by Tony Thomas
The Dierya DK61E (also known as Kemove DK61E—the name of the parent company) is an affordable 60% mechanical keyboard that features a fairly standard layout, RGB back lighting, PBT double-shot key caps, hot-swappable Gateron optical switches, a IPX4 certified water-resistant circuit board, and down-loadable editing software.
Its compact form factor takes up very little desk real estate and facilitates easier access to your mouse than larger keyboards. I bought the wired version, although a Bluetooth version (DK61 PRO) is also available at a slightly higher price. I initially tried that version but experienced battery charging issues and returned it.
The DK61E build quality is solid for a keyboard that typically costs around $50. It sports a USB C jack and comes with a nice cloth-wrapped USB cable, key cap puller, switch puller, operation guide and a few extra switch samples (I received one brown switch and one blue switch—both tactile switches). The case is flex-free plastic and it has a bit of heft for a keyboard of that size. I received one brown switch and one blue switch. The software is available for download of the Keymove/Dierya web site.
The version that I bought has black PBT keycaps and Gateron optical brown switches that have a subtle tactile “bump” without the clicky sound of blue switches. Versions with blue, black, and red switches are also available. I found the keyboard to be very pleasant to type on and pretty low noise since I type lightly and don't tend to “bottom out” the switches. If you are a heavier typist, you will hear a low frequency “clack”.
The stabilizers are pretty nice for such a low priced keyboard and I suspect they are factory lubricated and clipped. Although the switches are hot-swappable, you are limited to using Gateron optical switches only. MX compatible switches from companies such as Cherry, Gateron, Kailh, etc. will not work. That said, you can find a pretty wide variety of Gateron aftermarket optical switches in blue, red, brown, black, and silver.
As with most 61 key mechanical keyboards, there are no dedicated arrow keys, so you have to use the function key along with the adjacent CTL, menu, ALT, and ?/ keys to access the arrow keys.
The function keys, navigation keys, delete key, and multimedia keys also reside on the function layer. The RGB lighting effects are very impressive and there are a variety to chose from. You can also edit them via the available software. The keycaps are see though and my biggest criticism of them is that the legends for the function layer are not that visible without ample ambient light.
In summary, the Dierya DK61 is an impressive budget mechanical keyboard that will serve both gamers and typists quite well. I really love mine and find myself using it often.
