The following 8BitDo Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard – Xbox Edition kit was provided by the manufacturer for review.
Meet 8BitDo’s latest Xbox-branded kit—the “8BitDo 87 Mechanical Keyboard – Xbox Edition” is adjourned in a certain fan favourite colour scheme, complete with software macro support, bespoke Xbox features like the Xbox Nexus button, multiple connectivity types, and more all in this 87 key unit. I’ve spent the last week and a half with this keyboard at my primary desktop, typing away and smashing it to bit in games. There’s a lot to love in this medium-sized kit that harkens oh-so well to the Original XBox days as well as some caveats. Only one way to find out—time to go back a few generations! double shot meaning keycaps
Our Retro 87 Xbox kit comes in a hefty box along with a set of stickers, one month of PC Game Pass (new users only), a USB-C cable covered slathered in an acrylic Granny Smith green, a manual, a set of “Super Buttons”, and a 2.4GHz wireless adapter that sits within the keyboard. Besides the wrap it comes in, just about everything the Retro 87 ships in is recyclable—and to the blue bin the box went! I was a bit disappointed in the lack of a plastic cover and keycap & switch remover like other keyboards I’ve recently purchased and covered, but it’s no big deal. Other than that, the 8BitDo Retro 87 is ready to roll.
Getting to the keyboard, I really love the feel of it. The keycaps are as smooth as butter and positioning my hands on the F and J keys were no problem thanks to the height of the keyboard. While the device doesn’t have adjustable stands like most keyboards do, I had no issues getting my palms to rest at the base of the keyboard. On the Retro 87 itself we’ve got a few unique features that can also be set for use as macros, either directly from the keyboard or on the 8BitDo software that you can download from the company’s website. The Xbox Nexus will pull up the Xbox Game Bar overlay while other related function keys, such as recording and microphone toggling, are located on the earlier number keys. We’ve also got a connectivity and volume knob, the latter of which moves in increments of fours (changeable in software) and occasionally has a tendency to slip backwards. I also have to point out how much I love the RGBY-coloured directional keys, they accompany the overall system so well I’m half-tempted to rip ’em out and eat them. Yes, they look like candy, and I might just be a little nuts.
The Retro 87 is a mechanical keyboard and perhaps has some of the loudest switches I’ve ever seen a keyboard come with. The switches in particular are the clicky variant of the Kailh Jellyfish X, which are perfect for anyone looking for an audible and heavy tactile response from their button presses. If you’re going to use this keyboard in rhythm games, do keep in mind you’ll likely need to retrain your hearing so you’re not just playing to the tune of the pad. But one of the things I really love about the Retro 87 is the overall shape of the keyboard as I had no trouble adapting to its form factor across a multitude of games (Infinity Nikki, League of Legends, Civilization 5).
The keyboard also accepts input from just about any AUX-capable hardware via the back ABXY interface. The included Dual Super Buttons are one such kit you can plug into the back and set macros slash custom keys for in the 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2. I didn’t use this function all-too much, but I did contemplate turning them into potential Taikos. But while they are well-made, they likely wouldn’t survive me smashing them to bits.
The Retro 87 does have a stinger to keep in mind, however. One of the first things that really stood out to me was the brightness of the backlights. A problem with how the Retro 87 Xbox outputs its lights is that, under some lighting conditions, it can be really hard to see the keys on the keyboard. The light blends into the translucent shell, which looks nice if not impractical. Adjusting the backlight can be done on the keyboard itself, but at first, I couldn’t get it to work at first. I traced it down to Windows 11’s Dynamic Lighting making a mess of things, but after a bit of fiddling I got the keyboard to behave as it should. The company also sent me a copy of their latest beta software for use with the keyboard to mess with macros and custom key mappings.
In the software, you can adjust a number of behaviours related to Windows, macros, how much the volume knob moves, RGB effects and the like. You can also activate the on-board Super Buttons (listed as A and B on the keyboard) and set them to do whatever you so please. I did have issues getting my profile to active at times on the keyboard, but I chalked it up to beta software issues more than anything. Speaking of which, you can make plenty of profiles, but you’ll need to set the active one in the software followed by pressing the Star button by the knobs to activate it, just like on other 8BitDo hardware.
Despite my issues with the backlighting, the keyboard looks gorgeous once you’ve got a strobe effect going. The Retro 87 Keyboard makes the Original XBox colour scheme shine like no other.
The 8BitDo Retro 87 Xbox Edition is a solid kit and, like other 8BitDo devices, has plenty of features both software and on the hardware. The shell and casing of the keyboard is beautiful, and the smoothness of the keycaps makes it really pleasant to type. This keyboard works across PC and Android devices thanks to Bluetooth, 2.4GHz, and wired capabilities, but do note that it does work on an Xbox console in wired mode. But all of its features would be lost as they are not compatible with the console. Besides that, it’s a beautiful (beauty is to the eye of the beholden!) and powerful keyboard, one that has unseated my Logitech keyboard for the foreseeable future.
UPDATE: Added cleaner pictures and spruced up the main display.
The 8BitDo Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard – Xbox Edition is available for pre-order via Amazon.com (US/UK) as well as other countries via 8BitDo’s official eShop. The keyboard goes for $119.99 USD, before taxes and shipping.
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