Drop ENTR, Halo True

So I got a new keyboard. I wasn’t really in the market, but I’d been sort of spec’ing in my head what I would build next, and then Drop had a significant sale price on the Entr keyboard, which I could order with Halo True switches (a Redditor’s review), and it came with a second set of keycaps (from multiple options)... This checked all the “must have” boxes for my use case (no RGB or wireless, but this application doesn’t “require” either). So. Yeah. Here we are.

I got the “silver” keyboard with the “Vintage” Artifact Bloom Series Keycap Set (Cherry MX profile). (The replacement keycaps aren’t backlit like the stock keys, but they’re much more stable (one reviewer noted how “wobbly” the stock keycaps are; that problem all but disappears with these keycaps).

Of course, I created a custom Karabiner complex modifications setup. I was hoping to remap F1, F2, etc. to the F1, F2 keys, but for some reason that’s not working. Not critical, I’ll dig into that when I have more time. For now, left_command and left_option are swapped (muscle memory is a bitch), right_option is now right_command and application is now right_option, Prt Sc is volume_decrement, Scroll Lock is volume_increment, and Pause is play_or_pause, which is a convenient use for keys I never use. (Under Keyboard control panel, "Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys is unchecked.)

I like the TKL form factor, it’s a bit bigger than the RK71/Keychron K6 ~68% layouts, but with fewer compromises.

So far I like it. I was using the RK71 with Kailh Box Pink (“medium click”) switches in the background of these photos, and picked up where I left off with the Entr. You really have to try to get these switches to bottom out (see the specs below). This is probably going to be my new iMac keyboard, maybe my new Mac Pro keyboard (though the desk space I have available with the Mac Pro is tight, and I hate having wires danging from the arm-mounted monitor; maybe I’ll stick with the K6 for the Mac Pro, and get a wireless mouse...)

One thing I had to dig a bit for: The white LED backlight is really damned bright, by default. Fn+↑ and Fn+↓ adjust the level of the backlight (and it can be turned off).

Another observation: The Fn key doesn’t register key presses (unlike, e.g., the RK71), making it a bit more of a challenge to create custom mappings in Karabiner.

Halo True Switches

• Manufacturer: Kaihua
• Invented by Jacob Alexander
• Style: Tactile
• Stem color: Salmon
• Actuation force: Medium
• Tactile method: Metal leaf
• LED styles: SMD RGB with lens
• Tactile peak force: ~60 gf
• Actuation force: ~54 gf
• Bottom-out force: ~100 gf
• Spring force: ~100 gf
• Overall travel: ~4 mm
• Tactile event: ~0.5 mm
• Actuation: ~1.9 mm
• Gold-plated cross-point