A ‘sleeper car’ blends into traffic but hides a roaring engine under the hood. The NJ80 might be called a sleeper keyboard. Most of the time I’ve been using the NJ80-AP, I’ve been switching between two Bluetooth devices and one on 2.4 G mode. The only issue I had with the switching was one time I forgot I had turned the keyboard off, so it took me a minute to realize why it wasn’t connecting. I had no issue with unexpected repeated letters while typing or any issue with using the WASD keys to move in games. Regardless of the connection type, everything was as good as when using a wired mechanical keyboard. Speaking of which, the bronze coloration of the brass plate also doesn’t really bode well for sharp, punchy lighting. It does affect the purity of the RGB lighting, which is a slight bummer, but you can easily adjust to it. Like what I have here on my Keydous NJ80 is a slightly bluish white light, which involves me compensating on the blue channel to overcome the yellowish hue that the plate brings to the table. If you really fancy your RGB, you might want to go with the steel plate option, which is painted in white. Apart from using the software, there’s a whole host of functions you can use to change into different lighting modes on the NJ80. Curiously, some models seem to be missing the ‘sleep’ function. WIFI signal interferes with Bluetooth signal to some extent, so bluetooth receiver cannot be too close to WIFI signal source.

You can configure the Keydous NJ80 in four switch options out of the factory: Gateron Pro Browns, Milky Yellows, TTC Gold Pinks, and Speed Silvers. This is a pretty healthy variety of switches that offers different enough typing experiences that would make most people happy. The fact that much more expensive, mass-market keyboards have worse feeling space bars shows the care Keydous put into perfecting each NJ80 they make. Software Use the FN key in combination with other keys to switch between Bluetooth, 2.4g, and wired mode, adjust volume, mute, and perform other functions. Keydous claims the NJ80’s 4800mAh battery offers up to 28 hours of battery life with RGB on, and up to 90 hours with the RGB lighting off. In my testing, I didn’t find any reason to refute Keydous’ claims, as I never had the NJ80 die on me when I was using it.On the inside, we have the keyboard wrapped in soft plastic. If you were hoping to get some PE foam to mod your keyboard with, you might be disappointed. Under the keyboard there are alternative keycaps, for you to turn the Keydous NJ80 into a Mac keyboard, or just change up the style with different colored keycaps. Previously, I saw some people mentioning that they got their Keydous NJ80 with a second volume knob, but I didn’t get one with mine. The first thing I did was to reassign the Del key as a PrtSc key, so I am a happy camper. For the record, the default hotkey for PrtScr is Fn+P. So there technically is a PrtScr button on the Keydous NJ80. You can also assign shortcuts and macros to key combos involving the modifiers, and the macro recording portion actually works pretty well. However the key assignment could probably be better if you can assign it to have a secondary function when pressed along with a modifier key.

Open the keyboard power switch, short press FN+44 key light flashing, and insert the receiver into the computer USB port. Turn left to decrease volume and turn right to increase volume. Press down to mute and press again to restore volume. On the software side, the NJ80 uses Keydous’ proprietary software for all customization features. You are able to remap the main key layer along with one extra layer, however, your options on remapping are pretty limited; plus, there are no media keys. Moreover, you can record macros—which is always nice to see. Then again, if you want to go for a completely different switch type, it’s entirely possible as the NJ80 is fully hot-swappable! You can fit any 2-pin switch you want, so the customization potential of this keyboard is very good. StabilizersThe full ABS plastic body of the Keydous NJ80 comes with one color option: off-white. This gives the keyboard a pretty distinct retro vibe that I’m very much a fan of. But I understand if not everyone is a fan of the yellow space bar, baby blue escape key, and gold volume knob.

While you might be tempted to use the Keydous NJ80 without a USB connection to your PC, you actually need one, if you want to customize the keyboard via the software. The software is very limited, with most of the options available on the keyboard itself, but you can reassign all the keys on the Keydous NJ80, with the exception of the volume knob and Fn key. The volume knob can only adjust the volume and mute it with a press.

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The NJ80 is a 75% layout keyboard with an aluminum knob, a layout that is still pretty rare for a pre-built keyboard, especially at its price range. The NJ80 has some useful function key shortcuts included. Pressing Fn+1/2/3 cycles through Bluetooth Modes, and Fn+4 switches the keyboard to the 2.4Ghz connection. Fn+5 enters the keyboard into both Bluetooth and 2.4Ghz modes. Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. The Caps indicator is a case-sensitive indicator. You can use the FN+ Caps command to change the color of the indicator, but it does not participate in the indicator effect.