Anime girls and computers have always been intrinsically linked, with some companies even developing their own characters as a marketing strategy for overseas consumers (only the OGs remember Inori Aizawa,) and it’s no surprise that this would eventually extend to the peripherals market. Today, we take a look at a special version of the K686 keyboard, developed for all you weebs out there.

Released by the market veteran but site newcomer Redragon, the K686 is a robust 96% layout keyboard, featuring everything you need for daily usage and more. This review specifically focuses on the EISA version, which comes adorned with one of Redragon’s newest original mascots.

For the average user, it’s worth noting that Redragon is one of the few brands out there constantly outputting full-size or near full-size keyboards, focusing on products with broader market appeal rather than the very niche™ stuff we usually cover here. If learning a smaller layout seems too daunting or you simply don’t feel like memorizing a bunch of shortcuts, then this might be for you.

EISA K686 PRO SE Anime Keyboard
Manufacturer: Redragon
Price: $74.99

As mentioned before, the K686 is named after and carries the likeness of Eisa, one of Redragon’s new anime girl mascots. This keyboard makes up one-third of the Eisa anime trio, which includes the K686 keyboard, the King Pro mouse, and a gaming mat with the character’s full art.

The K686 is housed in a plastic case, which mixes a blue and white layout. The blue part makes up the top of the keyboard, surrounding the keycaps and opening up on the sides to show the white parts of the shell, giving it a nice layered look. This also serves to aesthetically hide the location of the 2.4 GHz transmitter and USB port, making it both a stylish and functional design decision.

A surprisingly hidden aesthetic addition lies on the keyboard’s all-white backside, which features the entire Eisa illustration. This is an unique touch that helps enhance the keyboard’s presentation and is apparently present in all of Redragon’s mascot keyboards, showing this new product line was clearly crafted with a good amount of care pertaining to its visuals.

One unfortunate issue is that the EISA is possibly one of the dimmest boards I’ve reviewed so far. The backlight is incredibly weak, and the lighting pretty much just disappears in a well-lit environment, even at maximum brightness. The lights are also not very accurate, with the RGB producing slightly washed-out tones instead of what’s picked on the color wheel.

Surprisingly, the white keycaps have a slight bit of translucency to them, which does make the keyboard look very attractive in low light. This vaguely translucent effect also helps with visibility, making up for the fact that the keycaps aren’t shine-through.

Regardless of the RGB, the art printed on EISA’s keycaps is definitely the star of the show here, featuring an attractive design that makes it stand out amongst a sea of somewhat boring minimalist all-black keyboards. The illustration contrasts nicely with the keycap color choices, although it is a little disappointing that the character itself is not an overall bigger part of the art.

The K686 comes equipped with a set of hot-swappable custom Outemu switches, which are Redragon’s bread and butter. These orange switches with a black stem seem to be tailor-made for this specific model, as there isn’t much info floating around about them.

The Outemu switches feel quite bouncy to type on, almost immediately springing up after you push them down. This effect does not seem to be present throughout the whole board, with the bouncier feel being relegated to the main letter and number rows, while the special keys feel more stable and have a slightly more muted sound.

Thankfully, the plastic case does not jeopardize the switch’s acoustics in any sort of way, as the keyboard achieves a satisfyingly creamy sound. The keyboard comes equipped with five layers of 3.5mm PO foam, IXPE switch foam, PET sound pad, bottom socket foam, and a silicone bottom pad along with a silicone gasket, which do wonders for its acoustics.

As is usual with modern keyboards, the K686 has three connection methods: 2.4 GHz through a receiver, Bluetooth, and wired, all of which can be freely switched between by using the handy tri-mode switch on the left of the keyboard. None of the three modes feeling noticeably different latency-wise.

Redragon also continues its tradition of solid proprietary software releases, giving users the ability to create macros, function key commands, multimedia shortcuts, and more, all across multiple profiles in a very easy-to-use and responsive interface. It’s difficult to think of companies developing better companion software out there, as Redragon has been incredibly consistent and reliable.

It’s worth noting that Bluetooth has a small drawback not present in the other connection modes, as Redragon’s software only identifies the keyboard when using a receiver or USB-C cable, which means that on-the-fly customization will cost you a USB port, even if temporarily, as any saved settings persist between mode switches.

Overall, the EISA K686 PRO SE is a solid board, both aesthetically and functionally. The incredibly nice art on the keycaps, as well as the full illustration on the back help cement it as one of the nicer-looking boards out there if you aren’t into minimalist designs, while its specs are quite nice for casual gaming and productivity.

Redragon’s software is also a great added bonus, making it incredibly easy to customize the board in whatever way the user sees fit while also being super easy to use. It’s definitely nice to take a break from VIA keyboards, as outsourcing the work to third-party software doesn’t feel like a good move from my point of view.

The somewhat weak lighting is definitely one of the keyboard’s very few actual negative aspects, although that’s only a negative if you care about lighting in the first place. I tend to type in low light, so to me it is a big deal, but that might not be your case. Despite that hiccup, the K686 is still quite an easy recommendation to make.

You can find the EISA K686 PRO SE Anime Keyboard on Redragon’s official store, currently going for $74.99 as of writing this review.

The EISA K686 PRO SE Anime Keyboard was reviewed using a unit provided by Redragon. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here.