Hey there,
There was a time when mechanical keyboards were judged entirely by how loud and obnoxious they were. If your keyboard didn’t sound like a machine gun firing inside a tin shed, were you even a real gamer?
But it is 2026, and our ears have evolved. Now, we chase the “Thock.” We want keyboards that sound like marbles falling onto a thick mahogany desk. We want the “Creamy” sound.
Enter the Epomaker TH99 Pro. This hardware company has built a keyboard that features a built-in screen, a tactile volume knob, and more acoustic foam stuffed inside its chassis than a 1990s mattress. I spent the last two weeks typing all my scripts and emails on this thing, and I have a confession: I might be completely in love with how it feels.
Here is my honest, incredibly “thock-filled” review of the keyboard that might just be the ultimate gateway drug into the custom mechanical hobby.
Test 1: The “Butter” Factor (Typing Feel & Acoustics)
If you are looking for smooth, quiet, and deep keystrokes, this is where the company absolutely earns its $89.99 USD paycheck.
The Reality: It genuinely feels like typing on room-temperature butter.
- The Switches: My unit shipped with the company’s proprietary “Creamy Jade” switches. They are linear, meaning there is no tactile bump and zero click. Just a straight, incredibly smooth slide down to the bottom. Because the company factory-lubes these switches right off the assembly line, there is absolutely zero scratchiness or spring ping.
- The Sound: It is not entirely silent, but the acoustic profile is deep and muted. The company packed the TH99 Pro with five distinct layers of sound-dampening foam (Poron, IXPE, PET, etc.). Every keystroke sounds like a heavy raindrop hitting a pond.
- The Gasket Mount: The typing plate isn’t screwed harshly into the plastic case; it floats on soft silicone gaskets. When you type aggressively, the entire keyset flexes and bounces slightly, absorbing the shock and making it incredibly gentle on your fingers during long typing sessions.
Test 2: The “Mullet” Layout (1800-Compact)
The company utilized a 96% (1800-compact) layout, which I affectionately call the mullet of keyboards.
- Business in the Front: You get a full, dedicated Numpad, which is an absolute necessity if you spend your days navigating Excel spreadsheets or doing data entry.
- Party in the Back: The company squeezed all the keys together and eliminated the empty “dead space” normally found around the arrow keys. The result? It is barely wider than a standard laptop keyboard, meaning you get to keep your Numpad without sacrificing all your valuable mouse-swiping desk space.
Test 3: The “Smart” Features (Screen & Knob)
The Screen: The company integrated a 1.14-inch customizable TFT screen into the top right corner. Out of the box, it shows your battery life, connection mode, and the date. But the real fun is uploading custom GIFs. I uploaded a GIF of a spinning pizza to the keyboard screen. It did not make me type faster, but it definitely made my desk look cooler (and made me constantly hungry).
The Knob: Sitting right next to the screen is a tactile, clicky metal volume knob. It is simple, effective, and strangely addictive to fiddle with during boring Zoom calls.
Test 4: The Battery Powerhouse (And A Wireless Warning)
The Battery: The company shoved a hilariously massive 10,000mAh battery into the Pro model. That is the size of a tablet battery. You can literally type for weeks on a single charge, even with the RGB backlight putting on a full disco show.
The Wireless Reality Check: While the Bluetooth 5.0 connection is perfectly fine for office typing, the 2.4GHz wireless dongle can be finicky. If you have a heavy-duty Wi-Fi router sitting right next to your desk, you might experience signal interference resulting in the dreaded “stuck key” (where you type one letter and the screen outputs “theeeeeeeee” until you panic). If you are playing competitive games, plug it in via the wired mode (1,000Hz polling rate) just to be safe.
Test 5: The Software Trap (Why It Gets a 3/5)
Here is where we have to talk about the company’s biggest failing. The physical hardware is a 5/5, but the software experience drags the overall score down.
Most keyboard enthusiasts demand open-source QMK/VIA support, which runs flawlessly in any modern web browser. Instead, this company forces you to use their proprietary online web driver.
- The Clunky Web Interface: While it is technically nice that you don’t have to download a massive file to your hard drive, the company’s online driver feels like a website built in 2012. You have to use specific browsers that support WebHID (like Chrome or Edge), the translation is occasionally spotty, and the user interface for remapping keys or setting up complex macros is deeply unintuitive.
- The GIF Struggle: If you want to customize that cool TFT screen, you have to wrestle with the online portal. You have to ensure your GIFs are the exact right frame rate and file size, and the web-based uploading process is painfully slow and prone to timing out mid-transfer.
- The Silver Lining: The good news? Because it is web-based, you never have to install any bloatware on your actual computer. Plus, the company designed the keyboard with onboard memory. Once you suffer through the website to set your custom keybinds, RGB colors, and your spinning pizza GIF, those settings are permanently saved to the keyboard itself. You can simply close the browser tab and never visit that URL again.
The Competition & USA Buying Guide
If you are buying in the US, you have to be careful with listings. Always make sure you click the “Pro” version, as the company frequently lumps the standard TH99 (which has a tiny battery and no screen) onto the same Amazon page.
- USA Shipping: Buying via Amazon Prime is your safest bet for fast US shipping and easy returns. If you buy directly from the company’s website, it often ships straight from China, which can take 2+ weeks (though they occasionally offer exclusive keycap colors you can’t get stateside).
The Thock Wars Comparison:
- Vs. Keychron V5 Max (~$100 USD): If you are a programmer who absolutely needs to remap every single key using excellent QMK/VIA software, buy the Keychron. It feels a bit firmer and more “crisp,” but the software is lightyears ahead of Epomaker.
- Vs. Aula F99 (~$65 USD): The Aula is significantly cheaper and sounds almost as “thocky,” but it lacks the fun TFT screen and the massive 10,000mAh battery.
The Verdict
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) for Experience, ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5) for Software
Price: ~$89.99 USD
If you can survive the initial 20 minutes of wrestling with the company’s clunky software to upload your favorite GIF, you are left with an absolute masterpiece of acoustic engineering. If you specifically want that “typing on butter” sensation, this is the board to get.
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