Introduction

Okay, get the name jokes out of the way right now. James Donkey is a PC peripheral brand established in 2014 and known mostly in Asia for its.. somewhat unique.. takes on keyboards and mice in addition to the most typically-designed products offering good value for money. Ergonomics was, and still is, a key element of the James Donkey design philosophy although it has rightly understood the vast majority of keyboard end users will still pay for a non-split keyboard. The compromise sought here was by offering smaller form factors in the 60-75% sizes, and then going bigger to fill all gaps in the market. Today we are looking at another of those “somewhat unique” keyboards from the brand, and thanks to James Donkey via Mechkeys for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp!

The James Donkey RS2 is unlike any other keyboard I have personally used, and this is purely down to that 99-key form factor employed here. It’s as close to a full-size keyboard as you can get without actually being one! Indeed, the design resembles a mix of the 1800 and 96% form factors, but is larger than either of those owing to the extra keys placed between the alphanumeric cluster and the number pad, as well as above the full-size number pad itself. As if this wasn’t enough, there’s enough room on the top right corner to fit a volume knob too! Add in multi-mode connectivity, hot-swappable switches, and a gasket mount design, and seemingly the James Donkey RS2 has it all. Let’s put it to the test today and find out for ourselves exactly how good it is as we begin this review with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications