Epomaker TH99 Mechanical Keyboard Review

What makes a keyboard creamy? Is it the softness of its acoustic profile? Is it the deepness of the acoustics? From many keyboard fans, a creamy keyboard is a preferable keyboard, as it sounds delicious and is inoffensive as they come. My experience with “audible chocolate” keyboards has been impacted by the custom side of things: Rarely is a delightful-sounding keyboard prebuilt – it’s often one that is modified with custom internals, switches, and keycaps to produce the perfect acoustic profile.

The Epomaker TH99 is the creamiest prebuilt keyboard I’ve used so far in my reviewing career. While it might not use the most premium materials, it sure as hell is designed with a satisfying audio profile in mine. It’s clearly designed to emphasize a creamy sound profile within a decently sturdy frame. Thanks to its 1800 layout – which is closer to a true 100% full size keyboard – it’s sure to meet the needs of folks wanting the full keyboard experience that doesn’t break the bank.

I’ve tested and used Epomaker keyboards for the past year. If one thing is consistent about their keyboards, it’s that they take big swings with keyboard interior and exterior designs, implementing materials and features that shirk the norms of traditional prebuilt keyboards. Interestingly, the Epomaker TH99 is an inoffensive keyboard – it lacks the bits and bobs of Epomaker’s hallmark designs. It lacks a screen, knob, and other frivolous additions that Epomaker has implemented into their newer keyboards. Instead, the TH99 seems to have adopted a more utilitarian aesthetic. There’s nothing wrong with a “just the essentials” approach, but it’s worth noting either way.

The TH99 is an 1800-style keyboard – a keyboard that has just about all keys on a full-size keyboard but is constructed with a degree of compactness in mind. The keyboard itself is a long keyboard, but it lacks too much empty space separating keys. Somehow, it remains ergonomic and features a layout that makes sense. It comes in two colors: black/white and blue/white.

I’m not the biggest fan of plastic keyboards, but that’s a matter of personal taste. The TH99 feels lightweight in-hand thanks to the lightweight plastic of the casing. I was sent the black/white model to review – I love the handful of white keys that pepper the keyboard’s otherwise primary black aesthetic.

Despite its plastic construction, the TH99 has very little “give” when in use. I could give it a light twist between my two hands, but not to the point where I can meaningfully twist it. Pushing firmly down on the keyboard yields very little give, pointing to a decent internal stability. I know the keyboard has a gasket mount (which I tend to prefer over the other standard mounts like top mounting), so that’s probably part of the benefit.

I like how the keyboard feels in hand. For the sub-$100 price, it’s more than appropriate in terms of build quality and stability. My only other nitpick about the keyboard’s quality is its stabilizers – the stabs under the spacebar feel slightly weaker than stabs under the backspace/enter keys, but it’s not enough to warrant larger issues. Most folks wouldn’t notice the lightness of the spacebar’s support.

Internally, Epomaker has added multiple layers of foam ranging from a poron sandwich pad, IXPE switch pad, PET sound-enhancement pads (I have no idea what sound-enhancement pads are), along with poron and silicone pads at the bottom of the case. Technical and marketing talk aside, the keyboard is clearly built with a deep and creamy audio profile in mind.

The TH99’s grease-resistant PBT keycaps feel sturdy and are easily readable. They’re hot-swappable, too, meaning that I could easily remove them and swap them out with a new set of switches lickity split. Personally, I wouldn’t remove the keycaps as they complement the keyboard quite nicely, but I wouldn’t mind a set of uniquely colored keycaps for the numberpad.

All right, let’s talk about the switches. The TH99 (along its smaller sibling, TH85) uses a unique switch that is not yet available for separate purchase: EPOMAKER Creamy Jade Switch. These switches are linear, boasting a mid-level operating force of 45gf~ and around 2.0mm of pre-travel. In theory, these should be excellent all-around switches for typing and gaming thanks to the midlevel sensitivity and pre-travel. These switches are also made up of softer materials: PC 2405, PA66, and POK. From prior experience, the softer the switch housing paired with a harder stem, the creamier and deeper the thock.

The Creamy Jades are best described as audible chocolate and sound delicious. I know the name “creamy” is in the switches’ name, but I was not prepared for how deep and satisfying the switches sounded when typing. For reference, these sound deeper than the Akko Pro Yellow V2 and KiiBOOM’s Matcha Lattes (any version). Thanks to the sound dampening materials within the TH99, the keyboard produces a relatively mid-level thock that isn’t too loud.

I also want to commend Epomaker on the Creamy Jades’ stability. Some of Epomaker’s earlier switches have had varying degrees of wobble, which has admittedly led to a less-than-stable typing experience. The Creamy Jades have virtually no stem wobble at all – the switches are as stable as they come.

This is all to say that the moment the Creamy Jades become sold separately, I will definitely put them at the top of my “must have” list of favorite switches. If they had a slightly stronger spring (think 47gf-50gf), I’d feel comfortable pairing them with my Cerakey keycaps, too.

In practice, I had no issue doing work and playing most games using the TH99. Epomaker claims that the TH99 is a gaming keyboard, which seems mostly accurate. I have become of the mindset that more sensitive switches are best-suited for higher-intensity games (like VALORANT, Destiny 2, Counter-Strike 2, or even Starfield); the TH99 worked fine, but I wouldn’t think that competitive players would get the most use out of the TH99 and its mid-level switches. That said, if you play a wide variety of games, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth out of the TH99.

Before I conclude this review, I want to comment on the TH99’s other features, namely it’s multiconnectivity and battery life. The TH99’s 4000mAh battery is rated for around 800 hours (with the backlight off). Most players I know prefer wired for the better polling rate and latency, but switching to the wireless mode was easy – I just had to remove the dongle which was thoughtfully placed at the back of the keyboard and I was good to go.

I quite liked the TH99. For a sub-$100 keyboard, I was honestly surprised with how great the keyboard sounded and how delightful the Creamy Jade switches functioned. There’s little doubt that the TH99 is an excellent choice for a gamer on a budget!