The Leopold FC660M is a mechanical keyboard that has been around the block for a while now.
The keyboard is a compact option that comes with some interesting features and design.
Let’s take a closer look at this keyboard.
The Verdict
The Leopold FC660M is a very professional looking mechanical keyboard coming in a compact 65% layout.
The keyboard is a higher-end option with a few highly sought-after features such as PBT keycaps, Cherry MX switches, and a sturdy build.
Coming in a clean white-on-black design, the no-frills look really distinguishes the keyboard from the pack.
Overall, the entire design feels well thought-out, unique, and very satisfying to use. With a dampened spacebar and DIP switches on the back, you can there was attention to detail when designing the keyboard.
The only downside is the price feels a bit steep for what you get and with a mini-USB port it’s a bit outdated.
If you’re interested in checking out the Leopold FC660M, you can find it on mechanicalkeyboards.com for a good price.
In The Box
In the box, you get the usual suspects. Nothing too fancy, but they all serve a purpose for making this a more complete product.
Detachable power cable: A black mini-USB to USB-A cable is included in the box to plug in the keyboard. The cable is not braided, so it’s pretty plain all-around.
Plastic keycap puller: A plastic keycap puller is included to help you remove the keycaps. A wire design would have been preferred because the plastic can scratch the sides of the keycaps after too much usage.
Dust cover: If you hate it when dust and other junk falls into your keyboard, the dust cover will be a life-saver. Simply put it on your keyboard when not in usage. It’s plastic and matches the shape of the keys. To be honest, I’ve never actually used mine.
Extra keycaps: With the option to swap out the caps lock and ctrl key, you get a few extra keycaps in the box to accommodate this.
And that’s about it. Pretty standard stuff, although being able swap around your keys is nice.
I’ve personally never swapped the Caps and CTRL, but the HHKB layout is quite popular.
Build Quality
The build quality of the Leopold FC660M is decent.
The case feels really sturdy and makes no creaking noises when twisted. It’s made from a thick plastic and is brick-shaped with a slight typing angle.
The back of the keyboard has rubber feet to keep the keyboard from sliding.
The rubber on the kickstands can fall off easily, so beware. I wouldn’t expect this to be an issue on a higher-end keyboard such as this one, so I’m a little disappointed.
Also to my disappointment, the keyboard still uses a mini-USB port.
This feels outdated in a lot of ways, like the design of the keyboard hasn’t been touched for a long time.
The standard nowadays is to use USB-C, because the head is reversible so you don’t need to fumble around plugging it in the wrong way.
Besides the kickstands and the power port, the build quality feels pretty good. Would’ve liked to see more love in this department though.
The Switches
The switches are your standard Cherry MX options.
You get a decent amount of options to choose from which is always nice to see. Here is a quick breakdown of the options:
Cherry MX Black: A heavy linear switch great for gaming.
Cherry MX Brown: A jack of all trades tactile switches. Perfect for typing.
Cherry MX Blue: A loud and clicky switch, avoid being around other people.
Cherry MX Red: A light linear switch great for gaming.
Cherry MX Silent Red: A light linear switches that’s super quiet.
You get a grand total of five options to choose from, all of which should last for at least 100 million keystrokes as guaranteed by Cherry MX.
For a keyboard in this price range, you typically expect to get Cherry MX switches. So it’s pretty standard, all-around.
The Keycaps
The keycaps are where the Leopold FC660M really starts to shine.
With thick double-shot PBT keycaps, the keycaps are super durable and feel really nice to type on.
The injection-molded legends make the colors really pop, so the white-on-black colors look crispy.
There are also sub-legends on a few of the keycaps, so you can see what the lower layer functions do.
The most unique aspect of the keycaps is the fact that the space comes with sound dampening foam installed on the inside.
Each time you press the spacebar, it has a satisfying weight to it that makes typing really enjoyable. Perhaps I’ll start doing this to my other keyboards as well because I really like the feel.
Overall, the keycaps are phenomenal and I have nothing bad to say.
The Stabilizers
The stabilizers on the FC660M feel really good.
They come in the standard Cherry style design, so you’re able to install most keycap types.
While not lubed, the stabilizers offer a very smooth and stable typing experience.
If you’re willing to roll your sleeves up a bit, you can take these already great stabilizers and improve them by applying a bit of lubricant. This should reduce friction and rattling even more for a better feel.
Due to the foam inside the spacebar and excellent stabilizers, this keyboard has a really satisfying spacebar sound and feel.
DIP Switches For A Better Layout
Unlike other keyboard options, the Leopold FC660M comes with DIP switches on the back.
This lets you swap out the key placements without needing software or pressing a succession of keys. Simply configure the DIP switches on the back to setup your ideal layout.
Here are a few of the options.
| Switches | On | Off |
|---|---|---|
| DIP 1 | Ctrl & Caps Lock swap | Normal Layout |
| DIP 2 | Win Key and Alt swap | Normal Layout |
| DIP 3 | Win Key and FN swap | Normal Layout |
| DIP 4 | Windows Lock | Windows On |
And because the keyboard comes with additional Caps and Ctrl keys, you are able to actually swap the keycaps too, making it a visual change as well.
Pretty cool functionality if you ask me.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a great feeling mechanical keyboard that comes with some really unique features, definitely consider the Leopold FC660M.
It’s convenient to have access to these DIP switches for easy swapping of keys, not to mention the dampened spacebar feel magical.
While there are a few aspects of the design I don’t like, such as the mini-USB port, rubber feet that fall off easily, this keyboard simply needs a bit of an update.
When the keyboard was released awhile back, I’m sure it was an excellent design all-around, but now it could benefit from a feel tweaks a bit of love from Leopold.
Overall, I really enjoyed the keyboard and had a blast testing it. The keycaps are some of the best I’ve received out of a box and the typing experience is a lot of fun.
If you’re interested in buying this keyboard, you can find it on mechanicalkeyboards.com.
Happy typing and good luck!