Ferrule 75
The one I recommend without caveats.
8.5/10$89
10 boards · all bought at retail
Every keyboard tested
Every mechanical keyboard tested here, 10 in total — bought at retail, used for weeks, measured the same way. Including the ones that were sent back.
10 shown
Castor 65
A gasket mount at this price.
8.2/10$79
Quarry TKL
Boring in the way good tools are boring.
7.9/10$72
Tessera TKL
The sound is the whole point.
7.5/10$84
Meridian 96
A numpad without the desk footprint.
7.4/10$95
Aperture 61
The stabilisers let it down.
6.9/10$45
Vellum TKL
Good board, bad firmware.
6.7/10$68
Sable 104
A full-size that does not feel cheap.
6.4/10$58
Drift 64
Cheap, loud, and honest about it.
4.8/10$22
Palisade 75
Returned it after nine days.
4.4/10$64
Nothing matches those filters. That is a real answer — there is no board here that fits.
By size
Compact (60–65%)
No function row. The smallest boards that are still usable for daily work.
3 testedcompact
Mid-size (75–96%)
A function row and usually arrows, without a numpad taking up desk width.
3 testedmid
TKL and full-size
Everything present. The default shape, and still the easiest to live with.
4 testedfull