Uniqey

[BimboBB]

Just have been found out about Uniqey. Seems it’s a daughter company of GMK and they sell whole keyboards. Do I understand it correctly, that these keyboards are sold with GMK doubleshot caps and this in ISO DE? I mean that alone would be just….wow! Also the boards looking very nice. Black or silver aluminium or wood. They seem to be programmable as well. Unfortunately there is not much info about the programming functions. Price tag is heavy, but considering these are 2shot GMK caps…its reasonable again.

I am currently looking for a silver board and was close to pull the trigger on the Cherry MX 6.0, but this Uniqey stuff could change everything.

If there is already some more informations to be found, would be happy to know about.

[GEIST]

To me it seems these two things was the last update on this (unfortunately in german, what may not be a problem for you).
INFO 01
INFO 02
INFO 01 said that they will open the store spring 2015 and INFO 02 said that mecha-blog.de is now an official partner of UNIQEY. But as you see it passed a year since the last information about it and the store isn't available.

[BimboBB]

Store seems to be open now. There is even a "Designer" (like on WASD.com) where you can customize the boards. You can put them into the cart and for delivery it says 7th July.

[GEIST]

Wow, sorry, then ignore my answer.

[Cherry1990]

Now available for shipping:

https://uniqey.net/en/

unfortunately not in all Europe (very strange...) but in UK (that now is out from Europe... ), Canada and USA...

I understanda that they are Made in Germany and not the usual s*#t Made in China, but they are pretty expensive for ABS double shot...

I still thinking... I want to see some review before put 350€ on a new keyboard...

[Daniel]

I really think this is a good offer considering the GMK double shots, Aluminium casing and bluetooth functionality. And it looks really good in my opinion.

[Thumper]

I mailed them some days ago if they sell the keycaps alone. Unfortunately right now there are no real plans but it might be that they will change this plans in THE Future [PENSIVE FACE]

[BimboBB]

Got the Uniqey board today. Its rock solid, perfect workmanship...no flaws at all.
Works fine even with GRUB and under linux.
Best thing about it (beside the famous GMK keys ofc) are the QMX dampening clips. I was looking for a fullsize board which i can use at work without my colleagues going on tilt. Usually I would have taken just some O-rings. But I am not a huge fan of the O-ring feeling, as they make keypresses just so mushy. These clips are much more nicer and dampening the sound at least the same (if not more...science has to be done here) than o-rings would do, while still having the clean mecha feeling. Unfortunately they are only available for pcb mount, and so is the board...no plate inside.

Further feature is "bluetooth" functionality. You can pair upto 3 further devices with it and easily switching between them.

Also comes with the usual multimedia functions which are activated via FN Key (normally right window key) + F-row keys.

Layout is completely standard (like Filco etc). Also Capslock is centered.

I am a bit disappointed about the current non-existence of programming functions. They are stated as "programmable expert features for further customization" and pointing to the download area of the Uniqey site, but apparently this part of the page is still under construction. But also in the manual is stated that they want to further develop the functionality through software updates.
So I hope for the best here, as otherwise I fear that this board will be a tad bit too expansive for what it offers, even when it comes with one of the best keycaps in the world. Btw, dont mind my choosen color combo...i want to use the set on one of my dark boards and putting a good old retro beige set on this one.

uniqey_board1.JPG (829.33 KiB) Viewed 8313 times

QMX clips

uniqey_qmxclip.JPG (860.8 KiB) Viewed 8313 times

[Wodan]

Oh wow thanks a lot for sharing!
That went really fast, I thought their delivery time was much longer.
Let's hope they add some more layouts to their shop. Would be willing to pay that much for a TKL but not a fullsize.

And I really really hope they will start selling these keycaps individually! That would finally establish some additional common GMK color schemes in the market. Can't wait to come up with some fancy colored adapter kits

[BimboBB]

Yeah, if they would start selling just keycap sets that would be awesome. However if they come up with some good programming functions (layers, macros on the fly etc), even the board could become a real trademark....same as the caps are already.

[GEIST]

Thank you BimboBB, finally a real image of the board.

Let's hope they add some more layouts to their shop. Would be willing to pay that much for a TKL but not a fullsize.

These two (non existing) options from the configurator let me hypothesize, that they plan to support OS X (or maybe Linux) and another size in the future.

Bildschirmfoto 2016-07-12 um 23.22.49.png (12.75 KiB) Viewed 8286 times

[czarek]

FN instead of right windows? What a stupid idea! I hope they will enable some way of changing that to menu key instead, otherwise this keyboard is useless.

[BimboBB]

Why useless? Do you use RWIN much often? Even in case, there is still LWIN left.

For me its okay, because RWIN is one of those keys I really never touch at all.


But yeah, positioning FN key yrself would be nice....but i doubt that this will be possible here.

[scottc]

Yeah, I agree with czarek. Useless. They could have at least dumped the menu key instead of windows...

[BimboBB]

Dont get it, sorry guys. You have two win keys (with same function) and one menu key. Why would you dumb the only menu key and not one of the win keys?

[czarek]

Not everyone uses Windows and speaks/types only English.
For Mac you do need 2 sets of CMD and OPT keys on each side of the space bar.
For typing characters requiring AltGR it's useful to have 2 ALTs on both sides of space bar.
Also why change something that is standard already? Having Menu key on FN layer is not a big deal, but lacking an useful and in many cases necessary modifier key is a critical flaw. Something that can be overlooked by many Chinese makers, but should definitely be taken into consideration by European vendor. Not to mention it costs as much as fully custom (and fully programmable) board.

[BimboBB]

Ah okay. Forgot about Mac. I have no mac experience at all. Are the windows keys usually CMD and OPT on Mac (by default)?

However ALT GR and ALT are two different keys with different functions. Its not like having ALT key just twice with same functions. Imho I find RCTRL also quite useless.

[czarek]

I don't quite agree about RCTRL, don't use it much myself, but I believe it has its uses.
Of course ALT and ALT Gr are different modifiers. On Mac (and Amiga), there is no distinction between them, both are just Option key, and both do exactly same thing (can be used as modifier and to type special characters).
On windows however it's a bit more complex, ALT is used as modifier for shortcuts, and ALT Gr is used for typing characters.
Having used OS X for over 11 years (and Amiga before that) and just recently moved to Windows I'm used to having a typing ALT (Gr) on both sides of the keyboard, so I can type żąśćę with right ALT Gr + zasce, and łóń with left ALT Gr + lon. I'm sure it's also used in different languages.
To achieve that I typically remap left windows key to be an ALT Gr, leaving normal ALT in place (ALT + TAB is exactly same position like CMD + TAB on a Mac - muscle memory doesn't need to change). On a right hand side of space bar I swap WIN and ALT Gr keys, just because I'm used to such layout on a Mac (and Amiga). On HHKB, there is almost nothing to remap (only left hand side of space bar), on standard keyboards (like Filco) it's easily done with Sharp Keys, which I use anyways to remap Caps Lock to CTRL. Unfortunately on some Chinese boards, and now on Uniqey, those tricks won't work, making those keyboards unusable for me (and possibly other Mac, and ex-Mac users).

[BimboBB]

Okay, so understand yr problem is you cannot swap RWIN and ALT GR anymore as you did before, because Fn is not swappable? Could you swap ALT GR and Menu instead? (but guess that wouldnt be the same because of muscle memory problem)

[Wodan]

The use and the functionality of the AltGr key isn't a windows invention. It's based on the German industry standard keyboard layout:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_keyboard_layout

The Amiga keyboard layout predates this layout and Apple/Mac simply ignore this standard and come up with their own layout.

Unless you're aiming at a VERY small nice market of keyboard enthusiasts, using this DIN keyboard layout is pretty much the only smart option. And using one of the windows keys for your FN is also the smart thing to do since it's the least used duplicate modifier key.

@BimboBB: Got the software yet? The software will GREATLY influence my pruchasing decision here. And the availability of TKL or smaller layouts.

[Khers]

As a Mac-user I'm firmly in czarek's camp. Removing the right windows key is inexcusable and shows that they are really only catering for Windows users. (Probably a smart choice given the number of users per OS, but still.) What's the menu key for anyway? I've never used that when I've been on a Windows machine. Maybe it has its use, but it's hardly more important than a right side GUI on a Mac.

[Wodan]

The operating system is an option during the configuration of these keyboards. So far Windows is the only option, maybe OSX will follow?

We also have no idea yet how powerful the configuration software for those keyboards will be. Maybe keys can simply be remapped?

Anyway, even with the ability to remap keys, it would be a sweet move from GMK - considering they are GMK - to include a few extra mods to match you personal preference.

[Khers]

Sure, one can dream . However, considering GMK is GMK, it would be rather sweet if they offered standalone keycaps in the colorways they offer with the Uniqey.

[Wodan]

Oh yeah that would be too awesome, especially since they have ISO-DE variants of all these new and exciting keycap sets.

I'm already dreaming of adapter kits in the most popular colors similair to HADapter. How awesome does that sound?

Very!!!

[BimboBB]

@BimboBB: Got the software yet? The software will GREATLY influence my pruchasing decision here. And the availability of TKL or smaller layouts.

Nope. But their "update-section" on the uniqey site is progressing a bit. Send them an email today to let me know the actual status of the programming features.

EDIT:

Got an answer and they want to upload the programming instruction still this week (in german, in english next week).

[shreebles]

I use Windows and I still prefer having both Winkeys.

I need the left one for running Win+E, Win+X, Win+R and Win+TAB.
And the right one for locking the machine (Win+L) at work with one hand.

I'm a fan of the menu/apps key and since I use it often I've mapped it to FN+Tab.

[BimboBB]

Programming instructions are up on their page. But only in german yet.

And its not that much unfortunately. Basically its macros and thats it.
Okay, you can additionally change the brightness and colors of the led's as well.
You can set a default advice when working with several BT advices.
You can swap FN with LWIN, which Mac Users wont satisfy as well, but there is hope....if you can swap with LWIN why not with other keys in bottom row (in future).
And finally you can change the scan cycle (default, medium, fast). Not really sure what it means, I guess its some kind of "rapidfire" thing.

[Wodan]

GMK told me to use the community features of the uniqey website to voice our ideas & demands

Once I find the time I will create an account and start asking for 1800/tkl layouts!

[shreebles]

Don't forget 60%

[czarek]

Ehhhh seems like a good case, keycaps, and tentatively switches, but you basically need a new PCB for it that allows proper programming, ideally with TMK firmware. A bit of shame for such high price.
And all because of very unfortunate placing of FN key. For god's sake, there is 104(5) keys on this keyboard, place it somewhere else!