Every since I touched my first mechanical keyboard I've been a fan of a good keyboard experience. I've gone through the full cycle. From modern Cherry MX Blue keyboards, to retro Alps Spring keyboards and the Iconic IBM Model M keyboard. While I still love mechanical keyboards, I never really experimented too much with key cap replacement until I saw the Cerakey kickstarter.
Cerakey makes ceramic key caps. Yea, like your fine China, lol.
I simply had to know what these felt like on a keyboard, so I backed the kickstarter and waited forever hoping I wasn't scammed.
But when they showed up, I was pleasantly surprised - these things are awesome.
But they aren't without flaws. First, we'll start with the positives.
These feel pretty cool to type on. The cool touch of the ceramics is a pleasant and welcome change from the dull feeling of plastic.
The sound is unique - heavy and deep. That's because, well, they are heavy.
Yup, turns out, making keys out of ceramic makes them heavy chonkers. This has an interesting effect of changing your keyboards spring dynamics. Because your switches are already loaded with weight, they take less force to activate than usual. You will definitely new a few days to acclimate to the new experience, but once you get used to it, it's not bad at all.
I rocked these keys for about a year and I'm seriously thinking about putting them on my new Cherry MV Viola keyboard. I actually tried out a few, and they felt pretty good with the Viola switches. I want to still have the stock experience with the Viola for now, but I think in a few months time I swap in the Ceras to see how they feel.
Now for the downsides - only two complaints really.
First, when I got my keys, they didn't fit perfectly. Some of they keys would rub against each other, so pushing one down would cause both to go down. Or worse, one would go down and then get stuck under it's neighbor and not fully return up. I was able to solve this with my dremel tool & a coarse sanding wheel. I took my time and gingerly shaved off the bulky edges until the keys went up and down smoothly. I should note that I only had to modify 3 keys out of the whole set, the rest worked fine.
I was an early customer, via kickstarter, so it's possible their quality control has gotten better since. I see that they're still routinely doing new releases and new styles, so I really hope it's working out for them. They're expensive, but they're a premium experience. I didn't mind shaving a couple down, but I know for some people that won't be an option.
The other downside is that they're technically fragile. They're ceramic, which isn't the most impact resistant material. Unlike plastic which can take a beating, you don't wanna accidentally drop anything on your keyboard. My numpad multiplication key suffered this consequence and snapped off it's mounting peg. I was able to glue it back together, but that's not something I would imagine happening on traditional keys.
That said - I'm generally pretty careful with my electronics, so that was the only unfortunate casualty.
I look forward to the day I switch these back on & try them out again.
