YUNZII C98 Cake Meow Review – A Keyboard That Is Almost Too Cute to Resist

There are gaming keyboards, there are mechanical keyboards, and then there is the YUNZII C98 Cake Meow Wireless Mechanical Keyboard.

This is a keyboard that certainly isn’t trying to blend into the background. From the moment you take it out of the box, the Cake Meow design makes one thing very clear: this isn’t aimed at someone looking for another boring black gaming keyboard covered in aggressive RGB lighting.

Instead, YUNZII has created something colourful, cute and genuinely different.

I’ve spent time using the YUNZII C98 Cake Meow with a mixture of everyday use and gaming, including Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, Grim Dawn, Reanimal and The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, and while I have some reservations about who this keyboard is really aimed at, there is no denying that it is a very interesting piece of hardware.

A Keyboard That Looks Like a Cake

Let’s get the obvious thing out of the way first.

The YUNZII C98 Cake Meow looks like a cake.

And I mean that in the best possible way.

The colour scheme, keycaps and cat-inspired design make this one of the most distinctive keyboards I’ve had sitting on my desk. The design isn’t something you can really mistake for anything else, and that’s a big part of its appeal.

YUNZII C98 Cake Meow Wireless Mechanical Keyboard

The YUNZII C98 Cake Meow uses a 96% layout with 99 keys, so despite the compact appearance, you still get a dedicated number pad. It manages to retain much of the functionality you would expect from a larger keyboard without taking up quite as much space.

But let’s be honest: you’re not buying this keyboard because you desperately need a 96% layout.

You’re buying it because it looks fantastic.

And that’s perfectly fine.

The Design Won Me Over

I’m generally more accustomed to gaming keyboards that look like they belong in a spaceship cockpit.

The YUNZII C98 Cake Meow is the complete opposite.

It’s playful, colourful and has a personality of its own. The cake-and-cat theme runs throughout the keyboard, and YUNZII has clearly put considerable thought into making the whole thing feel like a product rather than simply putting some colourful keycaps on a standard mechanical keyboard.

It’s also surprisingly substantial. At around 1.33kg, this isn’t a keyboard that is going to be sliding all over your desk every time you get a little enthusiastic during a game.

And that’s something I appreciate.

The RGB Lighting Looks Great

RGB lighting is practically expected on gaming keyboards these days, but the YUNZII C98 Cake Meow does something a little different with it.

There are plenty of lighting effects to play around with, and the combination of the key lighting and the additional side lighting gives the keyboard plenty of character, particularly when using it in a darker room.

The lighting effects themselves look great.

However, I did notice something that slightly disappointed me.

The lighting appears to become less intense as you get towards the edges of the keyboard. It’s not a massive problem and certainly doesn’t ruin the overall appearance, but the lighting isn’t quite as evenly illuminated across the entire keyboard as I would have liked.

It’s a small criticism, but when lighting is such a major part of the keyboard’s visual appeal, it’s something worth mentioning.

Wireless Connectivity Is Excellent

One of the areas where the YUNZII C98 Cake Meow really impresses me is connectivity.

The keyboard supports 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth 5.0 and USB-C wired connectivity, giving you plenty of options depending on what you’re using it with. YUNZII also says the keyboard can connect to up to five devices.

For me, this is exactly what I want from a modern keyboard.

Sometimes I want wireless.

Sometimes I want a wired connection.

And sometimes I want to connect it to another device without having to mess around with cables.

The YUNZII C98 Cake Meow gives you those options.

The 10,000mAh battery is another nice touch, too. YUNZII has clearly designed this to be used as a proper wireless keyboard rather than something where you’re constantly worrying about reaching for the charging cable.

What Is It Like to Game With?

This is where I wanted to see whether all the cuteness actually translated into a keyboard that could be used seriously for gaming.

The answer is yes.

I tested the keyboard with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, Grim Dawn, Reanimal and The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Frontier.

Across these games, the keyboard performed exactly as I would expect from a decent mechanical gaming keyboard.

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced was a particularly good test for general movement and combat.

The YUNZII C98 Cake Meow‘s layout gives you plenty of room for the usual movement controls while keeping the number pad available when you’re not gaming.

The keyboard doesn’t feel like it’s designed purely for office work either. The keys are responsive and the mechanical switches provide a satisfying feel when playing.

Grim Dawn

With Grim Dawn, the keyboard’s layout makes plenty of sense.

There’s a reasonable amount of keyboard interaction involved, particularly when managing abilities, movement and inventory, and having a full-ish layout with a number pad is useful.

The YUNZII C98 Cake Meow handled this without any issues.

Reanimal

Reanimal provided a different type of experience.

Rather than testing the keyboard through constant frantic inputs, this gave me more opportunity to appreciate the general feel of the keys.

And this is probably where the YUNZII C98 Cake Meow makes the most sense to me.

It’s a keyboard that’s enjoyable to use.

It doesn’t feel overly aggressive or excessively gamer-focused. Instead, it is comfortable to sit at and use for extended periods.

The Adventures of Elliot

Finally, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales was another good example of where the keyboard’s design works well. As the game is also overly brights, pixel art and stunning, you could also say rather cute.

The responsive mechanical keys make movement and interaction feel natural, while the overall layout doesn’t get in the way in enjoying the game.

It’s not a specialist competitive gaming keyboard, and I don’t think it is trying to be one, or needs to be one.

Instead, it’s a very capable all-rounder that happens to look like a cake.

The Software Is Fine – But You Don’t Really Need It

The YUNZII C98 Cake Meow comes with software support for customisation, including lighting and key assignments. YUNZII provides web-based customisation alongside Windows software support.

I’ve used the software, and honestly?

It’s okay.

There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, but I also wouldn’t say it’s a reason to buy the keyboard.

The good news is that you don’t really need to spend your life inside the software.

The keyboard works perfectly well without constantly having an application running in the background, and that’s something I actually prefer.

The Big Question – Who Is This Keyboard For?

This is where my personal opinion becomes a little more controversial.

I don’t think the YUNZII C98 Cake Meow is going to appeal to everyone.

In fact, I think it’s probably one of those keyboards where you will either absolutely love the design or look at it and think, “Nope.”

And that’s okay.

Personally, I think this keyboard is going to have a particularly strong appeal to younger users.

My seven-year-old son absolutely loves it.

In fact, after seeing and using it, he wanted it for himself.

That probably tells you quite a lot about who I think this keyboard is aimed at.

I’d expect it to appeal particularly strongly to children and younger gamers, as well as people who simply love cute and colourful technology. I can also see it being particularly popular with people who want something more playful and expressive than the usual gaming keyboard.

That doesn’t mean men can’t enjoy it, of course.

I’m using it myself.

But if you’re the sort of person who wants a big black keyboard with sharp edges and RGB that makes your desk look like a nuclear reactor, this probably isn’t going to be your first choice.

And that’s precisely why I like it.

Is the C98 Actually Good?

Yes.

Strip away the cake, cats, colours and cuteness and you’re left with a very capable mechanical keyboard.

The YUNZII C98 Cake Meow has a gasket-mounted construction, hot-swappable PCB supporting 3-pin and 5-pin switches, PBT keycaps, NKRO and tri-mode connectivity.

Those are features that make it more than just a novelty keyboard.

You could quite easily buy this because you love the design and then discover that you’ve actually bought a very competent mechanical keyboard.

That’s probably the biggest compliment I can give it.

What I Don’t Like

It isn’t perfect.

The first issue for me is the lighting. While the RGB effects themselves are excellent, I would have liked the illumination to remain more consistent towards the edges.

The software is also merely okay. It does what it needs to do, but it isn’t something that particularly impressed me.

And then there is the design.

Yes, I’m putting the design in the negative section as well as the positive section.

Why?

Because the design is going to be incredibly subjective.

I absolutely understand why someone might look at this keyboard and think it is fantastic.

I can also understand why someone might think it is far too cute.

That’s not really a fault with YUNZII, though. It’s simply the nature of making something with such a distinctive aesthetic.

Final Thoughts

The YUNZII C98 Cake Meow Wireless Mechanical Keyboard is one of those products that is difficult to review without talking about its personality.

It is cute.

It is colourful.

It is different.

But thankfully, it isn’t relying solely on its appearance.

Underneath that cake-themed exterior is a capable mechanical keyboard with tri-mode wireless connectivity, a huge 10,000mAh battery, hot-swappable switches, RGB lighting and a gasket-mounted design.

I’ve enjoyed using it across Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, Grim Dawn, Reanimal and The Adventures of Elliot, and it has proven itself perfectly capable as a gaming keyboard.

Would I recommend it to every gamer?

No.

Would I recommend it to someone who wants something different from the sea of black gaming keyboards?

Absolutely.

And judging by my seven-year-old son’s reaction, I think YUNZII might have accidentally created the perfect keyboard for a younger generation of gamers.

For me, the YUNZII C98 Cake Meow is a reminder that gaming hardware doesn’t always have to look serious.

Sometimes, your keyboard can just look like a cake with a cat on it.

And honestly, why not?

First look video fo the YUNZII C98 Cake Meow Wireless Keyboard

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The product was provided to us for the express purpose of reviewing.

Written by myself then edited and formed by my partner..