29 June 2022 (edited 15 June 2022)
Welcome to another keyboard post! I'm writing about this neat little 6×6 keypad today; it piqued my interest while I was prowling through the Guang Hua electronics district.
The plate is metal with 6 mounting holes on either side. The plate's switch holes are Cherry MX compatible, and the switches fit Cherry MX mount keycaps; when mounting they 'click' into place. The keycaps are spherical, uniprofile relegendables. They're moulded quite poorly; some rub against each other because the top covers are slightly warped or have excess flash. The relegendables fit Alps SKCC.
These are clones of SMK J-M0404 switches. The contact mechanism is nearly identical, though the stationary contact has one fold instead of two.
The bottoms are unbranded - whatever was once moulded there appears to have been removed with a router.
Update: After another visit, I have discovered two more clone variants: blue and black-coloured versions, with different weightings.
Measuring bottom-out weights with 50, 10 and 1 元 coins gives a rough idea of the weight differences: black is heaviest at ≈84g, blue at ≈67g and white at ≈43g. Blue and white are internally identical. Black sliders have the same contacts and shell, but they have worse moulding, factory lube and different specs. The top of the stem has flashing, the slider mount is Cherry MX incompatible, the internal slider occludes the empty space opposite the contacts and the texture of the slider is visibly grainier.
To be honest, the switches don't feel great but they're certainly usable, albeit slightly short travel. On some off-centre presses there are weird bumps in the travel, and the contacts' operating principle causes a weirdly slow return towards the top of the upstroke in the light white slider switches. Wax and/or lube would vastly improve the feel. The contacts make a little bit of sound, akin to a very soft 'tic', but the overall sound in a bare keypad is not bad.
The blue sliders are my favourite of the three; the black switches are uncomfortably rough and heavy despite the pre-lube, and the white sliders' light springs amplify the weird travel characteristics. The blues are smoother, slightly heavier ('meatier' I'd say) and don't have the sluggish return of the white switches.