Just before new years I received two keyboards that I wanted to test out, there were some delays with the shipping, but luckily nothing serious. One is Madlions60 which I will be reviewing here, and is a 1:1 Wooting clone, but with better specs advertised. The other is similar but it’s 68% format, I opted for one with dedicated arrow keys, just to spice things up, since I usually get 60% and rebind arrows to fn+wasd, that one will get it’s own review.
First impressions:
Packaging is solid, it’s nicely packed and I don’t see it getting damaged while shipping. Inside the package I got the keyboard, braided cable, keycap/switch puller and a strap packaged separately that is a copy of the Wooting one. The cable is braided and quite thick, it feels good and well made, the strap is similar as the Wooting one, it’s made from a good material with the “buttons” to clip it together. It’s a solid feeling keyboard, it’s practically identical to Wooting60, with some minor differences (it’s about 0.5cm less wide), but it feels much better than the stock Wooting60.
Case:
Case is plastic, no special remarks about it, feels nice, perhaps ever so slightly cheaper feeling than Wooting, or perhaps that’s because it’s a bit lighter. You get the same hole in the upper left corner so you can use the strap if you want, it’s angled at the front of the keyboard and it has a “Madlions” text in the bottom right on the front side. The whole keyboard weighs 524 grams, while Wooting60he is 608 grams
Variations
There are several variations of the keyboard: RGB/No RGB 60/68 format 1000/8000hz polling rate
There is also a new variation labeled as “Performance”, which is only in 68% format, the switches have same specs as the 8000hz one, I contacted the seller and will update here when I get the feedback of what is different from 8000hz one.
There are several colour variations which you can choose from, I went with a simple black look with 60% format that has RGB and 8000hz polling rate
Keycaps:
Keycaps are advertised as dye-sublimated, so they are likely PBT with prints on top. They feel nice, slightly textured to the touch. Typing feel is very nice, owing also to the switches which feel good. The legends will likely wash off over time as it’s not doubleshot, but at this price tag I can’t really hold a grudge over this.
Switches:
These are Hall effect type of switches, not mechanical ones. Magnetic switches are usually targeted towards gamers as they provide high accuracy and configurability. You can set how deep the press needs to be for the click to register, can set multiple activations per press, etc. The names on the shop are rough translations from chinese, I am waiting for the response if they have any actual names, and these are the advertised specs:
- Typing Style: Linear
- Initial Force: 30±10gf
- Total Travel: 3.5±0.2mm
- Pre-Lubed: Yes
- Lifetime: 100 million times keystrokes
Software
To my surprise, they have the software published in the browser, so you don’t need to download everything, and you can configure everything from the browser. I successfully updated the firmware to the latest without any issues, set the keybinds on the layers, change rgb settings, socd is there and working, and there wasn’t anything that I wanted to set and would be missing. The software is translated nicely, you can also set macros, rapid trigger, actuation treshold, DKS, SOCD, there are 3 layers you can bind to, as far as configuration tools for Chinese keyboards I’ve used, this is the best one yet.
The software is included in the Group buy page and packed in two zip files. I will include the same file that is combined, and also link to the original one if you don’t trust me. It’s a zip of an installed Windows project, I hope it’s not a virus.
I’ve included several pictures so you can get an idea of how it looks like. The address at the time of writing is https://hub.f.gg
Conclusion
I am absolutely positively surprised with this keyboard. I got it at around 60 EUR for the pro version with 8khz polling rate and 60% format. The build is good, the switches do not wobble and feel nice when typing, performance is top notch, I haven’t noticed any issues when testing, and overall it feels much better than the original Wooting60 HE. I still have the non-module one unmodded in my storage, and it’s really day and night feeling comparing those two. With good software and support, good switches, solid keycaps and excellent performance, this is a fantastic keyboard to get at a price around 60 EUR, or probably even cheaper if you are in a different country. I can only recommend this if you are looking for a 60% gaming keyboard.
You can check out the sound test below, where I also compare it to stock Wooting 60he
I am including affiliate links to Aliexpress page for the keyboard, if you want to buy the keyboard and support me, I will be really happy if you can use it, as this helps me buy more gear to review, and also puts food on the table. You can also search for “Madlions” on Aliexpress if you don’t want to support me.