RK ROYAL KLUDGE L98 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard

Left handed ? So I could keep the mouse handy on the right side. In fact this is the 3rd lefty I've had over the decades. This RK Kludge is not a kludge by any means. Everything described was true, nothing misleads. Feels heavy and solid ! And the sound is a surprisingly pleasant thonk. I am slowly getting some keys re-programmed - not hard or tedious. Recommend it ? You bet !

Die Tastatur wirkt sehr Qualität und hochwertig verarbeitet.
Habe die silence Taster genommen und es fühlt sich einfach nur traumhaft an. Gute Akkuleistung.
Eine Linkshänder-Tastatur mit Beleuchtung zu finden ist echt ein Alptraum.
Habe leider nicht gemerkt, dass es ein engl. Layout hat...darauf sollte man achten (öüä und Co.) -> Keycaps werden ausgetauscht.
das einzige was ich bemengeln kann ist die Software zur Einstellung. Diese ist etwas nervig, aber ansonsten weiter zu empfehlen.

It's a pretty cool keyboard. The Zero on the numpad sounds a bit off, that other than that, it's working great so far.

Finally!! A nice lefty keyboard! I got this for work, but brought it home with me the first weekend to test it out as a gaming keyboard with my home computer and will probably end up ordering another one to replace my turtle beach regular keyboard with this nicer lefty one!

Excellent quality and easy sync.

The quality of this keyboard is seriously exceeds anything I have ever used. I have paid significantly more money for keyboards getting far less quality. Typing is smooth and fast. the backlight is a must for me who works in early hours in the dark. Further, I have been searching for years for a keyboard with number pad on the left hand side. I am so thankful for a manufacturer who produces a variety of options such as this. Any other left-handed keyboard out there was garbage, cheap over-priced plastic. I rarely give feedback on something I purchase, but this keyboard has so pleased me that the manufacturer deserves a few minutes of my time in appreciation of their quality product! The value is so evident that I bought two more for my other computers - I'm replacing all my keyboards with this product.

Overall, I am satisfied with the quality and functionality of the keyboard so far. I use it only as a wired keyboard so I am unable to give an honest opinion as to how it performs wirelessly. My only real issue at this time is relearning how to type without having to regularly double check my finger placement. This is the first time I have ever bought myself a keyboard with the numerical pad on the left as well as it not being a full-sized keyboard so it's taking me some extra time to get comfortable using it. The slightly smaller size of the keyboard has come in handy. My desk has a pull out keyboard drawer and I now have a little more room to maneuver the mouse without having to occasionally pick it up and reposition it.

This keyboard is relatively light and is made of plastic, but is overall a great quality for the cost. The battery life is excellent - I only need to charge it once a week, if that, and I use it for work in a data entry position so I do a LOT of typing. It is hot-swappable - the stock switches were a little loud for my preferences, so I switched them out for some silent switches. There is nothing particularly notable about the feel of the stock switches or the typing experience in my opinion, but that is perfect for a budget keyboard like this.

I like to be thorough with my reviews so please excuse the length 🙂

I got this to replace my second G915 -- long story short, my original G915 (bought Sep-2020) was replaced by Logitech in Aug-2023 after weeks of back-and-forth with Logitech Customer Service. I got a hold of one of the actual developers who, after a zoom call and seeing my issue firsthand, he sent me a replacement. Rare win against the infamous Logitech G Customer Service.

However, the new G915's keycaps weren't the same quality as my first one, with the matte finish quickly wearing off. I'd simply replace the keycaps but Logitech stopped selling them, and aftermarket keycaps for the G915 were crazy expensive! So during Prime Days 2025, when I saw the RK L98 was on sale for the same price as the cheapest set of G915 keycaps I could find, I pulled the trigger.

Now, having used the L98 for several weeks, here are my honest thoughts (good and not-so-good) I'd like to share:

1) The L98 feels cramped. Even though these are using standard cherry keycaps, the spacing is tighter than all other keyboards I've used in my life. I'm finding I'm hitting keys unintentionally and I don't have fat fingers! I honestly find it more cramped than my laptops.

2) The "Southpaw" layout is such a rarity that I haven't used one regularly in at least 2 decades. Oddly enough, using the left-side numpad for macros and hotkeys for gaming was an easy transition; but for work, I still find myself occasionally dropping my mouse to try to use the now-missing numpad on the right-side. This muscle memory and habit are going to be hard to break.

3) Missing, relegated, and unnecessary keys. For at least the last 30 years my keyboards had dedicated media keys, [Home] and [End] keys, and the [Fn] key was non-existent. I would've preferred the default keys and function keys be laid out differently, and thankfully I can re-map pretty much everything, but I think very little thought was put into it. Certainly could've been better. For instance, [F9] thru [F12] could be the [Fn] media keys and remove the volume controls completely -- the knob is already the default volume control.

4) The "silent" switches aren't completely silent. This however is not my issue. My issue is with the actuation and lack of tactile feedback. I love the more dampened sound this keyboard makes, but the actuation activates on a slight depress. I feel it should have a deeper actuation point, and have some sort of feedback bump. I've been so used to tactile switches that it took a while to get used to these switches' behaviour.

5) The battery life is superb! Now I've only charged this keyboard once, and that was when I first turned this badboy on. I've been using this keyboard for several hours almost every single day since then it still at 67%!! That's several weeks of use (with lighting on level 3) and it's still going strong! Whereas my G915 needed to be charged after 8-10 days of light use; 6-7 days with heavy use.

6) The L98 is a heavy beast, but I'm not mad about it. I was actually surprised when I first hefted this, having read that the chassis was plastic. But this keyboard feels solid and robust. Some gaming sessions can be intense, and the L98 weathers it like a rock!

7) Lighting is a ambient and not very pronounced, which I like. However the included keycaps aren't shine-through so can't really speak on how good or bad the lighting would be with different caps. They do seem bright enough, with 5 levels of intensity. And once you figure it out, changing key colours is pretty easy.

That's pretty much it for me. What really bothers me are the cramped layout and the poorly thought-out default mapping. It's been several weeks and I'm still not typing as fast as I usually do due to all the mis-keys. Also not used to using the [Fn] key, but I'm getting there slowly. Not having dedicated [End] and [Home] keys really bother me. Those are the reasons why I gave this just ⭐⭐⭐.

Aside from those, I am starting to love the RK L98. The build quality is solid; the responsiveness is great (once you get used to it); and the battery life is off the charts! I couldn't find a set of shine-through keycaps I liked just yet, but the available options and affordability is immense. I did get a full set of blank white keycaps to replace a few keys I've remapped and they were only CAD$17 -- better than CAD$80+ for crappy G915 keycaps.

Anyhow, if you know what you're getting into, I would actually recommend the RK L98. The Keychron Q12 and the Epomaker G96S are the only other southpaw MKBs I could find, but they have never been in stock in North America from what I've seen (or rather not seen). It takes some getting use to, but it's a solid, feature-rich, fully customisable mechanical keyboard for well under CAD$100. Happy shopping!

Great build quality, nice muted thock sound (with silent purple switches), and great functionality in terms of connectivity and rgb controls.

The sound of this keyboard is the most satisfying thing I’ve ever heard. True bliss. And the layout while it takes a while to get used to is far superior once you do.

Malgre.les touche sensible du au clavier mecanic il est au dessus de mes attente

Good keyboard. Two small experience issues but not related with product quality at all.

I thought the left side number keyboard is a good idea but it turned out blocking my left hand instead. I may get used to it hopefully. Getting a no number pad keyboard may be a better idea.

The calculator functional key on top right of the number keyboard is redundant since there is already a fn combo key for this not so common purpose. It's also super disturbing when my cat stamp on it.

My everyday board at work was a nuphy halo 65 with silents which I love, but I tend to need a numpad. I dont like the ergonomic balance of a right numpad, so I tried a few modular numpads. Turns out that Alt codes dont work on numpads unless Alt is on the numpad also, and I move my keyboard around too much so the numpad was often misaligned.
Enter this L98 lefty keyboard. It's my main board at work now. I got the silent purple switches; they are not silent, but they are quiet enough for an office IMO. They also sound way better than I was expecting. The soft thock is nice.
Overall I'm really impressed with this board for the price. My coworker has a lefty board from a different source that is over 3x the cost and I dont think it sounds or works any better, although the aluminum construction is nicer.
I use the stock settings, so I cant comment on programmability. It's been 2weeks on WiFi and the board is at 93%.

Update (4 months): I'm still loving this board and I'm getting pretty good at lefty numpad typing. In four months of office use the battery drained from 100% to 29% using 802.11 wireless and without any LED lighting effects. The discharge rate as reported by the display is (unsurprisingly) non-linear. Interestingly, the charge rate is actually really slow. I plugged the board into my USB hub and it did not reach 100% until the next day. I have no complaints about this board yet.

Keyboard is excellent, connection options, key sound and size all great

Bit miffed to find it Much cheaper elsewhere after purchasing here- don’t forget to check elsewhere folks :-)

Love mine so far. The only gripe is getting used to 0 being in the corner instead of control because you're so used to it being in That bottom corner.

Having a left handed key pad has been a game changer- I am ambidextrous and typically can 10 key and game using either. Having the set up to efficiently up my skillset has been so much fun. The keys are solid and responsive, the colors are bright but not distracting. Great keyboard.

I became interested in this keyboard after hearing a relative talking about keyboards with the number pad on the left side which I had never considered. After unboxing and connecting the keyboard (wired) I was immediately impressed. Compared to most of the gaming keyboards I have used this one feels solid as a rock. The Silent Purple switches are indeed very quiet yet have a very satisfying feel. My gaming setup is currently in the main communal area of the house we recently moved into so the quietness of this keyboard is very satisfying indeed. As far as the left side number pad, I have become accustomed to it for my usage and now find my self flubbing the keyboards at work. The Sandalwood Brown color goes very nicely with my walnut butcher block desktop. I highly recommend this keyboard if you are just now approaching this rabbit hole like myself.

Not as "silent" as I would have like but honestly the most affordable option for a left handed mechanical keyboard

this is a great keyboard

I love this keyboard works perfect

My wife is a southpaw, perfecto!

Lo mejor de este teclado es que es configurable, muy cómodo para jugar y se ve precioso

Just what I was looking for. To save space for the mouse by moving the numpad to the left hand side or a left handed keyboard. Minor adjustment of placement but no change in aesthetics. Some combined features added to the function keys vs. a full size keyboard; i.e. Insert & Home. Functional shortcuts. Thank you.

One of the few left-handed mechanical keyboards with hotswappable switches that doesn't cost a fortune. My only complaint is that the "silent" switches are not actually silent. They are lubed linear switches but don't actually have any internal dampening, so they thock and clack loudly. They do sound good, but that isn't what I was looking for. Swapped them out for Akko Fairy V3 silent switches. Every other part of the board is good and feels nice to type on. Having the numpad on the left is really nice for giving more room for your mousing hand.