Customer Ratings & Reviews

Very nice feel, and the linear switches are great.

First impression: My first impression of the Drop CSTM80 is that it is very rugged. The 1st thing I noticed was the weight. It is heavier than any of my other keyboards. It’s not surprising when you pull it out and see a weight plate on the bottom. The keyboard is well packaged but be careful not to throw away the accessories with the box. Once you remove the keyboard, you need to remove the cardboard underneath it to reveal the accessories. The keyboard is a wedge-style keyboard. This is fully customizable, allowing you to easily change any component of it. The top cover is held on with strong magnets which make it quick and easy to change out and to get access to the keys and switches. Drop offers several custom top plates with different colors and materials, and some with custom printing. It’s a nice-looking cover. The branding of the keyboard is on the bottom, keeping the top of the keyboard clean. This works well with the side-printed keycaps. What’s in the Box: • USB-A to USB-C cable • Switch puller • Keycap puller • Mac keys Technical Specifications: • Layout: Tenkeyless (TKL) • 88 keys • Case material: Polycarbonate • Magnetic decorative top case • Decorative top case material: Polycarbonate • Plate material: Polycarbonate • Case and switch foam: PORON case foam, PORON plate foam IXPE switch foam, silicone bottom case patch and gasket layer • Gasket-mounted with removable gaskets • Keycap profile: Cherry • Keycap material: ABS (with laser etched front-facing, shine-through legends) • Switches: Gateron Brown Pro 3.0 Switches or Gateron Milky Yellow KS3 Switches • Hot-swappable switch sockets • 5-pin switch support • Typing Angle: 6° • Stabilizers: Gateron PCBA-mounted stabilizers • Per-key RGB LED lighting • South-facing RGB LEDs • 14.7 x 5.8 x 1.3 in Features: • Both Via and Vial support real-time keymapping configuration. • Side-printed keycaps instead of top mounted. • Keycaps are per-key RGB color configurable. • Gateron Brown Pro 3.0 Switches or Gateron Milky Yellow KS3 Switches. • Two-year warranty. Performance: The keyboard is ready to use right out of the box for both Windows and Mac computers. Drop includes the Mac-specific keys and a key puller, so you can easily swap those out. The keyboard is a PCBA board instead of a PCB board. What this means is everything is combined onto a single board. So, if you want to disassemble the keyboard for any adjustments or new configurations, you only have 1 board with no connecting wires or daughter boards to worry about, making it super easy to work with. The switches are Gateron Yellow switches. These are linear switches, and they have a really good feel and a nice sound while typing. And Drop included PCB mounted stabilizers. This makes the keys feel solid when typing. The is noticed the most on the space bar, which doesn’t dip on the ends when typing. Inside the chassis, there are 3 foam pads and 1 dampening pad. The dampening pad tapers from the top of the pad to the bottom. The top of the pad is almost ½” tick, providing good dampening. I am a 2-finger typist. I never learned how to type, and I know the layout of the keyboard, so about 60% of my typing is muscle memory. My problem is that I type fast as a 2-finger typist if the keys aren’t crammed together. I have trouble with 60% and 80% keyboards, and this one is no different. However, I seem to do better on this keyboard than other partials I have tried. But it still slows me down. While typing, I can easily see the keys on the front of the keyboard. This was a concern as I need to be able to see the keys as a 2-finger typer. They are easy to see, and the LED colors come through bright and clean. Conclusion: The Drop CSTM80 keyboard is a fully customizable keyboard. You can customize every part of the keyboard, including case covers, weight plates, switches, keys, and dampening foam. You can also customize the keymap and program F13 with the downloaded app, which is both Via and Vial compatible. Removing the cover is easy with the magnetic hold, and the inserts are strong enough to not be a problem when removing the Phillips screws. Using this keyboard is actually a pleasure right out of the box. The keys feel solid and fluid, and the mechanical sound is firm and not hollow. The LED colors are bright, and the front-facing printed characters are easy to see and helps the keyboard look clean. Even as a 2-finger typer, I do ok with this smaller keyboard, which I generally struggle with. This is not a problem with the keyboard, it is a problem with me. If you want a high-quality, fully customizable keyboard that works really good out of the box, I highly recommend this keyboard.

An amazing keyboard the switches are creamy and smooth and for the price is extremely good couldn’t recommend enough!!

Absolutely stellar keyboard! I got it for my wife for her birthday, and she loves it.

This product has been an outstanding addition to my office space. It has made typing and gaming such a comfortable experience.

Decent keyboard, a bit expensive but initial impressions were good with the kb. The oem keys are pretty bad, ensure you buy extra keycap set if you plan on buying this. Drop Customer service will not assist in replacing any. Overrall could be better, but if bought on a deal its worth.

Keyboard sounds and feels amazing. Not very loud, but very satisfying to type on. I wish Best Buy stocked the Drop cases though. The white isn't my cup of tea.

It seems to be overpriced but it's a great keyboard, easy to adjust but unfortunately seems the keys are easy to get sticky.

Great keyboard. Swapped out key caps for all white and it’s definitely a clean option for the price point.

I bought this for my son and he absolutely LOVES it!!

Best keyboard for the price. Would recommend to friends

fairly average but accurate. cannot change the actuation but has some type of software that's fairly easy to use, looks very simple

This is a nice mechanical keyboard, a step above some of the other big brands in terms of your ability to customize etc. Although I am not a huge fan of the unique customization options available for this keyboard, the various magnetic "decorative plates". The one that is included out of the box is some pretty cheesy feeling plastic there are aluminum options available but pushes the cost up further on this keyboard. Because this top plate is so easily removable and made of plastic it just ends up feeling a bit cheap compared to other keyboards I've owned in this price range. This chassis also has no tilt angle/height adjustment available, which isn't uncommon but just something to be aware of. This keyboard has some really nice feeling switches, mine came with the Gateron milky yellow linear switches. I tend to levitate towards linear switches regardless of brand, and these Gaterons feel exceptional. It is also a hot swappable PCB so you'll be able to change these out easily in the future for a different sound, typing feel, or in the event of a failure. Typing sound is pretty mild with the included milky yellow switches, not too much thock, and the RGB looks good, but would shine more with different keycaps. They include both a keycap puller and a switch puller in the box for this exact reason, Drop has a wide variety of custom key caps and switches available for purchase. If you are just getting into the more customizable mechanical keyboards and not just using mainstream Razer or Logitech options anymore this is a great platform to start really diving down the rabbit hole of custom keyboards.

The keyboard itself is nice the atomic purple colorway is nice, the switches sound and feel nice, but after about a months worth of useage the keyboard got bricked no update or reset method worked for it, im sure others will have a better experience but for me the board is only good for the switches at this point

Purchased on December 19th and returned the same day. The reason for the return was because the spacebar stabilizer was broken out of the box. I took the key off and tried to adjust the stab but it would not budge. First time buying a drop branded item and I don’t think I will be purchasing another one.

This is probably one of the cleanest, nicest keyboards out in the market. It feels very premium from the moment you take it out of the box. It is a little bulky, but it adds to the appeal because this looks like your older PS/2 keyboards. The design is very minimalistic and I have no doubt that this can easily fit into any setup that you may have. The keycaps showing the keys from the front and nothing at the top is very unique. The RGB lighting is very noticeable too especially because the lettering at the front is transparent, so you are literally getting the full experience with the lighting. The downside is that the lighting is mainly controlled via keyboard and not by software. The whole keyboard is customizable so you can remove the face of the keyboard and switch it out or clean it with ease. The keys itself can be customized via the DROP software available online. The switches that come with this keyboard personally isn't my type, but it's very responsive and playing games on feels very smooth.

I'm rather enjoying this keyboard. Right out of the box, it's just *nice*. The keycaps feel really great to the touch, and I'm a huge fan of the switches they used. I tend to prefer my keyboards to be clickier, but this is honestly pretty good. It is plug and play, technically you don't really need the software to configure it, though the software does make it really easy to swap whichever firmware you're using on the keyboard. I did notice that Dynamic Lighting isn't supported, but I did see somewhere in the GitHub repository for the firmware the keyboard ships with that it's apparently being looked at by someone, so I do have a bit of hope for that. I actually really like the magnetic front plate. Being able to just lift it off is really nice. I am a fan of changing up the looks of things frequently, and I feel like it'd be totally reasonable for me to just have multiple front plates and swap them out occasionally. It's also sturdy, so I don't feel like I'm going to break it every time I pull it off. It fits back on nicely, and doesn't seem to have any issues with annoying tolerances. While gaming on this keyboard has been really nice, it's more so been a pleasure to type on. With the default switches, I can type quickly without worrying that anyone on a call with me is going to hear sounds reminiscent of machine gun fire over the microphone if I don't have my good mic on me at the moment. (I usually prefer clickier switches for gaming.) The keycaps honestly just feel perfect for typing. It's just... nice. It feels nicer for typing than my other keyboards. I don't really know how to describe it, but it does. Overall, I'd absolutely recommend this keyboard, unless the lack of a keypad is a dealbreaker for you. If you can stand to live without it or get a separate keypad, I would absolutely use this thing. It's quickly become my favorite keyboard. I just really love it.

I’m a bit of a keyboard snob and had to snatch this up at $100. It’s absolutely wonderful at that price point. Smooth typing, relatively quite keyboard. Honestly not a huge fan of the keycaps but that’s really just an aesthetic opinion, they are fine. With all of that said this board is also regularly sold for the full msrp of $200 and I’d find it difficult to recommend at that price point when you could get something much nicer with a full aluminum case.

The DROP CSTM80 RGB TKL Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is solid. It is compact and has full-sized mechanical keys. Every keystroke is smooth and confident. Unlike many keyboards, the letters, numbers, and symbols are illuminated on the front of the keys in a large, clear, easy-to-read font, which is much better for visibility. The lighting is RGB so that you can control the illumination's color, including a changing pattern. The angle of the keys is comfortable. The casing is comfortably rounded and can be replaced with other colors available on the website. The keyboard supports both Apple and PCs. The keys can be changed to accommodate the computer. Tools are provided to remove keys and switches. The entire keyboard is configurable; every key can be customized with mapping and LED. To configure, you can go to the DROP website and use the configuration tool. Here, you can fully customize every key, and when you’re done, you can compile and download the new firmware. Drop also has hundreds of keycaps, frames, cases, and accessories available on their website to allow you to get the look and feel that you desire.

This Drop TKL Keyboard is a great gaming keyboard with a couple setbacks. It’s very solidly built and has a considerable amount of heft to it. One of the things I really like about this keyboard is the feel of the keys. The switch’s are perfect for my liking and feel very smooth. They are also very quiet and smooth. Another neat feature is the removable case. Makes it easier to get in there and swap switches or keys. Very cool. I bet if you are the artistic type you could easily paint the case to give it some extra style. Very customizable. One thing I really wish this keyboard had is volume controls. I know it’s a TKL board but I absolutely love a physical volume knob. Makes it quick and easy to mute or turn down the volume. I’ve had a couple keyboards with this function and it’s really great. Another thing that I feel all keyboards should come with is a magnetic palm rest. I had to use one from a different keyboard and it isn’t the proper length so looks a bit goofy but it works. Overall this is a really nice and minimalistic keyboard. Sounds and feels great. Definitely recommend!