Not everybody wants the gaudy, RGB LED-backlit look of modern keyboards – some prefer the muted tones of ‘80s technology. Accessory company 8BitDo has the nostalgia covered with a pair of retro-styled mechanical keyboards inspired by Nintendo’s first games consoles, complete with giant, programmable A and B buttons.
The company’s new keyboards come in two models – one sports a grey, black and charcoal color scheme with red lettering and accents, reminiscent of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The other is styled after the Famicom, the Japanese version of the console, with a burgundy, black and off-white palette.
Whichever flavor of nostalgia you prefer, the keyboard packs 87 keys with Kailh Box switches for a clackier typing experience, or the option to swap them out for quieter ones. Two knobs in the top-left corner control volume and the connection type – either Bluetooth or 2.4 G Wireless. If you want to go really old school, you can plug it into a USB port too. Either way, the 2,000-mAh battery gets up to 200 hours of use on a charge.
Custom keys reminiscent of the classic A and B face buttons take the place of the Windows or Apple keys, and can be programmed to whatever you like. But the coolest addition is the dual Super Buttons – giant versions of those A and B buttons on a separate unit from the keyboard. Again, these can be mapped to whatever function, shortcut or macro you like.
8BitDo’s Retro Mechanical Keyboards are compatible with Windows and Android devices. Preorders are open now for US$99.99, and shipping is expected to begin on September 20.
Source: 8BitDo
