The AF SA Profile - a sorta review

Learning and discussion Keycaps
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I can test later, but one thing to keep in mind is that MT3 has 2 types [ABS and PBT], whereas AF SA is presumably ABS-only.

That being said, yes, AFSA/MG legends are gorgeous, although the font is maybe divisive [I like it]. I’m not sure they’re much more consistent than MT3, but they are beautiful.

In terms of surface texture, PBT MT3 is the roughest. My dev/tty has a faint, pumice-like texture. It’s not as rough as Leopold, though. Not the roughest PBT.

MG and AFSA are very smooth, almost too smooth. They have a faint factory pre-shine on the keycap surfaces. Coupled with the relative hollowness of the keycaps, this gives them a more ‘airy’ feel than MT3, IMHO. MT3 feel thicker, and usually deliver better sound.

Maybe I will get a chance later today to refresh myself on MG surfaces vs. ABS MT3.

Incidentally, there seems to be a new MG set in IC:

I’m not sure about GBing these kind of sets. I remember sales where you could pick up a full AF SA set for $60 CAD, shipped. That’s an incredible price that I’m not sure even GB can beat.

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62

Okay, I was able to compare sets today.

MG is flatter, squarer, more uniform, and smoother than ABS MT3.

They are all closer than you think, in terms of surface texture. In other words, the variance is not extreme. MG is smoothest, it is among the smoothest I have tried.

But ABS MT3 is not that gritty in comparison. It has a slight pumice texture, but is recognizably ABS plastic. And PBT MT3 is only slightly grainier.

So there’s a continuum here, we’re not talking about extremes. Although MG is shiniest, and probably slipperiest. However, the good design of the scoop makes them reliable, for me at least.

In addition to the surface texture, there’s a noticeable difference in sculpt and construction. ABS MT3 feels rockier and heavier than MG, which is noticeably flatter to type upon once inside the sculpt. PBT MT3 feels as if it has a more subtle sculpt.

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63

I like that MG set. I’m glad to see it as well since iI thought MelGeek might’ve given up on MG since they haven’t run a set in a little while.

Compared to the set I have (MG Ghost) this set seems to have better compat (short bars weren’t available at all for MG Ghost, for example).

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64

NGL, it does tempt me.

It evokes a cross between Nautilus Nightmares, and some of the cyber-themed sets.

The dilemma for me is, get in on GB, or wait for sale on AliExpress?

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They’re under $50 CAD shipped from AliExpress lately. It takes a lot of self-control to stop myself buying new colourways every week.

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66

Curious about Aliexpress as I’ve never ordered from there before. Is it fairly seamless (I’m in the US)? I can just order and pay as if it were Amazon or similar site?

Also, and this is a more general question for everyone: is there a cycle that the domikey sets usually go through in terms of price? I really like this Domikey Adventurer set but at the moment it is $180 on Aliexpress for the all-in-one. I see other DMK all-in-one sets are more like $120 on there (though most are sans novelties). Wondering if I wait a few months if the price will come down.

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67

Well, since I moved back to NZ I don’t have the option of next-day Amazon unlimited delivery.

Ali is almost as seamless as Amazon. Prices are usually better if you spend the time to search around. There are more dishonest sellers (but I’ve always had disputes settled in my favour). Delivery takes a lot longer (sometimes stuff will arrive in a week, but usually stuff takes a month to arrive, and occasionally several months).

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Yeah, I’m in the US and I’ve ordered form AliExpress several times. The shipping can take a long time for some sellers, but it’s straight forward. I believe I just used a credit card to pay. You’ll have to sign in using apple or Google or similar ID

69

AliExpress might be a little more cumbersome to get set up with than Amazon [or get used to], but it’s almost as easy afterwards.

You have to be wary of more things: Who is the seller [learn to spot good vs questionable], what exactly are you ordering, and how much, who has free shipping and who doesn’t, and where to check for discounts.

I have ordered keyboard parts from AliExpress since 2018.

They have a lot of sales, and you’ll learn how best to utilize seller + global discounts, over time.

As for Domikey, they do come down in price sometimes, but very strategically. I had my eye on Domikey Hush / Deep Sea for a while. It’s usually $186 CAD. It went down to $156 during a sale, and a global AliExpress discount brought it down to $144. At that price, it was more affordable.

Clearly, they had too many Hush sets. It’s good to keep track of inventory: Domikey went crazy producing sets not long ago, and they charged near-GMK prices. But that wasn’t likely to last forever, and indeed discounts set in.

Worth checking what else they advertised widely. Sunday-Monday there was a sale, including some Domikey sets, but I doubt they went down as much as Hush did. Some discounts stack, which made the all-in-one set [normally high-priced] more of a deal.

The AF SA, MG, and fake SA keycaps, as indicated earlier, often go on sale and generally have low prices to begin with. During the recent sale, Shenpo also went down to $37 CAD for a base kit. That’s way cheaper than Amazon. BTW Amazon was charging list price + shipping for Domikey Hush before, I think. They wanted $80+ CAD for 90 AKKO POM Brown, whereas it was $49 during AliExpress sale.

Which brings up another interesting point. Amazon is often a middle-man between you and the Chinese manufacturers. So you end up paying list price plus shipping, often from the same storefront that exists on AliExpress [but without AliExpress sales]. So you can skip that and order more closely from the source. [Sometimes Amazon is cheaper, like with custom cables].

Some things that often go really cheap during sales: Feker Pandas / Matcha, JWICK T1 and other JWICKs, AKKO switches [$27 CAD shipped for 90 Cream Blue / Yellow!], OUTEMU silents [same price], Gateron Pro and CAP series [similar price], AULA/LEOBOG switches, fancy springs. Things that get weak discounts: KTT and Kailh switches, High-end Gaterons. That that rarely get discounted: Cherry, SP Star, Durock/JWK. Also, the fake Pandas aren’t $2 for 10 anymore, so maybe they aren’t overstocked anymore.

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70

Thanks!

I went for the adventurer set. :eyes:

As you said it’s at least GMK prices now. It’s a little bit of apples to oranges since the Adventurer set included novelties but it didn’t include the second set of alphas (triple-shots) like some other sets I’ve seen so this feels like paying Originative rates to be honest but I really liked the set.

I’ll post it when I get it in a month or so

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71

That’s good. Hope you got a deal!

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I just ordered my third AFSA set from the G-MKY Ali-store.
I love the (eighties) profile, the quality of it, the colors and even the sound profile I get from it.
The store is reliable but it takes a week more in comparison to other vendors to receive them.

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73

Okay, this new MG set is up on Drop.com:

Looks like they want $99 USD [+ shipping, etc…] for the base kit.

Okay, that’s not quite as high as MT3 prices, but it’s a lot more than the $33 USD you can sometimes get an MG set for.

I understand that this set has better compatibility, but still.

It will likely be worth it to those who want the colourway.

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If one likes that colourway, ABS Domikey SA Semiconductor might be a somewhat similar and cheaper alternative that can be sourced from Aliexpress.

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75

Yeah, I think that’s a pretty good price, imho. Adding in the $15 spacebar kit gives you pretty great compat which is something MG didn’t really have before I know AliExpress exists (and I recently finally ordered something from there) but it feels like a different world to a certain extent.

Imma think on it. I probably don’t need it but in the long run getting this and potentially selling MG Ghost will mean having an MG set with much better compat.

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In a sense, I like Aliexpress better than Amazon because more product pictures are shown and prices are cheaper.

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Y’know, I’ve got to agree with this. Somehow Amazon really misses the mark on product pictures. That said, it certainly hasn’t slowed me down.

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Heyy! So i recently got a aifei sa keycap as well i can see that the SA is still slightly taller as well. Im planning to get domikey’s sa knight Excalibur for my aifei sock set. Would a SA artisan enter feel weird on it?? Also i noticed my brand-new set feels a lil sticky when my finger touches them, is that normal?

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79

Yes, I also experience a tiny amount of stickiness on my AFSA sets. I am not if this applies or whether its true, but one vendor on Aliexpress advertises their material as being ABS-PBT. Neither am I sure what is meant by that: Is it an amalgam of ABS and PBT, or are the legends PBT and the rest of the keycap ABS. If the former is the case, it may explain the slight stickiness.

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80

Ignoring the scoop, SA is similar height and sculpt to MG. Aifei SA is maybe a couple mm shorter.

So if you want to mix and match with SA then you could buy a set of MG Wahtsy.

Or just live with a slightly taller enter key.