Leopold FC750R Review

May 19, 2021 — Reyan Chaudhry

After the devastating yet unavoidable demise of my previous mechanical keyboard, I was forced to look for a new one to buy, with a much lower budget this time. At first, I was going to just settle with whatever I could find at the (as I couldn't deal with the piece of trash half-broken pok3r that I was using as a backup for much longer), but decided to try and acquire something of reasonable quality that would last me until I could return to a custom built keyboard.

The choices for a sub $200 compact mech are plenty, and sorting through them all took quite a while. I finally settled on a Leopold FC750R—a brand well known for it's build quality and superb manufacturing—with Cherry MX silent red switches (which I'd never tried before) and hoped for the best.

Needless to say I wasn't disappointed.

“Why Not Topre?”

I was considering the FC660C but it was just a tad bit too expensive for me. Furthermore, the 1U super key on that board was a turnoff. For most people it isn't but as someone who presses the super key easily more than 10 thousand times a day, it makes a big difference.

HHKB's are way out of the price range lmao.

The Design and Build

This is what I was most excited for, I knew the board wasn't made of aluminum or anything fancy, but it weighed a lot (almost 1 kg!) and was covered with surprisingly sparkle-free plastic all around. There were no strange cutouts on the side (which companies like to introduce in order to save money) or even on the bottom, it was solid and blocky, just how I like it. Moreover, the board had virtually zero flex and I heard no rattle knocking it on the back with a reasonable selection of items. Scratching it with my keys also left no mark. A nice touch is the elegantly rounded corners in across every edge of the board, it's surprising how many manufacturers overlook this small detail, as it greatly increases not only aesthetic value but also typing comfort for those of us with smaller hands.

Though it was a TKL board, something I haven't used in years ever since I got introduced to 60/65% models, it was impressive how compact Leopold managed to keep the construction, it still takes up only a minuscule amount of space on my desk. The 3-way cable routing feature is also a welcome addition here, I didn't think companies other than gaming brands implemented this, it's helps immensely with cable management.

The place and housing are both made of solid steel, and contribute greatly to the sturdiness of the board in general. I quite like the weight that they add as well.

Considering the price, I was genuinely surprised with the board's build quality, it easily rivaled plastic boards double its price and felt like something that would last years of abuse. Though this was pretty much expected considering the reputation that Leopold have built for themselves over the years, good to know they aren't faltering in that regard.

The Switches

I had heard about the Cherry MX Silent Red (A.K.A. “pink”) switches before, but rarely every saw any reviews or day in the life descriptions. According to Cherry, the pinks are linear with a 3.7mm total travel, which is a bit lower than the 4mm of my previous Novelkeys Cream, but expected considering the extra dampening that's probably present.

Thankfully, Leopold has put in the retooled Cherry switches in the newer batches of their boards.

In terms of feel, they are considerably less scratchy then the default Reds and actually feel like true linear switches, with significant feedback only present at the bottom. What's nice is that the feedback remains mostly haptic, Cherry have done a good job “silencing” the switch, it's usable even in do-not-disturb scenarios, though I'm sure I could get it even quieter with some mods.

The stabilizers are also surprisingly good, with little to no rattle on all modifiers and even minimal rattle on the space bar. They come pre-lubed which is really nice as well. Though I will say that the space bar is a tad bit louder than the rest of the stabbed keys, not exactly a problem but something I've come to expect to be resolved in more expensive boards.

Of course, they aren't nearly as nice as the Creams and leave a little to be desired at the bottom, but considering that this is Cherry we are talking about here and that we are on a considerable budget, I find these really pleasant to type on, especially paired with the keycaps that the FC750R comes with.

The Keycaps

Wow, just wow, literally just wow. I knew that Leopold make really nice keycaps, but these genuinely feel like GMK competitors. Double shot PBT with absolutely crisp and perfectly aligned legends (and a nice font) plus extremely well finished exterior plastic. I'm genuinely confused as to how they can offer such high quality caps at this price point.

It's says a lot about how well made these keycaps are that the only gripe I have with them is the presence of a Windows logo on the super key instead of something custom.

Well done Leopold.

Comparisons

Head to Heads with some other boards that I've tried around this price range.

Filco Majestouch 2 TKL: At around the same price, the Majestouch seems like a reasonable competitor to the FC750R, but it really isn't. Filco's boards are getting really old and lack a lot of the bells and whistles of newer boards. For example, the Majestouch doesn't even have a removable cable, yes, that's how old it is. Furthermore, the keycaps are still ABS (with a tendency to wear off, might I add), which at the asking price (~$140) is completely unacceptable. Overall I think this is a pointless comparison, Filco should up their game soon IMO, as even Razer is starting to pose a threat for them with their Huntsman lineup.

Razer Huntsman: Lmfao you thought.

Varmilo VA87: Conceptually almost the same thing as the FC750R but with a more variable lineup of color ways. I'm personally not a fan of open-side low profile mechanical keyboards (they tend to be synonymous with stabilizer rattle), but I will admit that Varmilo does a good job of making the style look nice. Though I would still prefer the expertly executed high profile design of the FC750R, which also has the plus of blending in just about anywhere. Furthermore, the keycaps on the VA87 simply can't compete with the ones on the FC750R, although they have some quite interesting designs. The only real reason I can come up with for choosing the Varmilo would be it's support for macOS, which the FC750R doesn't play well with.

The AKKO Boards: It would be unfair to compare these two, as in my opinion what Leopold makes is literally just one full step up in every possible way from what Epomaker has in their AKKO boards. If you can afford a Leopold board, go with that, otherwise an AKKO would serve you just fine. They also come in a much wider range of color styles and keycap sets (which are really nice PBT), if that matters. The AKKO's also have the advantage of bluetooth connection.

Ducky Miya: An amazing keyboard in it's own right, and a completely reasonable choice over the Leopold if you are looking for a flashier (or smaller with the pro variant) keyboard. Either way you're getting an amazing product, the differences are completely subjective IMO. On a side note, the same can apply to the new pok3r and cypher boards from Vortex, although I haven't had the most pleasant experience with the pok3r, most people swear by it as a everyday and gaming use board, so I guess it's worth a look if that's what you're into.

DAS Keyboard: I still don't know why people buy these, they are exorbitantly expensive, massive in size (120% ???), hideous to look at, and equipped with garbage keycaps and switch choices. It's not even a question here that just about any of Leopold's larger keyboard variants would clap the DAS in just about every way possible, go for those (or a deck keyboard) instead if a larger mech is what you are looking for,

You also get to preserve your dignity, which is (unpopular opinion) worth way more than a useless giant volume knob.

Conclusion

It is good board buy if you can. Honestly couldn't recommend it anymore. Make sure to get from a specialty vendor like mechanicalkeyboards instead of Amazon, as they usually have far lower prices.