When I reviewed the 8BitDo Mechanical Retro Keyboard last year, I had one solitary complaint: it doesn’t have a numpad. Later, 8Bitdo released a separate numpad, and it’s pretty awesome. Everything’s right in my world. But if you are looking for a more all-in-one solution, the company is now releasing a full-sized variant with the numpad stuck right on there.
To clarify, the full-sized variant is only available for preorder in the NES and Famicom color versions. There’s also a Commodore 64 version and IBM Model M versions of the original size. I’m going to assume they’ll get full-sized versions of those out later, but they haven’t been confirmed yet.
You can read about how much I love these keyboards in the aforementioned review. I’m not really someone who typically gets excited about keyboards, but 8BitDo found a way to get me there. The retro color schemes harken back to a day when fire retardant chemicals would turn white, gray, and beige electronics yellow when exposed to sunlight. They tap into my passion for hella old stuff without going too far into woodgrain territory.
I don’t exactly know a tonne about what makes a good keyboard good, but these use “Kailh Box White Switches V2.” They’re hot-swappable if you like the look and function of the keyboard, but prefer different switches. I’ve spilled multiple beverages on mine and it still functions, though I did once have to take it apart to get some of the matcha latte out of it. Still works like new.
This isn’t a sponsored advertisement, by the way. I’m just really enthusiastic about this keyboard.
There’s a volume knob. It works wirelessly using Bluetooth or with a 2.4 GHz dongle. It can also just be left plugged in. It comes with two “Super Buttons,” which are just huge, programmable buttons that you can map to particular keys or macros. There are also two A/B “Supper Buttons” (I’m serious, that’s what the software calls them), that can also be programmed in the same way. One thing that is on these new full-sized versions that are not on the original are “magnetic foldable feet” so you can adjust the angle of your keyboard. I kind of wish my keyboard had those, but I’ve gotten used to just typing on a flatter angle.
You can preorder the full-sized 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard now. It looks like it officially releases December 12, 2024.
