Keycool KC-SP64 Bluetooth mechanical keyboard

So recently I've rediscovered the pleasure of typing on a real mechanical keyboard. This pleasure extends to my iPads where despite the extremely small form factor, and the ultimate portability of the Apple Smart Keyboard, I've struggled to use this for lengthy composition - especially when I'm at my desk. Enter the new generation of mechanical and bluetooth enabled keyboards.

I received my Keycool KC-SP64 today. It's a 60% ++ keyboard - meaning that it's a small form-factor keyboard without dedicated function keys, dedicated numeric, dedicated navigation keys but importantly it does include arrow keys to facilitate editing, spreadsheeting, etc. without having to resort to composite keystrokes.

I won't go into all the "virtues" or details - it's too new and many of the headline specifications can be found elsewhere on-line. One of the challenges of adopting this bleeding edge, small production manufacturing is that though the technology behind these devices is pretty solid, the documentation is not. The keyboard arrived without a user manual, so things like pairing the keyboard, identifying the composite keystrokes for Page Up and other editing key sequences is not at all evident. Nor is it clear how to modify the RGB lighting functions of the device let alone start to envisage programming the keyboard for more sophisticated functions. This information cannot come soon enough.

In the meantime, I've done some preliminary explorations and have discovered many of the basic functions, which I list below.

A couple of notes. The pairing is a bit tricky at first. It took several attempts to get the keyboard paired with my iPad. Pressing and holding the "Fn + q" combination to get the backlight to register that it was in pairing mode (Q backlights) and then successfully enter the 6 digit pairing code and get the device to connect. After several failed attempts it worked. Happily, the reconnect after once initial pairing is pretty effortless. Of course, there are plenty of functionalities that I still do not understood or have not yet discovered. Needless to say that I'd appreciate any feedback, additional or  complementary information.

Control functions:
                Control (left) + Esc + Backspace + Right arrow (held simultaneously 5s) = System reset

                Fn + Control = swap control with Caps Lock

                Fn + Win = disable Win key

Bluetooth functions:

                Fn + Q (3 s) = start pairing, Press and hold for 3s until backlight highlights

                Fn + Q = reconnect
                "Q" can be replaced with "W" or "E" to facilitate pairing with up to three different devices
                Fn + R = Enable/disable Bluetooth (even during USB connection)

Function keys:

                Fn + 1 = F1

                Fn + 2 = F2

                Fn + 3 = F3

                Fn + 4 = F4

                Fn + 5 = F5

                Fn + 6 = F6

                Fn + 7 = F7

                Fn + 8 = F8

                Fn + 9 = F9

                Fn + 0 = F10

                Fn + - = F11

                Fn + = = F12

IPad functionality: (function keys when paired with iDevice)

                Fn + 1 = Dim screen

                Fn + 2 = Brighten screen

                Fn + 7 = media - previous track

                Fn + 8 = media - pause/play

                Fn + 9 = media - next track

                Fn + 0 = media toggle mute

                Fn + - = media volume down

                Fn + = = media volume up

Keyboard lighting functions:

   Fn + up arrow = LED brighter

   Fn + down arrow = LED dimmer

   Fn + Enter = Switch between static light patterns (white, off, red, green, blue, yellow, purple, cyan)
   Fn + Del = Switch to pre-programmed dynamic lighting patterns (snake, ...)
   Fn + Esc = Exit dynamic display mode

   Fn + space bar = Pause/enable pre-programmed display pattern

   Fn + left arrow = speed up keyboard animation

   Fn + right arrow = slow down keyboard animation

Keyboard lighting configuration:

   Fn + \ = Switch the between the 3 configurable keyboard lighting layouts
   Fn + ` = Program user-defined scheme #2 (defaults to WASD)
   Fn + Backspace = Program user-defined scheme #3

Baseplate lighting functions:
   Fn + a = Switch baseplate lighting (off, red, green, blue, yellow, purple, cyan, white)
   Fn + s = Switch between "breathe" mode (switching colors each "breath") or
                 "breath and rotate" sequence.

Numeric keypad:

   Fn + n = 0

   Fn + m = 1

   Fn + , = 2

   Fn + . = 3

   Fn + j = 4

   Fn + k = 5

   Fn + l = 6

   Fn + u = 7

   Fn + i = 8

   Fn + o = 9

Other keys:
   Fn + [ = Home
   Fn + ] = End

Additional observations:

1) The B key "breaths" green during charging via USB.

2) The keyboard has one ad hoc lighting configuration and two user-configurable patterns. With the ad hoc scheme, use function keys (Fn + Enter, Fn + Del) to select from the available static or dynamic lighting patterns. Pressing Fn + \ cycles you through the three configurations. The default 2nd scheme is WASD (green backlight with the WASD keys highlighted in red). These are reset when you perform the factory reset.

3) Programming the two user-configurable patterns is accomplished by pressing (and holding for 3 seconds) the Fn + ` (for scheme 2) and Fn + Backspace (for scheme 3). Once the respective key starts flashing, you can programme colors by repeatedly pressing individual keys. Exit configuration mode by momentarily pressing Fn + the respective key to start the configuration.

Thanks to othiym23 at KeebTalk.com for discovering more functionality of this keyboard in advance of English reference manuals. Additional information can be found this site (in Mandarin).