Ask Lemmy

You could just turn it off? Mine can make an animated rainbow, sure, but I can also just set it to mono-color for some backlight or altogether off.
Given that it cost me about 300RMB, the savings for no RGB were negligible.

I am very late to the party but a friend gave me one of these. Better than any keyboard I have ever had and I'm an old bastard.

https://mistelkeyboard.com/products/aff922daf90083d4382a8e6583885571

You can absolutely get non-RGB mechanical keyboards, but depending on if you mean completely non-backlit keyboards or single color backlit keyboards determines how hard it is to find. If you want non-backlit, its easy, you see them all over the place. If you want single color, your choice is highly limited. mechanicalkeyboards.com has some from Vortex, Varmilo, and KBParadise.

TL;DR: Check out the KeyChron K3 V2 Non-Backlight edition. Decent quality, inexpensive, no lights, and no knowledge required.

ZSA make good stuff, sell it at reasonable prices, provide incredible support, and give a shit about artists/humans/the world. Any time mechanical keyboards are mentioned I feel compelled to inject their name into the conversation. I've owned a Moonlander for a while now and I have nothing but good things to say about it. I'd recommend the ZSA Voyager for someone checking out not shitty keyboards for the first time.

With that out of the way: it's tough to find a lightless mech keyboard these days because backlights make sense and, so long as you're putting lights behind keycaps, you might as well use full color range LEDs and let the user set a low brightness white color or turn them off if they don't care for it. Some companies make non-backlight versions (KeyChron's K series for instance) but they're a rarity. Why produce and stock inventory that's not moving?

I recommend doing some research on how mechanical keyboards are built (watch a 10 minute video on the internet) and then using RTINGS' keyboard table for some comparison shopping. You're looking for a well rated keyboard with hot swappable PCBs designed to accommodate south-facing LEDs (they point down - less bright). One of the advantages of going mechanical is customization. Don't want the LEDs at all? Remove them from your build. Even without PCB hot swapping: no one will stop you desoldering LEDs from your keyboard.

Building out something like a Gem80 from NuPhy or a 60HE from Wooting will net you a high quality mechanical keyboard that won't get in your way but is customizable enough for you to avoid RGB-induced eye sores.

Almost all RGB keyboards have a switch to turn off the lighting since some people have their computers in their bedrooms.

Akko has good ones. They are relatively cheap, but expect to spend ~90 euros on a full sized 110 key keyboard. I like akko cos they genuinely look good, no need for RGB.

Build your own how you like it.
You can almost choose like Legos.

I'd be happy with a keyboard deeper than the apparent 1mm the junk is going with.

As a bonus, one that's easier to vacuum for cat hair and similar detritus.

As a second bonus, one I can frustratingly pound when fingers/coding are betraying me. I will never manage that anger.

Then look for mechanical keyboards instead of gaming keyboards.

Go with the originals. Cherry, das keyboard, unicomp. Even Logitech has backlit but non-rgb lights.

Personally I'm using a Filco Majestouch.

Did Das Keyboard go RGB? That’s a (pricey) but great keyboard.

E: just had a quick look. Still expensive, backlit but not RGB, full keyboard. We’ve had one for a decade.

The Logitech K845 only has a white backlight. It's a really clean, professional looking mechanical.

HHKB could be an option or not i use a laptop's keyboard as a main.

WASD Keyboards