If your looking for a keyboard with a unique design, look no further. The Cherry G80-1800 is an 1800 compact mechanical keyboard. This keyboard is simple in design but performs really well. Even though nowadays, flashy RGB keyboards are a norm, the Cherry G80-1800 is an incredibly affordable keyboard option out there.
You might be wondering, how good is the Cherry G80-1800? Well, if that’s the case, then you’re in the right place. That’s exactly what I’m here to tell you.
In this article, I’m going to completely review the Cherry G80-1800. I’m going to talk about all the features, facts, pros, cons, design, and everything related to the keyboard.
In a hurry? Get the Cherry G80-1800 on Amazon!
Table of Contents
Design and Build Quality
The Cherry G80-1800 is a well-designed keyboard. The structure is fairly standard with a few adjustments, the key placement is quite unique. The middle tool keys have been shifted to the right numeric pad side and the distance between the right Numpad and arrow keys have been reduced.
The build quality is also pretty great. There is little to no flex to the overall keyboard and you can expect it to last for quite a long while. This is a great advantage for the moderate price that the G80-1800 keyboard comes for.
The keyboard is overall compact and decently designed. It is a standard layout keyboard with a sleek and stylish design which allows typists to have a great time with the keyboard. The placement is also very close but in no way uncomfortable. It is quite ergonomic for the standard layout. And that’s what we’re looking for with the price range we get this keyboard for.
Decent Quality POM Keycaps
When it comes to the keycaps of the Cherry G80-1800, you can expect decent quality. The keyboard uses POM keycaps with a curve in them that feels pretty comfortable to press.
However, the legend imprint on the keycaps isn’t the best in terms of quality and can offer a little bump in my experience. But it isn’t that bad. The high-quality of the keycaps make up for the printing.
I’ve personally tried and tested out the keycaps and evaluate them on their own as well. I think they are fine and would be suitable for people who’re more inclined to long time typing if the imprinting can be overlooked.
Incredible Cherry MX Black Switches
One thing that I’m always going to feel comfortable vouching for is the incredible Cherry MX Black switches that this keyboard uses. These switches are actually linear gold crosspoint switches.
Cherry MX Black switches come with simple operation. The linear switches come with a very slight sounding low-tactility and low-feedback. The keypress is pretty comfortable and smooth in comparison to other keyboard switches.
I’ve pressed the keys pretty often and got an amazing actuation response. They don’t require too much effort to press and are perfect for typists who want to press keys without creating any kind of disturbance because of the low-sound. So, definitely, the Cherry MX Black switches are worth trying out for this affordable price.
Power Cable
The power cable of the Cherry G80-1800 is a pretty average cable. The insulation is fairly average with no extra safety or anything. The length of the wire, however, is great at around 5.7 feet.
You can easily set up the keyboard near you because of the long wire. There won’t be any tugging or pulling even if you’re sitting far away from the input jack of the PC.
Something worth checking out is the USB/PS2 plug. The USB plug is the original plug whereas there is a PS2 plug converter available for people who require a PS2 plug for a decent connection.
Epic Features of the Cherry G80-1800
For the price that this keyboard comes for, the features are pretty great in my opinion. Let’s take a look at all the epic specs and add-ons that the Cherry G80-1800 comes with.
- Compactness – The keyboard is especially compact even though it comes with 104 keys and a standard layout. This means that you get all the keys without compromising on anything and that too for a decent price all in a small form factor.
- Programmability – The programmability in this keyboard is pretty amazing. You can program any key to be mapped on any other key for your ease of use.
- Strong Build – The overall build of the keyboard is very strong and the durability of the keyboard is quite impressive. There’s no flex to the keyboard and you can expect it to last for an incredibly long while which is exactly what we need from such a high-quality and decently priced keyboard.
- Cherry MX Black switches – The Cherry MX Black switches are linear and provide no excessive acoustics. This helps users type in complete silence without causing any disturbance to anyone at all. At the same time, the MX Black switches to allow easy pressing, and the overall actuation process is very responsive in my opinion.
- Long Cable – The cable of the Cherry G80 is quite long which helps the user easily set it up even if the distance between the PC and the keyboard is quite a lot. Overall, the long length of the cable allows the user to freely move around the keyboard to fit their setup needs.
- Dual Input Plug Availability – With both USB and PS2 input plug availability, there is so much room for compatibility in the G80-1800. The dual input plug availability allows the keyboard to be connected to modern and older computers without a problem.
Complete Programmability
One of the best features of the Cherry G80-1800 is the incredible programmability that it comes with. There are 104 standard keys on the keyboard and each and every one of them is completely programmable.
This means that typists, coders, and gamers can program any of the keys to be mapped on any of the other keys in order to make the key travel and movement easy and pressing comfortable.
There isn’t any particular software or program that you need to use to map the keys. Cherry doesn’t require proprietary software to customize and manipulate the keys. It is a simple plug-and-play input device and you can change the mapping using the normal pre-installed drivers on the OS most likely Windows you’re using.
That’s why I believe this keyboard is one of the best for typists who want to make sure that editing shortcuts aren’t too far away from each other so their overall work can become easier and quicker to do but that’s just my opinion about the Cherry G80-1800 keyboard.
Some Cons of the Cherry G80-1800
Despite having a seriously great price and some exciting features in it, the Cherry G80-1800 is not a flawless keyboard. It has some cons with it as well. Let’s take a look at all the flaws that come with this keyboard, so you can make an unbiased worth your money decision.
- Small Size Could be an issue – We’ve considered the compactness of the keyboard an advantage till now, but if we think from a more specific use-case, the small form factor of the keyboard can also be a problem for it. People with a larger frame may have difficulty sitting straight because of their shoulder-length being wider than the frame of this keyboard creating an ergonomics issue.
- Sub-par Legend Imprints – The legend imprinting on the keyboard isn’t the highest quality. Plus, the additional bump that they provide also adds a bit of bizarreness to the overall keypress experience. It is one of the low points of this rather nice and decent-quality keyboard in my view.
- No Flashy RGB – In an era of RGB mechanical keyboards, people seldom use standard typist keyboards anymore. If you’re a fan of flashy RGB that can be customized according to your liking, then this keyboard is definitely going to be a problem for you. It doesn’t come with any addressable or non-addressable RGB lighting so that could be a con for all your RGB keyboard fans.
Cherry G80-1800 vs G80-1890 Raptor and Other Cherry Keyboards
If we take a look at the overall quality of the G80-1800, it is definitely a great keyboard for a decent price but comparing it to some other Cherry keyboards can definitely shed some light from a different perspective.
Let’s compare the Cherry G80-1800 keyboard to its gaming brother, the G80-1890 Raptor Gaming K1 keyboard. In comparison, I’d say with the n-key rollover and PBT lasered keycaps, the K1 gaming keyboard is definitely the superior choice for the gamer.
However, comparing the Cherry G80-1800 with a newer Cherry MX Silent Keyboard, I’d definitely pick the G80-1800 keyboard because of the overall quality and the amazing MX black switches, and much more. That’s why it is definitely safe to say that getting the G80-1800 keyboard would not be a bad choice for a typist or a gamer either.
Interested? Get the Cherry G80-1800 available on Amazon
FAQs
There are a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to the Cherry G80-1800 keyboard on the internet I’ve noticed. So, I thought, why not address some of the most frequently asked questions and make things easier for all you keyboard enthusiasts out there.
Does the Cherry G80-1800 have ISO or ANSI style keys?
This question is asked by a lot of you, the simple answer is, the Cherry G80-1800 comes with the ANSI style keys. It doesn’t come with ISO styled keys and neither do any other special versions of the G80 or more recent keyboards by Cherry come with the ISO styled keys because ANSI is the standard key layout used by most people around the world.
What Switches work with the G80-1800?
The switches used by the G80-1800 are, 99% of the time, Cherry MX Black switches which are themselves linear switches. If the one you see for sale has no windows keys, it could potentially have blue or clear switches. If there is no windows key and has Compaq branding then they most likely have MX brown switches.
Also, this keyboard is PCB mounted so if you need to buy replacement switches make sure that’s what you buy. Any PCB mounted Cherry MX switch should work on this keyboard but with other switches, the pins might not line up right.
Where to find replacement keycaps for the Cherry G80-1800?
There are many different websites on the internet that sell high-quality replacement keycaps for the Cherry G80-1800 but my personal favorite is none other than KBD Fans. It is a great website for all keyboard components and you should visit it if you want replacement keycaps.
Link: https://kbdfans.com/
Conclusion
The million-dollar question is, is the Cherry G80-1800 keyboard worth it? Well, it most certainly is. If you’re not a flashy RGB fan and you’re looking for a small, compact but complete keyboard with high-quality switches, then I think the best option out there for you is none other than the Cherry G80-1800.
So, definitely get it for yourself and have a great time typing, coding, and playing around with it. I hope you have a great keyboarding experience.
You may also be interested in: Top 5 Best 1800 Compact Mechanical Keyboards
