Note: This feature was first published on 20 May 2025 and these recommendations are still valid today.
You know how it goes: you click on one innocuous-looking reel, and the next thing you know, you have multiple tabs open and are hours deep into research and shopping for keyboards at three in the morning. This was what happened to me a couple of weeks ago. But the experience was enlightening because I learned that keyboards have become really good and—dare I say it—affordable.
Even just five years ago, if you wanted a keyboard with features like a hot-swappable board, gasket mounting, lubed switches and stabilisers, PBT keycaps, RGB lighting, and support for VIA, you would have to pay upwards of S$500. Today, you can get a keyboard with features like these and more for under S$150. Say what you want about China, but Chinese manufacturing is a modern miracle of the world.
If you wanted a keyboard with a fancy weight like this in the past, you would have to pay upwards of S$500. Photo: HWZ
A lot of that is down to a company called Wobkey, which came out of nowhere and shot to fame when it started a crowdfunding campaign for a 75% layout keyboard called the Rainy75. It had a retail price of around US$129 (~S$166), and it came with an all-aluminium case, a hot-swappable board, and factory-lubed switches and stabilisers. It works with Bluetooth, 2.4GHz, and wired via USB-C; and it even supports VIA—a popular utility that lets you map keys, create macros, and more. Unsurprisingly, it was a massive hit and secured over a million dollars in funding.
Happily, the Rainy75 turned out to be a fantastic keyboard. The aluminium case gave it an unbeatable feeling of solidity, while the combination of a gasket-mounted PCB, lubed components, and preinstalled foam meant a unique sound profile and a pleasantly tactile typing experience. It’s incredible that Wobkey sells it for less than S$150 because a keyboard like this would have usually gone for much more.
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