A handy USB hub by day, a colorful mechanical keyboard by night [Review]

By

Kebohub EE01 sitting on a very scratched up desk with a Magic Trackpad★★★★☆
It’s useful having ports right at your keyboard. Even if I’m not using any of them in this picture.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

A utilitarian and professional-looking keyboard by day, the 3inus Kebohub EE01 turns into a light show for streaming Fall Guys or whatever on Twitch by night.  Live now on Kickstarter, it’s a full RGB-backlit customizable mechanical keyboard with a handy-dandy hub for your USB accessories and HDMI display.

To put it in car terms, it’s like the BMW X5 M, a practical, midsize luxury SUV that’s also trying to be a performance car. Or, in a less generous metaphor, a mullet.

I’ve had a few weeks with the Kebohub EE01; here’s why it’s a good mechanical keyboard plus a good desktop dock for a MacBook.

3inus Kebohub EE01 review

Typing feel and layout

I got the compact version of the keyboard that includes a full set of alphanumeric keys, a function row, arrow keys and scroll keys with no num pad. I like a short distance between my trackpad and my keyboard. Since I’m not an accountant, I always go sans-num pad.

I ordered the keyboard with the Red switch. They are not named as Cherry switches, but they are clearly similar. Just like the Cherry MX Red, it’s a linear switch that doesn’t click. It’s still audible over a conference call or podcast, but it’s not overwhelming.

A handy USB and HDMI hub

The back of the EE01, with the ports labeled.
Trade out two ports for five.
Photo: 3inus

I use my Mac for video production, so I use just about every single port on the computer’s back.

This is where the Kebohub EE01 comes in. On the back of the keyboard, you’ll find one HDMI, one USB-C 3.1 and three USB-A 3.0 ports. The EE01 has a split cable — you can plug it into your computer using either one or two USB-C ports to double the power to the hub.

A MacBook on a laptop stand plugged into a desktop display and iPhone stand, all running from the EE01.
Run your desktop accessories through the keyboard to simplify docking at your desk.
Photo: 3inus

If you have a MacBook so you can live the desktop-laptop lifestyle, the Kebohub can act as a sort of docking station. You don’t have to plug in your display, your speakers and your backup hard drive every time you come home; just run those things through the keyboard.

If you have a desktop Mac, you’ll appreciate how you have easily accessible ports right by your hands. You don’t need to fumble around the back of your iMac, Mac mini or Mac Studio.

RGB backlights

The EE01 in a dark room with the rainbow backlight on.
It looks much brighter in person.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

One can tell from my general demeanor that I am not a PC gamer. I have a general distaste for the flashy, obnoxious setups that gamers flaunt like peacocks. More power to you if something like this is your style, but I’d like my computer to look like a computer, not a laser tag arena.

The Kebohub has a full spectrum of RGB backlighting. You can wash it out in a big rainbow, glow a solid color, or cycle through animated effects.

The backlight is controlled by the Fn key. You can switch between 18 different patterns by hitting Fn with Ins/Del/Home/End/PgUp/PgDn. Press any of those six keys several times in a row to cycle through three variations.

Fn with the arrow keys will adjust the color scheme and brightness. It gets bright enough to see even with direct sunlight shining through the window, although I have the impression that such accessories are designed for use in darker rooms.

My favorite setting — or more accurately, the only one I didn’t find irritating — is Fn+Home (2), where each key glows for a second after you press it.

Interchangeable key caps and switches

Closeup of the key caps on the EE01
Some of the characters look odd on the keyboard.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

I can’t really place the font used on the key caps, but it’s some sort of sans serif stencil font. I’m not sure if the manufacturing process required them to use a stencil font or if it was a stylistic choice.

It feels like an uncanny valley between using straight Helvetica and using a more obnoxious PC GAMER font to let you know this keyboard is for PC GAMING, but that’s the sort of middle ground where this keyboard lives.

The EE01 helpfully comes with a bunch of alternate key caps. You can swap the two-tone color scheme for a solid gray. Plus, if you predominantly use a PC, you can switch the Mac-specific keys for PC-specific keys.

EE01 with a full set of alternate key caps.
The world of fun key caps is bottomless.
Photo: 3inus

The key switches and key caps are all made using standard parts. You can swap all 87 switches out for clickier or quieter ones and replace the key caps for a whole new look while keeping the same hub and backlighting. You can dramatically transform the look of the keyboard if you want.

Nice build quality

The Kebohub EE01 is manufactured with excellent build quality. The body is made of a strong plastic. I picked up the keyboard with both hands and twisted the body unnaturally to see how much it flexed or creaked — it has virtually no give.

Despite that, it’s not unusually heavy. It’s easy to reposition on the desk.

The key caps feel fine. They have the same light-speckled texture that most molded plastics are adorned with, albeit in a much finer grain than is typical to cheaper keyboards.

While the rubber pads on the front of the keyboard are somewhat haphazardly glued in place, I’ll call special attention to the flip-down feet in the back. The mechanism is smooth and firm. The feet are a seamless blend of plastic and rubber that is perfectly color matched.

They feel nice. They will either be permanently tucked away inside the case, or they will spend their entire life touching your unappreciative desk. You will feel them only once or twice. But when you do, if you can appreciate such things, you will be impressed.

Miscellaneous observations

  • The brand name, which I’ve used sparingly throughout this review, is 3inus. Don’t say it out loud too fast.
  • It still has all the useless PC keys like Pause, Scroll Lock, Print Screen and Insert. They don’t do anything in Mac mode — not that they really do anything in Windows, either. You can remap them using Karabiner Elements or Rectangle.
  • This keyboard comes in a truly obscene amount of packaging. There’s the outermost white plastic shipping wrap, four big sheets of foam taped together, a clear white plastic bag (I don’t remember where in the process this came in), a thin white cardboard box with a product sticker on it, another slightly smaller clear plastic box with an identical product sticker on it (why?) and a second sticker that says “koyboard,” and a third, slightly smaller, heavy cardboard tray that holds the product and its many plastic-bagged accessories.
    My kitchen scale says it’s 649 grams of packaging for a 918 gram koyboard, so the product itself is less than 60% the weight of the whole package.
  • A few of the keys originally did not fit flush with the others — F10, H, 2 and P sat slightly higher than the surrounding keys. I pushed them down really hard and now they’re good.
  • The manual is straightforward and helpful. It’s printed on high-quality glossy paper.

Find the Keebohub EE01 on Kickstarter

The Keebohub EE01 is an excellent and convenient hub for all your devices, whether you have a laptop or desktop. The keyboard is nice to type on and the quality shines through. The design isn’t to my taste, but you can make it yours.

The Keebohub EE01 is being funded through Kickstarter until May 4. If you’re among the first 100 backers, you can snag the keyboard for just $84, a 40% discount “on the Future Retail Price.” The next 2,000 backers can get it for $99; all remaining Kickstarter backers will pay $109.

★★★★☆

3inus provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out other in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.