EPOMAKER TH80 V2 PRO Review – I’d Tap That
Over the past 15 years, I’ve rarely typed anything that wasn’t done on a MacBook Air built-in. Not exactly a premium experience, but it does the job and I’ve grown accustomed to the funky little chiclet keys that don’t take much pressure or giver much back. As a result, it’s been quite a shift moving over to something like the TH80 V2 PRO from EPOMAKER for this review. With a range both exhaustive and bewildering to someone like myself, who hasn’t exactly been keeping up to date with keyboard technology, having the choice made for me was a blessing in disguise (incidentally, keep an eye out for Jess’ upcoming review of the EPOMAKER Glyph).
The TH80 V2 PRO is a wireless mechanical keyboard that offers both Bluetooth and 2.4G pairing, as well as standard USB, pairing with up to 5 devices. This feature made shifting it between work and home a breeze and it paired in seconds every time. Unboxing the EPOMAKER TH80 V2 PRO, the first thing that stood out was both the build quality and weight – there’s a definite heft to it, surprisingly so given its svelte form as a 75% keyboard which is pretty much exactly what I’m used to – what I’m not used to is anywhere near this level of feedback from the keys themselves.
Loud, satisfying pushback on key presses were a welcome feeling, even if they did slow me down somewhat in my first few writing sessions. While soothing at home, these distinctive clacks stood out in quiet office environment, in which case the Sea Salt Silent V2 switches might be a better option to avoid disgruntled coworkers. For home office and anywhere headphones are in plentiful use however, the standard Creamy Jade my review model was supplied with weren’t an issue. There’s something satisfying about the sensory feedback loop and I can understand why for some people, this is the only option.
While Mac Scissor Switches have some key travel, it’s nothing like the almost 4mm the TH80 V2 PRO gives, each keystroke making its presence felt. It’s a great tactile sensation that only mechanical keyboards can offers, Ratatouille-ing me right back to clacking away on my grandmother’s typewriter as a small boy. In a nice move, there’s even included Mac keyboard terminology to help me feel right at home. While Mac isn’t exactly the most popular platform to game on, for those who partake the TH80 V2 PRO is going to feel like a definite upgrade in both performance and tactility.
Rather than just keeping things basic, EPOMAKER have included Customisable RGB backlighting, a customisable LCD screen and, to top things off, a customisable wheel in the top right corner that defaults to volume control. Much of the customisation is linked to a web-based interface that was tricky to get running, but I eventually sorted it out. Defaulting to a rainbow wave moving from left to right across the keyboard, the backlighting is gentle enough that it doesn’t distract, diffused somewhat by the dark colour and textured patterns across the keys themselves. The adjustable wheel, once swapped to page up/down for web browsing, meant I rarely needed to switch over to my mouse or touchpad when writing or researching. Unfortunately, the cap for the wheel itself isn’t securely attached so tends to fall off during transit if the TH80 V2 PRO isn’t stored in its box or some other container. Realistically, the LCD screen is only useful in situations like gaming where the current time isn’t always visible, outside of marking whether Caps lock is on and what and how the keyboard is connected to. Finally, the tiny 2.4G Dongle hidden in behind the left keyboard leg felt clever design wise and made me feel quite thick for searching through the box for far too long to locate it.
For long distance travel, I’m a bit more torn on the TH80 V2 PRO – at almost 1kg, undoubtedly due to the massive 10000mAh battery – it’s going to take up roughly 15% of anyone’s carry-on allowance on top of the paired device. Sure, you might only need to charge the thing once in a blue moon but at 75% of the weight of my whole-ass laptop, jetting around with it feels a touch too decadent. It might be worth it for anyone holed up in meetings and hotels for an extended period though given just how much more satisfying the act of typing is on it compared to the built-in.
Ultimately, the TH80 V2 PRO is going to tick a lot of boxes for many users; customisability, tactile and sensory satisfaction, an ungodly battery life and versatility between multiple devices make it an excellent choice for anyone in the market for a 75% keyboard, especially those used to laptop built-ins that want to add a bit more luxury to their typing experience.
The EPOMAKER TH80 V2 PRO was reviewed using retail product kindly supplied by EPOMAKER.
