Yeah but did your meet-ups have beige, grey, or white dye-sub PBT keycaps from XMI or shenpo? XMI is on the pricier side ever since he stopped selling on xianyu and taobao. He was selling for 198 RMB ~ 27.3 USD. Now on 21kb is about 60 USD. Which is still cheaper than most beige sets out there.

For shenpo, it’s very cheap for large compatibility. https://m.tb.cn/h.UVzUxZM?tk=tkg9dZLc8ld This beige set with Hebrew sub legends is only 188 RMB which converts to 26 USD. The quality per dollar is insane compared to lousy clones with reverse dye-sub.

These dye-sub pbt have smooth texture. I’m not sure if you understand but I’ll try to explain. Some ABS sets have those texture like when you rub your finger against it slowly, it will skip little by little. When I type on it, it moves me finger ever so slightly after bottoming out that it throws me off and I hate it.

Aifei’s previous batches of doubleshot ABS have that same texture, but for that price (169 RMB ~ 23.3 USD), I really can’t complain. Their new icons only mod doubleshot ABS set have very smooth texture like dye-sub PBT. I managed to try it at a recent meet-up but I didn’t test this “skipping” texture. If you just move quickly over it, it feels very smooth. I just ordered one set to try out for myself.

Keychron’s doubleshot PBT cherry profile keycaps have smooth texture too but a little “skippy” which triggers me a little hahaha. I’ve touched some doubleshot PBT from Monokei as well and that has quite rough texture. So I guess it’s not about the material, but rather the moulds that they use. It’s quite difficult to judge a set’s texture before touching it yourself :/

Again, not arguing against poorly made dye-sub or 5-side dye-sub PBT keycaps. Just trying to show you that there are dye-sub PBT keycaps that are done well and well worth its 25-30 USD price tag