Akko ACR TOP 40

Akko ACR TOP 40, a barebones keyboard kit with an innovative layout.

The Akko ACR TOP 40 is part of the ACR series, under the DIY Kits family but joins the Akko catalog as a first-ever 40% keyboard.

We find important to highlight that our main photo of the Akko ACR TOP 40 shows the DIY Kit fully assembled; as every other DIY Kit on the market you need to buy separately the switches and keycaps for your build.

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Akko ACR TOP 40 Review

Tests & Scores

Scores

Akko ACR TOP 40 Scores

Accessories - 8/10
8/10
Design - 10/10
10/10
Ergonomics - 9.75/10
9.8/10
Construction & Build - 9.5/10
9.5/10
Connectivity - 7.75/10
7.8/10
Customization - 10/10
10/10
Typing - 7.75/10
7.8/10
Gaming - 9/10
9/10
Productivity - 8.75/10
8.8/10
Office - 7.75/10
7.8/10
Programming - 7/10
7/10
Sound - 10/10
10/10
Durability - 10/10
10/10
Lighting - 10/10
10/10
Software - 9/10
9/10
Value for Money - 10/10
10/10

Summary

Pros

✅ Unique form factor

✅ Excellent sound

✅ Hot swappable

✅ Lighting through case

✅ Premium internals

✅ Excellent price for the quality

Cons

❌ Lack of some essential keys

❌ No wireless connection nor battery

CONCLUSION

It is nice seeing a brand risking breaking the rules and creating unique keyboards, the Akko ACR TOP 40 is certainly a one-of-a-kind keyboard that might not fit many users as their primary unit but has the potential to be an unmatchable companion for specific users and situations (like graphic artists and content creators)

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9/10

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ACCESSORIES & PACKAGING
⁴^_/5

The unit comes well protected in a fairly small packaging that holds inside the device with plenty protective foam.

Inside you will find:

• White USB-C coiled cable
• Extra silicone dampeners
• Switch puller
• Keycap puller
• Extra screws

DESIGN
⁵^_/5

The Akko ACR TOP 40 has, undeniably, an unique design with it’s 40% layout that breaks the standards of compactness seen on 60% keyboards.

The case has a frosted translucent finish with a 2-piece section that is assembled together by 8 screws placed on the bottom case.

To give you an idea of how small and light this keyboard is, the dimensions are: 25x11x2cm (3cm on the thicker side), while the weight is barely 0.4Kg.

ERGONOMICS
^4.75^_/5

Leaving aside the absence of some main keys, the tiny size of the Akko ACR TOP 40 makes it extremely easy to manage and a breeze to reach any key on the kit.

The kit might not have adjustable feet height but due to the compact footprint, the own inclination of the case itself and combined with quality MDA (or similar) keycaps makes it more than sufficient to provide an ergonomically optimized use.

CONSTRUCTION & BUILD
^4.5^_/5

As if the exterior uniqueness was not enough, this kit has also some special internal components that includes a top-structure design, a multi-layer dampening system and a polycarbonate plate.

The case is made of acrylic with a textured sandblasted finish that makes it light-weighted yet sufficiently rugged.

Thanks to the pre-lubed and pre-assembled stabilizers, this model is a more friendly Kit for new users in the custom building world that do not want or know how to lubricate and assemble stabilizers.

CON

CONNECTIVITY
^3.75^_/5

The Akko ACR TOP 40 has a wired connectivity and no wireless option.

The connection used is USB-C but with a removable cable design that connects to the back port of the keyboard – the port is slightly recessed to ensure a lower chance of breaking it.

C&R

CUSTOMIZATION & REPROGRAMMING
⁵^_/5

This kit has a south-facing, hot-swappable board compatible with 3-pin and 5-pin switches, allowing the replacement and selection of any switches without needing to go through the tedious and risky process of soldering/desoldering.

On top of that, the Akko ACR TOP 40 is a QMK/VIA programmable keyboard kit, thus allows users to use VIA to access per-key macro, reprogramming, lighting control, layer design and being all saved internally in the keyboard itself without needing any background software to be running to preserve the customizations applied through VIA.

This Akko kit comes fairly pre-assembled in comparison to other kits (like the Akko SPR75 or MonsGeek M6), saving users the need to assemble the dampening layers, PC plate and stabs. Nonetheless, the brand still allows an easy access to the disassembly of the kit whenever wanted.

In fact, you can easily open the case by simply taking out the 8 screws on the bottom case.

P&E

PERFORMANCE & USE

TYPING
^3.75_/5

Quality-wise, the ACR TOP 40 offers a superb switch, board, case and stabilizers for a premium typing experience/performance but, of course, the original 40% layout and lack of some “typical” keys will compromise the flow for article/document typing tasks as you will have to reach a key combination with the use of the Fn to access some everyday keys (like numbers or varied punctuation keys)

GAMING
^4.5^_/5

The AKKO ACR TOP 40 has a tiny size that can make it a truly unique keyboard for gaming but you should consider that the lack of the number row could limit your gaming if you use them. A possible solution for this is using it one row lower and using SZXC as you WASD or move to the right (in columns) using TFGH as WASD and reaching the freed up keys on the left.

The ACR TOP 40 is getting a 4.5 out of 5 in this category for the outstandingly small but functional size but this is entirely subjective depending on the gaming style of each user or the will to adapt to the innovative layout.

Other gaming-related specs include:

• Full N-Key rollover and anti-ghosting
• RGB lighting
• Macros and reprogramming per key
• Hot-swappable

PRODUCTIVITY
^4.25^_/5

Probably not the intention from Akko when creating the ACR TOP 40, but we found it to be an exceptionally useful and innovative companion as a macro keypad that can also act as a keyboard/express-key-pad for graphic artists, content creators and professional photographers that work with graphic pen tablet/monitors. If this model had a variant option with also wireless connectivity and an internal battery, the ACR TOP 40 could had offered an even more groundbreakingly uniqueness.

OFFICE
^3.75^_/5

The pros and limitations enumerated in the “Typing” section apply to the same degree for office use.

LIGHTING
⁵^_/5

The acrylic translucent case allows the lighting design of the kit to shine through not only on the board for the key switches but also through the dedicated lights for the case, giving it a nice colorful RGB lighting across the whole case.

Through VIA, you will have the possibility of customizing the backlighting effects and choose among nearly 20 presets.

SOUND
⁵^_/5

It is quite surprising that despite the harmless look of the ACR TOP 40, it is actually a high quality mechanical keyboard with premium components inside.

With a complex multi-layer dampening design, this keyboard offers an IXPE plate foam below the PC plate, an IXPE switch pad, a silicone case foam and a top mounted structure that acts as a gasket mount system.

For our tests, we equipped the AKKO ACR TOP40 with AKKO V3 Lavender Purple Pro switches; these are tactile switches with an operating force of 45gf, a tactile force of 55gf (tactile position 0.5mm), pre travel of 1.9mm and total travel of 3.8mm.

A specific sound characteristic of this model is the fact that the first row of keys has a clearly deeper and thockier sound, while the rows below also offer a nice thocky sound but with a different pitch.

The stabilizers inside the ACR TOP 40 are a special AKKO proprietary design with a double shot plate mount that was specifically tailored to maximize the control of pinging and rattling; and in fact they perform remarkably well (also they come pre lubed from factory) showing no pinging at all and rattling control that can surpass nearly any pre-assembled keyboard – if you want to you can replace them with screw-in stabs as the board is compatible.

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Akko ACR TOP 40 Technical Specifications

General
Brand AKKO
Type DIY Kit Barebone Keyboard
Model ACR TOP 40
Number Of Keys 40% 40-Key
Product Details
Structure TOP Structure
Interface USB Type C
N-Key Rollover Supported
Disable Winlock Supported
Backlit RGB Backlit
Hot-Swappable Yes
Case Material Acrylic
Plate Polycarbonate
Dimensions and Weight
Stabilizer New Akko TPU Double Shot Plate Mount Stabilizer Equipped
Product weight Approximately 0.4 KG
Package weight Approximately 6 KG
Package size (L x W x H) 25.6 x 11.0x 3.0 cm
Package Contents 1 x ACR TOP 40 Kit, 1 x USB-C Cable, 1 x User Manual, 1 X Switch Puller,1x Keycap puller

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Akko ACR TOP 40

SCORE

9.0/10

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Akko ACR TOP 40 – Review

Akko ACR TOP 40