Iain 06/06/2025
I came looking for Topre and left with Niz!
I've tried a fair few boards in my time. God knows how many appalling office and gaming boards from the usual suspects, but also some truly great boards (supplied by the Keyboard Company), over the course of more than a decade. I think I can count four Filco's, A Topre Realforce, and now, a Niz in that list.
To start with the conclusion, I absolutely love the Niz. The typing experience is significantly nicer than I remember the Topre being, and it has all the benefits of being a more studio-useful tool (reprogrammable, easily-swappable keycaps, fast speeds for gaming etc). The Niz is hands-down my favourite typing experience on any sort of board (that lovely, weird bubbling sound!), and it makes for a superb gaming keyboard too.
The currently reduced price seems to be pretty good, but I'd be less happy if I'd paid full price. This keyboard is heavy and sturdy, but it ain't no Filco (those things are MUCH heavier and sturdier). For example, on the Niz, LEDs bleed into each other slightly, and the transparent switch housing means that there's some additional light pollution showing under the adjacent keys. It's absolutely NOT a deal-breaker, but Filco have this sorted. Similarly, the Niz's extendable feet are definitely the worst feature of the board. For some strange reason, they're made from a transparent plastic. The material used seems sturdy enough, but it looks cheap, and when you push the board back to make room for a sheet of paper etc, the feet judder and chatter loudly. It's a surprisingly unpleasant experience! Again, it's NOT a deal-breaker, but Filco brilliantly solved this issue over a decade ago.
Other niggles include a missing rubber foot (I found it in the box and stuck it back on...), and a garbage reprograming app. Actually, that really is a bad feature of the board. The Niz can be reprogrammed extensively, but finding and then identifying the correct version of the app is genuinely tricky. Then you have to locate the manual, which seems to be available only as an MS Word document, with no alternative PDF version that I could find. It's a bad experience for the customer, and just comes across as minimal effort on the part of Niz.
Back onto the good stuff again... The double-shot keycaps are actually really nice. Much better than the standard ones supplied with a Filco. The board has an easily detachable USB-C cable, and this was a huge incentive for me when buying. I can now quickly swap between my PC and Mac. I'll take that over the pain of Bluetooth any day.
Overall then, the Niz is my top choice for a keyboard. I'd choose it over any of my previous board (despite the niggles I've note above). I've no idea about the long term reliability of Niz boards, but I have high hopes... because I like it so much!
