Hands On with the MelGeek Mojo 84 Mechanical Keyboard

Retail Price: $199.00

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Disclaimer: MelGeek sent us a unit of the Mojo 84 free of charge to review, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are our own and were not discussed with the company prior to publishing.

I am genuinely shocked at how much I like this keyboard. When this box arrived at our office, I really didn’t know what to expect. To be exact, I had no expectations. I’ve seen MelGeek advertise on social media and I’ve kind of just glossed over the brand while reviewing mechanical keyboards. This isn’t a full review as I haven’t had enough time with the Mojo 84 to give my full thoughts on the product, but for a hands on experience, MelGeek could not have made a better impression from start to finish. I rarely get caught off guard with an unboxing experience and they do feel more special in year five of Sypnotix’s existence than in year one as we’ve just opened and used so many different types of tech gadgets. I can honestly say I have never seen anything quite like this mechanical keyboard.

Inside the box

For full disclosure, MelGeek is currently running their Kickstarter campaign to launch the Mojo84 board to the mass market. They reached out and sent us a unit free of charge to review. They’ll be reading and watching our comments of their product at the exact same time as our audience. Whatever I mention here in this hands on video are strictly my own thoughts on the matter whether they be positive or not.  

The minute I opened the flap of the packaging, I knew this thing was going to be a fun experience. In normal circumstances, a plastic body usually isn’t something a company uses as a selling point. Metal materials typically signal for a more premium experience. MelGeek left convention behind and plastered “This is Plastic” right on top of the box in big bold letters. The campy silliness doesn’t end there as when the flap is up, the inside of it reads “Need keyboard, not friends” and “Thanks for bringing me home”. This immediately shows me that the Mojo84 is not afraid to be unique and kind of out there with their culture. The Mojo84 comes with the prototypical keyboard stuff like a switch puller and a USB-C to USB A cable. I love that MelGeek went the extra mile and added accent colors to the cable. This is such a simple thing to do that enhances the perception of the product greatly. Instead of a generic white or black cable, the minty green and the orange accents match the keyboard’s secondary colors. The color accent continues through to the actual plates of the board as the silicone mute pad is also that same minty green colorway. 

One of a Kind

There’s so much to look at when you first set eyes onto the Mojo84. The font on the keycaps are almost comically large. It’s like when someone sets the font on their phone to 200% because their eyes are bad. MelGeek has so many interesting phrases printed on top of these ABS double shot keycaps. The space bar repeats the “This is plastic” phrase from the box. The enter key says “Logo”, while the backspace key reads “Not for resale”. Even more peculiar, the Windows key disclaims “No photo”. I’ve read through their website and the Kickstarter page and still have no idea what I’m looking at. Regardless, I really dig it! MelGeek sent us the version with white keycaps, but they also are producing a sleek black version. This setup uses hot swappable linear custom plastic switches from Kailh. It’s such a gentle input that I feel like I’m doing something naughty when typing here. It’s like I’m a spy quietly stealing data from an evil organization with guards in the next room so I need to type quietly. I’m usually a guy who likes hearing loud obnoxious clicking from my mechanical keyboards, but I can definitely get addicted to this serene sound coming off the Mojo84.

As the 84 name suggests, the Mojo84 has 84 keys in a compact form factor. A full FN row has been added here at a slightly inclined profile. A column of orange keys with a caution strip are dedicated for the home, delete, page up, and page down buttons. They slide right in between the page break and right arrow key. This board also has RGB backlighting that can be customized through the KBTools app. MelGeek has actually provided a surprisingly user-centric opportunity to design whatever combination of colors they want as every key has its own individual RGB backlight. The light unfortunately doesn’t pass through the letters on the keycap so I found the RGB to be subtle in aesthetic value. Still, there’s plenty of flexibility available throughout the board. The barebones body are all set up for an easy customizable result.    

In what MelGeek has dubbed tri-mode connection, this board has a toggle on the top left of the frame to designate which form of connection it’s on. You can connect the keyboard to a device through a 2.4G USB wireless connection, a USB-C wired connection, or a Bluetooth 5.2 connection. In fact, the Mojo84 can swap seamlessly through a whopping 8 devices concurrently through these three methods. If you’re using this unplugged, a 4,000 mAh battery keeps the keyboard powered. 

Deceptively Premium

I have to say that so far, I’m shocked at how much value I find on the Mojo84. It’s extremely deceptive as the board is made of plastic with a MSRP of $229. If you jump on the Kickstarter wagon before it ends, the early bird price is currently $179. This is a premium segment of mechanical keyboards that MelGeek is competing in. I don’t necessarily understand the mentality I experienced sitting with this board in front of me for a few days, but it certainly was a roller coaster of feelings. The Mojo84 is ridiculously detail oriented and performs admirably well. There is a chalk load of customization opportunities that mechanical keyboard buyers in this price segment salivate over. Yet when I pulled this keyboard out of the box, I had no expectations of these premium functions for some reason due to the appearance and catchphrase branding. Maybe that’s what MelGeek wanted all along. Deceive buyers to pleasantly surprise them with a refined product that beats many competitors in the small details. Whatever the case, I’m truly happy to see a product like this out there to offset the sea of generic mechanical keyboards that are currently out there in 2022. 

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