8BitDo Retro 18 Mechanical Numpad GBAtemp review
Hardware
Product Information:
- Official Store: https://www.8bitdo.com/retro-18-mechanical-numpad/
Review Approach:
I make no secret out of my enjoyment of keyboards. They're something I use daily so finding one that feels great is a task I genuinely find fun, with the end result being something I get to experience for weeks and months to come. For the enthusiast keyboard market though, especially with custom builds, there is often one notable absence: a numpad. I don't know why this is. I've always assumed the more compact builds are just more popular, but on this forum in particular I know that isn't quite the case. And you folks won't stop telling me.
Towards the tail end of last year 8BitDo released their first swing at a mechanical keyboard, and reviewing it myself in January, I think they did a pretty great job for what they're charging. To summarise for those who missed it, it's incredibly clicky out of the box with Box White v2 switches, features hotswap capability and multiple means of connecting to your PC, giant buttons, and a really fantastic assortment of retro designs. What's it missing though? A numpad. And that's where all this rambling is leading. 8BitDo clearly listened when people said they wanted it, and instead of revising their retro keyboard, they made the pretty interesting move to just release it by itself.
The Same Great Features
I usually wouldn't want to cover something like this because I feel there's just not a lot to say, but with how specific it is to the complainings of the userbase here I felt I had to. The Retro 18, named aptly for its 18 keys, is a wireless numpad that will work over Bluetooth, a 2.4G wireless dongle, or just plain plugged in via the USB C port used for charging. In terms of what's under the hood, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know it's pretty much everything that made its full-sized counterpart great.
You have a stylish themed plastic body with colours changing depending on the flavour you picked (the Famicom model being the one on show here!), and keycaps to match. Beneath those you'll find the same clicky Box White v2 switches, in the same hot-swappable slots. That basically means that if clicky isn't your thing, replacing the switches is as easy as pulling them out and putting new ones in. No soldering, or really any kind of specific skill required!
I've recently been using the numpad a lot with the release of TCG Card Shop Simulator, and the separate nature of it actually felt like it added to the experience. Being able to move it out of the way when I wasn't sorting out sales just felt so natural, with great feedback when it was in use. If anybody else out there is getting into the game, I would also recommend picking up a mod that lets you disable cash payments. It makes the experience so much smoother.
Going the Extra Mile
Realistically 8BitDo could have stopped there and had a pretty great product. At that point it would've basically done what it set out to and done it well, but with extra space available to match the height of their retro keyboard's body, what should be used to fill it? Usually you'd see a macro button or three, and maybe some kind of knob for volume control. These are all pretty standard ideas that would honestly have done well. 8BitDo went a different route though, and for some reason made the numpad double as a calculator.
I don't know why they did this. I truly and honestly don't. It works though, so that's something. If you happen to feel yourself needing both a calculator and a numpad in your life, well isn't this just your lucky day! Hyperbole aside, this isn't actually where the extra features stop. The calculator works great on the small display, but that same display is also home to a small selection of time killing games while in calculator mode. These range from hitting numbers as they appear faster and faster, to pressing numbers in a sequence, to... picking a number to fight? Look I don't fully understand all the games on show here, but it's just one more thing that they really didn't have to do to round out a product that was frankly already quite good. What's stranger here is that the games aren't mentioned at all in the numpad's marketing materials or manuals, requiring users to stumble upon them for themselves and share their findings on sites like Reddit. I doubt games like this are going to be the thing that really sets somebody on the path of wanting one of these things, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t played them a few times while my PC was stuck updating.
When using the Retro 18 as just a numpad, the calculator display will also show you the current battery percentage, which is nice.
One for the Numpad Enjoyers
8BitDo have something good here, and while it is a little niche in its use, does exactly what it advertises and more. Though it is a little bit of a shame plans for the numpad weren't worked into the larger design of the keyboard to allow for some kind of mounting mechanism like ASUS had with their Claymore II, the triple connection support does at least mean you can save on a USB port by using Bluetooth. Retailing for £40 with seemingly-frequent sales as low as £30, I do feel this is one worthy of attention, and is something I really could recommend to anybody wanting to hammer some numbers. For those put off 8BitDo’s retro keyboard originally, now might just be the time to jump in.
Verdict
- Great assortment of designs to match the Retro Keyboard
- Three connection options
- Hot-swappable switches
- It's also a calculator
- It's also a calculator with games
- Only one switch option available at checkout
- No means of mounting it to the matching Retro Keyboard