Drop ENTR Keyboard Review: Entering a $99 Gateway

POSITIVES

✓ Build Quality

Aluminum body makes for solid feel

✓ Versatile

Great for office or at home with its subtle yet professional demeanor

✓ Detachable USB-C

Bring your own cable to the party

NEGATIVES

✘ One color backlight

Only white coloring

✘ Tenkeyless layout

Some may not like that there is no numpad here

✘ Minimalist key icons

Others may not like that you don't see all functions on the layout

Retail Price: $99.00

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Drop is a brand that knows how to market their products. I’ve been hammered with their ads on Facebook and Instagram for years now and I’ve always wanted to get my fingers onto a Drop mechanical keyboard to see what the noise is all about. Enter the ENTR. I bought the Drop ENTR tenkeyless mechanical keyboard for $99 and have been using it as my main keyboard for more than a month now. While it isn’t the most glamorous product we’ve ever looked at, I certainly see why mechanical keyboard fans turn to Drop reliantly.

A Clean Look

The color and switch combination I chose to add to my desk setup was the green/grey combo utilizing the Halo True switches. As the cheapest product in Drop’s lineup, the backlighting on the ENTR has only white coloring. That might be a turn off for some buyers spoiled by years of RGB gaming keyboards. I personally don’t mind not having RGB here, but the white coloring doesn’t mesh too well with the green and grey combination of the board. Thanks to this specific board color, the white light produces an off-yellowish tint. This has a very 1980’s IBM feel to it. That aesthetic design is back in nowadays so this might be a benefit to retro keyboard seekers.  

Other than that, the Halo True switches fit perfectly in just about any setting as they are relatively dense in weight yet effective with the keystrokes. They’re springy with a suppressed muffle as to not be intrusive or obnoxious to others in your surroundings. The sound that comes out of this mechanical keyboard is deceptively tame in volume and presence. I actually think this would make a terrific office keyboard with this color combination body as well.

Build Quality is everything

From a distance and up close, the ENTR has a subtle class and professional demeanor to it. In fact, I feel that way about most of Drop’s mechanical keyboards. Housed in an anodized aluminum casing with doubleshot PBT keycaps, the keyboard is pleasant to the eyes while durable to the fingertips as well. It’s also a bit heavier than it looks thanks to that metal body. This keyboard can be propped up in only one height on top of laying flat on the table. I think the single angle is just about right for most typing or gaming experiences to help alleviate strain during long periods in a certain position. It’s also nice and sturdy without any wobble or flex due to the solid body material.

I won’t know for sure how well a keyboard will hold up with everyday use until a couple of years later, but at least with doubleshot PBT caps, I have a bit more confidence in it retaining it’s appearance for longer. Drop claims the ENTR will survive over 80 million keystrokes for the 87 keys on this board. Speaking of keystrokes, it has been quite fun messing around with these Halo True switches. There is a distinct retaliation sensation that feels as if the keyboard is putting up a resistance to your finger upon input. The cool thing about these switches is when you try typing with minimal impact and the ENTR registers the command with the key barely moving down. It’s quite fun to watch in slow motion when you’re typing. This is a heavy departure from the sound and feel of something like my Azio Retro keyboard or the light tapping opto-mechanical switches on my Razer Huntsman.   

Minimal Tenkeyless Layout

The keyboard layout is tenkeyless which means we don’t have a numpad here. Drop isn't known to produce full sized keyboards so this is a norm for them. The key icons are also quite minimalistic, choosing to omit secondary functions like media controls or backlighting from print. I personally like that aesthetic choice on my keyboards and have since memorized my shortcut commands during my time with the Mionix Wei keyboard. I’m also a fan of the font decision Drop uses on their keyboards. With the exception of the shift commands on the num row like the $ and @ signs, every letter and word on the keyboard fits my style to a tee. 

Lastly, the Drop ENTR plugs into a computer using a USB-C slot. You can bring your own cable to the party as this mechanical keyboard allows for detachable connectivity. That’s terrific for customization with coiled aviator cables. Drop has a bit of a compatibility issue with a lot of their keyboards due to the output of wattage. Fortunately, the ENTR doesn’t seem to be plagued with the same fate as it’s siblings in their current lineup of keyboards.

Final Thoughts

You can’t really go wrong with the Drop ENTR. I personally believe that tenkeyless is the perfect medium for just about every single user in the world. 65% keyboards are getting more popular by the day, but when it comes to versatility and aesthetic presence, tenkeyless keyboards like this one can increase efficiency ever so slightly. At $100, the ENTR is a high quality typing experience that did not disappoint my high expectations from a hipster brand. If anything, I’m worried now that the ENTR is just a gateway for me to spend way too much money on other Drop products like the Shift and Alt which I’ve been eyeing for a very long time!

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