Nanoxia Ncore Retro Aluminum Mechanical Keyboard Review

Packaging, Accessories, and Documentation

The front of the packaging shows most of what the customer would want to know. The full name is displayed on the left, with no mention of gaming featured in the title. Features are shown below that, while the bulk of the panel is used to show the keyboard, and that the keycaps are interchangeable.

Both sides are nearly identical, with the Nanoxia name and logo at the right ends. Here we can also see four of the features, which cover the waterproof nature of the design, that it sports a braided cable, it has a 1000Hz polling rate, and that the chassis is made of aluminum.

Both of the small ends are identical down to the last detail. There are the company name and logo followed by a stylized product name to fit the retro theme, and on the right end is a QR code to take you to the product page.

Both of the longer sides have another four features shown. These are NKRO support, Windows 10 compatibility, the use of Kailh White switches, and the USB 2.0 interface. Where the sides differ, is the other side offers the product name, and this one has a box with the serial number, model number, and the UPC code.

The back does not show us much more about the keyboard. The left side offers all of the names, and the middle uses a larger version of the image we saw on the front of the box. The right send does provide a list of features, and again shows the same eight icons we found on the side panels.

Inside of the box, we find the Ncore Retro Aluminum keyboard surrounded by a layer of plastic. Each end has a dense foam insert that holds the edges of the keyboard and keeps it away from the cardboard box. The cable is at the back, but you will also find literature and goodies under the keyboard.

The manual sent along with the keyboard is made of thick paper stock and has quite a bit to see inside. While it covers connectivity and the fact that this is a driverless product, there are instructions you will want to read over.

This pair of pages includes things like the multimedia keys, how to switch between rollover modes, but Nanoxia spends a lot of time on the LED lighting modes. Not only do you get seven standard lighting effects for the entire keyboard, but we also see four of the preset game modes, and which LEDs are lit in each.

The following pages continue with the four other preset modes you can use, but the page on the right goes even further. That page addresses how one would go about setting up a custom LED profile, where you can set which LEDs are on, and which are off.

We also like the goodies that ship with this keyboard. There is a wire keycap puller, which will not damage the finishes on the caps like the generic plastic ones do. Nanoxia also sends a fan style brush, which allows one to clean the keyboard without needing to remove the keycaps.