[Upcoming] Vertex Intro S100 (100%/Full-size) Mechanical Keyboard Kit

Groupbuy Dates: TBD

‼️ Before purchase, you must read and accept following Terms and Conditions of Intro S100 Groupbuy‼️ 

1. This is a "Groupbuy" sale. Upon purchase, you acknowledge that estimated shipping time is Q2 2025,  and delay may occur due to but limited to conditions like: shipping delay introduced by any unforeseeable production issue.
2. After purchase, you will be charged immediately.
3. Due to the nature of "Groupbuy" sale that we will start to arrange production immediately after sale conclude, we generally do not allow cancellation. If you do need to cancel before GB ends, we review requests on a case-by-case basis at our discretion. If cancellation is accepted, a 3% payment processing fee will be withheld on refund.
4. We reserve the right to cancel orders which deem violating our sale T&C.
5. This is a keyboard kit and does not come with switches and keycaps.

Intro S100

Every time we draft the project, everyone will put forward various ideas on the selection of layout sizes. However, based on the current preference and trend of keyboard layout in the community, mainstream products do not give everyone all choices. Therefore, we hope to complete our design of various layout sizes through the new INTRO series.

So let's start with the full size: 

The S100 is a 100% full-size 104/108 (switchable) standard layout, which directly laid the foundation for the modern keyboard configuration, so we also used it to complete the first INTRO series.

The project started in the middle of this year, and the prototype was displayed during the ZFX exhibition in Shenzhen on October 1st, and the whole process also went through many proofing verification to ensure that the final delivery of a satisfactory work to the keyboard fans. 

Like our previous projects, we are keen to design and produce excellent typing tools for everyone, good typing experience combined with high standards of process performance, has been our product philosophy, and the understanding and thinking of the keyboard into all aspects of it. 

In terms of design aesthetics, we always adhere to the clean and capable style tonality, not to stick to the so-called "design sense" of eye-catching. Obviously, this is not a gimmicky product for the pursuit of cheap value, and its overall design should be based on thoughtful considerations.

The STR factory is solely responsible for the production of the shell parts of the kit in this project, and VERTEX is a partner company of STR, so we have a higher initiative in quality and cost. Since the official establishment of STR for nearly a year, VERTEX and STR have maintained a high degree of cooperation and made common progress. We continue to explore the process of manufacturing keyboard and improve the level of product quality, and we are proud that in this project, whether it is machining or surface treatment process performance, it is better than the previous project.

Finally, we hope that the production of this work can allow users to fully play its role and value in a suitable use scenario.

Intro

The S100 uses a classic upper and lower case design, while we have adopted a color matching design for most of the colors to try more interesting color combinations.

The S100 can achieve an additional 4 extended function keys with RGB through the front badge, and yes, it can achieve 108 key layout to some extent.

The initial prototype of S100 was designed with exposed screws at the bottom to lock the case. In August, Manu came to office to experience the prototype and gave me what he thought was a very serious proposal:

"Bro, it's all good, but please hide the screws, and it will be even better."

Obviously, I listened to his advise.

And we used the Baionbolt for hiding the screws, which way that can use the larger M2.5 screws to achieve a tighter locking of the upper and lower cases with the help of the internal oblique space.

However, we still retained the screws in the bottom four corners, because this can still set the screws in the most corner of the keyboard to evenly lock the upper and lower cases. And no matter what kind of internal locking screw scheme can not set the screw point in the most corner of the keyboard, so we have to increase the screw point in the vertical direction of the left and right borders of the keyboard, but because of the narrow border design of the S100, The screws in these two places are not compatible with Baionbolt due to lack of space, and the screws can still be hidden by the feet.

Under the concise appearance, we added ambient lighting to the back and front of the S100 to add some vibe when using the keyboard at the desk.

We realized that many keyboard users are obsessed with the intense RGB effect, but we also worry that it will take away the user's focus on the keyboard and create unnecessary distractions, so on the invisible back side we added a light throughout the keyboard, and on the front side of the keyboard, we use a light centered in the numpad area of the keyboard to decorate and add a relatively independent numlock switch indicator to the 10% area.

In terms of structure, this time on the S100 we used the PCB mount used on the ARC60 for the second time. With the experience of this configuration on the ARC, we also confidently moved it to this work again. Even at such a large size, it still has a good feel and sound performance.

In order to allow you to assemble and match more possibilities through the S100, this time we provide 5 kinds of plate materials (ALU /FR4/PP/PC/CF).

We believe that everyone has understood the internal structure, the weight of the bottom case and the actual impact of the material on the keyboard typing sound performance, and this time we increased the weight of two stainless steel inner weight to make up for a certain amount of weight, and tried to use the internal cover of PC material as the medium for the reflection of the sound inside the bottom case to change the performance of the typing sound. This method can be said to be effective and efficient in practice.

TEN: 10%, full size, and also expects that this is a perfectly work

Basic information

PROJECT NAME: Intro S100;

LAYOUT: 100% full size;

SIZE: 437.35x136.72x39.85mm;

FRONT HEIGHT:15.8mm/EKH=21.7mm (without feet);

MOUNTING: PCB gasket mount;

WEIGHT: ≈2450g(unbuild)/3000g(built); 

MATERIALS: aluminum/SS/PC;

PCB: FR4, 1.6mm, non flex cuts;

FIRMWARE: VIA tri-mode (with 4400mAh) only;

LAYOUT SUPPORT (SOLDERING)

LAYOUT SUPPORT (HOT-SWAPPED):

PLATES:

Alu

FR4

PC

PP

CF

Part List

Cases(top+bottom) x1set; 

Internal weight(SS) x2;

PC internal cover x1;

PCB(with DB+2.4G deceiver) x1;

Plate x1;

Bumpons x1set;

PCB stabilizer (for full size) x1set;Foam kits (plate/PE/case) x1set.

Colorways

All the photos are taken in real samples, due to the ambient light is inevitable differences, for reference only. 

15 colors in total: 9 anodizing + 6 TKD coating

Anodizing

lunar

space

navy

wheat

symbiotic

monster

fuji

veryperi

chinese red

Coating

Starry

Cream

rock

sunflower

gateway

halflife

Colorways (keycaps matches)