OwLab is known for its premium enthusiast DIY mechanical keyboards, like the $499 PT750, with sister company Qwertykeys bringing up the rear with midrange enthusiast DIY kits. Now, however, OwLab has announced a new sub-brand called Ticktype, which appears to fill the pre-built keyboard niche. While the new keyboard brand has only just been given a name, two keyboards that previously fell under the Qwertykeys brand, the Evo75 and Evo80, will now be sold under Ticktype. That said, Ticktype has also debuted the DP104, a new full-size wireless mechanical keyboard that takes inspiration from retro gaming—much like the QK65 MK3 we covered recently—and the custom mechanical keyboard scene, but with the benefits of a pre-built keyboard.

The Tick type DP104, aside from being a full-size mechanical keyboard with a proper num pad and an aluminium case, boasts a number of features that make it both fun to use and easy to mod for beginners just looking at their first mechanical keyboard. For starters, the DP104 has a quick-release ball-catch top case, meaning the top case releases by applying only a little pressure in the correct direction, allowing you full access to the keyboard's interior for stuff like modifications, cleaning, or changing out the gasket mounting system for something stiffer or with more give. The other neat feature is the colorful "interactive pixel display" located above the num pad. This small landscape display can be used for fun features, like the reactive fireworks mode, real-time typing mode, and an "audio reactive mode" that displays an equalizer that reacts to nearby sounds, or you can make it display keyboard status, like battery charge, OS mode, the time, and caps lock status. The DP104 also has a customizable RGB light bar and two volume control buttons just above the arrow keys.
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