KIIBOOM’s LOOP65 is a stunning 65% mechanical keyboard. Featuring a modular structure which incorporates gradient designs and full aluminum, it’s bar none my favorite 65% I have used to date.
You’ve probably read my previous reviews on 65% keyboards over the past few months and heard me complain time after time about the keyboards being too cramped, missing out on buttons, and just not being the best for gaming. I’ll admit that I am slightly biased against smaller keyboards simply because I like having as many keys as possible for the games I play and the work I do. Despite all of this, I aim to give keyboards a chance when they arrive on my doorstep to review. It’s only fair because aesthetic, feel, and sound matter when it comes to selecting a mechanical keyboard. To that end, I’m glad I gave the KIIBOOM LOOP65 a chance – it’s one of the first 65% keyboards to have won me over in just about every way.
KIIBOOM’s keyboards never fail to impress me, so I shouldn’t be surprised. In my review of KIIBOOM’s Phantom 81 V2, I was stunned by the keyboard’s build quality and aesthetics. Yeah, it sounded great, but the full body transparent acrylics made the keyboard shine when the LEDs were active. It had some heft, too! From my knowledge of their prior keyboards, KIIBOOM has demonstrated that they can create some well-built and gorgeous keyboards without compromising on price or anything else.
When I got the opportunity to review the LOOP65, I was cautiously optimistic. I knew going in that KIIBOOM wouldn’t let me down from my prior experience with their keyboards, but I was mildly concerned that I would be let down by an overly-restrictive 65% keyboard thanks to my hands.
I was not let down by the LOOP65. Heck, this keyboard nearly pushed me into using a 65% keyboard as my daily driver despite needing a numberpad for my day-to-day number input. Most importantly, it felt FANTASTIC to use when gaming long into the night.
The most striking aspect of the LOOP65 is its dual-colored aluminum frame. It comes in two variants, Pink/Purple and Black/Grey. My review unit is the Black/Grey model, and it’s a stunner. The keyboard is evenly split across the middle using black and grey aluminum, with the sides of the keyboard having another mix of the two colors. It was clearly put together with bicolor aesthetics in mind.
This keyboard is heavy. Like some of the other aluminum keyboards I’ve reviewed as of late, namely the Epomaker TIDE75 and Chilkey ND75, it’s a keyboard that has quite a bit of heft and does not budge once you put it on your keyboard. Sixty-five keys be damned! That said, this keyboard feels great to use and maintains its strength even when forcefully pressing down on multiple keys. No wobble, no bendiness, nothing. It’s a solid keyboard that holds up well to quite a bit of pressure. My only concern is that on one side of my keyboard, one of the aluminum panels feels loose when I tap it, but I doubt that this minor defect will make its way to the general production line.
It’s becoming increasingly standard for mechanical keyboards to incorporate south-facing RBGs for the purposes of hot-swappability and compatibility with a multitude of keycaps and switches (namely Cerakey’s keycaps). Interestingly enough, the LOOP65 has a frame covering some of the LEDs that diffuses the lights in a soft fashion. When looking under and through the margins between keycaps, I can see oval-shaped cutout strips that cover the LEDs to ensure an even distribution of light. It’s quite nice once it’s properly lit.
As to the rest of the keyboard’s construction, I’m quite a dan of the Flex Cut FR4 Plate and its gasket mounting. The keyboard looks and sounds like a premium keyboard that is bound to impress, especially because it looks similar to a custom keyboard that I’ve seen folks put together online.
I love the LOOP65’s PBT keycaps. My variant of the LOOP65 features keycaps that shift from grey (on the left-hand side) to black (on the right-hand side). While the keycaps do not have shine-through legends, the keycaps look fantastic without the lights on. Once the RGBs come on, the lights illuminate through the margins. I’m used to PBT keycaps that are often several colors (incorporating accent colors on specific buttons), but not a set of keycaps that offer a gradient in an aesthetically pleasing fashion that spans the entire keyboard.
This keyboard comes with one set of switches, KIIBOOM’s Matcha Latte 2.0 switches. I’ve been informed that these switches have been upgraded, featuring a variety of operating force and an increased pre-travel. These switches are quite heavy thanks to their 45g operating force, and they offer a silky-smooth linear typing experience. My current daily driver keyboard utilizes Akko’s Creamy Yello Pro V3s, which have a slightly greater actuation force but a greater pre-travel, so the Matcha Lattes require a smidgen less force while activating slightly sooner. The Matcha Lattes are honestly a great switch for gaming (which I’ll talk about later in this review) because of their weight and pre-travel.
The Matcha Lattes sound delightful, too. These switches have a nice crispy poppiness that is only magnified by the keyboard’s construction. It could be the gasket mounting, it could be the aluminum, or it could be the multiple layers of foam in the keyboard. Heck, it could be a combination of all of these things. Either way, it’s not too loud.
The LOOP65 is KIIBOOM’s first keyboard featuring QMK/VIA compatibility…assuming you’re willing to make some tweaks and adjustments. If you’re familiar with my prior reviews of Epomaker’s TIDE75 and Shadow-S, I complained that I had to fiddle with multiple settings within VIA and import a unique .json file in order to get things up and running. While I would prefer it if a keyboard manufacturer has a universal driver for their entire hardware suite (think Turtle Beach’s SWARM II) if only for consistency’s sake, I can see that the TIDE75 has finally made its way into QMK’s wiki. This means that once this keyboard is out for the public, it might not require the workarounds involving importing .json files and finicking with VIA/QMK.
Like other keyboards I’ve reviewed so far this year, the LOOP65 features several elements that I now consider standard, such as multiconnectivity (connecting via Bluetooth, 2.4Ghz USB, and wired), NKRO anti-ghosting, and hot-swappable switches/keycaps. Nothing is out of the ordinary for this keyboard.
Instead, the keyboard is quite extraordinary for a 65% keyboard. Yes, it lacks function keys and a number pad. However, it does not conform to the typical layout that other 65% keyboards utilize that is unnecessarily cramped. Instead, it utilizes standard-sized keycaps with a good amount of space between each key. Also, the margins on the outside of the keyboard frame make it feel more like a 75% keyboard, making it an easy transition when downsizing. During my two weeks of heavy use with the LOOP65, it held up surprisingly well and got me used to a keyboard with fewer keys than I would prefer.
The hardest part of downsizing to a 65% keyboard is missing out on the additional buttons and the potentially smaller frame. The LOOP65 somehow manages to incorporate a 65% keyboard without compromising on space nor quality. It’s a truly excellent keyboard.
The Matcha Latte switches are also excellent for typing. The heavier spring (which determines the necessary force) helps in ameliorating the sensitivity of the switches, so it ends up being far less sensitive despite having a pre-travel of 1.6mm. From my experience, my fingers didn’t end up getting tired from over-exertion or, even worse, having to be too careful in order to not prematurely activate the key even when pressing slightly down.
I’m confident that the LOOP65 will hold up fine for most word processing and office needs. In testing this keyboard for my personal work needs (outside of writing reviews, of course), it ended up working quite well for most things. The lack of function keys sucks, of course, along with the lack of a number pad (which is also a knock against 75% keyboards), but the fact remains that most work these days involves alphanumeric keys and stability. The LOOP65 offers both in spades.
All right, now let’s transition to gaming. I mentioned at the top of this review that the Matcha Latte switches were excellent in striking the perfect balance of sensitivity and accuracy for inputs whilst gaming. I tested the LOOP65 in a variety of games (which is standard for our testing metrics, spanning lower intensity to higher intensity games) to gauge its fit.
On the higher intensity side, including games like ANGER FOOT, Counter-Strike 2, and VALORANT, the LOOP65 performed quite well. I had to reconfigure some keybindings that I had assigned to my function keys, but that was the only drawback. Thanks to the weight of the Matcha Latte switches and the layout of the keys on the LOOP65, I was easily able to play an FPS but with fewer keys.
For medium and lower-intensity games, namely Kitsune Tails, Gestalt: Steam & Cinder, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and Wizordum, the LOOP65 performed exceptionally well. The sounds of the keyboard were satisfying as I felt every single keypress. When playing games of lower intensity, I want my key presses to feel satisfying. Accuracy is less of a concern when it comes to these kinds of games – instead, it’s the experience. When using my LOOP65, I loved gaming on it.
If you’ve reached the end of this review and are asking yourself if you want to take the plunge to get a LOOP65, there are a few things to consider. The first hurdle is the potential downsizing from a 75% keyboard (which you might already be familiar with) to a 65% keyboard. Not having the function keys can be jarring, especially if you use those keys for day-to-day computing, let alone gaming. If you play a lifestyle game or an MMO with custom keybinds, you’ll most likely have to rebind the keys with a smaller layout. That, my friend, takes mental effort.
The second, and most important, thing to consider is the keyboard’s potential price. At this time, the LOOP65 is available for $159.99. For the sake of comparison, Chilkey’s ND75 is around $100, is a 75% keyboard, and includes a screen. The TIDE75 is slightly more expensive, going anywhere from $119 to $139. It’s going to be a hard sell to get folks on board with an aluminum keyboard of these specs at a higher price point, especially since this is a 65% keyboard. That being said, the LOOP65 is a worthy competitor given its acoustics, aesthetics, build quality, and size as a 65% keyboard.
KIIBOOM’s LOOP65 is a stunning 65% mechanical keyboard. Featuring a modular structure which incorporates gradient designs and full aluminum, it’s bar none my favorite 65% I have used to date.
