The Seal PBT keycaps offered great colour scheme if you wanted a grey set of keycap set. However, there were issues with the quality of legends. Kinetic Labs quickly made an effort to fix it by using a different mold. The new Seal PBT has a V2 moniker to it, and it still retails for US$64.99.
Tech specs
| Manufacturer | PolyCaps |
| Material | PBT |
| PBT feel | Slightly textured |
| Legends | Double-shot |
| Profile | Cherry |
| Compatibility | Compatible with conventional ANSI layouts, including 100%, 75%, 65%, 60%, as well as Alice layouts. See the layout image below for a complete view of the layout. These are Cherry profile, so they may cause interference with north-facing switches. |
Unboxing
Kinetic Labs Seal PBT V2 keycaps uses the same design for its art-styled box. In the box, you’ll find 3 trays of keycaps and a keycap puller.
Keyboard layout support
Like the Code and Whale, there is only one kit option for Seal PBT V2. There are a total of 147 keycaps, and the kitting is mainly geared towards ANSI layouts.
Keycaps quality
As aforementioned, Kinetic Labs reverted to a more reliable mold for its Seal PBT V2. And these molds are the same as the ones used on Whale PBT and Code PBT. You can tell as they share the same kitting and have text-based modifiers.
Using these molds has both its benefits and shortcomings. Let’s talk benefits first. It solved legend issue as the the legends on the Seal PBT V2 are double-shot (vs dye-sub on V1) which produces crisp lettering that have consistent font sizing throughout. On the other hand, since the kitting of the Seal PBT V2 is not as comprehensive as the earlier V1 as it drops ISO support and base colours for the Esc and Enter keys.
When comparing the V1 to the Seal PBT V2, the V1 has a rougher texture and has larger font size. The texture of the Seal PBT V2 is on the smooth side, very similar to that of Code PBT. The V1 seem to have denser plastic compared to Seal PBT V2, but this is purely based on typing feel.
As for colours, the overall look is more or less the same for both. You’ll need to put them side by side to tell the difference. But if you want a quick run-down, here we go: (1) the alphas on the Seal PBT V2 looks a slightly cooler than the V2, (2) the modifiers on Seal PBT V2 has a slightly darker grey, and (3) the white accent keys of Esc and Enter on Seal PBT V2 are more white [ie. cooler] compared to V1 which is a little closer to off-white.
Colourway & mounted on keyboards
Like the V1, the Seal PBT V2 is really a keycap set that matches almost any keyboard colour. Personally, I find grey keycaps to match the best with either a white or black keyboard. In the V1 review, I photographed the Seal PBT with a white Mr. Suit, so for the Seal PBT V2 I’ll go with a black Qwertykeys QK65.
The Seal PBT V2 blend very naturally from light grey alphas in the middle to dark grey modifiers around the corners to end it off with the black QK65 case. Below are more photos of the Seal PBT V2 on the QK65:
Where to buy
If you find that the changes are something you were looking for then go ahead and get them from Kinetic Labs. Seal PBT V2 retails for US$64.99 which is quite affordable as long as you’re running a non-ergo ANSI keyboard layout. Shipping out of US on their site is typically expensive, so if you’re not in the US, you can try using freight forwarding services such as EzShip to reduce the shipping cost.