Input Club's Kira

The Kira by Input Club got its start on Kickstarter in March of 2018.  While the project did not make its delivery estimate of October 2018, I am glad it made it out of production and into the real world.  The board uses a 96% layout, meaning that it has almost all of the keys of a "standard" full-sized keyboard, but with a lot of the "dead space" cut away (along with a few compromises on keys, like a shorter right shift).

After almost two weeks of use at work, I am ready to provide a full review to this keyboard.  Was it worth the wait,not to mention the cost?  Find out below.

Basic Info:

• Price: $260 from Kickstarter, now available at the Kono Store
• $250 for the keyboard, $10 for shipping
• Switches: Kaihua Speed Copper
• Set-up Time: ~30 minutes
• Though the board was working out of the box, the manufacturer recommended flashing it with the latest firmware.  I also had a key-mapping issue (see cons).

Pros:

• The board has a bit of heft to it, which helps it feel solid.  It mostly retrains this feeling even without the metal frame, so I am not sure the $80 up-charge for metal was worth it.  If I could do it all again, I would probably go for plastic instead.
• The hot-swap sockets are a win for convenience and not having to learn to solder.  
• The pack-ins for this board were all great.  Pack-ins included: a travel case, extra accent keys in multiple colors, a key cap puller, and a switch puller.  As I said in my initial impressions, while I think the case is too big to EDC (or not something I could easily fit into one of my bags), it has held up nicely.  
• If I had to come up with a complaint or two, it would be that the case has a few minor finishing issues (e.g. a loose thread here and there), and I would have loved to see the case in other colors.  Then again, given that the project started on Kickstarter, I'm glad I have a finished product to review at all (and I understand how offering other case colors would have only added to the timeline and complexity of the project's completion).
• Note: I am not sure if these pack-ins are included post-Kickstarter; they are neither mentioned nor pictured on Kono's product page.  Then again, they aren't mentioned on the Kickstarter page either, so your mileage may vary.
• I like high-profile cases, and this one is no exception (though the frame does not completely obscure the bottoms of the keycaps).  I am also intrigued to see what Kono and the community do with the fact that the frame / top plate is removable and replaceable.  

Cons:

• This board came with a few unwelcome surprises.  This included the fact that: 
• I had to remap and flash the board to have "." be on the top layer instead of ">".  While this was only a minor inconvenience in the moment, it was still an unwelcome surprise in a keyboard that cost over $250.
• The indicator LED's (e.g. caps lock, num lock, and scroll lock) only seem to work when RGB mode is enabled.  
• The stem / cracking debacle was unwelcome, but not the fault of the manufacturer.  I was able to switch from Hako Clears to Speed Coppers, so it wasn't too much of a fuss for me.
• The underglow was not as prevalent as I would have liked, and is difficult to see even in low-light settings.  Moreover, the keyboard is gaudy with all of the RGB engaged; after the "oohs," and "aahs," of my initial viewing, I tended to keep the RGB off.  The fact that RGB turns back on whenever the keyboard is rebooted is also a minor annoyance, but it is easy enough to turn back off.
• I can't help but question the manufacturing tolerances of the Kira.  No one issue is a deal-breaker, but taken as a whole, they do add up.  Issues include: 
• Keys that seem a little too low or too high compared to the rest of the row they reside in (my "\" key is a bit too low, while "4-6" of my number cluster is too high). 
• The "G" key seems slightly misaligned when compared to the keys around it. 
• The bottom of each key seems to be slightly concave, giving a feeling of incompleteness / poor finishing.  A number of keys also have a bit of extra plastic / flash on their bottom ridges as well.    
• (Nit-pick) I occasionally struggled with finding the arrow cluster given its close proximity to other keys.  This was most prevalent when using the 1U "0" key (which is normally 2U on a full-sized board).  I am listing this as a nit-pick because I think this is a function of the layout, and not necessarily the board itself.  Moreover, I think this is the kind of thing I could become used to over time.  
• (Nit-pick) The included cable is bland at best, and the board offers no cable management options.
• (Nit-pick) As I suspected, the non-slip strips on the bottom have attracted a fair amount of gunk.  I am listing this as a nit-pick because A) it was less gunk than I expected, B) it was relatively easy to clean off, and C) only time will tell how the pads handle additional gunk exposure.

Conclusion:
I bought this keyboard around when I started collecting, and it seemed perfect at the time.  Now that I have a bit more experience (not to mention a love ergonomic boards / layouts), this keyboard has lost a fair amount of luster.  Given the keyboard's strengths, I will probably keep it around as a switch tester.  I don't foresee this board becoming a daily driver, however.  In hindsight, I probably would have been happier just buying a number pad given my use case.

Final Score:
6.5/10