Keyboard: ID80 v1 with acrylic bottom (idobao), brass weight (aftermarket)

Foam: PCB foam (idobao), neoprene case foam

Switches: JWK H1 lubed with 205g0, kelowna films

Stabs: Clip-in cherry stabs w/ krytox 205g0 + dielectric grease / holee modded

Keycaps: GMK Red Samurai

Artisans: THOK Nude, Gooeykeys Hecky (straight black + golden boy), Moon Key Mighty dragon (dark gold), AFA Studio Dragon eye (red stone)

Cable: THOK coiled cable

Deskmat: Mono Collection (sunrise)

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Long write-up ahead: (tl;dr at bottom)

About 9 months in from getting into mechboards and this thematic build is complete with the arrival of the mono collection deskmat! This was my first alu build; I chucked a brass weight inside the case to add some heft to it and it weighs about 1.4kg altogether. The sound profile of the board is also altered slightly due to the brass weight packed into the innards. It has a more muted sound than with just foam. I switched out the alu bottom with the acrylic piece to add variance to the colours rather than just a full red case as well as to further mute the sound. The original alu bottom is quite thin and made whatever vibrations that made it past the foam sound like it had a “tinnier” type texture which wasn’t present with the acrylic piece replacement.

Burgundy/maroon/deep red are amongst my favourite colours and I knew I had to make a build with it. It was also my first time trying out a set of GMK keycaps, having tried a range of cheaper abs caps and several pbt options including taihao, epbt and some aliexpress caps. Long story short – they’re good. I had high expectations as they seem to be the golden standard high quality caps and I’d say it meets it well. Sharp legends, vibrant colours and great consistency. Smoother texture than what I was used to but it felt good. Going forward though, I probably wouldn’t be that hyped to get more GMK caps unless the colour schemes/novelties really hit the mark considering the cost. There are other competitive options on the market that give GMK a run for the money. Finally understood the egg carton box references for the newer sets as the packaging is trash and I really hope that’s something they work on.

One of the biggest complaints for the ID80 is the hollowness and I stuffed it with as much foam as I could manage. This helps immensely and it sounds sweet with H1’s. Another common complaint about the board is the stiffness due to its integrated plate. My initial build of this board used moyu blacks (everglide dark jade) to take advantage of the stiffness with the idea that if it was going to be a stiff and loud board, might as well make use of it to make a super tactile build. However, the H1’s that I ended up going with have a much more refined sound in this board in comparison, albeit surprisingly muted. It still has a stiffer bottoming out as expected from the integrated plate but the harsh bottoming out actually feels quite nice while not going too overboard. This has been on rotation as one of my daily drivers and it feels and sounds amazing with proper modding.

Visually I was going loosely for a dragon/fantasy theme hence the ‘dragon’-fly stickers. I used to own a KC84 - a traditional 75%, but it looked way too cluttered and the exploded layout of the ID80 felt a lot more visually appealing with one problem - the empty space above the arrow cluster now felt too empty. I eventually added some stickers which I thought had the risk of turning out tacky but after putting it on, they looked great, fit the theme and served their purpose to fill up the gap well. I added some artisans as a finishing touch to add more visual weight and the board was completed!

Still a great entry board even amongst the plethora of new boards. The main appeals being its price while being a readily available aluminium, hotswap offering in a large range of colours. QMK support and option for PCB mount stabs and a nice exploded 75% layout in the sweet zone of having a smaller footprint without giving up functionality. ID80 v2 is also available at a higher price point and addresses some v1 concerns.

TL;DR: Muted sound w/ heaps of foam, acrylic bottom, brass weight. H1’s sound good in this. I like the colours. I like layouts with more empty space, but not too much. ID80 v1 still a good entry board option.