The Nixeus Moda Pro Review: A Professional Mechanical Keyboard for $55
by E. Fylladitakis on August 3, 2016 9:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Mechanical Keyboards
- Keyboard
- Nixeus
- macOS
- Kailh
Per Key Quality Testing
In order to test the quality and consistency of a keyboard, we are using a texture analyser that is programmed to measure and display the actuation force of the standard keyboard keys. By measuring the actuation force of every key, the quality and consistency of the keyboard can be quantified. It can also reveal design issues, such as the larger keys being far softer to press than the main keys of the keyboard. The actuation force is measured in Centinewton (cN). Some companies use another figure, gram-force (gf). The conversion formula is 1 cN = 1.02 gf (i.e. they are about the same). A high quality keyboard should be as consistent as possible, with an average actuation force as near to the manufacturer's specs as possible and a disparity of less than ±10%. Greater differences are likely to be perceptible by users. It is worth noting that there is typically variance among keyboards, although most keyboard companies will try and maintain consistency - as with other reviews, we're testing our sample only.
The machine we use for our testing is accurate enough to provide readings with a resolution of 0.1 cN. For wider keys (e.g. Enter, Space Bar, etc.), the measurement is taking place at the center of the key, right above the switch. Note that large keys generally have a lower actuation force even if the actuation point is at the dead center of the key. This is natural, as the size and weight of the keycap reduces the required actuation force. For this reason, we do display the force required to actuate every key but we only use the results of the typical sized keys for our consistency calculations. Still, very low figures on medium sized keys, such as the Shift and Enter keys reveal design issues and can easily be perceptible by the user.
The readings of our equipment were a little on the high side for Brown switches, with an average actuation force of 45.8 cN across the main keys of the keyboard. There is also a significant difference between similarly sized keys, such as the Shift and Enter keys. The disparity is relatively high, at ±9.33% across the main keys of the keyboard. It can be noticed that readings are more frequently high rather than low, indicating that the keys are a little stiffer than they were supposed to be. Nevertheless, these figures are not dramatic and it would take careful examination by a professional to reveal them without the use of specialized equipment.
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guyr - Sunday, August 7, 2016 - link
I'm typing on a 20 year old IBM Model M right now; sticker on the bottom says Easy Options by IBM. These keyboards are for all intents indestructible. And of course, you can still buy them:http://www.pckeyboard.com/
BrokenCrayons - Thursday, August 4, 2016 - link
I like the concept of a minimalist keyboard that does away with the LEDs, macro keys, and other functions I personally wouldn't find useful. The Nixeus' pricing is good even with the recent increase since the article was published. I think its biggest downside is the lack of an included wrist rest which I find useful when typing. Most of my time at a keyboard is dedicated to writing so the omission would be something I'd notice right away. The other thing I don't care for about it is its design. It looks a bit awkward without the keys being recessed into the surrounding board a bit. I'm sure it types just fine, but I have trouble wrapping my mind around the style.Mr Perfect - Saturday, August 6, 2016 - link
It looks odd, but it makes it significantly easier to clean without the recess. Silver linings and all that.Vorl - Thursday, August 4, 2016 - link
not to derail this, but it's amazing. We get more reviews about keyboards than we do about video cards.... which is amazing considering how mundane keyboards are.thesavvymage - Thursday, August 4, 2016 - link
Different people have different skillsets. I believe the author of this article does their peripheral/case reviews, which requires a totally different skillset and dedicated time requirement than that of videocard testingDanNeely - Thursday, August 4, 2016 - link
They take a lot less work to produce. Other than the photography and per key testing, all the data acquisition is done by just using the keyboard to do other work. Just by page count the 1070/1080 review was 8x longer than this one. In terms of material written it's an even larger disparity.BrokenCrayons - Friday, August 5, 2016 - link
I think the sticking point for a lot of readers who make comments about articles they're not seeing published yet are doing so because there were previous comments by the article writer that set expectations for say a week or two after they're made. Not delivering on those estimates can cause a loss of trust and credibility which stirs up peoples' ire. I don't necessarily agree with the idea of bringing up those concerns in an unrelated article, but there it's really a very clear way of expressing displeasure to the writers elsewhere.The other problem is that new GPUs are pushed out by the manufacturers on routine cycles amid months of hype and teasers so it isn't as if their release ought to catch anyone by surprise. It didn't for AT's readers and it certainly shouldn't for AT's writers who are probably more informed about what the industry is up to than we are. One would expect them to plan accordingly so they can publish content in a timely manner, but that doesn't appear to be the case. That also would warrant legitimate complaining.
However, in AT's defense is the fact that the writers go out of their way to conduct extensive tests using sound methods even though they're geographically separated from one another and budget-limited. The articles, when they are finally published, are excellent technical deep dives which differentiates Anandtech's work from other sites that benchmark something and paste in a few obvious observations about what a chart already makes clear to the reader. Reading things like, "Wow, that new Tseng Labs ET6000 with 4MB of MoSys Multibank DRAM is 10 FPS faster in FlightSim 5.0 than the old ET4000!!!" when there's a chart right above it that I just looked at showing that data is silly. Tom's Hardware Guide used to do that back in the early 2000's to my great annoyance. At least AT's articles include a lot of additional information about why the ET6000 cranks out those extra 10FPS.
Also in AT's defense, with new manufacturing processes, there's a lot more technical information to gather, ingest, fact check with vendors, and so forth prior to publication. That's not been the case as much in the 28nm doldrums we saw over the previous few years so these articles are probably more challenging to write this time around.
Clearly those factors don't weigh the same in the minds of each reader, but they are all worth considering while we (im)patiently wait for the next major review to come out.
JBVertexx - Thursday, August 4, 2016 - link
so the new titan x has dropped, the rx 470 has dropped, and Anandtech has yet to release anything on the 1060, which dropped almost 4 weeks ago.What is going on Anandtech. I don't care how much more elaborate your articles are. They aren't 4 weeks more elaborate. Completely Unsat.
10basetom - Friday, August 5, 2016 - link
It looks like the price increased $15 since the publication of this article.gmbytes - Friday, December 9, 2016 - link
i own this.. and it zapps my hands and provides exquisite BSOD's when placed on hibernate... (*win7)