Introduction

Arbiter Studio is a new brand that doesn’t seem to share a lot of information about itself. I know it is new because the company itself wasn’t registered until last year and there is currently one product which itself only just came out. In fact, that product—a keyboard which we will be reviewing today—is so new that Arbiter Studio is still actively developing the software for it as we speak. But the people behind the brand are not new to keyboards and gaming peripherals in general. The team that started Arbiter Studio has been creating and developing gaming keyboards, among other things, for other companies to the point where they clearly decided they wanted to show off what they can do and get credit for it too.

The Polar 65 is Arbiter Studio’s first keyboard and there’s a lot going on here. At first glance this may seem like another brand trying to use Asian cultural influences on keyboards and put out another small form factor pre-built keyboard, but almost every single thing about the keyboard has been made specifically for the brand. The biggest selling point here is the use of Hall effect magnetic switches allowing for user-customizable actuation as well as a rapid trigger feature for fast gaming needs. The PCB is thus different from usual and Arbiter Studio took advantage of this to make it dust and spill resistant too. There’s also a thick and heavy-duty aluminium frame in use as well as a rarely seen keycap profile to interest keyboard enthusiasts in addition to having pre-lubed switches/stabilizers as well as multiple keycap and case colors to choose from. Thanks to Arbiter Studio for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp and we begin with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications