Angry Miao’s wild keyboard and headphone designs - The Verge
From boutique mechanical keyboards to a new pair of true wireless earbuds: Angry Miao is a tiny company marching to its own beat, simultaneously cool and cringey. Here’s a glimpse at some of its arthouse designs, like the Am Hatsu and new Cyberblade buds.
What does a $2,000 flex in mechanical keyboard form look like? Or a pair of wireless earbuds ripped from a video game’s post-apocalyptic future? What kind of zaniness does a boutique microbrand get up to when it has the freedom to charge premium prices for arthouse-level tech projects?
Tucked away in the recesses of mechanical keyboard fandom and a loyal Discord server is Angry Miao — the Zhuhai, China-based company originally founded in 2019 as a small-batch keyboard company and which now says it’s building a “Future Art Community” with serious VC money and feedback from its fans. But the campy slogan isn’t what catches our imagination here — it’s the provocative designs with eye-watering pricetags to match.
I got to try out one of Angry Miao’s keyboards and its upcoming Horizon Zero Dawn-inspired wireless earbuds, and I’m ready to take you on an emotional roller coaster of intriguing design combined with a slight airy musk of edgelord cringe.
Angry Miao’s efforts are simultaneously illogical, admirable, gut-wrenchingly try-hard, and kind of endearing. The 67-person company primarily makes mechanical keyboards, yes, but you’d be forgiven for thinking it lost the plot a bit after that. Angry Miao also makes a massive wireless charging mat for both its keyboards. And its own funky-looking USB-C charger. And its own wireless charging adapter for Logitech’s Powerplay-compatible mice. And NFT trading cards.
And now, after all that, it’s singling out Apple’s AirPods Pro as the thing to beat with a new set of noise-canceling earbuds, too — even though Angry Miao’s products are often released in limited-edition drops of as few as 100 units at a time.
Rating: 5