Keychron k10 100 wire/wireless

IDK about the options available, but I’ve found that choosing a wired keyboard can bring the price down significantly. This is no trade-off because I wouldn’t use a wireless keyboard anyway.

Royal Kludge makes some good keyboards for less. Their wired one is super affordable but does have longer, louder travel.

Feel free to disregard this answer if you want. I freely admit it doesn’t really fit what you’re asking, but I don’t have much experience with mechanical keyboards. I’ve only used one, and MY GOD I LOVE IT!!!

It’s not quiet. It’s not backlit. It’s not pink. But here it is anyways.

https://www.8bitdo.com/retro-108-mechanical-keyboard/

And here’s a video review with unboxing

The video review is from a year ago, with the 87 button version. HOWEVER, in December 2024 they released the 108 button version which adds the number pad on the side. This is the version I recommend. It just has such a perfect lap feel to it. One small addition to the 108 version are magnetic flipout feet to help prop up the keyboard if you have it on a flat surface. Something the 87 key version lacked.

Outside of that the 87 key version, and thus everything in the review for that version, also apply to the 108 key version. So you can watch the review, and ignore any complaints about a lack of number keypad, or feet. The 108 version have those. But still get a good idea of what you can expect performance wise from this keyboard.

He also goes into the keyboard sound test. As in, tapping the keys, and giving you an idea of how well they sound with their clickyness.

Ducky One 3 RGB in white for $130 @ mechanicalkeyboards.com but it’s on backorder until mid-month. Is that the $170 CAD?

I’d get the Ducky because I am familiar with their quality and have heard the service is good. In addition, you can get Cherry MX keycaps everywhere, and PBT keycaps are the luxury version compared to ABS. Feels more solid somehow.

Cherry Reds feel like mush to me, Browns are silent but have a slight tactile bump and are my preferred switch.

ETA: Oh, the Duckys last years, decades even. The Razer might too, I don’t know but Ducky is basically the workhorse of the MK world.

My current daily driver is a 13€ blue switches thing for AliExpress with 20€ DSA keycaps also from AliExpress. Both are fine.

I would not buy a Razer if they paid me $120. Do yourself a favor and don’t. I’ve owned a fair few Razer products in my life and they’ve all been overpriced flimsy pieces of shit, and when they break Razer will do anything and everything to weasel out of doing anything about it. As a matter of fact, the last Razer product I had break on me was a Blackwidow Chroma, and not coincidentally it was the last Razer product I will ever buy. I think it made it a whole nine months.

Anyway, I was in this very boat not too long ago and settled on the Glorious GMMK 3 100% for my wife, which is indeed available in white. It’s $140 USD list price, so I don’t know how that fits your budget. She got some nice cat themed keycaps for it and she’s having a ball. You can get it with various keyswitch options prepopulated, or even swap the switches around as you see fit. She got the “Fox” linear keyswitches which are not short throw but are definitely quiet.

I use a Logitech G512 Carbon at the moment, myself. It’s not white but it has otherwise been bomber for over a year.

This is a sterling endorsement for me. I don’t know if anyone’s noticed but I type a lot. Not just bickering in the comments, but for work as well. I am not rough on keyboards and mine never moves from this spot, but I will tickle the keyswitches on any 'board a couple of million times in short order and I probably find the service limit on all the keys that are not W, A, S, or D more quickly than the average penguin.

If you’re gonna use it for games I can’t recommend a Wooting 60HE or another hall effect switch keyboard enough. Having full control over the actuation and reset point makes it feel more responsive than any mechanical keyboard I had before.

Not having a set point makes it so much more intuitive, moving downwards activates a key and moving upwards deactivates it. Instead of having to go past the hardware defined trigger point.

https://endorfy.com/en/product/thock-tkl-pudding-onyx-white-blue/

Got one of these for 40€ a while ago, and outside of sales they’re not expensive either. Solid mechanical RGB keyboard, nothing more, nothing less. The website shows only one reseller in the USA for North America, maybe check Amazon.

https://klimtechs.com/products/klim-shift-wireless-bluetooth-mechanical-keyboard

This 65% is another one I’ve been happy with, you might want to look at their larger offerings. They ship to Canada.

General advice - don’t be picky about dedicated media controls; sure they’re nice to have, but they severely limit your choices (I was in that boat too). At the same time it’s very easy to make key combinations; e.g. the Caps Lock key very often gets neglected, and if this is the case for you, you can repurpose it to Fn, and from there you can do Fn+W to play/pause, Fn+Q/Fn+E for prev/next track respectively and so on (of course the specific keys are up to you). Look for QMK/VIA support over manufacturer-specific software.

Sorry I can’t give a more specific recommendation. I second the idea that Keychron generally have good value for the money, so do Vortex and Ducky (although Ducky have gone up in price while not staying very competitive).

I’ve got a pair of vortex pok3r 60%'s that I’ve used daily for around a decade with no issues, each were under 100 USD, they might have inexpensive keyboards with the features you’re looking for. Before that I used a keytronic that was built like a tank but not a mech.

Check out offerings from Yunzii, specifically their aluminium keyboards. Should be far better quality than Razer, also at a better price point for what it is.

A few other options include ajazz, Epomaker, aula, or royal kludge like a couple comments mentioned. They are all similar and offer great bang for your buck.

All are hotswappable and depending on which model you pick, there should be some leftovers for a set of keycaps if the Razer keyboard is your budget.

Aula has some solid keyboards for a good price, and they’re nice and hefty. You could beat a man to death with mine and keep on typing afterwards. I think I paid like $80?

Model M