[section_title title=”Impressions”]Impressions
There are a few criteria I feel mechanical keyboards need to meet as a luxury item so to keep things relatively concise I will split this page up into the following sections: build quality, feature set and performance.
Build Quality:
High build quality is something we all expect from our mechanical keyboards and I especially expect excellence from Mionix products in terms of materials and fit and finish. Suffice to say  I was not disappointed in the slightest. The Zibal 60 is an absolutely gorgeous bit of kit with its matte black finish and green LED backlighting.
The first thing I like to do with a new keyboard is give it a flex test which involves picking it up in both hands and contorting it in various directions to see how solid it feels in hand. The Zibal 60 passed with flying colours here, it feels very solid and durable.
Next up is a general look around and the keyboard is completely gorgeous, the matte black finish oozes quality and the panel gap all around the keyboard is consistent so there are no complaints I can make about the general feel of the keyboard.
The only thing I will say is that the fold out feet could be better in the sense that they lack a definite ‘snap’ to them and also it would be nice if they had rubberised tips as this would help the keyboard to not move around as much on more slippery surfaces like wooden desks.
Feature Set
Now the feature set is a bit of a mixed bag with the Zibal 60, on the one hand we have a USB/Audio hub and a full backlight but on the other hand we have no macro keys and no dedicated media keys.
It ultimately all comes down to what you require from your keyboard, the Zibal 60 is intentionally simple in its aesthetics and looks superb without and extra buttons hanging off the side of the keyboard, the flipside being it won’t cut the mustard for those who are more interested in flashy designs with plenty of buttons.
For me personally I’d say the Zibal 60 needs to go one more and ditch that USB/Audio hub and the huge umbilical cord of a USB lead is requires and leave the Zibal 60 as a no-frills, high quality mechanical keyboard for those who prefer the stealthy neutral looks.
Performance:
Normally when it comes to judging a keyboard on performance it will always come down to switch preference and with most mechanical keyboards coming in more than one switch type my verdict would tend to hinge on other factors in the design. The Zibal 60 however only has the MX Blacks as an option so I feel it’s more appropriate to talk about the performance in a more conventional fashion.
For those who don’t know, MX Blacks are one of the older cherry switches, like reds they have a linear travel but they have a much stiffer spring at 60CN of actuation force versus 45CN. What this translates to is that it takes a fair bit more effort to press a black switch than it does a red which means that in my opinion blacks don’t really excel in any area. Reds are good for gaming because the low actuation force makes them easier to press rapidly and for long durations, the opposite is true with blacks however due to the high actuation force
As I said in gaming I found the blacks to be less than ideal as the linear travel combined with the high weight means you get a drastic reduction in the speed of which you can repeat movements compared to a red or a brown switch for example. Depending on the user you may also find that in prolonged play you may even develop some fatigue/cramp which is obviously less than ideal. Some RTS players like blacks because the deliberate nature of their use means it’s hard to perform erroneous keystrokes; nonetheless I still don’t consider MX blacks a viable choice for a gaming keyboard.
For the same reasons as above I didn’t really think much of the Zibal 60 when it came to typing, the high actuation force left me with noticeably slower typing and even some hand fatigue when typing for extended sessions. The conclusion to draw here for the performance is that I personally don’t like Cherry MX Blacks, and given they are the only available option for the Zibal 60, I can’t consider it to be a top notch performer. At the end of the day if you like MX Blacks, you’ll love this keyboard; if you don’t it isn’t going to change your mind.
