Flexin' your ABS like you just don't care
Typing on the ABS M1 is a somewhat unusual experience. This thing doesn't feel like a regular rubber-membrane keyboard, as I just said, but neither does it feel like an old-school clicky keyboard or a laptop keyboard. Although the non-clicky, tactile key switch type isn't unique to this device, it's definitely not common. For me, that meant spending a few days adjusting and making quite a few more typos than usual.

There's definitely something compelling about the experience, however. The M1 couples a gentle, almost silky-smooth key action with a crisp bottoming-out. In other words, your finger meets very little resistance as it pushes down, but the keyboard isn't afraid to make a clacking sound and send a jolt through your finger when the key has gone as far as it can go.

I've seen some folks criticize the notion of purposefully bottoming out keys while typing, since it implies pushing harder than needed, but the M1's very subtle tactile feedback makes that hard to avoid. It's definitely not like the Model M, where you're free to stop and move on to the next key after you've heard the trademark click. Here, you'll find yourself going all the way. I'm not sure it involves any extra effort, though, since the travel distance and the keys themselves are both relatively short.

I can see why ABS markets this as a gaming keyboard, too. The smooth, non-clicky action makes it less awkward for your fingers to dance rapidly across the W, A, S, and D keys in a simulated firefight, while the tight enclosure leaves plenty of room for a gaming mouse on the side, and the wired design keeps latency nice and low.

ABS also claims the M1 can register six simultaneous key presses, but I haven't been able to reproduce that consistently. Holding down "QWEASD" or "ASDFG" produces no output, although the device is happy enough with "ASDJKL." (For what it's worth, the Das Keyboard cheerfully registered as many keys as my fingers could hold down on the home row.) If you're wondering about those bad Newegg reviews where users say the M1 doesn't let them hit simple key combinations like "CTRL-S," I haven't run into any such problems. In my experience, the M1's key rollover is more or less average.

Before I share my verdict, enjoy a video of me typing on the M1. I shot similar clips for the Das Keyboard and Model M, which interested—or merely bored—readers can find in my Das Keyboard Professional review:

The M1 is clearly fairly loud despite the non-clicky key switch design. My digital camera doesn't capture it, but this keyboard also produces a faint, wind-chime-like ringing sound very much like the Model M's after some keystrokes. I assume that sound is caused by the springs inside each key switch resonating and possibly interacting with the (likely metallic) back plate. Regardless, the M1 is definitely not the quietest keyboard in the world, but it's a little quieter than IBM's 1980s behemoth, and I still find its clacking sounds satisfying.

While we're on the subject of noise, the M1's space bar began squeaking intermittently after a few days of use. A quick spray of silicone lubricant did away with that, but actually removing the space bar required a little too much force for my taste. That goes for the other key caps, too. Don't expect to be able to pop these off quickly whenever you feel like cleaning the keyboard.