Compact keyboards are awesome. There is less strain on the wrists and hands with a smaller keyboard and you also get the benefit of more room on your desk for your mouse. More room on the desk for the mouse = less reaching further away = less strain on the neck and shoulders. Better ergonomics.
I wanted a silent, compact mechanical keyboard found Durgod highly recommended on the Mechanical Keyboards subreddit (r/mechanicalkeyboards). I ordered the Space Grey Taurus with Cherry Silent Red switches and love it. In case it helps others, I wanted to give my thoughts and review the Durgod Taurus K320 TKL keyboard. Before and after modding sounds will be included in a video at the end.
Fast summary: Compared to more expensive and “high end” keebs, the Durgod Taurus K320 keyboard is a steal for the money for the quality of the board, key caps, lubed stabilizers, and switches you receive. Full deets below and video at the bottom.
Size and Specs
Size
The Durgod Taurus K320 is a high profile tenkeyless (TKL) compact keyboard. TKL keyboards are also sometimes referred to as 80% keyboards. They are the same as larger keyboards, minus the numpad and other keys in that area.
This size means K320 still has the full row of function keys, arrow keys, and the other supplemental keys (delete/home/print screen/etc.) TKL boards are excellent introductions to the word of compact keyboards since it keeps those extra keys.
The K320 is 14.8″ long, 5.2″ wide, and 0.9″ high (37.5 x 13.2 x 2.4 cm) through the tops of the included keycaps. My specific model weighs in at a decent 914 grams (2 lbs 0.2 oz).
While it doesn’t weigh as much as a feather does not, it’s still pretty dang solid and has almost no flex to it. I personally don’t like an insanely heavy keeb since I have small hands and I move my keyboards around my desk very often. If a keeb is too heavy, my tiny hands and weak AF wrists have a hard time moving them.
Switches
“Out of the box” switch choices for the K320 are all Cherry MX. These days I kind of feel like those deep into the keyboard hobby sneer at Cherry switches, but – quite frankly – I still like them. You can choose which switch you’d like, and there’s a pretty decent selection: Black, Blue, Brown, Clear, Red, Silent Black, Silent Red, Speed Silver, and White. I like a silent keyboard, so I went with Silent Reds.
I type with my keeb flat, as that is typically the Official Ergonomic Recommendation that I’ve seen repeatedly (YMMV), so I never use this feature, but if you’re an angle-typist, you’ll be happy to learn that Durgod has two rubber footed, adjustable stand heights.
Case and Lighting
The Durgod Taurus K320 is technically a high profile keyboard. With that said…I personally might call it a mid-high profile case. My ID80 has a higher profile than the Taurus. If I can see slightly underneath the key caps, to me it isn’t a true high profile. The benefit to the higher profile is that the keeb is quieter than a low profile board; the case contains the sound of the switches to a degree.
The model I chose is the Space Gray, non RGB – e.g. no lighting. I did this deliberately. If you plan on swapping key caps, in many cases the light isn’t going to show up at all. That means if you’re buying an RGB board and changing to some fancier caps, you’re paying for useless lighting. I like to swap my key caps out, so I didn’t feel the need to pay for the lighting. RGB also doesn’t jive with my aesthetic, anyway, so I’m good without it. If you want RGB lighting, you can choose the Nebula or Nebula S models.
If you don’t want RGB or Space Grey, you’ve also got a choice of Corona (white LED lighting), White with white/grey-ish key caps, and Black with Black/Blue key caps.
Hot Swap and Lube
This keyboard is a non hot swap keeb. The switches are soldered in place; if you want to take it apart or fully disassemble the switches/swap them out for others – you have to first battle through the tightly sealed plastic case and then de-solder the switches from the PCB.
Note – there is a way to lube switches without de-soldering using a SuperLube pen. I lubed my personal Durgod Taurus K320 keyboard with this pen and am pleased with the results (though the keyboard is still not as smooth or thock-y as the ID80 I built myself). This YouTube video is helpful, starting at the timestamp I’m linking: David Logan, “How to lube, soldered closed cherry style switch“.
Build Quality
Durgod generously pre-lubes their stabilizers on the Durgod Taurus 320. Not many companies pre-lube the stabilizers on the keyboards out of the factory. Lubing the stabilizers keeps them from excessive rattling and helps prevent extra sound when keys with stabilizers are pressed (spacebar, shift key, enter key, etc.) Remove the key caps and look at the stabilizers to see visible lube. In comparison, Leopold is another company with a high-end pre-built reputation that is known to pre-lube their stabilizers, but the amount of lube on theirs compared to Durgod was almost non-existent.
The stock key caps that come with the K320 feel great. They’re OEM profile and double shot PBT, which means they’ll last way longer than ABS or other cheap key caps. The quality is high and the dual tone is a great look, whether you go with the Space Grey, like I did, or one of the other variants.
Key Programming Flexibility
Use the Durgod Zeus software to reprogram keys or add layers. Download the software from their site. Some users on r/mechanicalkeyboards have reported that their keyboard was bricked from warning a firmware upgrade, though these users seem to be in the minority.
Board Comparisons
I wanted to compare the Durgod to another brand. I bought a Leopold FC750R with Silent Cherry Red Switches after the Durgod. Leopold has a reputation for being a high quality keyboard, also pre-lubing the stabilizers from the factory. I have to attest that I far preferred the Durgod – so much so that I returned the Leopold.
When I looked at the stabs, there was zero visible lube on them. There was also insane ping when typing and – even though the Silent Red switches were ostensibly the same as those in the Durgod, they sounded far louder. The keys also felt rougher, which doesn’t mean the quality was worse, but the feeling contributed to an impression that they were cheaper.
Between the two, I stuck with the Durgod.
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