The HHKB

An Expensive, Light Topre Board

Coming from the world of MX style mechanical keyboards, the HHKB, specifically the HHKB Hybrid Type-S is a little different. It’s is a slightly less than 60 percent prebuilt keyboard with Topre switches that are electric-capacitive, as opposed to . The variant I have is the dark grey, “Professional Hybrid Silent” type of board. Hybrid is just referring to it being compatible both wired and with bluetooth. The silent part means that it has rubber rings around the sliders between the bottom of the plastic plate and the top of the slider/stem. This iteration does come with USB-C rather than Mini-USB that I have read that older models came with. That’s nice for being able to plug in and go at your current workstation.

Feel-wise, it’s essentially a high end enthusiast-grade rubber-dome keyboard. If you don’t know, the mechanism of a Topre keyboard is The all-plastic construction doesn’t help me to feel that this is something above those dirt cheap membrane keyboards. You can definitely feel that is mushier than a mechanical keyboard. However, it makes me scatch my head. I like using it and I am not sure whether I’m just trying hard to like it or what. It’s not life-changing on first use but it’s subtly quite nice. I’m sure lubing will make it feel a little more refined.

Admittedly, the sound is something I hated at first. But I did somewhat grow to like the muted, thuds of the keys. My model has 45g domes, but it feels way heavier if I compare it to MX style switches. My sweet spot with MX is about 62g, but the 45g domes are surprisingly heavy and got me wondering if I should get 35g domes instead.

It feels pretty OK to type on, but I’m having trouble dealing with the thought that it’s not different enough from a 15 dollar membrane keyboard (I am going to give it a fairer try). The membrane keyboard I’m used to right now is the one on my Thinkpad T14. This one feels better than that. I haven’t decided whether to keep it or send it back to Amazon. It has the key-travel of 4mm so that part is to par. To be honest, I like the key feel. The sound is what I’m having trouble with.

The tactility is pretty nice on the Topre switches. It’s different from any MX switch but in a good way. It makes for a great portable travel board. The layout takes getting used to, and the board might not immediately wow you. The typing experience is what you’re paying for and it takes a little while to appreciate the subtle comfort the Topres enjoy. The layout, is not really that bad though and not nearly as hard to adapt to as 40 percents. Those used to 60% boards will have no problem adapting. I ended up returning the board as I had just intended to try it out (thanks Amazon for your test drive). That didn’t last, though. There was something about the HHKB I wanted back after returning and within a month I had bought another.

I’m typing on it right now, and though I still have the same reservations about build quality, price and quality assurance, I think I’ll be able to put some of that aside.