Azio’s luxurious Retro Classic BT is a fusion of old and new

For day-to-day computing – your spreadsheets, your email chains, Googling stuff like “who holds the record for most grilled cheese sandwiches eaten in…” – you’re probably not too fussy about what keyboard you use. But when it comes to penning your memoirs – glasses right on the tip of your nose, the room presumably soaked with cigarette smoke – you need something with a bit of grandeur. Enter Azio’s Retro Classic. First introduced in 2017, it’s a backlit, mechanical QWERTY keyboard that looks and sounds like a vintage typewriter you might imagine in a steampunk novel. The ‘Artisan’ variant (pictured) features a Zinc alloy frame and genuine leather surface, but you can also opt for three similarly plush alternative designs. Old-school as the Retro Classic undoubtedly is, Azio knows it’ll be used by the cable-hating gadget fiends of 2018, so for $219.99 you can now get a Bluetooth version. Hemingway never had that.

Matt Tate Contributor

About

I'm fascinated by all things tech, but if you were going to leave me on a desert island, I'd probably ask for my Nintendo Switch, a drone, and a pair of noise-cancelling cans to block out the relentless seagull racket. When I'm not on Stuff duty you'll probably find me subscribing to too many podcasts, playing too many video games, or telling anyone who will listen that Spurs are going to win a trophy this season.

Areas of expertise

Video games, VR, smartwatches, headphones, smart speakers, bizarre Kickstarter campaigns