Emarth EM-601 gaming keyboard review

[Chyros]

Today we look at a super cheap "mechanical feel" gaming keyboard by Emarth. An interesting effort to squeeze as much as they could out of very little. Hope you enjoy!

[seebart]

I'm sorry I have to ask, is this a commercial review? I have not watched the video so I don't know if you mentioned it.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

In standard digital images, white is three times brighter than the primary colours. In reality, not only is that not true (white does not exist and any colour can be brighter than any arbitrarily-chosen "white") but human visual perception has very high dynamic range.

This photo struck me for its amazing balance:

http://railsimroutes.net/blog/images/hi ... 7-11_1.jpg

I did ask him about this, and it was just taken with a fairly mundane camera as I recall. Clearly in reality you'd not perceive the interior as that dark or the exterior as that light, but it's come out much better than I'd expect.

That keyboard though, the keycaps look perched way up high — I thought Matias light bleed was bad, but that keyboard is terrible!

I can't see any reason to recommend that keyboard. The answer is to fight off the modern culture of buying everything now on credit (beyond your own means!), bide your time, save up and buy something worth having. Cheap keyboards just prey on human weaknesses.

[Chyros]

I'm sorry I have to ask, is this a commercial review? I have not watched the video so I don't know if you mentioned it.

No, this was a donation. My "commercial" reviews (which aren't actually commercial, I should add) have a comany logo on the splash panel.

[seebart]

I'm sorry I have to ask, is this a commercial review? I have not watched the video so I don't know if you mentioned it.

No, this was a donation. My "commercial" reviews (which aren't actually commercial, I should add) have a comany logo on the splash panel.

Good to know about the logo on the splash panel, if your other review's are of commecial nature or not is another matter as much as what constitutes a "donation", bottom line is there is nothing wrong with any of this as long as you tell people if they ask which you now did.

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[Chyros]

Any "commercial" videos I do are basically just donations from the companies. I don't take money for the videos, and I clearly state to them that I do my reviews unbiased, so anything I find wrong with the boards I will report. Of course, I don't want to ask for a keyboard I know I'll probably dislike, to be fair on them. I mention it in the videos as well.

I consider neutrality to be of supreme importance to my content, and many viewers have said that they find this one of the best things about my videos. I'll give my own opinion of the product, but never something someone told me to.

[E3E]

Ahh the perks of being a content creator, donations.

Well, it's a fair exchange. Work hard and passionately in such a public medium, get fringe benefits, haha.

[Menuhin]

Detailed and carful review as always.
But I couldn't make it through after like 3-4 minutes, I watched it again after reading this post to see if you recommended it or not - because I care about your verdict of this keyboard which enthusiasts obviously won't care too much about,

I watched your review of the first flashy keyboard (the white one) you had ever reviewed because I wanted to know what you thought of such a flashy keyboard. This time, I couldn't make it through in the first run because the video feels almost the same to me. You made your point about having to bottom out, and if the switch stems add to the tactile feel, you can show us more detail about that too.

It seems to me that you are facing some hard decisions: whom to please first?
- the enthusiasts? Then a keyboard (or a switch, or some history, etc) that doesn't get you excited won't work on them also.
- the general YouTube audience? Then some more voice, sexiness / a sexy guest, or even clickbait, or crazy funny facts.
- the companies? Then your creativity and ideas may be restricted, i.e. can't express freely that rubber-domes are shxt like in the past, and you have to be nice to them.

Anyways, If your lifestyle allows it, a new video a week is the way to go.

Information about computers / input devices / keyboards are abundant indeed, and you may add in your expertise and talk more about plastics and lubes, etc.
Looking forward to your new videos and new ideas.

[E3E]

Sexiness? Sexy guests? What?

I mean, in my opinion, Chyros is pretty much what we are, just an enthusiast speaking his mind on the keyboards he owns and the technology behind it. Some of us are more or less technical and might not have the same resources that he had/has (SEM/ecycler, haha) at his disposal, but I think that's what Chyros embodies. He has the enthusiasm that many of us share here at DT for keyboards (especially vintage) and adds his own experience into it.

I feel like focusing on boards that are generally out of the range of interest in the enthusiast communities, which is where Chyros got his start, would alienate that crowd a bit.

While I think that Chyros can keep a balance and everything would be fine, I think the focus on really getting into vintage keyboards is what sets Chyros apart. If he starts reviewing everything the other reviewers review, then what would set him apart most (as would with any established reviewer) would be his style and presentation.

The voice is obviously something that is a point of interest judging by commenters, the no frills way of reviewing and straight-talking kind of reviewing is also another unique quality. Not being afraid to say what you want to say or drop F-bombs or swearing along with cheeky humor while also dovetailing it into factoids and observations as well.

If the momentum really picks up though, I can only see Chyros doing what every youtuber generally has to do if they want to increase that revenue, and that is following the trends that get you the most views. I don't see Chyros going crazy mainstream or anything, but when you're starting to make money and get known for the work you do on youtube, wouldn't you want to try and optimize it?

[Chyros]

Just to address some of the questions asked above:

-I will always be reviewing them from an enthusiast's perspective, because that's the only perspective I know. But I'm both a typist and a gamer, and obviously different keyboards will be made for different things. A gamer keyboard like this was made for a different purpose, and so it gets judged on different points than a typing keyboard would.

-I'm not going to "switch" to one type of review or another. I'll simply review basically everything I get my hands on :p . If I get more modern stuff in, you'll be seeing more of that, while if I get more vintage stuff (the vast majority of stuff I've got left to review is vintage).

[E3E]

Just to address some of the questions asked above:

-I will always be reviewing them from an enthusiast's perspective, because that's the only perspective I know. But I'm both a typist and a gamer, and obviously different keyboards will be made for different things. A gamer keyboard like this was made for a different purpose, and so it gets judged on different points than a typing keyboard would.

-I'm not going to "switch" to one type of review or another. I'll simply review basically everything I get my hands on :p . If I get more modern stuff in, you'll be seeing more of that, while if I get more vintage stuff (the vast majority of stuff I've got left to review is vintage).

Not trying to critique you or anything, since I do see you as a fellow keyboard geek and a friendly acquaintance, but didn't you say you weren't much a fan of the modern gaming keyboard sorts of things with all the LEDs and backlit illumination? I think the way you phrased it was that they were "vulgar." Haha.

I don't think many of us can talk here, because preferences do change. I myself have gone from enjoying the 75% layout to preferring layouts with more separation like TKL and full-size along with other little quirks.

DONT GO MAINSTREAM CHYROS. Nah, but I do wish you success. Your channel, I feel, will really grow this year, and people really enjoy your work. Not only are you getting people willing to donate you entire mic setups with DACs and interfaces, haha, but you surpassed your gofundme goal too!

Crazy stuff.

[Chyros]

Just to address some of the questions asked above:

-I will always be reviewing them from an enthusiast's perspective, because that's the only perspective I know. But I'm both a typist and a gamer, and obviously different keyboards will be made for different things. A gamer keyboard like this was made for a different purpose, and so it gets judged on different points than a typing keyboard would.

-I'm not going to "switch" to one type of review or another. I'll simply review basically everything I get my hands on :p . If I get more modern stuff in, you'll be seeing more of that, while if I get more vintage stuff (the vast majority of stuff I've got left to review is vintage).

Not trying to critique you or anything, since I do see you as a fellow keyboard geek and a friendly acquaintance, but didn't you say you weren't much a fan of the modern gaming keyboard sorts of things with all the LEDs and backlit illumination? I think the way you phrased it was that they were "vulgar." Haha.

I anticipated that question. Yes, I did mention that, but I think why I don't mind it so much on the Emarth is because it's restricted to very low light levels, only basic colours, and no patterns. Compare it to the Lingbao's dazzling dancing rainbows and the difference is very obvious. Worse, compare it to one of those RGB jobbies (and I've got a bunch of them by now) and those just look ridiculous. In fact, in every bit of its appearance, from the case shape to the keycaps to the backlighting, the Emarth looks really restrained compared to most other gaming keyboards, and I can really appreciate that as some of the premium products do really look quite vulgar to me xD .

[E3E]

I anticipated that question. Yes, I did mention that, but I think why I don't mind it so much on the Emarth is because it's restricted to very low light levels, only basic colours, and no patterns. Compare it to the Lingbao's dazzling dancing rainbows and the difference is very obvious. Worse, compare it to one of those RGB jobbies (and I've got a bunch of them by now) and those just look ridiculous. In fact, in every bit of its appearance, from the case shape to the keycaps to the backlighting, the Emarth looks really restrained compared to most other gaming keyboards, and I can really appreciate that as some of the premium products do really look quite vulgar to me xD .

I definitely agree with you there. While I like subtle backlighting and underglow to a degree, going full rainbow is a little much. Kind of takes way too much attention away from the design and elegance of a keyboard and I think just makes the board look gimmicky and cheap.

I know I couldn't really appreciate my Orion v2 with its default rainbow RGB cycling pattern that it had off the bat. It's just not a good look.

The Emarth is not a bad looking board, nah.

[TuxKey]

Nice review as always.

Good point on the rubber dome vs Topre not having to bottom down. that was the one point that got me to buy my topre and of course the quality of it all.
Also the same goed for my mx-clear board not having to bottom down really really helps.

[Chyros]

Nice review as always.

Good point on the rubber dome vs Topre not having to bottom down. that was the one point that got me to buy my topre and of course the quality of it all.
Also the same goed for my mx-clear board not having to bottom down really really helps.

MX clear is not completely analogous to this concept; they try to prevent you from bottoming out rather than not needing it. All other electromechanical switches I know don't need bottoming out either, but they don't actively discourage is like MX clears do.

[ulises3.14]

Now that you are making modern Chinese keyboard videos, can we expect a review on the Topre clones, and how it compares to the HHKB? your input on this would be greatly appreciated (but you already knew that, since your new cam fundraiser of sort went sol well)

[Chyros]

Now that you are making modern Chinese keyboard videos, can we expect a review on the Topre clones, and how it compares to the HHKB? your input on this would be greatly appreciated (but you already knew that, since your new cam fundraiser of sort went sol well)

I can't afford one of them, as they are actually quite expensive for a clone keyboard, but if I had one, I would.