Think6.5v2. Worth thinking about?

There are many boards that ha a huge uptick in interest due to the pandemic. But none like the Think6.5, a board which sold thousands of units, and a brand which would eventually pump out more boards which had unprecedented success. But in 2022, is it worth buying a Think6.5v2?

In short, yes. But, no. See, the thing is, the Think6.5v2, while it was incredibly popular, many attribute this due to the influx of people who were looking for a new keyboard when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But even so, the customizability that you get with the Think is incredible, and the easily removable parts and pieces, along with the different layouts makes for an incredibly interesting keyboard.

I have personally owned two Think's, one 1u, and one 2u, and I thought that they both had their flaws and successes. Starting with the elephant in the room, is the design. The board is a 65% layout with either a top right blocker or a 2u blocker where the end and page down keys resides. Personally, I think that the top right blocker in general is overdone, with most 65% boards having some form of the top right blocker. For this reason, I like the think6.5 2u significantly more. Even so, the design of both the boards are great, with a nice side profile adorning the low typing angle and front height of the board, making for a comfy typing experience. The various colors for anodization and the ability to get a polycarbonate board was something that was welcomed as customizability is always nice. Additionally, the ability to remove the magnetic badges which have backlighting, and replace them with other colors is a nice touch that I didn't initially realize was available.

Moving onto the build experience. Even as someone who hasn't built that many boards, this board was an ease to build, with the screws being nice and rigid, threads being strong, and the board itself having an easy two piece build. The only thing that I don't like is the way that they have oriented the gaskets. Either you can place them on the plate (which means you are stuck with using that one plate), or you can stick them onto the case (which leads itself to alignment issues, which is what happened with my first Think6.5). Additionally, the unboxing experience was still really amazing from such a large group buy. Included in the box is a separate box for every part of the keyboard, including the pcb, plate, and extra materials. The included GrayStudios screwdriver, while not amazing, is more than enough to complete the build. Little things like the packaging make the board even better than it already is.

Lastly, is the sound and feel of the board. The Think6.5 is nothing exceptional, and quite honestly is a board that is accurately priced for the quality, sound, and feel that you get out of this. The isolation gasket does a good job of removing of any vibration, and I liked the included fr4 plate (even though aluminum would have been a nice offering). I think that the feel of the board was quite nice, the low front height also made for an easy typing experience. The sound was quite normal, and the included foam allows for a different sound experience if you desire the "foamy" sound that was popularized by boards like vega and polaris (both by ai03). Overall, it's a nice board, and sound tests would do a better job of describing the sound than I could.

As I said at the beginning. Would I recommend this board? Yes. However, with the market looking like it is going down, it seems that it might be better to just wait for prices to drop even more. Additionally, with many other boards coning out with more unique mounting styles and designs, there might be a better pickup if you are looking for a really endgame 65%. At the time when this was ran, this board was really an endgame contender for many. But now, when there are so many other boards, even in the 65% range, which are more customizable, with a less muted mounting style, buying this board in a GB is a tough recommend. Luckily, this board is pretty cheap on the market (relatively), and is a good pickup for anyone looking to get a nice start in the hobby.

Thanks for reading!