Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsPurchased after much research and I love it.
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2017
I first started looking at my computer peripherals around 5 years ago, I did not really look too much into it and kind of read about various parts, like some headphones, or a change in mouse after 8 wonderful years with another. I eventually came to keyboards after investing in my entire computer desktop for the last year here and there touching up some things I left as cheaper expenses on the previous build 2 years ago. I scoured the forums everywhere, reading opinions on different boards, different levels of experience and expertise, and I quickly came to the hhkb2. I was immediately drawn to it as a previous fullsize keyboard user. I dismissed it initially because I hadn't planned to collect as much information as I did on keyboards and I thought I wanted a tkl instead of the rather large leap to such a minimalist scale and loss of keys. I obviously came back around in the end and I apologize for drawing out the review.
Honestly, keyboard switches are an extremely personal experience. You won't know if you will like what you are buying unless you happen to know someone that is such an enthusiast that have several boards most likely, there are other reasons too, but I will not dally with that. My point is that it will be very hard to find some way to test this particular board without some major luck/help most usually outside of Japan and a few other countries possibly. Luckily for you, topre boards and especially the hhkb2, hold their value very well and you will most likely make all of it back by selling it somewhere, or you could even make use of Amazon's excellent return service if you are so inclined and able. I am just trying to allow you an excuse to splurge on this board before I tell you why I am recommending it after a month of use.
I love this keyboard. I love the layout, I love the sound, I love the feel. I am not everyone though, mileage may vary but it does appear that most people that actually jump on this keyboard fall in love with it in as little as a month of continued use. New topre switches are slightly stiffer than they will become, they are rubber domes after all. This means the keyboard has a type of break-in period, not that that is a bad thing. I actually appreciated the varying change in switches as I was able to grow accustom to the board as it grew accustom to me in a fashion. There is a learning period because the layout is different as well, you will make mistakes because muscle memory can be a difficult thing to break, but the control and backspace placement are absolutely magnificent. Using fn for delete in my configuration is a joy and I don't notice a change in speed from previously only using a single delete key due to the placement of the keys. Weaning yourself off the numpad will increase your typing speed and efficiency when working with numbers and letters; buy a cheap or expensive external numpad for when you are working with a lot of numbers though if that is your thing and I plan to do when the need arises.
You have probably only used rubber dome keyboards in the 10-20 dollar range previously, and maybe one or a few mechanical keyboards with some mx switches. Well these are nothing like those, except that topre are rubber domes, albeit they are very good rubber domes. They also have a spring contained in them. This makes the feel completely different from any other keyboard you have tried or can imagine. The way this switch is designed, it is unable to create chattering which is when a key repeats itself any number of times when it is only pressed once. The debounce is extremely low compared to mx, though that honestly doesn't really affect most things, I do notice a great increase in character repetition due to this lower debounce when a key is constantly under pressure if that matters to anyone; I thought it was a nifty little difference.
I had no idea how I would really react to this board, I spontaneously made the decision to buy it one day after I had been researching keyboards for nearly a month. It was a great price and excellent prime service fulfillment for a product sold by a Japanese vendor. Oh, this keyboard can cause what is known as, the "McRip" effect. Seeing problems such as keys being tilted that you've never noticed on another keyboard before and this is partly because of the price range and expectations for no flaws. Many things happen since manufacturing and this may cause them to appear slightly aligned off. This is not a problem at all most of the time and most people don't even notice such problems. Just something I thought I would mention since someone left a review hating on the fact that his keys appeared off even though this does not affect the performance of the product, though I understand some people cannot get over some things that bother them.
Anyways, if you are here, you have probably been looking at many keyboards. I am not going to try and tell you what to do, but I can kind of recommend this is you want a keyboard that will last, has high portability, comes with fantastic pbt keycaps that feel great, gives off a very pleasing sound as you type, and want to try something really unique and special. This is the board for you, I was skeptical about it given the price, but after learning more about keyboards I do understand the market value more and feel this is worth every penny. I game or just type on it both, no problems with either. I actually used to own a few really good cheaper rubber dome keyboards from Logitech back in the day that I loved and that was one deciding factor for getting this. Most current rubber dome boards you get nowadays are trash, fingers slam into keys that don't move unless you hit them dead center or with a lot of force, they may work ok at first but will usually quickly degrade. And they won't have the absolute smoothness of something like this or the realforce or other topre board. There are many reasons to dislike cheap rubber domes, there are many reasons to love topre switches, or any other type as well. Zealios are another great switch I discovered in my search that I actually bought into as well because I like mx mechanical switches and just couldn't choose between these two. Alps, beam springs, or buckling springs may even be your thing. Don't just buy into something for the hype of it, try and find someone online that may let you try the switch type you are thinking of buying into if they live nearby for example if you cannot locate it in a store.
tl;dr I love this board, I loved it as soon as I typed on it but I wasn't really completely won over until I broke it in with about a months basic use in gaming/browsing/typing/chatting whatever. You mileage may vary, but if you've made it this far, you might as well take the leap if you can afford to and if you don't like it you can easily resell it for most of your money back. If you want more reasons, read the rest of my post though I apologize for the length. I may come back in a year or so and update this, but this is my daily driver now along with the zealio board I occasionally hop onto. Lastly, you will have a break-in and learning period with this board, you may get discouraged, but give it about a month at least.
Update 2.6.17
I am falling more in love with this board everday; I purchased a pbt spacebar from a seller on ebay because that's the only key that is abs on this board and most topre boards for some reason. All I can say is, wow; the feel and sound of the keyboard completely changed. The texture matches the alpha and modifier keys nearly perfect. I cannot believe these do not come standard because the keyboard feels whole now. I always felt the board was great, but after replacing the spacebar it is everything you could want. The color I purchased fits perfectly with the charcoal color of the rest of the keys. The sound is less "chattery" on the upstroke, and it just feels amazing now. There have been some reports of poor quality for topre pbt spacebars on forums and massdrop, but the seller I purchased from made it perfect. No rough edges or anything; I highly recommend purchasing one to replace the abs because it really does make an already amazing board even better. I also purchased high quality silencing rings from hypersphere on ebay too. All I can say is wow, it is practically a type s for 60% less cost... I already loved this keyboard, but with the pbt spacebar it is a completely different beast. It feels and sounds even better than it did before and the blue color I chose compliments the charcoal so well that it looks meant to be. I do not really know why they don't include pbt spacebars on most topre keyboards, but it is totally worth the investment and time it took to get here. Highly recommended to make the purchase and let me know if you want to know what seller I used. I added pictures of the new spacebar and how beautiful they are together.
