Drop Expression Series Togekey Keyboard Overview
Pulling the keyboard out from the box, you will notice that it feels solid with its aluminum base. It has some nice weight to it, which will help keep it in place, but also helps give a better sense of build quality. I have to be honest, I did not realize this was a Pokemon-themed keyboard. I looked up Togekey on Google, and it came up with similar results for Togepi/Togetic. The theming is pretty minimal but in a good way. I am not a huge fan of Pokemon, but the colouring scheme does not distract from the keyboard itself.
The top plate to the keyboard is a white plastic material that is pretty rigid. It is adorned with a red and blue design by Sakshi Mangal that showcases the colours of the Pokemon Togepi. The keycaps are Skylight White and allow the white LEDs behind them to shine through effectively.
The Drop Expression Series Togekey Mechanical Keyboard is, of course, a mechanical keyboard, so we have to look at the switches used; Gateron Yellow KS3’s. These linear switches have a 2-6mm pre-travel with a 4mm travel distance and 50g for actuation. The keys move fluidly and sound relatively quiet compared to the other mechanical switches on the market. Though switch colour is a personal preference, some people like loud, clicky tactile switches and others might prefer the softer, quieter switches. I’m of the latter, and these Gateron Yellow switches feel nice after a long day of writing code.
How Do They Sound?
Below is a sound test using the Expression Series Togekey Mechanical Keyboard.
Mecahnically the Drop Expression Series Togekey keyboard is based on their ENTR mechanical keyboards. The main differences are that the stabilizers are their Phantom series which provides a quieter mechanical experience, and the keyboard’s colour, with the top plate being white. You can see the stabilizers in the above photo of the right-shift key. In other mechanical keyboards, the stabilizers can be a part of the keycap itself, and I have always found them to be bothersome when removing keycaps. The spacebar’s stabilizer also runs underneath the top plastic plate of the keyboard, which leads to a cleaner design.
At the top of the keyboard, you will find the USB-C port between the ESC and F1 keys. This is the only connection this keyboard has, and I’ve always been a fan of offsetting the cable’s connection from the direct center.
The profile is similar to other mechanical keyboards and is not terribly high. It comes with the ability to adjust the height with the two feet underneath that you can flip up to increase the height/angle for better ergonomics.
Flip the keyboard over to reveal it is underneath, and it is pretty basic looking. The silver aluminum backplate is smooth and rigid. The feet at the four corners are rubberized and help keep the keyboard in place.
Setup
Setting up the Drop Expression Series Togekey Mechanical Keyboard is relatively straightforward. Place the keyboard in the desired area, plugin the included USB-C cable to the keyboard and plug it into an available USB port on your computer. Like most other keyboards, it will work right out of the box with either Windows or macOS.
The keyboard supports some Function (Fn) hotkeys, though only for Windows. The following hotkeys can be activated:
| System Control | Media Keys | ||
| Fn + F4 | Display Options | F1 | Mute |
| Fn + F8 | Task View | F2 | Volume Down |
| Fn + F10 | Launch Calculator | F3 | Volume Up |
| Fn + F11 | Launch Outlook | F5 | Previous Task |
| Fn + F12 | Display Desktop | F6 | Play/Pause |
| Fn + Up Arrow | LED Brightness Increase | F7 | Next Track |
| Fn + Down Arrow | LED Brightness Decrease | ||
| Fn + Windows | Windows Key Lock | ||
LED Lighting
There is no fancy RGB lighting with the Drop Expression Series Togekey Mechanical Keyboard, which is okay. The white theme of the top plate and keycaps are complimented with White LEDs. These LEDs have four brightness settings and are changed with the Fn + Up/Down Arrow keys.
