One of my best reviews of the past few years can safely be considered a review of the Varmilo VA108M Summit R2 keyboard. And on one hand – it’s stereotypical to think that any fool can write their magnum opus about a $215 keyboard. On the other hand – not every thousand-dollar company can release a keyboard that you can magnum opus about. The Varmilo VCS87 Awake is almost the opposite in that regard…. and I don’t know how to feel about that. Its developers have, in one stroke, corrected almost all the flaws that I put to its predecessor as a complaint, and deprived the novelty of a small portion of its obvious charisma. The charisma is still there, in more than enough quantity – it’s just less noticeable immediately.
Market positioning
That said, I also can’t say that the VCS87 has become mainstream. Well, yes, it is MORE mainstream, but, for example, not in terms of price, because it costs about $215. Just like its predecessor, right. It’s on discount right now, keep in mind…. But considering I’m afraid to even guess when this review will come out – don’t get your hopes up for a discount.
Supply package
The equipment of the beauty does not reflect the price. But it reflects the main advantages compared to its predecessor. That is, in addition to a strange philosophical gratitude in the high-quality printed version, we have additional caps, a tool for their removal and a Type-C cable. There are no instructions, and everything else is hidden in the keyboard itself.
Design
The keyboard itself isn’t on my list of favourite palettes, because my favourites are more concentrated-creative options with a general theme, along the lines of VA108 CMYK, or Sea Melody. But you should realise right away that these evaluations are not on the level of “top” or “terrible”.
Compared to ordinary keyboards, all Varmilo keyboards look like Hieronymus Bosch’s masterpieces, in the original, compared to the first smear of first-graders. Any Varmilo is a visual orgasm and a treasure for an aesthete. Actually, this is one of the reasons why the price is so high.
What’s changed?
Personality is what I value in this company. Individuality. In Summit R2 it was expressed immediately in the form of hand-painted keycaps. In Awake, it’s harder to find… but it’s there.
Where there were remnants of paint, there are now accidents of plastic. Where once there were unique transformations of the standard Caps, Scroll, Control or Alt, there is now a digitised font. Without much emphasis on readability – but with an emphasis on uniqueness.
And where there’s uniqueness, there’s usually build quality. And Varmilo VCS87 Awake is assembled according to Jesus, as tight and reliable as possible. Its weight is corresponding, almost one and a half kilos. It’s actually the heaviest keyboard I’ve ever seen – which is especially surprising because it’s ten-keyless. That is, without a NumPad.
At the same time, if Summit R2 chewed its place as my favourite through blatant archaisms like, for example, mini – not MICRO! – and miniUSB as a connection. The Varmilo VCS87 Awake doesn’t even strain a muscle in this respect.
Advantages
The very concept of the Awake model specifically follows from its full name – Cliff Robot-Awake. That is, the inspiration was Asimov’s three laws of robotics and a little bit of philosophy. It will not be superfluous to periodically remember the phrase “Don’t rush” at least when writing a comment in social networks, at least in CS:GO on Dust 2.
The connector on the case is Type-C. The tilt angles are dual-mode, somewhere around 6 and 9 degrees. Why, I won’t say exactly, but I’ll tell you later. The connection switch is three-mode! I mean, you understand, in what contrast I’m examining the keyboard. The previous one had one and only one way of connection, using the outdated 15 years old USB standard.
And Varmilo VCS87 Awake can work via Type-C, Bluetooth, and the proprietary USB 2.4 GHz adapter. Which, by the way, is hidden in the case. And the keyboard can also run on batteries or rechargeable batteries! However, you need four pinky ones, and the autonomy is not declared by the manufacturer – and here I’ll get to the main complaint.
The main disadvantage
The thing is that most of the keyboard’s features will be unavailable to you, solely due to the lack of instructions in the package. No manual at all, yes. No, I’m not kidding. The wireless keyboard does NOT come with an instruction manual.
That is, you won’t just not know how to, say, change the backlight brightness or the connection mode – you won’t even know if these chips are present at all. And this is such a gigantic disadvantage that you can’t imagine! However, it is relevant only for those who value functionality above aesthetics. That is, not for the Varmilo audience.
Also, this is partially compensated by the fact that the instructions and more or less exact specifications are contained on the manufacturer’s official website. For example, the legs are capable of providing THREE tilt angles: 4, 8 and 12 degrees. Bluetooth – version 5.0.
And the connected devices can be not 3, but 5! Three via Bluetooth, one via 2.4 GHz and one via wire. The problem with this approach is that it is quite problematic to search for the corresponding model on the manufacturer’s website. That’s why I’m providing the relevant page right away. And a link to the instruction manual. Already I note the combination of pressing the Fn+Insert keys for 3 seconds – this is, in fact, the power button.
The combination of F1, F2, F3 + Fn is responsible for connection via individual Bluetooth channels. Pressing this combination for 5 seconds resets the channel settings. Fn+Delete in a wired connection connects the keyboard to the last wireless device. And the Fn+1 or Fn+2 key combinations are responsible for the power save mode timer.
Fortunately, the media keys are signed, and there are six of them in total. Resetting the settings is done by pressing Fn + Esc for 5 seconds. All other key combinations are available at the link.
Experience of use
I’ll end with one where the manufacturer couldn’t make things worse even if he wanted to. It’s the switches. Not Chinese knockoffs, but branded Cherry MX Red. The typing experience is like a quality keyboard on Cherry MX Red. There is no other way to describe it.
And it’s an absolute joy to print and an absolute joy to play. Despite the fact that Varmilo VCS87 Awake has caps not with soft-touch, but honest PBT with sublimation printing of the legend.
In simple terms, it means that you’d sooner identify and learn all the keyboard key combinations for luck than erase at least one legend of at least one cap. Like I said – the quality here is incredible. Also – the sound of keystrokes will be partially muffled thanks to the foam inside the case.
Also important – the Varmilo VCS87 Awake also exists in a version on Varmilo EC branded switches. I have not tried these keyboards myself, but I note that they only support wired connection.
Varmilo VCS87 Awake review
Compared to its predecessor, the Varmilo VCS87 Awake only loses out on the instruction manual issue. In everything else it is a supersonic leap forward. Quality is expectedly incredible, switches are expectedly cool. The design is expectedly nice. I didn’t expect such progress in the technical component, but that’s a good thing.
And this is yet another proof that creativity is not at all opposed to technical progress. Because it’s the combination of these things that creates masterpieces. But I’ll tell you this. Always put the instructions in.
Video about Varmilo VCS87 Awake
You can look at the beauty in dynamics here:
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