What Keyboard Does deko Use?

deko's keyboard history

deko has gone through five different keyboards, each for a single stretch. He started this run with the Logitech G Pro Keyboard in September 2022. In March 2023 he moved to the Varmilo VA87M Koi, then to the Varmilo VA87M Beijing Opera in August 2023. That one lasted only 3.2 months, the shortest period in the list.

The SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL (2023) arrived in December 2023 and stayed until February 2025, which is 14.4 months (1.2 years). On 2025-02-17 he changed from it to the Wooting 80HE Black. That board is now his longest period at 20.1 months (1.7 years), and he has not gone back to any earlier keyboard.

The pattern is a few short experiments in 2022 and 2023, then two longer stays. The Apex Pro TKL (2023) and the Wooting 80HE Black together cover most of the timeline.

Switches and actuation

The Wooting 80HE Black is sold with a wide choice of switches: Lekker Linear 45 v2, Lekker Linear 60 v2, Lekker Tikken Light, Lekker Tikken Medium, Geon Raw HE and Wooting x TTC KOM. That is two Linear options, two Tikken options and two further switches from other lines.

The PCB is hotswappable, so switches can be changed without soldering. You can start with one type and try another later on the same board. The model also has RGB lighting.

Should you buy deko's keyboard?

The Wooting 80HE Black is a TKL board. It suits players who want the keypad gone to free up desk space for mouse movement, but who still want the arrow keys and function row. It is a fairly heavy board at 790 g, so it stays put on the desk. The hotswappable PCB is a plus if you like trying different switches.

The alternatives trade off like this:

• Wooting 80HE+ Frost: the same size, weight and switch options as deko's board. 6 pros are using it now, so it is the closest swap.
• Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL Black: 70 g lighter and 0.2 cm shorter, but 1.8 cm wider and 1.06 cm taller. It uses Razer Analog Optical switches and a non-hotswappable PCB. 5 pros are using it now.
• SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL (2023): the board deko used before the Wooting. It is 0.6 cm shorter, 0.9 cm wider and 1.06 cm taller. It comes with OmniPoint 2.0 switches and a non-hotswappable PCB. 4 pros are using it now.

If you want a lower, more compact profile and switch choice, stay with the Wooting. If you prefer a taller board with fixed switches, the Razer and SteelSeries models are the alternatives.