Meet My New Keyboard: The JAMESDONKEY RS2!

I’ve been reviewing peripherals for over a decade now, and while I’ve handled hundreds, if not thousands of the latest gaming keyboards and peripherals over that time, I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of what’s out there. We typically hit you with reviews from the big names, such as Corsair, ASUS, MSI, Cooler Master, Logitech, Razer, etc., but there’s a growing boutique market and those custom-made models are slowly becoming a little more, well maybe not mass-produced, but certainly more accessible for your typical PC enthusiast. I hadn’t heard of Mechkeys.com before, but they reached out to me, given that I’m one of the most prolific peripheral reviews out there, and they were super eager to send me a JAMESDONKEY RS2. Yes, that is just about the strangest name I’ve ever seen on a product, aside from those cocain headphones I once reviewed…

So who is this store, who the heck is JAMESDONKEY, and the smeg is the RS2? These are all questions I was eager to answer, and frankly, from the moment I opened the box and touched this keyboard, I saw why they were eager to send me one. For starters, Mech Keys looks to be a pretty big peripheral importer/exporter, delivering to over 50 countries! While they stock big-name brands like Razer and Corsair, they also seem to have a hand in more unique brands like the truly stunning Varmilo (one of their reviews here), Royal, Shurikey, and more!

JAMESDONKEY?

“JAMESDONKEY is a well-recognized computer peripheral brand from China. It is mostly known for its high-quality mechanical keyboards, gaming mice, and other computer accessories. JAMESDONKEY actually has a huge catalogue of premium and budget mechanical keyboards including successful models such as the RS4, the 619RS, and more.” – MechKeys

Features

The JAMESDONKEY RS2 is pretty unique, as it features a 99-key design, so not quite TKL, but still trimmed down in side by moving the numberpad and arrow keys over to the left more, and relegating the navigation keys to Fn shortcuts. It also features a wireless dongle, Bluetooth support, and USB Type-C operation, white LED lighting, a volume where and more. However, there’s one thing I really love, and that’s the retro 90’s PC beige/brown two-tone, albeit they call it “Ancestor Grey.”

• Shockproof Gasket Pro Design.
• Customised 99-key layout.
• Triple connectivity modes.
• Multimedia function knob.
• Hot-swappable design.
• Full-key conflict-free operation.
• Dual-tone injection-molded PBT keycaps.
• Gateron G Pro mechanical switches.
• Ergonomic design.
• Supports both Mac and Windows systems with seamless switching.
• Bright white backlight.
• 3000mAh high-capacity battery.