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Chinese stuff/Electronic and computer goods/Keycaps

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Revision as of 19:31, 29 January 2017 by Transience (talk | contribs) (→‎Topre-to-MX Stem Adapters: Add links)
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You can go even deeper on Taobao!
They do all the meme colourways too!

This article is an effort to catalogue all the decent or better keycaps you can find on Chinese shopping sites. Whether the keycaps are Chinese in origin or not, if you can buy it from China, it belongs here. If you want to contribute, consider having a quick look at Template:Keycaps and familiarising yourself with it (not necessary though).

For general Chinese mechanical keyboard shopping advice, see Chink shit general/Electronic and computer goods#Mechanical Keyboards.

Buying

Generally, most of the keycaps you find across the different stores on AliExpress all come from the same manufacturer, so that shouldn't be anything to worry about. Most of the the 20-40 USD PBT keycaps you find from Chinese stores can be assumed to be made by NPKC, which is extremely reasonable quality for the price you're paying.

Stores to keep an eye on are Shenzhen YMD, KBDFans, Shenzhen E Sali and EZ MANDARIN SHOPPERS. The guy from Shenzhen YMD speaks better English than most Ali sellers and is pretty quick to respond in comparison. KBDFans is helpful in customer service too.

Single Color

NPKC

NPKC blanks in white.
NPKC blanks in black on a Pok3r RGB. As you can see, darker NPKC caps do not suffer from backlight bleed.
Type PBT
Legends Top-printed, Side-printed, Blank
Profile OEM
Stem type MX
Thickness 1.5mm
Legend backlight support No
Backlight bleed On lighter colours only. Black/grey are completely fine.
In production Yes

These come in many different colours and set sizes.

Purchasing

Mixed Color

White Alphanumeric

Dolch

A Dolch PBT keycap set from AliExpress on a 60% keyboard. Presumably manufactured by NPKC.
Type PBT
Legends Top-printed, Side-printed, Blank
Profile OEM
Stem type MX
Thickness 1.5mm
Legend backlight support No
Backlight bleed Only on red Esc key; can be fixed with electrical tape
In production Yes

Purchasing

Olivette

Olivette keycaps on a KBParadise V60
Type Doubleshot ABS
Legends Top-printed
Profile Unknown
Stem type MX
Thickness Unknown
Legend backlight support No
Backlight bleed Unknown
In production Yes

Purchasing

  • KeyboardParadise (Taiwanese, expensive boards, sells Tai-hao Double-shot ABS sets through Massdrop, otherwise on boards only)

Miami

NPKC Miami keycaps in blank.
Type PBT
Legends Top-printed, Side-printed, Blank
Profile OEM
Stem type MX
Thickness 1.5mm
Legend backlight support No
Backlight bleed Lighter NPKC keys tend to bleed, so presumably, there is
In production Yes

Purchasing

1976

NPKC 1976 keycaps with top-printed legends.
Type PBT
Legends Top-printed, Side-printed, Blank
Profile OEM
Stem type MX
Thickness 1.5mm
Legend backlight support No
Backlight bleed Lighter NPKC keys tend to bleed, so presumably, there is on the cyan keys. Possible quick fix is electrical tape.
In production Yes

Purchasing

Rainbow

NPKC rainbow keycaps in blank from AliExpress.
Type PBT
Legends Top-printed, Side-printed, Blank
Profile OEM
Stem type MX
Thickness 1.5mm
Legend backlight support No
Backlight bleed Lighter NPKC keys tend to bleed, so presumably.
In production Yes

Purchasing

EnjoyPBT

Gateron Blanks

Individual caps

RGBY Modifiers

CMYW Modifiers

Single caps

Accessories

Topre-to-MX Stem Adapters

They're expensive from Ali, maybe worth even more than your entire keycap set, but Topre to MX stem adapters do exist on there. They are significantly cheaper from Taobao but you'll need to consider agent commision and shipping fees too.

Purchasing

Keycap pullers

Dusters/Air-compressors

  • Metro Vacuum DataVac (Comes with different attachments, easiest solution for cleaning keyboards, browse your preferred non-chink website and purchase)
  • Chink compressors and blowers are expensive and have high shipping fees, it's probably better to buy local.
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