If you haven’t yet heard of Kiiboom’s lineup of keyboards, let this review of the Phantom 81 V2 signal that they’re in it to make some stellar, well-constructed, and flat-out gorgeous mechanical keyboards for players and office workers. I loved using the Phantom 81 V2, and I’m sure that you will, too.
It’s not often I see an entirely clear mechanical keyboard. Heck, clear cases for my devices and peripherals are far too rare these days, barring a handful of PC cases that cost an arm and a leg while looking amazing when equipped with equally expensive LED-adorned internals. I remember when my old Game Boys came in crystal-clear cases, giving me a glimpse into its techy insides. That clear aesthetic gave my favorite handhelds a unique look, reminding me that the technology powering my favorite games was little more than a simple motherboard, copper wire, and silicon. Perhaps it was another material, I don’t know. I didn’t go to school for math.
When I took KiiBOOM’s Phantom 81 V2 out of the box, I was flabbergasted. The pictures on KiiBOOM’s website did not do the keyboard justice in how cool it looked. Despite having a soft aesthetic thanks to its rounded keycaps and frame, I could see inside of it from all angles. When the lights were off, I could see where each LED was positioned. On the keyboard’s underside, I could see the Phantom 81 V2’s motherboard in its retro glory. When the lights were on, it looked incredible.
Let me pause there before I get ahead of myself and dive into this review.
KiiBOOM’s Phantom 81 V2 is the upgraded version of its Phantom 81, which was originally released last year. This version of the Phantom 81 is vastly improved, featuring a new polycarbonate plate to complement its gasket mount system. It also features new packing with pearl cotton velvet, a steel plate satellite axis, and contains a double-layer under-shaft pad.
The rest of the Phantom 81 V2’s features were initially present in its prior iteration, spanning from its south-facing LEDs, multiconnectivity (2.4GHz, Bluetooth, and Wired), hot-swappable switches and keycaps, aluminum volume knob, along with a 4000mAh battery. The original variant is no longer in stock, so don’t feel like you’re missing out. The Phantom 81 V2 is a looker.
Just about everything on the keyboard is transparent, spanning from its acrylic case, its crystal switches (unique to KiiBOOM), and its keycaps. The crystal keycaps are a variant of the SA profile keycaps (KiiBOOM calls them “ASA”) that look similar to Cherry MX style caps but are far taller, rising above the keyboard frame to look as through they’re resting on the frame rather than being embedded within its acrylic housing. With everything being crystal clear, the keyboard lights up in every direction, be it under the clear switches to the side of the keyboard, too.
I wasn’t onboard with the idea of a truly transparent keyboard until I had it on my desk and was using it for several days. Despite the keycaps being clear, I could still see the keycaps’ legends even when the LEDs were fluctuating and shifting colors. Having the ability to customize the side lights with a simple FN+P made it so that I could customize my keyboard’s aesthetic in truly unique ways.
I put this keyboard through the ringer, attempting to get it dirty from normal wear-and-tear. Usually, clear accessories tend to become cloudy and smudged after a small amount of use – not this keyboard. The smallest amount of oiliness that came from my fingers ended up on a handful of keys but could effortlessly be wiped away. Somehow, the keycaps felt quite durable, too. No wobble. No weird bending. It was all solid acrylic.
In my earlier review of Melgeek’s CYBER01, I commented that the transparent keycaps combined with its yellow accent colors might be offputting to players. For the Phantom 81 V2, the transparent aesthetic is implemented quite well by utilizing black legends so that the LEDs in the keyboard can properly illuminate every aspect of the keyboard. It really is astounding when you turn on the keyboard for the first time and see shimmering lights emerge from just about every nook and cranny, all the way down to the motherboard.
Before I pivot away from the Phantom 81 V2’s transparency, I want to comment on the heaviness of this keyboard. Thanks to the acrylic frame, this keyboard is very heavy – almost as heavy as the all-aluminum Chilkey ND75. The Phantom 81 V2 weighs around 3lbs, making it hard to move around the desk. Despite it having a battery for the potential of wirelessness and portability, I don’t see it as something that I plan on taking out of my office if I wanted to work elsewhere. I’m sure some folks might want to show this keyboard off in its delightfully crystal-clear glory at a keyboard meetup, but this is a moderately hefty keyboard.
Let’s say you’re not a fan of the keycaps or switches – it’s okay if you’re not. It’s entirely possible to swap out the keycaps and switches of this keyboard for something closer to your liking. When I tested pulling out the keycaps (for the purpose of science), the switch and keycap would pop off together, requiring me to pull the switch and keycap apart. This method of removing keycaps is slightly concerning, as removing and reinserting switches requires a good amount of precision to ensure that the pins aren’t bent beyond repair. All of the keycaps I tried removing came out in this fashion. If you’re planning on removing the keycaps, you’ll most likely have to reinsert the switch after removing the keycap; be careful!
The Phantom 81 V2 uses KiiBOOM’s own Crystal Switches. These are linear switches, with a fair amount of total travel (~3.60mm) and a slightly low pre-travel (~1.6mm). For reference, I usually prefer ~2.0mm of pre-travel to minimize false inputs. The Crystal Switches didn’t feel as sensitive as I would expect from a sub-2.0mm of pre-travel, but I may be desensitized from my most recent magnetic keyboard review (where I brought the actuation point down to ~1.5mm). Either way, these switches feel quite smooth, no complaints or concerns other than how they pop out with the keycaps. I know that other crystal clear switches exist on the market from AKKO and Zeal. I cannot comment on their compatibility with KiiBOOM’s Phantom 81 V2 other than the keyboard should work with 3/5-pin mechanical switches. Contact KiiBOOM if you’re planning on swapping out the switches, just for safety.
I absolutely loved typing on the Phantom 81 V2. Aside from the smoothness of how the switches felt and sounded, the keycaps were positioned in such a way that nothing felt cramped. Yes, this is an 81-key keyboard, yet every key felt reachable. I can attribute some of this ergonomic comfort to the keyboard’s angle (that cannot be adjusted, sorry folks) along with the higher-than-normal-height keycaps. As I mentioned earlier in this review, there’s very little wobble in each of the keys, meaning that the keyboard feels quite stable to type on. Pressing down on multiple keys didn’t make the keyboard give out, either. It’s an entirely stable mechanical keyboard that’s a joy to type with.
The Phantom 81 V2’s polycarbonate plate, which is new to this variant of the Phantom 81, helped make the keyboard sound like a cross between thocky and delicate. Very little clackiness. The sounds that come from the keyboard skew louder than I’ve reviewed in the past, but they’re still soft thanks to the new plate. KiiBOOM claims that the sound is soft and cushy, which I mostly agree with. When typing faster the acoustics skew slightly sharp, but most won’t get to that point unless you type quickly.
Before I pivot to this keyboard’s gaming potential, here are my final thoughts on using this keyboard for general purpose typing and day-to-day office work. It is an excellent compliment to my desk thanks to its sturdiness, and its crystal-clear aesthetic adds an incredible splash of color that I have not seen on my desk before today. Having the knob is a nice touch, meaning that I could control the volume and play/pause whatever I’m listening to without needing to input multiple button presses. It’s a fantastic keyboard, through and through.
When testing a mechanical keyboard’s fit for PC players like you and I, I often subject it to games of varying intensity. Click here (or here) for more information on the types of games I use for these types of reviews.
My initial thoughts on this keyboard skewed toward the idea that this keyboard is good for most games thanks for its relatively low pre-travel switches and well-positioned keycaps. After my testing, my gut instincts turned out to be correct.
When testing low-intensity games, such as Stardew Valley, Civilization, Teamfight Tactics, and The Detective Reaper Invites, the Phantom 81 V2 proved to work and feel excellent. Since I’m making less inputs, each one should feel impactful and sound satisfying. While the switches were linear (rather than tactile), this keyboard worked well enough to be an easy recommendation for casual players. Medium-intensity games, like Astral Ascent, Wizordum, and League of Legends, fared exceptionally well. Repeated keypresses yielded accurate inputs despite nearly button-mashing into oblivion.
Finally, let’s chat high-intensity games, namely VALORANT, Starfield, and Counter-Strike 2. This keyboard fared moderately well in my testing. While the usual mechanical switches sufficed, they’re no magnetic switches that can utilize rapid-trigger and the other fancy features. That said, the relatively sensitive pre-travel made is so that I could keep myself alive and pick opponents off one by one. I’m not a pro-FPS player, but if I can maintain a relatively positive (well, even) KDA using this keyboard, you should not have much of an issue with this keyboard, either.
One of my final concerns about this keyboard is its keyboard driver. The KiiBOOM driver is set up similar to Epomaker’s driver, meaning that I could customize the individual LEDs along with setting up macros. I was also able to access LED-layouts that other users have shared. Oddly enough, the designs shared by other users were less vibrant (almost all pastel) compared to the default color schemes that were embedded within the keyboard. It could be that the previous Phantom 81 designs shared by users utilize a different set of LEDs, but it felt weird to get pastel colors from the community when the previews skewed into deeper color territories. Also, the current version of the KiiBOOM driver does not allow me to change the color of the keyboard’s side lights, which is moderately frustrating. Luckily that’s an easy button press (e.g., FN+P), but it would be nice to change the colors of the side lights using the driver.
If you haven’t yet heard of KiiBOOM’s lineup of keyboards, let this review of the Phantom 81 V2 signal that they’re in it to make some stellar, well-constructed, and flat-out gorgeous mechanical keyboards for players and office workers. I loved using the Phantom 81 V2, and I’m sure that you will, too.
A review unit of the Phantom 81 V2 was provided by KiiBOOM for the purpose of this review. As of writing, the keyboard is available for pre-order.
