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Right before the mechanical keyboard hobby detonate during the pandemic , Andrew Kannan set in motion the Satisfaction 75 while still work as an railroad engineer at Klaviyo . Though it take on a little while for the first product run of 200 whole to sell out , the Satisfaction has become somewhat of a classic . Since then , Kannan co - foundedCannonKeystogether with his wife , Ana Clara Oliveira , expanded the company into a full - scale customs duty mechanical keyboard shop and launched quite a few more successfulkeyboard designsof its own .
On Thursday , CannonKeys is launch a new take on the original Satisfaction 75 , opening up preorders for theSat75 X. It tot up a numeral of modern wash room to the original 75 % design ( like a hot - swap PCB , a gasket mount and pre - soldered knob ) and then puts those into an shot - molded polycarbonate body .
There are three colors to prefer from for now : cloud white , octo violet and stratus gray , with the last two being semitransparent . Most importantly , though , there ’s a minuscule LCD screenland that feature Bongo Cat and that number the words per minute you write . What more could you ask for ?
At a price of $ 111 for the board , this is a fun and easy fashion to get into building a custom mechanical keyboard without breaking the bank building . You ’ll still need switches and keycaps , but at least for the sentence being , CannonKeys offers a complete solidification with PBT keycaps and an 80 - pack of linear or tactile switches for a total of $ 150 . As is often the case with new keyboards , it ’ll be a fiddling while before these ship , with preorders bear to arrive in early 2025 .
Back in 2019 , the original Satisfactionstarted at $ 400 ; CannonKeys is obviously try on to reach a very different grocery store with this young freeing .
“ When we started CannonKeys , it was n’t meant to be a full - time caper or grow to where it is today , ” Kannan told me when I asked him about the origins of the company . “ It was really just that I made these keyboard , and I wanted to betray them and share them with others — and it seemed that there were a lot of other people who are interested in them . So it rise some legs from there , and then , before you know it , we had employee and we had a squad . ”
It was actually the disaster that wasApple ’s butterfly keyboard on its MacBook laptopsthat got him to expect at other choice , includingortholinear keyboards . So he built his own from the footing up . As it turn out , that was n’t the right style for him . “ But at that point , the shaper hemipterous insect had reach , ” he said . “ I had seen that it ’s possible . you could get this thing done . There ’s people who will help you . And that ’s when I was like , well , if I do n’t like ortho , lease me assay to make something that I will wish . … The Satisfaction 75 was in reality also the first keyboard I ever designed full - on with a case and everything . ”
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At first , the couple ran CannonKeys out of their apartment in Providence , Rhode Island , all while Oliveira was simultaneously working on her doctor’s degree at Brown . CannonKeys hired its first employee in 2021 , and after first store much of its inventory in what was sometimes more than half a 12 rented U - Haul containers , the company now operates out of a belittled warehouse .
With the Sat75 X , CannonKeys is , in some ways , reacting to a changing market . Not too long ago , there were n’t a lot of options for someone who wanted to work up a custom mechanical keyboard on a budget — say under $ 150 . There were some classics , like the Tofu and CannonKeys itself provide theBakenekoat that price range , but choices were modified .
“ You would have things at that downhearted price full point — like zero to $ 150 — and then you would have things at $ 400 plus , and that middle ground was missing , ” Kannan say . That vacuum was quick filled but some of the with child , more vertically integrated companies like Keychron and Akko , for example . “ Now there ’s way more consumer choice , and I think that ’s a neat matter for the hobby as a whole , and it ’s skilful for our business as well . ”
But , Kannon take down , that also think there ’s no point for CannonKeys to just comply other party like Meletrix , which makes the popularZoomkeyboards that retail for around $ 200 to $ 250 .
“ We ’ve always wanted to make thing that resonate with the great unwashed and are interesting and unique . But I think now , in today ’s market , that ’s even more important , ” he say . “ The whole estimation behind Sat75 X was it require to be more accessible . ”
And I think CannonKeys succeeded there . The monetary value stop is nothing if not aggressive , especially for a small company . CannonKeys provided me with a pre - production sample of the stratus gray version of the Sat75 X , as well as a lot of its NicePBT keycaps andKeygeek analogue switches .
The whole point of a custom mechanically skillful keyboard is , well , that you get to custom-make it . CannonKeys sent along plate foam and a silicon crustal plate , which , together with the large silicone moistener at the bottom of the font , made for quite a prissy sound theme song that was neither too muted nor too richly - pitched . CannonKeys also plans to trade FR4 , aluminium and clear PC plates and extra gaskets .
plain , a plastic case on a $ 111 add-in is never going to feel as insurance premium as a metal one that ’s big and operose with additional weight that retails for $ 500 + . But it does n’t feel cheap , either . I mean the large silicone dampener really helps there , but for builders who care a louder , more clacky sound , removing that will unquestionably help them mold the add-in to their preferences ( as well as select a different dental plate ) .
The way I built it , the card end up palpate quite stiff , which may not be to everyone ’s liking . I recollect it would be comfortable enough to institute back some of the flex by choosing a different build , though I do n’t retrieve the way the PCB was ramp up ( which it shares with the more premium Satisfaction 75 ) is set up to ever give you the most padded typing feel .
At this cost point , there are a few swop - offs as well . There is no wireless option , for exercise , and no LEDs to light up your keyboard . If those thing are significant to you , this only is n’t the keyboard for you .
As somebody who tends to journey with an extraneous keyboard , I can see myself pack this one going ahead . It ’s light , very pleasant to type on and not too flashy .
At the destruction of the day , building the Sat75 X was also a good reminder of how much fun it can be to build a keyboard from the basis again . A lot of the boards I ’ve tested of late were pre - form , and while I do tend to mod them and attempt unlike electrical switch , for object lesson , it ’s not quite the same as building something from the terra firma up ( having said that , I enjoy that this is a red-hot - swap board , because having to solder every permutation just sounds verbose ) .
In today ’s world , there are n’t a lot of day - to - sidereal day objects that we get to work up and modify ourselves ( outside of the occasional IKEA bookshelf ) . There ’s nothing highly difficult about construct a custom mechanical keyboard , but it is quite satisfying .
