RK ROYAL KLUDGE RKS70 Wireless Ergonomic Split Mechanical Keyboard

90 reviews for RK ROYAL KLUDGE RKS70 Wireless Ergonomic Split Mechanical Keyboard

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jeremy – January 20, 2025

   Ok, just the name “Royal Kludge” had me wondering if I should buy it. I had never hear of them but, my options were few and far between for a TKL/Split ergo mechanical keyboard with hot swap switches. It seems that NO ONE targets the market of people that really need split/ergo keyboard and mechanical for an affordable price.

   TLDR> If you are looking for something to replace Microsoft Sculpt/natural style keyboard, you want mechanical with hotswap switches, but you don’t want to spend $200+, this IS the keyboard for you. Buy it. Some reviewers are upset that the keyboard goes to sleep after 5 minutes of inactivity, it’s not a big deal really. Click any key and it’s awake again. If it really bugs you, you can get RK to send you a new firmware so that it doesn’t sleep.

   Pros
   – This is a very heavy/solid/well constructed keyboard. I was shocked at how dense and “quality” it felt when taking out out of the packaging, the packaging was also very high quality.
   – The brown switches that it comes with were great for typing speed and accuracy (office work). not sure what brand they are (white labeled), but they were definitely good enough for every day typing and occasional gaming.
   – It has three modes, wired, 2.4ghz wireless and bluetooth. I tested wired and 2.4ghz. Both seemed plenty fast and reliable. There are some cool function features in the keyboard to monitor keyboard battery life etc. But I’ll mostly keep it plugged in because I want low latency and no interference issues.
   – The tenting system is really good for ergonomics. It’s VERY sold if you use the highest setting and split the keyboard out. No issues with keyboard wobble etc. I have it sitting on a soft corsiar mat on the desk and it’s perfectly solid.
   – The included wrist rests that are built in to the keyboard make it so much nicer to type on than those other small mechanical keyboards. Most people don’t realize how bad the ergo is on smaller mechanical keyboards that don’t have a wrist rest like this one. It’s solid, part of the frame, and doesn’t wobble at all. Great design.
   – Price was great. I think with a coupon on amazon I paid about $79. This keyboard is well worth that.
   – Switches/frame are easy to swap or replace. Everything is very solid and easy to modify if you need to.

   Cons
   – The software was a bit hard to find but I found it nice/good enough, if you visit the RK website that is not dedicated to just gaming keyboards, you’ll find the software to program the macro keys. There are two places you can download RK software, you have to find the less popular site to find the software for it. Version 4.0.5 worked with this board.

   – The keycaps and switches they used aren’t top tier, they are middle of the road, not bad, not great. They definitely will get you buy and get you started on your mechanical keyboard journey. I found the default brown switches to have a really nice typing experience. They are very predictable, I can still type quickly with very few mistakes on the board, no issues quickly learning the layout coming from other TLK/Ergo (MS Sculpt).

   – The keycaps don’t allow the light to shine through, so while you get really nice RGB effects and settings, if you are in the dark you can’t actually see which keys you are typing on. It’s not really an issue if you have lights on or natural lighting in your office. You can swap the keycaps for shine through sets for about $11.

   – Because this is a split keyboard, the spacebars on both sides are 3u in size. It has been very challenging to find anyone that makes aftermarket keycaps that are 3u in size, and you’d need two if you were wanting to replace the stock keycaps with something else. I believe all other keycaps on this board are easy to replace in most kits, but it’s something to consider. You can always leave the spacebar with the stock caps and replace all of the other keys I suppose. It seems like once you go to a split keyboard design, it’s just harder to find things for it no matter what brand it is. I think they should have probably gone with a 2.75u, much more common.

   Overall I can’t say enough good about this keyboard for the price range. If you absolutely need a TKL/ERGO keyboard like I do for health reasons and you don’t want to spend the $200+ on the other brands, this is a great buy, you won’t be disappointed.

2. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   KCKC – February 26, 2025

   I’ve been looking to try my hand at split keyboards for a while but it’s hard to spend something like $400 for an Ergodox without really knowing if I like the form factor or not. The RK S70 at $100 is an excellent introduction with its affordable pricing and feature packed design.

   The indented layout takes a while to get used to and while the split layout is great for typing it’s been very difficult to dial in for gaming especially MMORPGs. The shifted keys means that the default layout forces me to crank my left wrist in order to achieve certain modifier combinations like control + 6 resulting in severe discomfort in my wrist. Rebinding the function keys to the macro keys on the left helps slightly but there is still enough discomfort that I would prefer a regular keyboard layout instead.

   As for typing the RK S70 has been nothing but excellent. The included silver switches are smooth and responsive though I certainly agree with the comments online about the keyboard being on the louder side. If stealth and quiet is your game you will probably want to invest in a different combination of switches and/or key caps since the board is hot swap compatible and comes with a key cap and switch remover.

   One quirk that’s been consistent so far is intermittent ghost inputs where it will randomly hit a certain key indefinitely until I press that key again to cancel the input. No amount of formatting the firmware, factory reset, or cleaning the switch and slot seems to fix this. This is the only keyboard I have that does this and other boards plugged into the same USB slot never exhibit this behavior.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Erin Runyon – February 28, 2025

   If you’re too poor for custom keyboards, or the super ergonomic ones like the Kinesis 360, this thing is a steal.

   It’s solid. An absolute chunk. The battery is in the wrist wrest and it’s somewhat heavy, so it’s not going to slide all over the desk. The keys are very responsive—sure they click loudly if you smash your fingertips into them, but they barely make noise at all if you have a light touch. I like the clicky noises, especially with the RGB effect that only lights up the keys you’ve touched. It’s a very satisfying experience.

   I bought a numpad separately to put between the two halves, and it is sooo much more comfortable to use than a regular keyboard, especially with the built in tenting options. The feet are study and coated in rubber too, so it doesn’t wobble.

   My shoulders hurt less because I’m not forced to hunch and type with T-Rex arms like I do with non-split keebs. I have super short pinkies also, so I normally compensate a lot with my ring and middle fingers. Since I can angle each half to better fit the reach of my pinkies, my hands are more comfortable too.

   This keyboard is compatible with Windows 11, just FYI. I got this mostly for work because I type a lot and the membrane keebs in the office are unresponsive garbage. It’s plug and play, no need to tweak anything. If you want to set your keyboard layout to Dvorak in Windows, this thing works fine. It took a minute for me to understand how to use the prebuilt layering besides the FN keys, but other than that no issues. I definitely like the column of hot keys on the far left. I do a lot of cut copy pasting, and it’s nice to just be able to hit one button instead of forming an awkward claw with ctrl+x/c/v.

   Very glad I took the risk and bought it. With a name like Royal Kludge, I wasn’t expecting much. But this keeb has greatly exceeded my expectations. The only con I see is that it doesn’t come with a carry case.

4. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   harshaTAws – March 14, 2025

   I had received the product in good order. Box and product are well covered. What I failed to notice is the lack of F1 to F12 functions when I made the purchase. That’s on me for missing it. Battery life is sustainable for my work. Split function works well and the cable is long enough to have 1 document in between.

   What irritates me though is the lack complete instructions. F1 to F12 functions were activated by accident but no instructions anywhere to disable it back to number. Side buttons can be compressed M1 to M5 can be triggered by accident frequently.

   Conclusion is that this key board is good for some gamers who don’t need the high response time. Work and other uses for people who want to split the shoulders will need to consider the keys distance.