Chilkey ND65
Tri-mode wireless. CNC aluminum gasket 65%. Kailh Blue Lotus linears. Excellent stock sound.
The ND65 is the cheapest honest route into a custom-style 65% — aluminium case, gasket mount, and tri-mode wireless for around €110. Chilkey ships it fully assembled with Kailh Blue Lotus linears, double-shot PBT Cherry-profile caps, a PC plate, and five layers of damping over silica-gel padding. The result is the dense, focused sound people chase in builds three times the price — straight out of the box, no assembly, no soldering.
Underneath sits a 1.2mm flex-cut hot-swap PCB that takes 3- and 5-pin MX-style switches, so the Blue Lotus linears are a starting point, not a commitment. Tri-mode covers 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 5.0, and USB-C, with 1000Hz polling on the wire and 2×3000mAh of battery for cable-free days. It stays a true 65% — arrow keys and a navigation cluster kept, numpad and F-row dropped — in a 315mm footprint that leaves the desk open for low-sens swings. One caveat: it runs Chilkey's own software, not QMK/VIA.
This is a mechanical board — no Hall Effect, no Rapid Trigger. If adjustable actuation and counter-strafe precision are the priority, the magnetic options in the 65% lineup are the move. But if you want a wireless aluminium 65% that sounds and feels like a custom for budget-to-mid money, the ND65 is hard to argue with right now.
- Players wanting a compact 65% with arrow keys + wireless
- Gamers and typists who want a soft gasket feel and dense sound
- Hot-swap tinkerers on a budget (3 & 5-pin, no soldering)
- Tri-mode flexibility (2.4GHz + Bluetooth + wired)
- Aluminium build quality without custom-board pricing
- Anyone who needs a numpad or F-row built in
- Rapid Trigger / magnetic competitive players
- QMK/VIA users (Chilkey software only)
- ISO or QWERTZ layout requirements (this SKU is ANSI)
The Chilkey ND65 is the value benchmark for an aluminium gasket 65% with wireless. Tri-mode connectivity, a factory-assembled gasket build, five layers of damping, full hot-swap, and double-shot PBT — for around €110 it lands far closer to a custom board than its price has any right to. It isn't a magnetic Rapid Trigger board, but as a wireless mechanical 65% with a refined out-of-box feel, nothing in the budget-to-mid bracket does it better right now.