INTRODUCTION

    No matter how much everything has advanced in the PC industry two of the most favored peripherals seem to have remained pretty much the same over the years and yes, I am referring to the keyboard and mouse. Mechanical switches, wireless connectivity and A/RGB lighting may have made their way in both of these input devices thus adding to their durability, versatility and looks but I've always felt there's more room for improvement, especially in terms of design. This is where manufacturers like Epomaker come in and today with me I have one of their best-selling models to date, the Brick 87 TKL Triple Mode Mechanical Keyboard.

    Epomaker is short for Epoch of Makers. We are committed to providing feature-packed keyboards with affordable pricing that ships worldwide. Our goals for our keyboards are three things: customizability, affordability, and high standards. Composed of gamers, software engineers, product designers, and mechanical keyboard enthusiasts, we were inspired to create our own line of keyboards to share with the world. We wanted to make mechanical keyboards accessible to everyone. Our company is heavily dedicated towards our community - without their feedback and suggestions, this keyboard would have not been a reality. Thank you!

    The Brick 87 is a tenkeyless (88-keys) mechanical keyboard which offers both wired (USB) and wireless (2.4GHz & Bluetooth) connectivity thus allowing it to be used in many different scenarios. It's available in 4 different color combinations (grey green / grey pink / white purple / clear black), 4 different types of 3/5-pin hot swappable mechanical switches (Epomaker peace Lilly / Epomaker flamingo / Epomaker wisteria / Gateron pro yellow 2.0) and also features per-key RGB lighting (22 effects), dual scroll wheels (volume/backlight), stackable block bar, N-key rollover (NKRO), built-in 3000mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery, dual height adjusters, onboard memory (for profile storing) and online cloud storage for saving and restoring your profiles (also for sharing with other users). So, let's see why the Brick 87 is one of the best-selling models Epomaker has designed and manufactured to date.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

A product drawing along with the company logo and the number of keys are all printed at the front of the box.

The main product features are listed at the rear right over contact information for Epomaker.

As expected, the keyboard is placed inside a plastic bag and inside a formed piece of cardboard.

Along with the Brick 87 and its USB-C cable inside the box you'll also find a keycap/switch puller, 4 replacement keycaps, 3 replacement switches, small figurine and the user manual.

THE BRICK 87

The Brick 87 measures 317mm in length, 150mm in width and 50mm in height.

Aside the clear keycaps what also makes the Brick 87 stand out is the dual scroll wheel at the lower end which can be used both to increase/decrease volume and brightness levels.

The Brick 87 may not have dedicated media keys, but it does have a dedicated mute key as seen above.

Epomaker has placed the top keys at an angle of roughly 30 degrees which isn't a bad thing.

The connectivity switch is placed on the right side of the keyboard while the on/off switch is placed on the left side.

At the front we find the stackable block bar and the USB-C port on the far left end.

The stackable block bar can be removed (it's actually 4 bars) entirely.

Needless to say, the small figurine placed in the bundle can be mounted here.

Here you can see the Epomaker flamingo switches featured in my sample.

Turning the Brick 87 over we find 4 small rubber feet, 2 dual height adjusters and a USB dongle.

This tiny USB dongle is actually the 2.4GHz receiver.

The tall and short height adjusters raise the top end of the keyboard 14mm and 5mm respectively.

Here you can see the minimum and maximum brightness settings of the Brick 87 (short video available both in TikTok and YouTube).

BRICK 87 SOFTWARE

In order to fully control the Brick 87, you will need to download the drivers from the official Epomaker website.

From the main tab you can remap all keys of the Brick 87 whereas from the FnSetting tab you can remap all keys while using the Fn key.

Creating macros is easily done via the macro tab.

RGB effects, speed and brightness can be control from the light tab. Once again worth pointing out is that the Brick 87 has a total of 22 effects.

Per key RGB lighting is allowed via custom effects which you can create from within the Light Edit sub-tab.

From the share tab you can share your entire configuration with other users as seen above.

To use the cloud, save/restore feature you will need to create an account with Epomaker.

From the about tab, you can check for software and firmware updates, change the language, enable automatic load of the software at windows startup and change the background of the software.

AUDIBLE FEEDBACK

Many people ask my opinion on what keyboard they should get for their needs. Some want a “silent” model for use in their living room or even in their bedroom while others ask for a model with good audible feedback for use in the office or for gaming. Because of this I decided to test keyboards by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically over each keyboard (5cm distance) and typing NikKTech a total of 6 times with each (after that the max recorded number - max hold - is placed in the graph). I have to admit that this methodology may not be 100% accurate but it does give a good idea on what you can expect from each model since aside the type of switches used keycaps and keyboard material also matter.

CONCLUSION

    The Epomaker Brick 87 is a unique tenkeyless mechanical keyboard that has almost everything going for it. It looks great even with the RGB lighting turned off, it’s quite compact (not the smallest TKL model around however), comes in many colors and with 4 different switch types and can be used both with a wire and wirelessly with pretty much every device imaginable (Bluetooth and 2.4GHz compatible). The Flamingo switches that my sample came with were very responsive and offered good audible feedback so I don’t know why these haven’t become popular yet (at least nowhere near what they should be). Wireless connectivity works very well with the 2.4GHz dongle giving you around 8 meters range with a wall in between and as for battery life the keyboard lasted around 5 days. Not all is perfect however, for one the audible feedback might be too much for some people who work or use their systems in quiet environments and as for the clear black keycaps at times it’s really hard to read what’s printed on them.

    Currently you can get your hands on your very own Epomaker Brick 87 for USD99 inside the USA (Epomaker) and for 83.36Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de – 20% voucher applied) a price tag which is very good for this model. Overall, there’s not much more I can say about the Brick 87, it’s clearly among the best TKL keyboards I’ve used to date and for that it deserves the Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Aluminum Plate)
- Hot Swap 3/5 Pin Mechanical Switches
- Wired & Wireless Use (Bluetooth & 2.4GHz)
- Full RGB Per Key Illumination
- 22 Available RGB Effects
- NKey Rollover With 100% Anti Ghosting
- Available In 4 Colors & 4 Types Of Mechanical Switches
- Detachable USB Cable
- Dual Height Adjusters
- Epomaker Software
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Audible Feedback (For Some)
- Clear Keycaps (Hard To Read)