Keyboard Mods For Creamy

[Alysa Guillama]

Its been three years since I used a mechanical keyboard for the first time. It was a cheap board that cost me less than $30, but it managed to ignite a lasting hobby, which spurred me to keep searching until I found the best budget mechanical keyboard for myself. On this quest, I came across Aula, a Chinese peripherals brand making waves on social media for its quality mechanical keyboards which regularly punch far above their weight.

The Aula F87 is not a new keyboard. In fact, it launched about a year ago, in June 2023. But, next to the Aula F75, its smaller sibling which was getting all the hype on YouTube and Instagram, the F87 has flown relatively under the radar. It only became available on Amazon in January this year. It's hard to find it elsewhere, but you can get it from Amazon for $70.

There's also an F87 Pro priced around $76 which is nearly identical but comes with a slightly modified gasket mount and a lower front height. By all accounts, it feels exactly the same as the F87 I'm going to be reviewing below.

For $70, you'd expect the company to cut some corners to prioritize the typing experience over the chassis materials. But it turns out there are not a whole lot of compromises made as far as the construction of the F87 is concerned. The body is made up of ABS plastic, so while there's no aluminum as seen on pricier keyboards, the F87 doesn't feel cheap or flimsy at all. There's no unnecessary flex and the keyboard has a satisfying heft to it.

At 916g (around 2 lbs), it's not the heaviest keyboard out there, but certainly the heaviest I've used to date. It has a smooth finish all around, and the weight does not actually prevent it from being a portable keyboard. You'll definitely feel it in your backpack, but you'll be glad you brought it with you, thanks to the superior typing experience. There's a dual kickstand to customize the angle of the keyboard. I use the bigger ones, as I like a more angled setup that goes well with my wrist rest.

Coming to the looks of this board, the first thing you notice is the dual-tone PBT keycaps (triple-tone, if I'm being precise). I love white-themed PC components and peripherals, so naturally, I love this design. I got the smoke blue variant which has a cluster of white keycaps in the middle surrounded by shades of blue on the spacebar, shift, enter, and arrow keys, among others. The minimalist look feels great and can easily fit in well with any setup.

The F87 is certainly not meant to be a gaming keyboard, but you still get gorgeous RGB lighting that you can customize from the keyboard itself. The best part about the design is that you get dual RGB sidelights that can be customized separately from the overall RGB theme of the keyboard. Additionally, you get an RGB light strip above the arrow key cluster that you can also customize separately. Plus, it can double up as a battery indicator with the press of a simple key combo. The Caps Lock key has a small light on the keyboard frame, which is something you don't always get.

These small additions manage to elevate the otherwise simple design of this keyboard to something that is eye-catching as well as functional. I also love the transparent acrylic keyboard cover you get in the box that helps keep the keyboard dust-free for a little longer. Talking about the box contents, you also get a keycap and switch puller, four spare switches, and a gray USB-C to USB-A cable for charging and wired connection.

A minor gripe that I have is the lack of transparent keycaps on this keyboard, which would have made it far easier to work on during the night. You can certainly swap them for some custom keycaps, but with everything else about this prebuilt keyboard being exceptional, having transparent keycaps would just have made it perfect.

The typing experience of the F87 was what I was most excited about, and was the whole reason why I bought it. So, when I received it, even before checking what was in the box or connecting it to my PC, I immediately put its sound and feel to the test. I knew it was going to sound good, but my only fear was that it wouldn't be as awesome as I'd heard on Instagram reels or YouTube videos. Thankfully, I was nothing but pleased with the soothing, creamy sound as soon as my fingers hit the keys.

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I purchased these switches for my if98 pro keyboard and they work so well!! The layout is 1800 so getting the necessary amount of switches for the entire board was super affordable at roughly $45 with a sale. They sound fantastic stock and with keyboard mods and are super smooth. Great linear switch and I would definitely recommend .

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Items must be returned within 30 days after receiving your order. Items must be returned in the same condition in which they were received, be unworn/unused, have any tags still attached, and include all the original packaging.

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