Keyboard Builders' Digest / Review
Akko YU01 review
The full-resin Akko YU01 keyboard elevates RGB lighting to a whole new level as the case acts as a giant diffuser. 65%, hot-swappable, wireless, featuring Akko Piano switches and ASA keycaps.
Published November 5, 2024
Akko's 65% YU01 (EU/US) is the first mass-produced resin keyboard, to mimic the timeless beauty of jade.
TLDR; The YU01 is a full-resin keyboard by Akko. Wireless, hotswap, VIA-support, in a unique one-piece resin case with perfectly matching keycaps. Decent typing feel out of the box, but the main strenght of this keyboard is obviously the RGB – The case acts as a single giant diffuser, resulting in mesmerizing effects in a dark working environment.
Disclaimer
The kind folks at Akko EU sent me this YU01. (Thanks a lot, guys!) As you already know, I'm not being paid to write these reviews, but receiving a free sample can introduce its own biases – both positive and negative in my experience. So take everything I write with a grain of salt.
Feel free to look up the product in Akko's localized stores, most notably the Akko EU and Akko US site (partially shipping from Canada as I was told). The KBDNEWS coupon should work in both stores but prices and discounts will differ.
Variants
The YU01 comes in two color options: Antique Jade and White Jade. By the way, “jade” is referred to as 玉 (Yu) in Mandarin, which inspired the name YU01.
This resin-crafted keyboard mimics the smooth elegance of jade, inspiring its name – Akko.
Specs
- prebuilt 65% keyboard, three-mode wireless (switch beneath the Tab key)
- case: one-piece resin, ~8° typing angle
- keycaps: transparent PC, ASA profile, condensed legends
- switches: 45gf Akko V3 Piano Pro linear switches (MX), special color edition
- hotswap
- plate: PC, no flex cuts
- tray mount
- South-facing RGB
- dimensions: 326x122x46mm
- weight: 1.27kg
Unboxing & Contents
In the nice cardboard box you have the fully built Akko YU01 with customized Piano switches and transparent PC ASA keycaps mounted.
The bundle includes basic tools, a wireless dongle, quickstart guide, a dust cover, and a white coiled cable with matching connectors.
Layout
The layout is 65%, basically you take a classic 60% board and snap an extra column to its right side. 68 keys. Number row but no dedicated function keys.
What else? The arrow cluster is not offset, but being located in the corner you have the opportunity to anchor your hand when moving coming from the home row. I personally find this arrangement quite crowded and prefer setting up a SpaceFN layer to bring the functionality of the arrow and navigation cluster to and around the home row and home positions. Thankfully, the YU01 comes with VIA support, making this straightforward.
Keycaps
The transparent PC keycaps in ASA profile were designed to showcase the vibrant lighting. The condensed legends leave even more space for the RGB effects to shine through. Honestly, the material is so similar to the case, matching it perfectly, that I couldn't tell that these are two different materials.
The ASA profile, if you are not familiar with it, is sculpted and spherical. Relatively high, about 2-2.5 mm higher than the corresponding rows of a Cherry set. Combined with the relatively high case, it's probably not for you ergo folks.
Switches
These are Akko's Piano switches, familiar from the MU01, where they provided a loud, pronounced and heartwarming thock. Here, combined with the thick resin case and non-flex PC plate, they sound very differently, much higher pitched. No thock at all. As you'll see in the upcoming monthly switch compilation (coming tomorrow), these Pianos only made it to 11th place in Akko's latest best-seller list, which is understandable given all the great switches the company offers. I personally loved using them on the MU01.
It's also worth mentioning, that the YU01 features a special edition of the Pianos. What does this mean? Firstly, a different color variant. The all-white top and stem along with the newly introduced light diffuser offer the board a "heightened degree of color consistency and enhanced shine". Marketing mumbo-jambo aside, they match the white YU01 variant perfectly, but aid also the ancient jade version when it comes to lighting and appereance.
Akko Piano Pro V3 switch (special edition) specs
- Type: Linear
- Operating Force: 45gf ± 5gf
- Total Travel: 3.1mm
- Pre-Travel: 1.9 ± 0.5mm
- Color: white housing and stem
- Light diffuser
Case
Typing angle: fixed 8 degrees (no adjustable feet).
PCB
The board, while easy to disassemble, was likely designed for users who don’t typically take apart their keyboards upon first contact – especially considering it's a prebuilt model, where disassembly isn't necessary. You can replace your keycaps and switches without touching any screw.
The PCB is MX compatible, hotswap, and of course supports wireless modes. In addition, it seems it's also ISO-ready, even though the board on offer comes in ANSI flavor.
Plate
The plate looks like frosted polycarbonate, without any flex cuts. Again, matching the overall concept and supporting the excellent lighting performance.
Mounting
Given the one-piece case, this board is tray mounted. The plate/PCB/foam sandwich sits on an array of brass stand-offs.
Sound & Sound dampening
Plenty of foam: 3mm plate foam, another thick bottom foam, and there are thin layers on the top and bottom of the PCB too.
It's surprising how different the YU01 and MU01 sound. Despite featuring the same switches, the wooden MU01 produces a loud, low, thocky sound, while the resin YU01 has a much higher-pitched tone.
RGB
Lighting is clearly where the YU01 excels. The board comes with per-key RGB backlighting (of course), underglow (about 50 LEDs), and lots of preset animation modes.
Even if I'm not the target audience for RGB in general, I have to acknowledge that Akko did a damn good job. RGB became a must-have feature and major selling point for many, and the YU01 was obviously optimized for those people in mind who appreciate lighting.
The case, keycaps and switches work in harmony to provide the best and most homogeneous lighting possible. Only the longer keycaps, especially the spacebar, are a bit dark with their single LED.
(The red left Ctrl in the photos is not a glitch, it indicates charging.)
Software
The YU01 is VIA compatible, yay! You can download the JSON file from Akko's download center.
That said, there was an annoying issue with my keyboard and I had to factory reset it (FN+ESC for 3 sec).
Akko EU checked this with another YU01 and it worked fine. However, if updating your keymap doesn't seem to work, you can reset your board too. Or make sure you edit layer 4. Yep. For whatever reason, the issue was caused by VIA not recognizing layers 0-3 of my review unit. Updating layer 4 did the trick for me.
This is something you have to keep in mind for setting up SpaceFN as well: VIA's built-in double-function layer mods target layer 1-3, but those didn't work for me out of the box. Instead, I headed to the Special > ANY key in VIA and pointed the tap-hold combo to something above layer 4, e.g. 5. The built-in SpaceFN keys are shorthands for QMK's native LT(1-3, KC_SPC) anyway. Figuring this out took me some time but it solved all the issues.
Just to confuse you, this screenshot below was taken of my original SpaceFN layer, residing on Layer 2. Once again, this didn't work initially, only after a factory reset.
Wireless
The YU01 is a three-mode wireless board (Bluetooth5.0 / 2.4GHz / USB Type-C) with 3,750mAh battery. Polling rate: 1000Hz in wired and 2.4G mode, 125Hz in Bluetooth mode.
If you wonder: the switch to turn on the battery is hidden beneath the Tab key.
Portability
Given the wireless features and the relatively compact 65% layout, the YU01 is much more portable than many aluminum boards reviewed earlier (MoeeTech Glitter, Akko YoD, Whitefox Eclipse – about 2kg each). That said, it's still relatively heavy with its weight of 1.27kg – about 50% more than the wooden MU01. That's why I for sure would choose the wooden one for the go.
That said, the case is similarly high – keep this in mind if you'd like to drop any of these Akko boards in your bag.
YU01 vs MU01
Due to the identical form factor, switches, and similar technical specifications, comparing the YU01 and MU01 – two recently introduced 65% Akko models – is inevitable.
I have to say that the materials, sound, keycaps and general vibe and appeal of the wooden MU01 resonate with me more – too bad it was not VIA/Vial compatible. That said, the YU01 is simply unbeatable when it comes to lighting, and it supporting VIA is a must if you'd like more sophisticated keymap customization.
Conclusion
The YU01 is another beautiful keyboard by Akko. This very well built 65% wireless keyboard has a special feel and mood, thanks to the single-piece resin case and the matching ASA caps. Both for the casual typer and keymap wizard – thanks to the VIA support –, but especially for RGB enthusiasts.
Pros
- Lighting
- Resin case: feels nice and solid
- Concept and harmony of case/keycaps/switches
Cons
- Maybe the overall height.
Availability
There's a 10% and 5% discount (EU/DE vs US) in effect with the KBDNEWS coupon code, so the YU01 can be yours for $124 at Akko US or 140 EUR at Akko EU:
- Akko YU01 (EU),
155 eur140 eur - Akko YU01 (US),
$130$124
Published on Tue 5th Nov 2024. Featured in KBD #178.
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