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Head to head · Prices checked Oct 28, 2026

Unity Community vs Royal Kludge S98 ES

Get the Unity Community for qmk. Get the Royal Kludge S98 ES for hot-swappable.

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Quick verdict

Which one should you get?

Get the

Unity Community

QMK

Build quality in the bottom 50% of 40% boards under $200.

Rules this board out

  • Switches are soldered. Swapping them means soldering.
  • Compact layout only. No function row, dedicated arrow keys, or numpad.
$180 at Apos

Get the

Royal Kludge S98 ES

Hot-swappable

Build quality in the top 45% of 96% boards under $150.

Rules this board out

  • Compact full-size layout. The numpad is present, the gaps of a full-size board are not.
$109 at Royal Kludge

What actually differs

The differences that matter

Skip the 40-row spec sheet. These are the specs that change how each board feels, sounds, and fits your desk.

Unity Community

Royal Kludge S98 ES

  • Layout size

    40%

    96%

  • Hot-swappable

    No

    Yes

    Switch changes without soldering

  • Ergonomics

    Split Spacebar

    Standard

  • Display

    None

    LCD

    A case display rather than a typing feature

  • QMK

    Yes

    No

    The deep option when you want to remap every key

KeebFinder scores

How we score
  • Unity Community
  • Royal Kludge S98 ES
Performance
57
78
Build quality
72
70
Productivity
50
91
Customizability
74
79
Portability
63
56

What they share

  • Knob
See every spec side by side

Full specs

Unity Community vs Royal Kludge S98 ES specs

Every tracked spec, side by side. Rows marked with a dot differ between the boards.

14 of 23 specs differ

Unity Community

Royal Kludge S98 ES

Typing & switches

Hot-swappable

No
Yes

Mount style

—
Top Mount

Sound dampening

No
Yes

Screw-in stabilizers

No
Yes

Layout

Layout size

40%
96%

Layout standard

ANSI
ANSI

Ergonomics

Split Spacebar
Standard

Knob

Yes
Yes

Display

None
LCD

Connectivity & battery

Connection

—
Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz, Wired

Battery

—
3,750 mAh

USB passthrough

No
Yes

USB-C

No
Yes

Build & materials

Case material

Aluminum
—

Keycaps

PBT
ABS

Weight

—
1,879 g

Dimensions

—
42 x 409 x 140 mm

Backlight

RGB
RGB

Firmware & software

QMK

Yes
No

VIA

Yes
No

N-key rollover

No
Yes

Mac & Windows

No
Yes

Extras

Released

2024
2025

Where to buy

Compare prices

Live prices from the stores we track, cheapest in-stock offer first.

Prices in USD are converted to your currency and can change at any time. KeebFinder may earn a commission when you buy through these links, at no extra cost to you.

Unity Community2 stores
Royal Kludge S98 ES2 stores

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