BOYIGMK67 Barebones Keyboard,65% Hot-Swap Gasket Mounted Custom Mechanical Keyboard Kit,Bluetooth 5.0/2.4G/Type-C Wired RGB Backlit DIY Kit with Knob(White)

I bought this keyboard after researching what would be best for a beginner and I can say that this is absolutely a great choice. The aluminum version of this keyboard is SUPER solid and very heavy. The weight and the grips on the bottom help it stay in place and I've never had it slide on me. I've used both tactile and clicky switches on this and they both work very well and feel and sound super satisfying. It made me want to improve my typing just because it's that satisfying.What I also love about this keyboard is its versatility. The ability to use either bluetooth, an included receiver, or a wired connection is great and it means I can have a super quick connection or one that's more convenient. The knob is a great feature as well. It's a great way of controlling the volume without adding extra keys.I've also had a great experience with their customer service when I lost the instructions to this specific keyboard so if you have an issue you shouldn't have to worry either. I don't have a need for the LEDS but the colors and animations are really nice and I'm considering buying see through keycaps. This is a perfect choice for a beginner keyboard and if you're hesitating on getting into custom keyboards like I was I really think it's worth taking the plunge. I'm just a beginner but I'm already loving it and there are plenty of resources out there to help you get started.

This is one of the cheaper barebones keyboards available, but seems to be a very good value. I have only had it a week or so, so longevity remains to be seen.The Good:*Lots of colorways. I bought the red, and I love it. It's a true red, leaning neither too orange nor to burgundy. The metallic finish of the anodized aluminum really makes it shine (literally and figuratively).* Volume knob is handy. It has a pleasant feedback to it.* There is a decent amount of padding inside. I did a silent build with Otemu Silent Lemon/Lime switches and, aside from adding some foam to the the spacebar, I didn't have to do anything special to make it the quietest keyboard I have ever used.* 66 key layout is very compact, while still giving you arrow keys and most of the functionality of a larger keyboard* RGB lighting with lots of color and pattern options.The Not So Good:* Does not support Via.* The switch slot for the spacebar is reversed from the orientation of the rest of the keys. (You need to put the light bay toward the top on the spacebar, while the rest are oriented toward the bottom.) I bent SO many pins before I realized this was the problem.* They put a plastic sheet and a layer of foam on top of the board, and the holes did not line up perfectly. Again, lots of bent pins before I scrapped those layers.The Neutral (you decide):* It has a CAPSLOCK light (yay!), but, if you don't have shine-through keycaps, you may be hard pressed to see it.* South facing LEDs. This makes some keycap and switch combinations more compatible, but is less ideal for shine-through keycaps.* It is very heavy. This makes it stay put on your desk nicely, but also makes it less portable.

EDIT: The seller contacted me and gave me a large partial refund for the missing parts of the keyboard. I still do not have a USB dongle, but they did send me an electronic version of the keyboard manual so that now I know how to connect to bluetooth. And the refund amount was very generous of them, and I am greatly appreciate that they have the customer service to know how unfortunate it is to be lacking the USB dongle, and to compensate me appropriately for that inconvenience. Overall, the keyboard is great, and it sounds great, just a couple things that were missing on my product for one reason or another. Thanks to the seller for making it up to me, it's greatly appreciated.For those wondering, yes the aluminum version is just the HJS AL65 keyboard kit. It literally has the same packaging. The keyboard kit I received had some issues. The kit is dirty, like it had been used before, because there were little dog/cat hairs all over the front of the board, and even when I opened up the board there were hairs on the inside of the board as well. And I bought it new, not used, so there shouldn't be anything like that. More importantly, my kit did NOT come with the USB dongle to use 2.4GHz wireless mode. It is totally missing, I've checked the entire packaging to see if it fell out somewhere, but it is completely gone. There is also no manual, so I have no idea how I'm going to sync up bluetooth mode at all. It's just a mess.

The media could not be loaded. This by far is the best budget pcb on the market. The colors are amazing and well light. I’ve had this keyboard for over 3 months and least to say it hasn’t give me any problems. Extremely durable and the bluetooth connects with zero issues.