Drop SENSE75 is the brand’s latest premium keyboard with a matching price tag

Drop is well-known for its custom mechanical keyboards with premium builds, and it’s been awhile since we’ve seen an in-house keyboard design from Drop. Two years, in fact. The SENSE75 from Drop is a keyboard that the company “spent years carefully curating a typing and customization experience that the community would love.” What does the SENSE75 have to offer? Let’s take a closer look.

Drop SENSE75 brings a fresh take on mechanical keyboards

Like we said, the SENSE75 from Drop is the brand’s first keyboard designed completely in-house to launch since 2020 and offers several premium features and functions.

First off, it offers a symmetrical build with quiet stabilizers for the “perfect touch and feel.” South-facing switches offer maximum compatibility and hot-swappable sockets allow you to customize the SENSE75 with ease. Should you opt for a pre-built version instead of barebones, it’ll come with Holy Panda X switches, FCX keycaps, and Phantom Stabilizers.

There’s an RGB under-glow on the SENSE75 that delivers a subtle, visually-appealing halo around the keyboard. On top of that, it features per-key RGB lighting so you can truly customize the way this keyboard looks. There’s also an aluminum rotary knob with a premium Alps encoder.

The Drop SENSE75 mechanical keyboard is available for pre-order starting today and comes in at $249 for the Nightfall and $299 for Polar in barebones, while a full keyboard with switches and keycaps will run $349 and $399, respectively. Shipments are expected to arrive in early November, and the first 500 to purchase a pre-built unit will also receive a free MT3 keycap set, a limited-edition launch novelty keycap, and carrying case. The barebones edition will be available to purchase at a later date.

9to5Toys’ Take

The SENSE75 looks like it’s a fantastic keyboard, and one that has great style and function. However, the one area that I’m a bit hesitant in is the fully built price. The ALT, which is a little smaller than the SENSE75 runs $180 fully built at Drop, while the CTRL, which offers more keys, comes in at $200; the SENSE75 brings with it a full $150 price premium over even the most expensive pre-built standard Drop keyboard to date. Even the brand’s just-released Lord of the Rings keyboards cost $169 and the high-end Signature Series Classic Midnight keyboard runs $349. It takes up until you get the Signature Series to reach the price of the SENSE75.

Now, I’m not saying that the SENSE75 won’t be worth the asking price. It has a lot of very nice features, and a premium build to boot. But I have a hard time grasping that the SENSE75 will be $169 better than my ALT I currently use at my gaming desk. At $349, Drop’s new SENSE75 keyboard is in the upper tier of pre-built keyboards, reaching the heights of keyboards like the Dygma Raise (my personal work keyboard that I love).

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