unfamiliar, there are two main designs of stabilizers, which are Cherry and Costar. In both cases, these are used to maintain balance in the longer keys and stabilize them, as the name implies. Cherry ones will have stems matching the bottom of most keycaps, while Costar has a wire hooked into a hoop on the keycaps. The main issue with Costar stabilizers is how they are a rattly mess, and there is practically nothing you can do about it. Cherry stabilizers also rattle, but there are ways to reduce the sound, making it the superior choice.
There is also a large difference between plate mount and PCB mount stabilizers. Generally, there are three types of mounting method, including plate mounting, screw-in, and clip-in. The latter two are PCB-mounted. I personally prefer screw-in stabilizers, as they stay in place the best out of the three options, followed by clip-in. Given the keyboard’s design, plate mount stabilizers make a lot of sense, as they are the easiest to maintain and remove. The ease has a caveat that can also easily fall out. With a small bit of knowledge, anyone should be able to fit them back into place rather easily. With that being said, the included stabilizers are tuned quite well with no apparent rattle.
Taking a peek at the bottom of the keyboard, we have four rubber feet surrounding a metal weight. The feet on the bottom side are average in size and keep the keyboard in place. There should be no noticeable unintentional sliding. There is no cable raceway to manage cables, as the Epomaker Tide 65 uses a detachable cable design. This is my personal preference, as it makes swapping between keyboards easier. The included 1.8m USB Type-C cable is greatly appreciated, but I did wish it was braided. Not being braided is fine as I can easily connect the Tide 65 with the 2.4GHz dongle instead. It is quite amazing that keyboards have progressed this far as in the past few years, as wireless aluminum frame keyboards used to have poor connection due to the metal causing interference. This is not the case for the Tide 65, as the connectivity of the dongle is quite good, and I never experienced any delays. As for the battery, we have a 4000mAh battery, which should last for about 15 hours in with lights on and over a week with lights off. Do note that your mileage may vary based on how active your keyboard usage is, as Epomaker has implemented an automatic sleep function, which will turn off all lights until any key is actuated. The implementation of automatic sleep is quite good, as I personally would not notice the keyboard go to sleep if it was not for the lights.
After doing my thorough inspection, I put the Epomaker Tide 65 to use. As these Epomaker Zebra switches are linear in nature, I made sure to account for this in the typing test. My first observation was a nice and higher pitched bottoming out sound with no ping. I should note I am typing on top of a desk mat, which dampens higher pitched sounds. However, the lack of pinging is more due to the dampening within the keyboard. Epomaker has provided a good use of foam to prevent unwanted noise. The smooth linear feel was consistent throughout all the keys, which was nice. As someone who generally enjoys linear switches, I had a great experience as these switches are pre-lubricated, making for a smoother experience. The travel distance and actuation point were both good, and I had no issues whatsoever. A sound test of the Epomaker Tide 65 can be found above. I found the sound profile to be quite poppy.
I would say the Epomaker Tide 65 definitely has good lighting effects if it was not for the opaque switches. It is quite hard to see the light as you can see in the image above. The lighting effects only barely show up around the keycaps, as these keycaps also do not shine through. Despite this fact, the backlighting effects are still nice to have. I had no issue with configuring it using software, but you will only see its true potential if you swap to a lower opacity switch. I do not think any users will have any issues in regard to this, but if you really want the legends to be illuminated, you can swap the keycaps out, as we have standard MX stems and standard bottom row spacing. Forty-four different lighting variations can be toggled through by using the software I will talk about in a moment.
In terms of software, we have VIA, which is probably the best open source keyboard software you could possibly use. I am personally a long time user of VIA, so I have become quite accustomed to its interface. For those who are not familiar with it, VIA has four primary tabs, being Configure, Key Tester, Design, and Settings.
Starting with Configure, under the Keymap category, you are able to adjust what each key does to any particular setup you want and also adjust any secondary functions you might want to use. If you want to use a weird layout like Colemak, Dvorak, or Carpalx, you can go right ahead and do it. Layout is a short category, offering you the option to change between split and long space bar. Do note this option will only appear depending on which JSON file you upload to VIA. The Macros category will allow you record macros as you may expect. Save + Load will allow you to save your current keyboard setup. This is useful as I personally have experienced my keyboard resetting to its standard setup, so being able to reload all my settings is quite nice. Lastly, we have Lighting, which controls your keyboard backlighting. You can select a pattern and the color you wish to use.
Moving on, the Key Tester tab is a great place for diagnosis. I often find myself using this tab when building a keyboard, as it is good for testing your PCB as well as double checking if any of your switches have bent pins. Design is a tab you must use for the Tide 65 as you will need to upload the correct JSON file for the Tide 65 for VIA to recognize it. As of writing this review, I will say that the JSON file provided on the product page does not actually work, but the one I found in Epomaker's downloads page did. Do not worry about uploading the wrong JSON, as you can simply just upload another one.
Finally, we have the Settings tab where you will actually need to go to enable the Design tab. Aside from being able to enable the Design tab, you can also toggle Fast Key Mapping and Light Mode. Keycap Theme will just change the theme of VIA to a few popular keycap sets, while Render Mode will allow you to change between 2D and 3D rendering of your keyboard. You can also see Diagnostic Information, which most people probably will not use.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. A Closer Look - Disassembly and Internals
4. Conclusion
