TH40

I have my TH40 now for like 1,5 months and I really love it! I spend 4 days figuring out the perfect layout when it comes to programming the 4 layers. I did that before the keyboard arrived, so I could set it up right away. It took me a few minutes to get the VIA software to work and recognize my keyboard. But it worked like a charm.

I also ordered some keycaps on which I put all the layers as seen in the pictures attached. And before they arrived, I used kiiboom transparent keycaps, also seen in the pictures.

As for the size of the keyboard. I can easily bring it in my bag. Usually I put it in the original box when traveling. The box is as long as an A4 sheet of paper (27.9cm), which is convenient.

At first it was weird to have no number row. your fingers usually feel the number row with the tip. But I got used really quick. When typing on a "normal" keyboard, I misstype a lot at first, because I got used to the TH40.

The only thing I miss when I use it at work, is the fact that I have to press an fn button for quick use of arrows or numpad, which are on layer 2 and 3. But even that is quickly saved in the muscle memory and goes correct blindly.

I did not try to take it apart and I am not going to as well. I am happy with how it is. I swapped the switches with the Sea Salt Silent V3, which make the keyboard really silent.

I don't know if I can add a youtube url later, but I took video's when I just had the keyboard and the whole setting up part as well, so that might follow in the near future.

I hope Epomaker will make more compact keyboards (Epomaker Carbon40 hint hint)

Conclusion : I am very happy with the keyboard. Out of the box, the layers are far from optimal, but with a little tweaking it's an overcomplete beast of a keyboard packed in something way smaller.

I’m satisfied.

Shrinking the keyboard was the whole point of this, but putting the ?/ key on the right side, or choosing not to make modifier keys and keys like enter smaller to fit important characters on the first layer may not have been the best choice. It's also more difficult to take apart thanks to a clip design without screws that could make modifying or replacing the battery difficult. The fact that it only comes with linear switches was also a pain. Customization is possible on Via, but more complicated and sometimes requires page refreshes to get it working. It's definitely not a bad 40%, and it's incredibly compact and easy to slide into a bag. But a few design decisions made it less muscle-memory friendly

I bought this because I was interested in minimalist keyboard layouts. I was surprised at how much I came to enjoy so few keys but with the use of layers I still have all the inputs I want. As I'm not too technologically skilled, I had some problems getting the JSON to work with VIA mainly due to my own lack of knowledge, but was easy once I finally understood. I was able to remap the keys to my own preferences. I also like the feel and sound when typing. Overall it's been a great board except twice I randomly lost connectivity (turning it off and on again got it working) and I'd like there to be some type of dongle storage built in so that it doesn't get lost.

Really like the feel and size of the keyboard, as well as the typing experience. I cannot get the VIA app working however, and the proposed solution of downloading the latest firmware isn't possible because there's no file for Mac, only an EXE. If a firmware update for Mac would be available, this would be a 5 star review easily.