Topre Realforce RGB Keyboard (Seasonic) review - Introduction

Topre Realforce RGB – The Most Ridiculous Realforce
Topre Redicuforce RGB 

The RGBing all the things had led to the invention of the RGB shoe, an invention that many of us did not know we needed. I think we can now say, that’s enough RGB. But, I’m sure some of you are now thinking about taking a picture of your new RGB shoe to go with your RGB keyboard, RGB mousemat, RGB motherboard, RGB RAM, RGB GPU, RGB mouse, RGB headphones, and post it on the Internet. When a company like Topre, the icon of traditional looking, high-end keyboards, releases a RGB keyboard aimed at gamers, it is significant event. This is how I know we’ve reached peak RGB. In the back of my mind, though, I’m praying to the keyboard gods to not let it suck.

The Realforce RGB is Topre’s first mainstream keyboard. For the uninitiated, Topre is both a company and a type of switch. It’s pronounced toe-poo-reh, and is short for Tokyo Press Kogyo, a large Japanese company that makes a lot of other stuff besides keyboards. Mainstream, a Realforce keyboard is not. In the keyboard enthusiast scene, there’s no other switch that causes so much divided opinion than Topre. One is the price. Topre’s are more expensive than most other keyboards, preventing the vast majority from even trying one. But then, there is the debate, is it just a glorified rubber dome, or is it the best switch in the world?

Most enthusiasts, myself included, will tell you, you should try one for yourself and make up your own opinion. Topre would like that first Realforce to be the RGB.

Is the Realforce RGB the most expensive rubber dome gaming keyboard you can buy, or is it the best RGB keyboard on the planet? There’s more to the story, and that story is on the next page.

The Realforce RGB

Some of you might be confused, rubber domes? What’s this guy going on about? Topre make the Topre electrostatic capacitive switch, which activates like a mechanical switch, but is built using rubber dome sheets. As we know, rubber domes are found in all the cheap keyboards, churned out in the millions, and generally just suck. Topre on the other hand, are built to very high standards, don’t suck, but still use a rubber dome sheet, causing confusion. Lots of keyboards use Topre switches, Realforce, HHKB, Leopold, to name the most popular, and they often cost significantly more than a standard MX switch mechanical keyboard. The Realforce RGB also uses the Topre switch, and underneath all that glory is a sheet of rubber domes. So you have a rubber dome keyboard that costs more than a regular mechanical keyboard.