AM Compact Touch

 

Keebs

Trying to start a blog for my random thoughts and keyboard pics. I just got this board yesterday so I thought it would be a good one to start my blog with. This is the AM Compact touch from Angry Miao. It was going to be called the 65 less, which I personally prefer, but they changed the name just before launch. 

It is a 65% keyboard with a pretty cool twist, instead of arrow keys it has a small touch pad on the front to swipe in the direction to achieve the same result. This is over engineering at its finest. They took something no one had a problem with and made it better. I got was the Night Drive and Hard Candy bundles so they came fully assembled pic below. The Night Drive came with AM's own Dark Glacier keycaps which can be purchased separately while I am not sure of what the caps are on the hard candy and could not find them for purchase on the site. The stabilizers come surprisingly well balanced and lubed and the feel and sound of the board as it comes stock is amazing. I was not a fan of the Dark Glacier keycaps on the board and so I immediately replaced them with the GMK Cojiro shown in the photo and love how it looks.

 I thought this would be a gimmick and couldn't imagine why anyone would use this. After all Angry Miao is known for their eye pleasing gimmicks like the Cyber Board, Hatsu and AM AFA keyboards.

 I love the look of a board without arrow keys but I just use them too much in my day to day life that 60% never worked for me. This changed that.

It has taken some getting used to as my muscle memory still will reach for the arrow keys on occasion but once you get the hang of using your thumbs to swipe it feels much more natural. But for a board with Bluetooth and wireless charging and all the RGB you could want I think its worth taking the time to try . 

The down side I see is if you needed to press the arrow key repeatedly it can be a bit annoying. There is an option to hold in the direction after the swipe but it isn't very accurate and I wish there was more control over the input speed in the software.

Speaking of the software AM uses their own Apps and Website for any customization, No VIA or QMK support which will stop some from considering it but their software is intuitive and was easy for me to make adjustments. Something you cant adjust however is split backspace which for most people wont be an issue but if you're in the 1% who needs it this board is probably not for you.

The board is expensive coming in at over $400.00 USD for the bundle, however I think it is well worth it considering the rock solid build, Bluetooth, Wireless charging, and touchpad. This isn't competing with the Zoom 65 its a different board for a different buyer. Overall I think it is a great board for anyone who wont scoff at the heft $400.00ish USD Price