Matias Tactile Pro 3 by Brian8bit

[Brian8bit]

The Matias Tactile Pro 3 (or what we’ll call the MTP3 so I don’t have to keep typing that out) is considered “thee” mechanical keyboard for Apple and OS X users. But much like OS X security through obscurity nonsense, the MTP3 reigns supreme because there’s really sod all else native for Apple or OS X that is worth mentioning. Except maybe the SMK-88, but that’s a story for another time children.

I ordered the MTP3 from TheKeyboardCo in late November. This was during the ice age that the UK suffered over the winter period when the highways and byways were impassable due to the half inch of snow, everything ground to a halt and millions of people died encased in ice. Due to this I didn’t receive the ‘board until early into the new year. So I’ve been using it as my main ‘board since then having relegated my Filco with blues to my windows box.

In the several months I have been using this ‘board I have come to absolutely despise aspects of it, and absolutely love others.

First Impression

After my local delivery driver had scaled the frozen wastes and jagged peaks of the A26 and dropped off my ‘board, I was immediately struck by how heavy the package was. “Nice, it’s got some mass to it, feels like quality...” said I. But then lead is heavy... It was packaged in a brown box from TheKeyboardCo and they’d really had to stuff it in there. I think they’d run out of brown boxes for anything bigger than a Filco full size box, which the MTP3 box is. It's a big ol' unit.

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So, as I stared at the open box with the MTP3 sitting there in all it’s glory, I thought to myself “It really is as ugly as it appears in the pictures”. It’s hideous. Cheap clear plastic which is coloured white on the underside. You can see the points where the chassis parts mate together to connect the two halves. HOWEVER, it matches my Apple Magic Mouse much better than the Aluminium Wireless Keyboard Apple supply you. And we’re all about the aesthetics am I right or am I right guys? (WRONG). With the bulbous protrusion from the posterior of the MTP3 that houses the USB hubs, I couldn’t help but think “Why didn’t they stick a bluetooth doohickey in there and make it wireless?”. Who knows. The USB cable is clear and shows a silvery braid underneath. It’s a USB cable. There’s not much else to say. The connector is white. There are no cable routing channels.

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This should give you some idea how reflective it is when subjected to a camera flash. It's a nightmare to get pictures of if you don't have the right gear or lighting.

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Design & Construction

Onwards and upwards! As I wrestled trying to get the MTP3 out of it’s gimp suit… I mean extremely tight fitting box, a noise perturbed me. Anyone who is as much a fan of Asian horror as I am, will know the noise I’m about to describe. The Ju-On groan. That creepy noise that sounds like a 5 year old child pretend burping. Anyway. This thing (when not scaring the crap out of you because you're envisaging pasty Asians crawling out of the woodwork) creaks and groans like your arthritic grandmother. I can’t believe just how much it does. The slightest… and I mean slightest twisting of the chassis causes it to sing. Despite weighing more than my full size Filco, the MTP3 feels cheap. Sounds cheap. And looks cheap. Pushing the top of the chassis between the arrow cluster and home/end cluster it flexes like Rolf Harris wobble board. Grab it with both hands and give it a bit of a jiggle and you could squeak out a chorus or two of "Tie my kangaroo down sport".

For me personally, the only redeeming quality of the design and construction are the USB hubs. As an iMac user, it saves me having to grope around the back of my iMac when trying to save and transfer porn to USB sticks. And it also allows you to keep the USB ports on the back of the iMac free for more important peripherals like webcams, USB fridges and USB powered foam rocket launchers. The second good thing about the USB hubs is that unlike other (let's be honest, terrible two cable) designs, there's only one cable required to power the three USB hubs. And I've had three USB sticks swapping porn between each other at the same time. Which was nice.

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But it doesn’t end there. Oh no. As I placed the MTP3 on my desk, I extended the legs and prepared to get down to some hardcore typing. Unfortunately, the rubber pads that grace the bottom of the keyboard are absolutely useless. They provide no traction whatsoever. The extended legs have no rubber on the ends of them either. So the MTP3 flew across my desk with the grace and majesty of Brian Boitano’s 1988 olympic performance. With a single finger and some light pressure, you can move the keyboard wherever you want without coming upon any resistance whatsoever.

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So, a few lumps of blue-tac later, I got to the business of actually typing.

The Layout

First, let’s discuss the switches. They are plate mounted. They are Alps clicky. Real Alps according to Matias and Fukkas according to everyone on Geekhack that I have seen discussing a MTP3 review by another owner. All but the caps lock key, F14 key and the clear key at the top of the number pad are clicky. Why these three are made linear, I do not know. Maybe they just wanted to mix things up a bit. Whatever. It’s not something I personally notice when I’m typing as the only one of those keys I use regularly is the caps lock. That said, I really, really like the action of the Alps clicky switches. However, due to the cheap quality of the chassis and absolutely no dampening between the board and my wooden desk, when you really get up a typing speed the MTP3 rattles like a heroin user going through withdrawal.

Which brings me to the layout. The number pad is useless for me. I simply do not use it. At all. And can’t think of an instance where I’ve had to use it. The same for the arrow keys and the home/end cluster. The only keys I do use regularly are the F13, F14, F15 and media keys. I tried stuff like the help, delete, page up and page down keys in a couple of programs and having them recognised was dependant on whatever program I was running, but home/end worked in all that I tried. This is more than likely down to particular software being finicky rather than the functionality of the board.

The keycaps are thin and white with laser printed grey/black legends. The font is plain and simple and looks good. One of the other things I really like about the MTP3 is they’ve added extra legends for secondary and tertiary functionality. Which, when I first moved to Mac, would have made finding various keys a lot easier than hunt and hope I’d been performing on the Apple Wireless Keyboard.

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Summary

The MTP3 cost me £117 from TheKeyboardCo (that’s including 17.5% VAT). Is the MTP3 a £117 keyboard? Hell no. I’d put it at half that. Between £60 to £80. £80 at a push. The thing that makes this keyboard so popular for the Apple and OS X user, is simply that there isn’t much competition out there. Aside from DSI, I can’t think of anyone else off the top of my head that is making modern Mac native mechanical switch keyboards.

Pros:

• Native to OS X, no messing with modifiers, just plug and play.
  Good switches that are a pleasure for tactile switch fans.
  Informative keycap legends.
  USB hubs (very useful for iMac users).

Cons:

• Cheap build quality.
  Cheap build quality has a negative effect on overall typing experience.
  Useless feet and pads.
  “Marmite” aesthetics. You either love it or hate it.

Notes: Investigating whether the switches where plate mounted I took the chassis apart. I found the typing experience, for me personally, improved. There's less chassis rattle (a given, now that it's missing the top part). With the top part of the chassis off and trying to twist just the bottom part of the chassis with the PCB and plate in it, there is next to no flex or noise when you do this. It appears that the entire build quality is let down by the more flimsy top part of the chassis when the keyboard is complete. This is the part that likes to squeal when you twist and manhandle it.

[nathanscribe]

Interesting, thanks for that. I've ended up with a couple of Filco tenkeylesses (if that's even a word) as I find the number pad gets in the way and is superfluous for my needs - and a Unicomp "spacesaver" - all using the regular key remapping. I read a variety of opinions about the Matias (previous versions) before buying and this new one seems to continue that polarisation, going by your response to it...

[Brian8bit]

I have a severe love/hate relationship with it. I love the key legends. The USB hubs. And I really like the Alps switches. I detest the looks and I hate the overall construction. I think the construction feeling "cheap" is a simple fix of just beefing up the rigidity. Having the two halves screw together in a more traditional way that provides more support across the board rather than using the clip method which only seems to support the edges and causes the thing to creak and groan so much when twisted, would probably help.

According to the TactilePro twitter, they're working on a tenkeyless, but it's months away. I'm really looking forward to see what they do. I'd like to see the layout mimic the Apple Wireless Keyboard as much as possible. Maybe go with a "floating" design with USB hubs like LowPolys mini-guru. I suspect a lot more people would be willing to part with their cash for an aluminium base Alps mech switch mini keyboard.

I know I would. Because it would stop me looking at the underside of this MTP3 PCB and thinking about butchering it with a dremel and getting busy with a soldering iron

[Brummell]

I'd love it if Matias would do a tenkeyless and give us the option of buying it in black. Or better yet, if Topre or Filco would make a Mac native board.

I've thought about buying a Matias but I've seen too many reviews like this one and I'm scared away from it. Right now I'm using a HHKB on one Mac and a Realforce 86UB on the other (both replacing Apple aluminums) and I've actually gotten used to them far more quickly than I ever imagined I might. The window of opportunity for Matias to do anything I might care to buy might already be closed.

I guess there's always the new Unicomp...

[ripster]

Well, I know for SURE the MTP2 is ALPS Simplified Type 1 (Fukka).

[webwit]

Great review, thanks!