After the Gears of War: E-Day Xbox controller we saw last month – which is now down to $84.99 shipped – Xbox is giving mouse-and-keyboard players some matching gear of their own for the upcoming title with a pair of officially licensed releases from 8BitDo. The new 8BitDo Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard – Gears of War: E-Day Edition is now up for pre-order at Amazon for $119.99 shipped, bringing the same battle-worn E-Day look to one of the brand’s familiar mechanical keyboard designs. There’s also a matching Retro R8 Mouse to complete the setup, although that particular listing appears to be sold out at the moment. Head below for a closer look and more details.
8BitDo gives the Retro 87 a full Gears of War: E-Day makeover
Much like the controller, 8BitDo has done more than simply slap a Gears logo onto the Retro 87. This special-edition model takes inspiration from the aftermath of Emergence Day, with fractured-earth detailing, crimson accents, and COG branding spread across the board to tie it directly into the upcoming game.
There are some fun smaller touches here too. The 1 through 4 keys are themed after the Lancer, Gnasher, Boltok Pistol, and Frag Grenade – which are likely the quick-controls you’ll map for those items in the game – while a dedicated button in the upper-right corner gives you quick access to the Windows Game Bar. 8BitDo is also bundling one set of its oversized Dual Super Buttons, which can be assigned macros and other functions.
Underneath the Gears styling, this is still a proper 87-key tenkeyless mechanical keyboard. It uses 8BitDo Cloud Gray linear switches co-developed with Huano on a hot-swappable PCB, so you can swap the switches later without soldering. There’s also a top-mount structure, sound-dampening layers, an aluminum plate, N-key rollover, programmable controls, and eight RGB lighting modes. Connectivity is handled over 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth 5.3 LE, or USB-C, with support for Windows and Android. A 4,000mAh battery is said to keep things running for up to 280 hours over 2.4GHz or 300 hours over Bluetooth, and you can also map your keys, macros, and other settings through 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software V2.
If you want to carry the E-Day look across the rest of your setup, 8BitDo is also launching the matching Retro R8 Mouse – Gears of War: E-Day Edition. It uses the same fractured black-and-crimson styling as the keyboard and packs a PAW 3395 sensor, Huano switches rated for up to 100 million clicks, six DPI levels, and four programmable side buttons. It can also be configured for either left- or right-handed use.
The Retro R8 supports Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless, and wired USB-C, with polling rates of up to 8,000Hz over wired and 4,000Hz over 2.4GHz. 8BitDo also includes a matching charging dock that doubles as a wireless signal extender and storage spot for the 2.4GHz adapter. This unit is said to last for up to 100 hours on a single charge over Bluetooth, while 2.4GHz runtime varies depending on the polling rate.
The 8BitDo Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard – Gears of War: E-Day Edition is now up for pre-order at Amazon for $119.99 shipped. The Retro R8 Mouse listing, as previously mentioned, appears to be out of stock at the moment, so you might want to keep an eye on it and jump in once it’s available.
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