KiiBoom has kept on expanding their line-up of keyboards and among their latest models there’s a new version of the KiiBoom Moonshadow 81, which I tried nearly two years ago. That model was barebones and employed a few innovations in its build; the new KiiBoom Moonshadow V2 eschews some of those peculiarities for a more traditional, but not less solid, experience – and a lower price, too.
Disclaimer: I received a free unit directly from KiiBoom. The Moonshadow V2 retails for $159.99. Read more on the product page.
TL;DR: recap
| Pros |
Cons |
| + Excellent build quality
+ Compact + Multiple connection options + Very comfortable to type on + Good battery life + Sounds good + Fully programmable with VIA and QMK |
– Battery has lower capacity than advertised
– No right alt key limits usability with many languages – Lag when reconnecting |
Rating: 8/10
Packaging & Accessories
I found it interesting that my Moonshadow V2 came in the same box as the v1, even though the contents are quite different: beyond the keyboard itself, there was only a keycap/switch combo puller, a manual and a USB to USB-C cable. There is also a USB wireless receiver, which however does not have a slot on the keyboard itself for keeping when not in use.
Design & Build
The KiiBoom Moonshadow V2 has a simple and streamlined design, with a minimalistic approach that favours using the materials themselves as a design element: the aluminium case is unblemished by logos and other graphical elements, and therefore it stays out of the way visually. There is very little framing around the keys, so the keyboard stays compact: it is about 1 cm shorter than its predecessor, and more in line with other 75% models.
On the back there is a USB-C port, accompanied by a switch to select the connection mode (Bluetooth, USB or 2.4 GHz) and one to select they layout (Win or Mac). Like on the previous model, the bottom hosts a triangular metal plate with the KiiBoom logo, as well as the rubber feet to keep the keyboard in place. There are no status LEDs anywhere; all messages (like, for example, “battery nearly drained”) are conveyed using the keyboard’s RGB lighting.
The keyboard is quite heavy, at 1.5 kg, due to the chassis being made entirely of aluminium with an anodised finish (in both the silver and black variants). There is also a pink version, which is electrophoretically treated. The metal is precisely cut and has a very smooth finish, which makes it look and feel like a premium product.
Disassembly was very easy once I understood how to do it: you just need to pull up the upper top part of the chassis, which is held in place by an ingenious system which KiiBoom calls “ball catch” – a T-shaped bit on the bottom fits into a socket on the top frame, where there are two ball bearings which keep it firmly in place while also allowing the mechanism to open and close with relative ease. You will still need to apply quite a bit of force to open the keyboard. Just like with the first version, this means that you can disassemble the keyboard without any tools.
If you open the keyboard, you will find that the PCB and the plate are mounted on rubber gaskets which are all around the perimeter. This should, in theory, make the typing experience softer.
As the keyboard is a 75%, it is compact and sheds the traditional set of keys found on full-size or even in TKL boards; still, KiiBoom managed to include the delete, home, page up, page down and end keys, which make the selection quite complete. Unfortunately, the Moonshadow V2 only comes with an ANSI layout. I write “unfortunately” because one thing that I found missing from the Moonshadow V2 is a right alt key. This is fundamental for many European languages: as an example, in Italian it is used to type “@”, or in Polish it’s used to type accented letters; without it it is almost impossible to type. The spacebar is quite big and a smaller one would probably have allowed for an additional alt key. There is also an aluminium rotary encoder – a knob – in the top right corner, which is mapped by default as a volume knob.
The switches are all hot-swappable and they are installed on a gasket mount, with an FR4 (fibreglass and epoxy resin) board and acoustic measures like a sandwich of PORON foam and foam both under the switch sockets and on the bottom of the board. The LEDs are South-facing to make them more widely compatible with Cherry profile keycaps.
Functionality
The KiiBoom Moonshadow V2 can connect to most devices out there thanks to its versatility: it offers USB, 2.4 GHz (through its own USB adapter) and Bluetooth. It can be customised using QMK and VIA; the company provides a JSON file for this purpose, so the board is completely customisable to your liking.
The Moonshadow V2 supports a variety of RGB lighting effects, from a single static colour to a rainbow moving across the keyboard.
Even when using the 2,4 GHz connection, the latency is so low that it is barely noticeable; there is virtually no difference between using the keyboard wireless or wired.
One thing I noticed, however, is that when the keyboard enters sleep mode it takes a couple of seconds to then wake up and reconnect to the computer. This means that, if you start typing while the keyboard is still in suspension, the first keystrokes will be lost. To avoid this, you have to press a key, wait for the keyboard to wake up (about a second) and then start typing.
Typing
The KiiBoom Moonshadow V2 comes with a set of Cherry profile PBT keycaps, with a Dolch-like colouration (grey with light blue accents) in the silver version, as well as KiiBoom Flick linear switches. These are relatively low weight, with a 45 g activation force; the stem travels very smoothly and has little wobble.
Typing is very comfortable: the board is very firm and the gaskets appear not to introduce too much flexibility, but at the same time you can clearly tell that KiiBoom has put quite a bit of effort in making the typing softer and quieter than in a tray-mounted board.
As the polling rate is 1,000 Hz with both the cable and the 2.4 GHz connection, the KiiBoom Moonshadow V2 always feels snappy. This is also helped by the latency being just 7.5 ms with a wired connection and 9.5 ms with the 2.4 GHz one. Using Bluetooth offers worse performance (125 Hz polling rate and 20 ms latency), but still enough to type comfortably. The keyboard also supports full N-key rollover.
The sound is quite muted, which I especially like as it means I can use the keyboard without everyone else hearing it from kilometres away; it is relatively low in pitch and has a higher-pitched component when you bottom the switches. The use of multiple layers of foam seems to work very well in making the keyboard relatively silent.
Battery Life
The battery has a capacity of 4,000 mAh and gives you about a month of usage, even with RGB lights turned on. This is a significant time, which can be further increased by turning the RGB lighting off. One thing to note is that the company says in its marketing material that it is 6,000 mAh, but this is not the case as the battery on my unit explicitly says 4,000 mAh.
Final Thoughts
All in all, I think that KiiBoom has made some great improvements over the first generation. The KiiBoom Moonshadow V2 is maybe less distinctive than the V1, but it is more usable (thanks to the multiple connection options and the better layout) and it more compact. It’s also far cheaper, which is also an important factor to consider. The only real cons here are about the capacity of the battery being lower than advertised and the absence of a right alt key (which is an issue if your language isn’t English). Truth be told, the size of the battery is not really too much of an issue, given how the keyboard still has an amazing battery life; it is more of a problem about transparency. If you’re looking for a simple but flexible and compact keyboard, the KiiBoom Moonshadow V2 is a good option to consider.
