AKKO MU02 Wooden Mechanical Keyboard

9.3

SCORE

9.3/10

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AKKO MU02 Wooden Mechanical Keyboard

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AKKO MU02 Wooden Mechanical Keyboard, the newest wooden mechanical keyboard by AKKO.

The AKKO MU02 is part of the MU0 series, being the latest and larger sibling of the AKKO MU01 that we reviewed quite some time ago.

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AKKO MU02 Wooden Mechanical Keyboard Review

Tests & Scores

Scores

AKKO MU02 Wooden Mechanical Keyboard Scores

Accessories - 9/10
9/10
Design - 10/10
10/10
Ergonomics - 9.75/10
9.8/10
Construction & Build - 10/10
10/10
Keycaps - 10/10
10/10
Switches - 8.5/10
8.5/10
Connectivity - 9.25/10
9.3/10
Customization - 10/10
10/10
Typing - 10/10
10/10
Gaming - 9/10
9/10
Productivity - 9/10
9/10
Office - 9/10
9/10
Tablet-Mobile - 8.5/10
8.5/10
Programming - 9/10
9/10
Sound - 10/10
10/10
Durability - 9/10
9/10
Lighting - 7.75/10
7.8/10
Software - 10/10
10/10
Battery - 8.5/10
8.5/10
Value for Money - 10/10
10/10

Summary

Pros

✅ Superb walnut wood case

✅ Lovely keycaps theme

✅ Superior build

✅ Triple-mode connectivity

✅ Premium sound

Cons

❌ Unoptimized connection switch placement

❌ No dongle slot on the case

CONCLUSION

The Akko MU02 Mountain Seclusion is yet another gorgeous wooden keyboard from AKKO and, still, offering premium build, sound and pristine performance, making it a true pleasure to see and use as a daily driver.

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9.3/10

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ACCESSORIES & PACKAGING
^4.5^_/5

The Akko MU02 comes inside a packaging themed accordingly to your variant choice of the keyboard.

With the keyboard you also get:

• Keyboard dust cover
• 5x additional switches
• 1x Keycap puller
• 1x Switch remover
• USB-C cable
• 2.4G dongle
• Wood wax
• Cloth

DESIGN
⁵^_/5

When we reviewed the smaller brother Akko MU01, we found it to be one of our favorite in the design and looks department and, to be honest, the new AKKO MU02 had the same love-effect with the gorgeous Walnut wood case and keycaps theme.

This AKKO MU02 keyboard will call the attention of everybody with its main unibody wooden case (CNC Walnut wood craved) and combined with a metal space-grey top plate that results in a balanced and stylish look with a premium feel.

Across the whole keyboard you will not see any disruptive LED light indicators, switches nor display screens; in fact, you can only find an USB connector on the rear edge of the case and nothing else.

It is fair to highlight that the MU02 has a significantly taller profile and some users might prefer matching it with a wristpad as you cannot adjust the angle/height of the unit; also note that as with the other wooden keyboard models from the brand, the AKKO MU02 is available in more than one design, including the:

• AKKO MU02 Mountain Seclusion – the model that we are reviewing
• AKKO MU02 Autumn

The AKKO MU02 Mountain Seclusion has a 75% size with the same layout, keys number and positioning seen on other 75% keyboards from Akko (such as the Akko MOD007B PC, Akko 7th Anniversary MOD007B and similar to the Akko SPR75 but with the inclusion of a knob (like the MOD007B series) – ISO and ANSI layouts can be chosen.

Design-wise, the AKKO MU02 has only 2 small details that we are not the greatest fan of; the first one being that there is no storage slot for the wireless dongle (same as with the Akko Sailor Moon Crystal 5087B v2 and most other Akko keyboards reviewed so far) and an odd placement for the connection switch with a tiny switch hidden beneath the Caps Lock keycap (we have seen the exact same placement when reviewing the Akko MU01)

CONSTRUCTION & BUILD

⁵^_/5

The main build material of the case in the AKKO MU02 is walnut wood with the combination of a solid metal top plate that adds up to the ruggedness of the device.

Internally, the board has hot-swappable sockets, allowing the replacement of any compatible mechanical switch on the market without the need of soldering.

The bottom of this AKKO keyboard is entirely made of wood, where you will see 2 large silicone feet on the lower section and a massively full-length on the upper part – these feet provide one of the best grippiness seen on any keyboard which ensures zero slippery issues.

Moreover, the keyboard has been constructed with high-quality components that include a gasket-mounted design, screw-in stabilizers and specialized dampening layers.

KEYCAPS

⁵^_/5

The keycaps of the specific model variant of the Akko MU02 have a “Mountain Seclusion” theme, which is not exclusive to this keyboard model but can also be found on the Akko MU01 Mountain Seclusion.

The theme of the Mountain Seclusion keycaps is one of the best-looking sets that we have seen with an harmonic use of brown gradients that resemble the feel of wood and plenty of decorated keys with Asian natural landscapes – also sharing western and Chinese characters per key.

Akko never cheap-out with the pre-assembled keycaps of their mid-tier and top-tier keyboards and the Akko MU02 with Mountain Seclusion caps are no exception, with thick, quality PBT construction and dye-sub process; granting fade-free life and oil resistance.

Moreover, these keycaps set have a nice MOA profile with finely and subtle textured finish that adds anti-slippery properties while being gentle to the touch.

As we highlighted in the Design section, to select the connection mode of the Akko MU02, you will have to remove the Caps Lock keycap and access and very small black switch sitting directly on the board – not sure why Akko keeps using this design.

The rotary encoder of the AKKO MU02 operates as a classic volume knob and also has press functions but this button press does not programmed as a classic Mute function but, instead, changes the knob’s function from Volume control to Backlight Brightness control.

SWITCHES
^4.25^_/5

Unlike the Akko MU01, the Akko MU02 can be purchased with 2 different switches options:

• Akko Rosewood
• Akko V3 Piano Pro

Both switches options are of linear style but with noticeable different force and travel specs as to feel substantially distinct.

The variant of the AKKO MU02 that we have, is equipped with Akko Rosewood, which are lighter and consequently required less force to activate, which lead to a faster typing feel and more classic linear switch styled per key press experience than an overly heavy one that could almost feel like a tactile switch.

Nonetheless, the lighter nature is not feather-light/loose and does not risk to induce undesired keypress inputs and typing errors – do consider, though, that the activation travel is longer than on some short-travel linear switches.

In addition to this, the switches presented zero scratchiness and smoothness almost on par with hall-effect switches

Akko Rosewood

Type: Linear
Operating Force: 40 ± 5gf
Total Travel: 4.0mm
Pre-Travel: 2.0 ± 0.5mm
Tactile Travel: N/A
Tactile Force: N/A

CON

CONNECTIVITY
^4.75^_/5

This keyboard can be used wired and wirelessly thanks to a tri-mode design that offers Bluetooth, 2.4G wireless options and a detachable USB-C wired connection.

The USB-C connector is recessed in the wooden case with a rugged and better protection than fully exposed USB ports.

To use the 2.4G wireless connection you need to use the bundled dongle while the Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity expands the pairing devices to 3 separate BT slots, allowing switching between paired devices in a blink of an eye.

P&E

PERFORMANCE & USE

TYPING
⁵^_/5

It would be hard to argue that typing on the Akko MU02 is not as delightful as its aesthetics; in fact, the optimal Rosewood switches, solid case and superb sound profile made it a true pleasure to use as a daily driver.

GAMING
^4.5^_/5

The Akko MU02 is certainly a nice looking keyboard but it also offers respectable gaming potential with features such as:

• NKRO
• 1000Hz polling rate
• Hot-swappable switches
• Premium inner components
• Wired and 2.4G wireless

PRODUCTIVITY
^4.5^_/5

Keyboards with a 75% like the Akko MU02 provide a sweet-spot between usability, versatility and fairly small footprint.

Productivity and office work will be much more comfortable with the Akko than with smaller keyboards that would not include arrow keys, the full F number row, navigation keys and a multimedia knob.

TABLET/MOBILE
^4.25^_/5

If you do not care about the extra weight, this Akko keyboard can be a premium companion to your mobile device with no compatibility drawbacks as the MU02 is Bluetooth-enabled.

LIGHTING
^3.75^_/5

This keyboard from AKKO is nearly perfect and needed to have a weak point; this would be its RGB backlighting.

Despite have a board with south-facing RGB LED, the backlight of the keyboard struggles to offer a bright and very noticeable lighting effect.

Nonetheless, we have to admit that we actually appreciated this “flaw” as we would not have loved to see a massively flashy RGB backlight on the Akko MU02 disrupting the stylish and clean aesthetics of the keyboard.

SOUND
⁵^_/5

The Akko MU02 Mountain Seclusion pre-assembled with Akko Rosewood switches, offered a smooth and clean sound profile.

To be more precise, this AKKO MU02 models has a special sound flavor between a thock and pop flavor but with a distinctively semi-muted personality when compared directly with other deep thock keyboards or even against the smaller Akko MU01.

Despite this, the keyboard still provides a nice linear, premium audible feedback as is not a silent linear one but it is significantly more stealthy.

On top of that, seems that Akko has dedicated extra effort in nailing a perfect factory lubing of their stabilizers which showed impeccable rattle-free noise and a responsive and never mushy performance.

Unlike with other Akko models reviewed, we do not find any need to manually add lube to the stabs.

SOFTWARE
⁵^_/5

Similar to most latest keyboards from the brand, the AKKO MU02 can be fully customized with Akko Cloud PC software, which is actively maintained and optimized by the brand with frequent updates.

Akko Cloud offers all the needed settings, customizations and access to further options like macros, reprogramming, with little to no limitations.

It is worth highlighting that the ANSI and ISO models use a totally different software, with Akko Cloud for the ANSI model and VIA for the ISO.

BATTERY
^4.25^_/5

Inside, the AKKO MU02 Mountain Seclusion includes a fairly standard 4000mAh rechargeable battery to power the unit while being used in BT and 2.4G wireless modes.

The battery size and capacity has a smart balance between runtime and compact/light footprint.

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AKKO MU02 Wooden Mechanical Keyboard Technical Specifications

Structure:
Gasket Mount
Connection:
Bluetooth5.0 / 2.4GHz / USB Type-C
Backlight:
South-facing RGB
Hot Swappable:
3-Pin / 5-Pin Support
N-Key Rollover:
Support
Battery Capacity:
4000mAh
Polling Rate:
1000Hz In wired and 2.4G mode, 125Hz in Bluetooth mode.
Macro:
US-ANSI(Akko Cloud Driver)
ISO-DE/UK(VIA)
Switches:
Akko V3 Piano Pro/Akko Resewood
Materials:
PBT Keycaps + Walnut Frame
Legends Printing:
Dye-Sublimation
Keycap Profile:
MOA
Product Weight:
Approximately 1.15KG
Dimensions:
336*152*36.8mm
Package List:
Keyboard×1, Manual×1, Cable×1, Receiver×1, Keycap Puller×1, Switch Puller×1, Dust Cover×1, Extra Switches