CORN Anne Pro 2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard 60% True RGB Backlit – Wired/Wireless Bluetooth 5.0 PBT Type-c Up to 8 Hours…

Review updated 6/15/2020I am typing this review from the Anne Pro 2, connected to my PC via the included USB cable.First of all, I chose Kailh Box Brown switches. My previous keyboard was the ducky dk2108s with cherry mx brown switches. It’s worth to note that I bought that ducky keyboard back in maybe 2014 when RGB wasn’t so big — single color LED gaming keyboards were common, and that particular ducky retailed at around $120 at the time.The Anne Pro 2 configured with Kailh Box Browns came in at $90 USD shipped ordering from this particular vendor off amazon. For that price, it certainly is a little more expensive than ordering them with Gaterons; however, I read that the Kailh box browns had less wobble. In fact, when I compare these to the cherry mx browns, I do prefer the kailhs over cherry MX browns as they feel more substantial.EDIT 6/15/2020: while kailh box switches have supposedly been retooled, their stems are still oversized compared to normal MX stems. What this means is your keycaps get stretched out using this keyboard. I have used the Ducky frozen llama pbt keycap set on my anne pro 2 and they’re so stretched out that they fit quite loosely on my custom keyboard built with lilacs. They’re not loose to the point the caps fall off when I flip the keyboard upside down, but my point is: if you get kailh box switches on your anne pro, don’t put any expensive keycaps on it. Kailh box tactiles also eventually develop some sort of clicky sound, which might bother some people. I have since fallen into the rabbit hole that is building custom keyboards and will never return to using my anne pro 2 while plugged in; however, I still use it in bluetooth mode for my surface pro laptop almost daily.Soundwise: the keys sound nice on this board; however, I don’t know if the switches themselves are lubed so I cannot comment on that. I do know however that the stabilizers are lubed and they sound quite nice. The fact that you can tap the lower right keys to function as arrow keys is an interesting feature of this keyboard, and I welcome that functionality simply because I enjoy the sound of pressing those keys.Bluetooth functionality: So I have some mixed opinions on this. It paired easily to my samsung note 9 at first, and I also paired it to my microsoft surface pro. Sometimes, it doesn’t really connect immediately to my phone but it’s hard to judge knowing that samsung’s bluetooth is kind of wonky. It connects really quickly to my surface pro. I did experience the keyboard registering multiple hits as if it got stuck a few times over bluetooth. At this point in time I can’t say that it’s not functional, but I probably wouldn’t game with it. It is otherwise fine and I enjoy using it over my surface pro keyboard.Build quality: I am honestly surprised. This is a plastic cased keyboard that does not rattle and flex. There is supposedly a metal plate in there to add to the rigidity and weight; however, I have not taken it apart to play around. I just know that I am quite satisfied with the build quality. People who say made in China things are cheap need to get over themselves because this is a pretty good product. I wonder if I would have felt the same if I used any other “looser” switches? There are some rubber feet adhered to the bottom of the keyboard and they tend to hold it in place nicely. They keycaps are pbt and feel great. They’re actually nicer than I expected and I rather enjoy typing on them.Software: don’t forget to download the software from their website and update the firmware. If you like the key ripple effect, you have to install their alpha software. That’s one of the first things I did when I got the board, so I don’t know if that affected my bluetooth experience. All I know is I’m a fan! The software is easy to use and it doesn’t cause things to go wonky like the Corsair iCue software.Value: Okay. So a week before I purchased the anne pro 2, I also bought a fullsize prebuilt keyboard. You’re probably all familiar with the brand: Corsair. I picked up a Corsair k70 mk2 se. That’s the white one with the aluminum face plate, cherry mx silver (speed) switches. It was on sale for $110, but it has since gone back up to around $170. I honestly considered returning the Corsair after experiencing the Anne Pro 2. The only reason I kept the Corsair was because it was on sale, and I figured it’s always at least good to have one full size keyboard laying around. If I am going to build a keyboard in the future, I will likely not build a fullsize since there are more options available for the 60% size platform. Since the Corsair is an aluminum face mounted on a plastic case, there is so much pinging and you can even hear the springs in the mx silvers creaking as you press down on the buttons. Not good, but while I’m gaming and listening to music (a majority of the time I’m using that keyboard), I won’t be noticing it anyway. Enough about the corsair though — let’s keep talking about the Anne Pro 2.That leads me into my next point: the acoustic characteristics of the anne pro 2 (at least the unit I received) has suddenly sparked an interest in building. Whether you think this keyboard is meh or yay, it has made an impact for me. I started looking into custom build components and realized really quickly that for anyone who wants to build a 60% size board, you’ll easily meet the cost of simply buying one of these pre-built keyboards. If you want to make something better, you’ll easily exceed the costs on switches and the pcb alone, not including a case. So if you never plan on building, I think the Anne Pro 2 is a solid place to start. For me, I think i’ll keep it around for a long time simply for the portability with its bluetooth functionality.

I like the form and function of the tenkeyless keyboard, which had a nice solid, hefty feeling to it, so it would not slide around on my computer desk. This was my first tenkeyless keyboard, which took me about a week to get used to it (the directional buttons are multi-purpose and not labelled as such, but a quick internet search revealed which keys to use to move the cursor). My home computer is in a dark corner of my home theater room, so I needed a backlit keyboard, and that function worked very well, particularly because I am not a good typist and whenever I accidentally hit the “CapsLk” key, the backlight would turn red.I wish the keyboard had come with a mouse so that the keyboard/mouse functions could be operated from a single USB port, but I managed using a separate mouse and using two USB ports.All that is great, but less than two months after receiving and connecting the keyboard, it stopped working completely. So all those convenient functions are useless. I had hoped for better. Do not buy this. I will update this review if Anne Pro Customer Service does anything.UPDATE: It is now two weeks since I attempted to contact Anne Pro customer support and I have received no response of any kind. Do not buy this company’s products. At this price point, there is no excuse why the mouse and keyboard cannot share a single USB port. More important is the lack of a “Delete” button or directional buttons — button you use more than you realize. But all of it is unimportant compared to Anne Pro’s complete lack of customer service regarding the faulty garbage they sell at a premium price.

The quality of keyboard is great, don’t get me wrong.. The typing feels great, but the bluetooth gave me nothing but headaches as it would not connect at all even after unpairing and trying to pair again. I have several bluetooth devices that connect perfectly fine, but this one just did not whatsoever, it connected once when I first did it and after that it was useless. I plugged it in via USB C and did firmware update which did not help with bluetooth either. Really disappointed because the tap arrow feature is super nice to have on a 60% keyboard. The other problem I had was with the caps lock just being super weird and preventing me from typing how I do on all my keyboards that I use and not being able to change the LED color of the caps lock once it’s activated. I thought the problems with the original Anne Pro was fixed with the release of the Anne pro 2 and I guess not.Oh last thing, the lighting is better then most of the keyboards that are 60% however I noticed the lighting doesn’t go thru the entire key and some of the letters are only half lit.

Great weight to it, stays stationary, feels solid. Color customization is easy to do but some are inaccurate (i select orange and got green). Be sure to download newest firmware when you get it. Got the Gateron Brown switches and they feel good, no louder than any other mechanical keyboard with brown switches. Bluetooth connection has been great on my Macbook Pro. Nice bonus that you get some extra colorful keycaps and a keycap remover with it. You can find this keyboard cheaper elsewhere on the internet though…

There’s lots of great features that make this 60% keyboard very usable, but you may need to give it a chance. I actually started on the return process when I realized how much I actually use arrow keys.Good news though, there’s a tap function where tapping FN1, FN2, Right Ctrl, Shift can act as arrow keys. I use this feature all the time as well as using Magic FN + IJKL. RGB is great and keys are really good quality. I got the Box Reds and use for FPS gaming.