Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review: An excellent starter mechanical keyboard
The Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro is an excellent example of what happens when a mechanical keyboard is made right. It just lacks Apple-specific keycaps.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro
At a glance, Mechanical keyboards are incredibly similar. To an outside observer, a keyboard is a basic peripheral, and there's little in the way anyone can improve the concept.
That may be true to a point, but that doesn't stop people from coming up with models that strive for perfection of the form. Sometimes, they get the combination right enough to make many people feel happy using it as an input device.
The Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro fits neatly into this category. One that manages to slot together many different useful and good elements, put together into an appeasing form for serial typists.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review - Design
The Rainy 75 Pro is a mechanical keyboard with a 75-percent layout. That means it is a board that loses the numeric keypad but retains the function row and some control keys, with 81 keys in total.
There are three iterations available, with the Lite models lacking RGB lighting and having a slightly different circuit board to the other two. The Standard has RGB, while the Pro is heavier, in part due to having a steel weight instead of surfaced glass, different switches, and also a larger battery.
The version provided to review is the Pro in an Electro Purple colorway for the casing and keys.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review: Top-down view
Made from aluminum and coated with an electrophoresis surface, it has a hefty 4.4 pound weight to it. It's certainly not going to be shifting around the desk in the middle of a typing session.
Aside from the keys, the top surface also has a little inset cloud-with-rain logo, so you know it's a Rainy model keyboard.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review: The inset cloud is a nice decorative touch
At 12.5 inches wide by 5.5 inches deep, it's a reasonably sized keyboard for its layout.
Underneath is a large weight panel, which in this case is textured steel, covering a lot of the enclosure's base. The Rainy motif continues, with a pair of rain-making clouds inserted into the design and cutting into the weight.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review: Textured weight is nice, if not usually visible.
You don't have any adjustable feet here, but you do get four rubber lines, one in each corner, to help keep the keyboard still in use.
At the back is a sole USB-C port, located right in the center and slightly inset into the enclosure. If you have a particularly chunky USB-C cable connector sheath, there's a small chance it won't fit in.
While you cannot adjust the height or angle of the keyboard, it's not too high or steep to use alone. It is recommended to pair it with a wrist rest for longer typing periods.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review: You can't change the height or angle.
Inside the keyboard is the usual construction for a mechanical type, with Wobkey including lots of layers to affect how the keyboard types. This includes layers of Poron foam, a PET noise-cancellation pad, gaskets for the PCB, and dampening pads, all of which impact the sound.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review - Switches and Keycaps
The switches in use with the Rainy 75 Pro are Kailh Cocoa switches, a factor-lubed linear switch with 3.6mm of travel and 2mm of pre-travel. It takes up to 50 grams of force to bottom it out, which is more than adequate for light-touch typists as you'd need more around 45g of force to reach the actuation point.
The Lite and Standard versions use the HMX Violet switch, which is also factory-lubed and linear, again requiring 45g for operation.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review: Spare switches and the included key puller
Since it's made to be hot-swappable, you can pull the keys and replace them with others of your choice, or to replace them if required. The ones supplied for review seem to be quite smooth and nice to use, so you're probably not going to want to replace them just yet.
On top of the keys are the keycaps, which in this case are Cherry-profile double-shot PBT versions. The supplied versions are clear and legible, with no obvious glyph issues.
While nice, the keys are only supplied as Windows-specific versions, in that it has Control, Win, and Alt. There are no Option or Command keycaps included for Mac users.
It's something which would've been nice to have for Mac users, but it's not a deal breaker. You can physically yank the key cap off of the Alt and Win keys and swap them so the Windows key is Command, which is good enough.
If this really bothers you, there's always the option to buy a new set of keycaps.
Though there are mechanical keyboards on the market that include a physical switch to adjust the keyboard between Windows and Mac layouts, there isn't one here. The next best thing would be the physical switching around of the keys, and a software configuration change.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review: Pulled keys and the hidden power switch
Pulling up on the keys reveals a red layer above the PCB, with cutouts to fit each switch. In this keyboard's case, it is a pleasing red layer, which is unusual to see when looking at a keyboard's construction.
The combination of keys, switches, and construction results in an oddly well-rounded sound for typing. It's not completely deadened in volume or tone by the layers or keycap choice, but it's also not trying to be quiet.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review - Connectivity and configuration
To connect the Rainy 75 Pro to your Mac, you have a few options. To start, you could directly connect it using USB-C at the back.
You can also do so wirelessly. It is supplied with a 2.4GHz USB-A dongle, but it also works over Bluetooth 5.0 if you want a minimalist setup.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review: The sole USB-C port and the wireless dongle.
Much like other mechanical keyboards, you can switch between different connectivity modes with a keyboard combination. The function keys also manage the different multimedia controls, as well as RGB lighting effects.
There is a built-in 7,000mAh battery in the Rainy 75 Pro, as well as a 3,500mAh version in the Standard and Light configurations. This is recharged using the USB-C port.
However, while there are no overtly usable switches to turn the keyboard on and off, there is one hidden away. You do have to lift the Caps Lock key to access it, but there's no real reason to use it unless you're keeping it powered down for storage or travel.
Advanced users can take advantage of Via, a software tool frequently used to remap keys, change functions, and to add macros for certain key combinations.
Via is managed within a browser, meaning it will work on Apple Silicon hardware as well as older Intel-based Macs. A standalone app is available, but as it's an Electron wrapper for the website, it will work just like the browser version, regardless of whether you're using Apple Silicon or Intel.
The software is, as usual, a fairly straightforward tool to use, giving users control without necessarily overwhelming them.
If the Win and Alt key positions are an issue, this is where you remap them in software, switching them around as you would the physical keycaps.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review - A cracking starter keyboard
When you're acquiring a keyboard, you want something that sounds and feels right. By that, I mean a keyboard that is enjoyable to type on for long sessions, and doesn't annoy you by the way it reacts to presses or how it sounds to clack away for hours at a time.
There's a lot to like about how the Rainy 75 Pro handles itself. It doesn't offer bells and whistles like a screen or a knob, and it offers a bit of visual excitement with RGB and the branding.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro review: Great for the price.
Even so, it types really well. It feels satisfying to press the keys, and it sounds like a fairly premium device when compared to others in the office. There aren't included Mac-specific keycap replacements, but it's not really an issue unless you care intensely about that.
Providing the keycaps or offering a Mac-specific layout at purchase would've helped it reach a score of 4.5.
People who are into collecting mechanical keyboards often refer to achieving their "endgame" setup. For people starting out in the hobby or just upgrading from a cheap membrane keyboard, the Rainy 75 Pro gets them very far towards that setup, with minimal effort.
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro Pros
- Build quality
- Sound and feel
- Minimal controls
Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro Cons
- Hidden power button
- No height control
- No Mac-specific keycaps included
Rating: 4 out of 5
Where to buy the Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro
The Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro is available from Wobkey directly, priced from $139. It's also available from Amazon, for $159
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Comments
I'm going to tell my wife "hey at least I don't collect keyboards."
Fortunately, this is not my jam either.
the downside which was only briefly touched on in the article is the Mac compatibility. It does have Via support but i find it severely lacking. you have to switch to a dev mode and load a json file to get to program it. but the only reason i felt i needed to program it was because in Mac mode, the F key functionality i was used to on my other keyboards did not work as expected. I lost a ton of time trying to get media keys working etc, and ended up reverting back to Windows mode and remapped the Command-Option keys. I then had to install a program "Karabiner-Elements" and make manulal mappings which ends up getting me to where I expect things. A bit frustrating.
So while the keyboard works and feels great out of the box, the Mac functionality i find severely lacking and may be a huge deterrent to the average Mac user.