
Epomaker Galaxy 100 wireless mechanical keyboard hands-on review: A num pad and 500 hours of battery life
A solid all-rounder with excellent battery life.
The Epomaker Galaxy 100 QMK/VIA is a 96% mechanical keyboard, taking up less desk space than a traditional full-size keyboard without sacrificing the num pad. In our review of the chunky battleship, we find out how the combination of Feker's Marble White switches, a PP plate, and a foam-filled aluminium gasket-mount case stack up.Julian van der Merwe, 👁 Enrico Frahn Published 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 ...
Verdict - Outstanding build quality with minor gripes
Unless you're a keyboard enthusiast constantly hunting the end-game, the Epomaker Galaxy 100 is all the mechanical keyboard you might ever need, as long as you're willing to deal with the extra width from having a num pad. The Galaxy 100 and its 1800 layout strike a nice balance between functionality and size, and the overall experience and premium build quality are hard to beat for the price. The combination of the flex-cut PP plate, gasket mount, full aluminium construction, and thick PBT keycaps resulted in a keyboard with a pleasing marbly sound signature and a satisfying typing feel.
The Galaxy 100 and its 1800 layout strike a nice balance between functionality and size, and the overall experience and premium build quality are hard to beat for the price.
A customisable knob and QMK/VIA compatibility added a lot of extra functionality and customisation potential, although the imperfect VIA implementation left something to be desired. Fortunately, unlike keyboards like the Epomaker TH40, customisation isn't strictly necessary.
Pros
Cons
Price and availability
The Epomaker Galaxy 100 is available on Amazon, starting at $109.99 with the Feker Marble White linear switches or $119.99 with the Epomaker Wisteria Linear switches, but it can also be purchased directly from Epomaker for the same price. Amazon is usually a good bet when it comes to keyboard purchases, since returns to China can be a bit of a hassle, depending on where you are.
Table of Contents
- Verdict - Outstanding build quality with minor gripes
- Technical specifications
- Unboxing and accessories
- Design and build quality
- Keycaps
- Typing experience - Winning switch and plate combo
- Epomaker Galaxy 100 sound test
- Connectivity and battery life - Months between charges on Bluetooth
- Hardware and software customisation - A flawed VIA implementation, but that hardly matters
Technical specifications
Epomaker Galaxy 100 | |
---|---|
Form factor and size | 1800 or 96% layout, 101 keys, 1 knob, 405 × 137.8 × 32.3 mm with 19.5 mm front height |
Case material | Full CNC aluminium with spray coating |
Weight | 2,019 g (2,000 g claimed) |
Plate material and mounting style | Flex-cut PP (polypropylene) plate, gasket mount with silicone gaskets |
Connectivity | USB type-C, 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 5.1/3.0 |
PCB and switch style | 1.2 mm thick hot-swap PCB with support for 3- and 5-pin hot-swap mechanical switches |
Default switch options | Feker Marble White linear 45-47 gf (in our review unit) or Epomaker Wisteria linear 45-62 gf |
Layout | Exploded 1800 (96%) ANSI layout with a knob |
Keycap material and profile | Double-shot PBT, MDA profile (black) Cherry profile (white) |
Customisation software | VIA browser-based software |
Backlight | Per-key south-facing RGB backlighting |
Polling rate | 1,000 Hz over wired and 2.4 GHz, 125 Hz over Bluetooth |
Price | $109.99 with Feker Marble White Switches, $119.99 with Epomaker Wisteria Linear switches |
Availability | Amazon* or Epomaker |
Unboxing and accessories
Compared to previous Epomaker keyboards we've reviewed, the Galaxy 100 massively steps up the unboxing experience somewhat. The box features quality printing and a nice protective sleeve. The interior foam also looks like it is more than thick and stiff enough to protect the keyboard from any dings or shipping damage — within reason.
Things remain more or less the same on the accessory front, however. You still don't get additional keycaps to customise the navigation clusters, and Epomaker has again opted for a long non-braided USB type-C cable in the box alongside a USB type-A 2.4 GHz receiver, a combo switch and keycap puller, and two extra Feker Marble White switches in case replacements are needed down the line.
The included quick-start guide contains handy tips about VIA customisation, switch swapping, and the pre-configured keyboard shortcuts. While the Galaxy 100 includes everything you absolutely need from a keyboard, it would have been nice to see a braided cable and a few extra keycaps for customisation purposes, especially given its $100+ price point.
Design and build quality
The design and build quality of the Epomaker Galaxy 100 stand out in a sea of plastic keyboards. The CNC aluminium chassis is heavy and has a premium feel to it, while the back and bottom accent plates are just understated enough to not be bothersome while still giving the keyboard a unique look.
The black case and pinkish keycap legends of our review unit also give it a rather subtle, although serious, look, and the way the bottom case and top case join seamlessly give the Galaxy 100 a clean side and top profile. There are also no fit-and-finish issues present on our unit, which is always a bonus.
As for case features, the Galaxy 100 again keeps it quite minimal, with only the USB-C port and a physical connectivity selection switch in the centre of the rear of the board. The USB-C port and switch are both hidden under the rear lip, meaning the USB-C port is slightly recessed from the top edge of the keyboard, again adding to the clean aesthetic. One sacrifice, likely in the name of affordability and minimalism, is the lack of a storage compartment for the wireless dongle. However, given that the Galaxy 100 will likely live on a desk, this isn't a massive problem.
Both versions of the Galaxy 100 have what Epomaker calls a “powder spraying” coating, but that finishing method traditionally doesn't achieve a coloured finish. Instead, it seems like a mistranslation of "powder coating," which could create the somewhat textured surface of the Galaxy 100. Regardless, the textured finish feels slightly rougher than a typical anodised or e-coated finish, and a powder coating is plenty tough enough to withstand daily use. The texture is uniform across the whole case, so it becomes a feature rather than an issue.
Keycaps
The Epomaker Galaxy 100 features MDA profile double-shot PBT keycaps, and the larger, rounded tops of the keycaps make the large, black keyboard easier on the eyes. The black case and keycaps are almost perfectly colour-matched, which is also a nice touch.
The tops of the keycaps are nice and wide, and the shallow dip comfortably nudges your fingers into the centres of the keys. Meanwhile, the texture on the keys is subtle enough that it's not distracting while typing, but the keys are not smooth by any stretch of the imagination.
The legends on the double-shot keycaps is also very crisp, with no notable alignment or quality control issues on our board. The keycap font is large, but it is not bold, although this is hardly a complaint, since the text is perfectly legible.
In the top right corner of the keyboard, above the num pad, there's an aluminium knob that's assigned to the usual volume up/down and click-to-mute functionality, and the knob looks like it shares the same surface coating as the rest of the keyboard, giving it a uniform appearance.
Typing experience - Winning switch and plate combo
The combination of the Feker Marble White switches, flex-cut PP plate, gasket mount, and included foams make the Galaxy 100 a very pleasant keyboard to type on. Sound is subjective, with each having their own preference, but the Galaxy 100 produces a very pleasing poppy, marbly sound signature, and there are no intrusive or distracting case pings or rattles present. The stabilisers are pre-lubricated and, except for the hollow Space Bar, all the modifiers and stabilised keys are fairly quiet, with very little rattle or excessive noise.
Epomaker Galaxy 100 sound test
The combination of the Feker Marble White switches, gasket-mount design, and the foam-filled aluminium case result in a rather pleasing poppy sound signature. There is some mild stabiliser ticking, and the Space Bar is somewhat echoey, but those complaints are easily resolved by lubricating the stabilisers and adding some adhesive foam to the bottom of the Space Bar keycap.
Below is a typing sound test of the Epomaker Galaxy 100 with the stock Feker Marble White switches.
Connectivity and battery life - Months between charges on Bluetooth
The colossal 8,000 mAh battery in the Galaxy 100 proved difficult to test in the short two weeks we had with the keyboard, especially when using the keyboard connected via Bluetooth with no RGB enabled. While a full battery test was not possible, here are some hourly drain figures and estimated battery life indications from our testing.
The 32-hour result during the max RGB 2.4 GHz testing was somewhat perplexing, since previous Epomaker keyboards with significantly smaller batteries performed significantly better, but we double-checked the result, and that drain was repeatable.
With the keyboard's stock keycaps, using the RGB backlighting is hardly functional, anyway, since the keycaps are not shine-through, so there's little functionality gained by enabling RGB.
Connection and state | Battery drain (percentage per hour) | Estimated battery life (hours) |
---|---|---|
2.4 GHz, no RGB | 0.6 | 167 |
2.4 GHz, max RGB | 3.2 | 31 |
Bluetooth, no RGB | 0.17 | 580 |
Hardware and software customisation - A flawed VIA implementation, but that hardly matters
The Epomaker Galaxy 100 is compatible with all Cherry-style 5- and 3-pin hot-swap switches, meaning you can customise the board to your heart's content from a hardware perspective. The inside of the case is also stuffed to the brim with case foams and other sound damping materials, making it simple to tune the sound profile by removing materials. Opening up the Epomaker Galaxy 100 is also dead-simple, although the use of Phillips-head screws is an odd choice.
There are only six screws holding the case together, and they must be removed from the bottom of the case, where they are easily accessible but neatly hidden from view. After removing the six case screws, the keyboard comes apart without any hassle, as long as the knob has been removed.
Another step up from the likes of the Epomaker Tide 75 is that the internal case foam isn't stuck to the bottom of the PCB, instead simply resting between the PCB and the bottom case to absorb any echoes and high-pitch reverberation. The absence of adhesive allows for easy removal of the case foam, which drastically improves the gasket performance and flex from the PP plate at the cost of some additional echo from bottoming out.
Curiously, when I unplugged the single cable connecting the Galaxy 100's PCB to the daughterboard, the keyboard erased the custom key mapping I had set up in VIA, which was frustrating to say the least.
While the Epomaker Galaxy 100 features QMK firmware and VIA compatibility, it, unfortunately, gets held back by the same shifted character issue we encountered with the Tide 75. When remapping a key to output a shifted character (for instance, producing "?" without having to hold Shift), the new key map appears to apply in VIA, but the keyboard doesn't produce the correct key when connected wirelessly. Connecting via the USB-C wired connection seems to resolve the issue, but it remains present in all wireless modes.
Additionally, while the volume knob is remappable, for some reason, remapping it to the mouse scroll wheel — functionality that worked on previous Epomaker keyboards we tested — did not work. The keyboard accepted the remap, but the scroll input did not work in testing.
Aside from those two somewhat niche gripes, VIA functionality worked quite well, with macros saving and displaying correctly and more ordinary key rebinding also working without a hitch. Macros can be recorded directly or created manually with typical QMK syntax. This is particularly handy if you want to transfer macros from one board to another without having to manually record each macro again — simply copy and paste them from one keyboard to the other.
Alongside the 15 macro slots, the Galaxy 100 offers five layers in total to reconfigure in VIA (0, 1, 2, 3, 4), which isn't earth-shattering compared to the 10 that some keyboards offer, but it should get the job done if you want to assign a Mac- or gaming-specific layer. Overall, VIA compatibility is still one of the highlights of the Galaxy 100, since it allows for customisation on any system that has an HID-compliant browser — that means Linux, macOS, and Windows — it's just a shame that some features are missing.
Transparency
The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was given to the author by the manufacturer free of charge for the purposes of review. There was no third-party influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. We never accept compensation or payment in return for our reviews. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.