Yunzii Z98 Pro Keyboard (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review

Name: Yunzii Z98 Pro Keyboard
Item: Yunzii Z98 Pro Keyboard
Rating: 9
Author: Chary

Product Information:

Official Store: https://www.yunzii.com/en-ca/products/kzzi-z98-pro

Quirky meets quality with this interesting keyboard.

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When you're tired of the regular samey keyboards on the market, sometimes you just want something different. Something that spices things up in the most "out there" way possible. That's what the Yunzii Z98 offers--an all-shiny, all-plastic case, with a retro keycap style, in a curious gradient of colors. How does such an oddity stack up once the initial fun factor wears off?

Upon taking the Yunzii Z98 out of the box, I was at a loss for words, initially. The case is the absolutely shiniest plastic I've ever come across in my life, with chrome accents on the sides, which stand out weirdly. The whole keyboard is very rounded, from the soft-edged keycaps, to the round OLED screen in the top right corner. Instead of a traditional volume knob, you get a little lever you can click up and down to set as a hotkey. The color scheme of the keyboard is in a league of its own; the case switches between cream and purple multiple times, while the keycaps are a mix of cream with brown font, purple with yellow lettering, and a darker shade of purple. It's such a mishmash of styles, and I'm not even sure if it works, in terms of design.

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At the very least, the Z98 is incredibly unique, and it absolutely becomes the eye-catching centerpiece of your desk. If you're looking for something quirky, this is most certainly it. While I felt its looks were bizarre at first, the design has come to grow on me after having it on my desk for a while--something about it harkens back to the early 2000s, where everything had gradients and was overdesigned. I kind of love it. It even has an extra USB port on the front, so you can hook your mouse/extra peripheral up to it--retro indeed.

The Z98 adds to the retro aesthetic by rocking KSA style keycaps--most commonly seen on oldschool keyboards from back in the day. It's a fun, uncommon style to see, though the typing experience is a little marred by just how slippery and glossy the keycaps are. The board itself is hotswappable, coming in prebuilt with either Yunzii's unnamed linear or tactile switches. It's odd that the switches go unspecified on the product page, since they're a highlight of the keyboard, offering a surprisingly smooth, pre-lubed typing experience.

With an appearance so weird, I wasn't prepared for the Z98 to be so well-made internally. There's lots of case foam, and the board is gasket-mounted. Yunzii did an outstanding job with the build quality, giving a bouncy typing feel that works well in tandem with the switches. There's no modding you need to do to get the Z98 to sound good--it comes near-perfect out of the box, a rarity for a lot of pre-builts.

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You can connect the keyboard in a variety of ways, wired, dongle wireless, or Bluetooth, with compatibility for macOS as well. It's very versatile, up to the task for just about any use case. It is a bit of a shame that the battery doesn't last as long as one would hope--you get about less than a week per full charge, possibly because it has RGBs and an OLED screen that it needs to power. The customizable screen is cute and yet another novelty, but the RGB lighting is unimpressive to say the least; the keycaps are so thick and wide that you can barely see any RGB effects at all.

As ridiculous as it is, the Yunzii Z98 has a lot of charm. Underneath the quirky appearance it has, is an incredibly nice build for both gaming and typing. Priced at just over $100, Yunzii offers a pre-built with such quality that it outclasses most other keyboards in that budget range, on top of being full of weird personality. It's a fun, unique design that I could see a lot of keyboard enthusiasts enjoying.

Verdict

What We Liked ...

Shockingly good value for your money
The OLED screen is fun
Impressive sound profile and gasket mounted experience
Lots of connectivity options

What We Didn't Like ...

Its looks are divisive
Weak battery

out of 10

Overall

Reactions: SAIYAN48, wilburie and Error-1-2435-8325

trepp0
Oct 23, 2023

Got a link to buy?

Scarlet
Oct 24, 2023

trepp0 said:
Got a link to buy?

With hardware reviews there's usually a link in the "Product Information" box. If you're on desktop it's at the top-right of the review. If you're on mobile I think it gets put under the review (maybe under the comments too?).

That keyboard looks cool! I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

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