Epomaker Carbon60

9.3

SCORE

9.3/10

Pros

Real Carbon fiber case
Wired and wireless
Lightweighted
Hot-swappable

Cons

No slot for the dongle
ABS keycaps

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Epomaker Carbon60

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Epomaker Carbon60, a special keyboard with plenty of elements that set it apart from the competitors.

Epomaker has a plethora of keyboard models but this is the very first low-profile carbon fiber keyboard manufactured by the brand.

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Epomaker Carbon60 Review

Tests & Scores

ACCESSORIES & PACKAGING
^4.25^_/5

The Epomaker Carbon60 comes in s small cardboard packaging, inline with most current Epomaker keyboards.

You will also get:

• 2x extra switches
• 2x black keycaps
• USB-C cable
• Switch/keycap puller

DESIGN
⁵^_/5

The first thing that you will notice is that the Epomaker Carbon60 is a low-profile keyboard and even as short as half of a chunky standard keyboard.

A minimal overall approach has been taken with the Carbon60, with an all-black centered design with a couple of light-blue accents like the ESC, Enter keys and a strap.

The layout of the Epomaker Carbon60 is 60% ANSI US, with 61 keys and no knobs nor display screens.

This strap is fixed to the left edge of the keyboard adding not only a nice design visual element but also being a handy and useful addon to carry the keyboard around with you.

The exact size and weight of the Epomaker Carbon60 are 297×102.3×26.7mm (22.5mm for the front height) and as little as 0.5kg of weight.

The Epomaker is only available black color.

CONSTRUCTION & BUILD
⁵^_/5

As listed, the Epomaker Carbon60 has plenty of unique characteristics but a surprising one is the fact that this tiny keyboard is, actually, made of Carbon fiber; certainly something that you cannot find easily on the market.

You might have thought that the case had a carbon fiber-alike vinyl glued to a cheapo plastic shell but, no, this is a truly carbon fiber built case.

Thanks to this, the Carbon60 becomes much lighter but more durable than a standard plastic and ABS keyboard.

Moreover, unlike other low-profile keyboards that we have reviewed, the Epomaker Carbon60 has a hot-swappable PCB (south-facing LED) without the need of soldering to replace the switches.

Internally, the Carbon60 carries a 3-layeres multi-material sound dampening design with a sandwich pad, switch pad and bottom foam.

Yet another unexpected detail about this keyboard is that it is QMK/VIA compatible, making it able to benefit from the flexibility and freedom offered by the VIA programming web system.

On the bottom, you will find 4 elongated, very rubberized feet.

KEYCAPS
^3.75^_/5

To preserve the low-profile nature of the design, the Epomaker Carbon60 comes pre-assembled with DSA low-profile keycaps set.

On the other hand, these keycaps are not premium PBT but of ABS type and are not shine-through.

The keycaps have excellent contrast and readability due to the use of white fonts over black keycap shell while the subtly textured finish makes them pleasant to the touch.

SWITCHES
^4.25^_/5

The Epomaker Carbon60 can be selected with either linear or tactile low-profile switches; the switches offering are:

• Gateron Red low-profile 2.0
• Gateron Brown low-profile 2.0

The specific variant of the Epomaker Carbon60 that we are reviewing came with brown, tactile switches.

These Gateron Brown switches offered a good amount of travel despite their low-profile design and defined but non-disturbing tactile “bump”.

Switch Name
Gateron Low Brown Switch 2.0
Switch Type
3-pin Tactile
Operting Force
55±15gf
Bottom-out Force
60±5gf
Pre-travel
1.7±0.4mm
Total Travel
3.2+0.2mm
Stem
POM
Top housing
PC
Bottom housing
Nylon PA66
Spring
13.5mm two-stage spring
Factory lubed
Yes

Switch Name
Gateron Low Red Switch 2.0
Switch Type
3-pin Linear
Operting Force
50±15gf
Bottom-out Force
60±5gf
Pre-travel
1.7±0.4mm
Total Travel
3.2+0.2mm
Stem
POM
Top housing
PC
Bottom housing
Nylon PA66
Spring
13.5mm two-stage spring
Factory lubed
Yes

CON

CONNECTIVITY
^4.75^_/5

Being so thin and light, you could think that this keyboard is a wired-only one with no internal battery; instead, the Epomaker Carbon60 offers 3 connectivity options:

• Bluetooth
• 2.4G wireless (with the included dongle)
• Wired (detachable USB-C cable)

The Carbon60 does not have a mode switch but you can select each one through key shortcuts.

We were surprised to discover that this tiny keyboard can reach 1000Hz of polling rate, 4ms of latency and provide features like N-key rollover and anti-ghosting.

A detail that we found a bit controversial is that the keyboard does not have any slot to store the dongle when not in use; therefore, be careful of not losing it when traveling.

LIGHTING
^4.25^_/5

The RGB south-facing LEDs on the board of the Carbon60 add a popping effect and a further layer of usability for night time.

Of course, as the keycaps are not shine-through, the readability of the fonts will not be as easy on full black pitch darkness.

SOUND
⁴^_/5

In the sound department, the Epomaker Carbon60 cannot compete with premium standard mechanical keyboards.

Said so, you should not expect a profoundly thocky personality out of the Carbon60 but it will still offer a better sound profile than budget keyboards and then many other low-profile models reviewed so far.

Nonetheless, there are no rattling, pinging noises and neither shows traces of resonance.

BATTERY
^3.75^_/5

To power the keyboard while in wireless mode, the Carbon60 sports a 3000mAh rechargeable battery inside.

The battery is not the largest that you can find inside a keyboard but we consider it a smart compromise to keep the keyboard light weighted and portable.

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Epomaker Carbon60 Technical Specifications

Brand
Epomaker
Model
Carbon60
Layout
60% ANSI US Layout
Number of Keys
61 Keys
Connectivity
Type-C Cable, 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 5.0
Compatibility
Mac/WIN/Linux
Battery
3000mAh
Battery Life
23.6 hours with Backlight on, and 176.4 hours with Backlight off.
Case Material
Carbon Fiber
Front Height
22.5mm
Back Height
26.7mm
Flex-Cut
No Flex-Cut
Plate Material
Carbon Fiber
Sound Dampening
3 layers: Sandwich Pad, Switch Pad, Bottom Foam
Keycaps Profile
DSA Low Profile
Keycaps Material
ABS Plastic
Keycaps Manufacturing technique
Double-Shot
Hot swappable
Yes
RGB
South-facing, per-key RGB
Polling Rate
1000Hz (USB, 2.4Ghz), 125Hz (Bluetooth 5.0)
Latency
4ms (USB), 10ms (2.4Ghz wireless), 22ms (Bluetooth 5.0)
Anti-Ghosting
N-Key Rollover(Win)/6-Key Anti-Ghosting(Mac)
Keyboard Dimensions
297*102.3*26.7mm
Keyboard Weight
0.5kg