Mode claims its upcoming Encore keyboard refresh 'delivers our most satisfying typing experience to date' and has a neat new mounting system to boot

Introducing the 2026 Encore and Sonnet Keyboards - YouTube

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Mode, a high-end keyboard maker that allows you to customise caps, add a stabiliser, swap switches, plate material, PCB type, and more at checkout, has just announced a refresh to its Encore keyboard. Made in collaboration with YouTuber and creator Matthew Encina, the 2026 Encore has a neat new crown mounting system and some lovely design features.

The mounting system is a series of screws you place on the plating before the switches go on. They look lush in gold, and though we've only got a few seconds of footage so far, Mode says it "delivers our most satisfying typing experience to date."

The Encore is a gorgeous looking 65% keyboard with a split wood top plate. The 2026 refresh will be available in five colours (Black Sesame, Matcha Cream, Studio Light, Mocha Mushroom, and Monterey Dune).

We don't yet have the pricing of the 2026 Encore, but the Encore 3 isn't cheap. Removing switches, caps, PCB, and top plate, you're still looking at a fee of $269. With the cheapest version of every component above (minus a stabiliser), the Encore 3 will run you $431 right now, not including shipping.

That price does seem to reflect the quality, though. They look great, and from the short snippet of the 2026 Encore in Mode's latest video, sound great too. Mode says its PCB, mounting system, and keycaps work "in sequence to reduce and isolate vibration transfer for clean typing sounds."

This is all to say it should sound lovely.

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The new mounting gasket system will not be present in the Mode Sonnet refresh that is also coming this year, but it will be in the Prologue, which is a 98% layout keyboard that the company has been teasing.

Prologue and the broader range of keyboards this year are pretty big for Mode. Encina says the company was quiet last year as it was "deeply focused on research and development" and it has been "reshaping Mode, the brand, the product, and how we operate."

Here's hoping the price of the new Encore is a good enough value to get on my Christmas wishlist next year, or the Prologue is impressive enough to justify the cost anyway.

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