Final Thoughts
If you are a major Lord of the Rings fan and want to show that off in your PC setup, I think that the Drop Black Speech keyboard (or the Elvish or Dwarvish design) is one of the best ways to do that. Custom mechanical keyboards are a great way to customize your setup, but many times you are required to do some pretty deep digging with regards to case and PCB features and compatibility, switch types, keycaps, and software. Drop has joined up with the Lord of the Rings team and taken all of the hard work off the table. A solid aluminum case gives you the stability and overall solid feel to this keyboard, while the top plate and keycaps really provide an immersive and authentic design to this keyboard. The Black Speech font looks amazing on this keyboard, and the set of red keycaps that come included with it add a nice pop of extra color, that I chose to keep on the keyboard for an even more customized look. Throw in that all-seeing Eye of Sauron, and you’ve got a pretty badass looking keyboard for LOTR fans.
Outside of looks, the Holy Panda X switches have a nice tactical feel to them, though you won’t be able to swap them out for a different switch of your liking, as they are soldered to the board. The switches white LED illumination looks good beneath the MT3 profile keycaps, though that is the only place you will see it, as there is not any lighting pass-through on the keycaps. And speaking of those MT3 keycaps, they definitely have a different feel to them, but this is something that can be adjusted to with a bit of time, as I found them to be quite comfortable and useable once I put some time in with this keyboard. My only real drawback with regards to the use of this keyboard is the pinging that was a near-constant sound during use. This can be alleviated a bit when the legs are not extended, but I feel like a bit of foam dampening material would have gone a long way to alleviate this issue.
Unfortunately, there is no software to go along with the Black Speech board, so you are limited to just a few key combos that Drop has provided on this ENTR-based keyboard. Additionally, that lighting coming from the Holy Panda X switches is only in white, so don’t expect any sort of rainbow puke light show from the Sauron’s keyboard of choice.
Overall, I don’t know that you will find a better keyboard design dedicated to the dark side of the Lord of the Rings realm. I think Drop did a great job with getting across the point that this keyboard would be found on the desks of all the Nazgûl in Mordor. If this seems like something you would want on your desk too, head over to Drop and pick this up for just $169 at the time of publishing, down from the normal $199. And if you really want to show your love for LOTR, toss in the One Ring custom artisan keycap for another $65. Reviewing the Drop + Lord of the Rings Black Speech keyboard has me in the mood for a trilogy re-watch, giving this keyboard an 8 out of 10.
Pros
- Solid Build Quality
- Great Lord of the Rings Design Work
- PBT Keycaps
- Holy Panda X switches
Cons
- No Software
- Single LED Lighting Color
- Pinging Sound When Typing
- Very Niche Market