Official Review Hardware Updated

Review cover Yunzii Z98 Pro Keyboard (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review

Product Information:

Quirky meets quality with this interesting keyboard.

attachFull398871

When you're tired of the regular samey keyboards on the market, sometimes you just want something different. Something that spices things up in the most "out there" way possible. That's what the Yunzii Z98 offers--an all-shiny, all-plastic case, with a retro keycap style, in a curious gradient of colors. How does such an oddity stack up once the initial fun factor wears off?

Upon taking the Yunzii Z98 out of the box, I was at a loss for words, initially. The case is the absolutely shiniest plastic I've ever come across in my life, with chrome accents on the sides, which stand out weirdly. The whole keyboard is very rounded, from the soft-edged keycaps, to the round OLED screen in the top right corner. Instead of a traditional volume knob, you get a little lever you can click up and down to set as a hotkey. The color scheme of the keyboard is in a league of its own; the case switches between cream and purple multiple times, while the keycaps are a mix of cream with brown font, purple with yellow lettering, and a darker shade of purple. It's such a mishmash of styles, and I'm not even sure if it works, in terms of design. 

attachFull397616

Review image  Review image

At the very least, the Z98 is incredibly unique, and it absolutely becomes the eye-catching centerpiece of your desk. If you're looking for something quirky, this is most certainly it. While I felt its looks were bizarre at first, the design has come to grow on me after having it on my desk for a while--something about it harkens back to the early 2000s, where everything had gradients and was overdesigned. I kind of love it. It even has an extra USB port on the front, so you can hook your mouse/extra peripheral up to it--retro indeed. 

The Z98 adds to the retro aesthetic by rocking KSA style keycaps--most commonly seen on oldschool keyboards from back in the day. It's a fun, uncommon style to see, though the typing experience is a little marred by just how slippery and glossy the keycaps are. The board itself is hotswappable, coming in prebuilt with either Yunzii's unnamed linear or tactile switches. It's odd that the switches go unspecified on the product page, since they're a highlight of the keyboard, offering a surprisingly smooth, pre-lubed typing experience. 

With an appearance so weird, I wasn't prepared for the Z98 to be so well-made internally. There's lots of case foam, and the board is gasket-mounted. Yunzii did an outstanding job with the build quality, giving a bouncy typing feel that works well in tandem with the switches. There's no modding you need to do to get the Z98 to sound good--it comes near-perfect out of the box, a rarity for a lot of pre-builts. 

attachFull397618

Review image Review image

You can connect the keyboard in a variety of ways, wired, dongle wireless, or Bluetooth, with compatibility for macOS as well. It's very versatile, up to the task for just about any use case. It is a bit of a shame that the battery doesn't last as long as one would hope--you get about less than a week per full charge, possibly because it has RGBs and an OLED screen that it needs to power. The customizable screen is cute and yet another novelty, but the RGB lighting is unimpressive to say the least; the keycaps are so thick and wide that you can barely see any RGB effects at all. 

As ridiculous as it is, the Yunzii Z98 has a lot of charm. Underneath the quirky appearance it has, is an incredibly nice build for both gaming and typing. Priced at just over $100, Yunzii offers a pre-built with such quality that it outclasses most other keyboards in that budget range, on top of being full of weird personality. It's a fun, unique design that I could see a lot of keyboard enthusiasts enjoying. 

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Shockingly good value for your money
  • The OLED screen is fun
  • Impressive sound profile and gasket mounted experience
  • Lots of connectivity options
What We Didn't Like ...
  • Its looks are divisive
  • Weak battery
9
out of 10

Overall

  • Like
Reactions: SAIYAN48, wilburie and Error-1-2435-8325
Scarlet
trepp0 said:
Got a link to buy?
Click to expand...
With hardware reviews there's usually a link in the "Product Information" box. If you're on desktop it's at the top-right of the review. If you're on mobile I think it gets put under the review (maybe under the comments too?).
 
Review cover
Product Information:

Reviews

  1. Hardware

    MelGeek CYBER01 Magnetic Switch Rapid Trigger Gaming Keyboard

    Today for review, we’ll be taking a look at the latest gaming keyboard from Meltek, the CYBER01 magnetic switch offering!

  2. Hardware

    GEEKOM XT12 Pro Mini PC

    Claimed to be the world's most cost-effecient i9 Mini PC, we check out the latest from Geekom.

  3. Hardware

    Kospet Tank T3 Ultra

    Tough enough to navigate and conquer the rugged wilderness.

  4. PlayStation 5

    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants

    The Turtles are back for their umpteenth game outing, but is this one worth it?

  5. PlayStation 5

    Alone in the Dark (2024)

    Alone in the Dark is a Survival Horror game available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X and PC.

More reviews

Site & Scene News

Go to forum More news
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    I'll reformat and have a 3tb raid0 m. 2 at least
     +1
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Lmao that sold out fast
     +1
  • Veho @ Veho:
    https://i.imgur.com/h0w1HLp.mp4
     +1
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Yeet the cat.
     +1
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Good idea
     +1
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    https://youtu.be/9kE3Env_2AY?si=Bs6lUZ0ZIlqmYaGT
     +1
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    https://youtu.be/TECN1Gm7j3A?si=XwYKYHKwxoMNdFqN
  • Veho @ Veho:
    https://i.imgur.com/7bH4YgV.mp4
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    i thought everybody knew cocktails are like 75% ice
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Yeah but not like this.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    It's not like they're complaining that their Slurpee is 99% ice or something, but if the cocktail calls for "shot of vodka, shot of vermouth, shot of gin, shot of Campari, three shots of juice, squirt of lemon" and ends up being a thimbleful of booze, that's a problem.
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    the funny thing is cocktails in norway are only allowed to have 1 20ml shot of booze
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    so..... yeah
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    we're used to only having a thimbleful of booze
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Booo.
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    same thing if you want whisky on the rocks or something, you can't get a double
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    but you could buy as many shots of whisky (or anything else) as you want and ask for a glass of ice and pour them in
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    it's dumb
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Maybe.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    There was a comparison of the number of Ibuprofen poisonings before and after they limited the maximum dosage per box or per pill (i'll look that up). No limit on the number of boxes you can still buy as many as you want, so people argued it was pointless.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    But the number of (accidental) poisonings dropped because drinking an entire package of ibuprofen pills went from "I need a new liver" to "I need a new box of Ibuprofen".
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Here we have ketoprofen that used to be prescription-only because of the risk of toxic dosages, but then they halved the dose per pill and sell them in bottles of six pills apiece instead of twenty and it doesn't need a prescription any more. Yes you can buy more than one bottle but people simply don't.
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Usually accidentally overdose of ibuprofen here is from people taking like cold medicine then ibuprofen for a headache and the combination is over what they need
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hp24nDVKvY
  • Veho @ Veho:
    https://imgur.com/gallery/QQkYnQu
    Veho @ Veho: https://imgur.com/gallery/QQkYnQu