I realize I'm probably in the minority, but I love full-size keyboards because I love 10-key numberpads. For data entry and for everything else (let's face it, I don't do much data entry). Since I often have to test keyboards that aren't full-size, I'm always on the look out for a great standalone numberpad — but the options usually consist of $15 (and under) bargain bin finds or difficult-to-justify $100+ premium picks.

Turtle Beach's Command Series KP7 isn't exactly in the middle — it retails for $99.99, after all — but it's an interesting option nonetheless. This 28-key modular gaming keypad is part of the brand's recently-launched Command Series, which consists of several modular, multi-input peripherals (two keyboards, three mice, and this keypad). It's designed to work with the series' flagship Turtle Beach Command Series KB7 keyboard, which is a premium TKL keyboard with a built-in touchscreen. The KP7 hooks onto either side of the KB7, turning it into a full-size keyboard with a numberpad and a bunch of extra macro keys. The KB7 retails for $199.99, so the full set is just shy of $300. But the KP7 is interesting because it works very well on its own — in fact, it might even perform better as a standalone keypad than it does with the KB7 it's designed to complement.

The KP7 is a modular gaming keypad with 28 keys, one clickable, programmable dial, and one (non-programmable) button for switching between numberpad mode and game mode. It can hook onto the right side of the KB7 to function as a typical numberpad, or it can hook onto the left side to function as a gaming keypad — complete with an extendable thumb bar. It features magnetic Hall Effect linear switch, bright per-key RGB backlighting, and its own mini wrist rest. It's available now, as a separate purchase from the KB7, for $99.99.

Design of the KP7

The KP7 is a standalone macropad that consists of a 10-key numberpad surrounded by a bunch of other keys. At the top, there are three additional Fn keys, as well as a profile switch key — it seems Turtle Beach is really trying to push multiple profiles, because if you use this with the KB7 keyboard, this marks the fourth dedicated way to switch profiles. On the right of the numberpad are two columns of keys: The first column consists of the math function keys that usually surround a numberpad, and the second column has four dedicated macro keys.

In the bottom right corner there's a programmable knob and an additional thumb button, which is set up by default as a space key. In the upper right corner there's a small button that switches between numberpad mode and game mode — game mode turns the center keys into W / A / S / D (and changes the surrounding keys to the corresponding keys on the left half of the keyboard. It essentially becomes a gaming half-keyboard, sort of like Nordic Game Supply's The Shrimp.

For the times you're using it in gaming mode, the KP7's lower right cluster of keys, including the dial, extend down and right so you can use them with your thumb while you've got your left hand on the center keys. The wrist rest is even cut out to accommodate the keys when extended, which is a nice touch.

The KP7 is well-built for a standalone numberpad — it follows the same design philosophy as Turtle Beach's KB7, with a brushed aluminum top plate and a plastic chassis. It has low-profile linear switches, flat, double-shot PBT keycaps with shine-through legends, and bright, customizable RGB backlighting that extends to its silicon wrist rest, which is like a mini version of the wrist rest that comes with the KB7 (and, previously, the Roccat Vulcan II Max). The wrist rest slots into the bottom of the numberpad and is made of misty, translucent silicon with a grooved pattern that acts as a conduit for the lighting in the keypad. The wrist rest only attaches on one side of the keypad, so the lighting effect isn't quite as bright or mesmerizing as is the lighting effect on the keyboard, but it's still pretty and comfortable.

The KP7 has connectors on both sides that are designed to slot into the rails on either side of the Turtle Beach KB7 keyboard. The keypad gets its power from the keyboard when it's connected, so you shouldn't have to plug it in separately via USB-C, which is for when you want to use the keypad alone. However, I found that the keypad's lighting seemed to be inconsistent when it was powered through the keyboard — it flickered and reset itself several times throughout my testing, but this did resolve itself when I plugged it in via its own USB port. Of course, plugging it in via USB port means the KB7 and KP7 keyboard combo takes up either one USB-C and one USB-A port or three USB-A ports, which is a lot for what is essentially a single full-size keyboard.

In the box, the KP7 comes with a 5.9-foot (1.8m) detachable braided USB-C to USB-A cable, a silicon wrist rest, and four glossy, textured keys keys (to replace the center W / A / S / D keys, for quicker tactile recognition), and a keycap puller. The back of the keypad has two sets of flip-out feet that raise the typing angle from flat to 5 - 7 degrees. These match the KB7, so you can raise and lower the entire setup as a single unit.

Specs

Performance of the KP7

It's hard to judge a keypad's performance on its own, but the KP7 has enough keys that it can function as a single-handed "controller." It features the same linear magnetic Hall Effect switches as we saw in the KB7, with the same functionality — individually adjustable actuation point (between 0.1 and 3.2mm), Rapid Trigger, multi-input, and ReacTap (SOCD). It also sports an 8,000 Hz polling rate, so I guess if you're playing a game that only requires the left half of your keyboard, this might be one way to get the ultra-low latency and speed of an 8,000 Hz magnetic switch keyboard without having to buy the whole keyboard (though it does cost exactly half of what the KB7 costs, and I don't think it's quite half the size).

The low-profile switches and flat keycaps make for pretty speedy input, and while the layout is slightly different from standard numberpad layouts, it's not too bad — in numberpad mode, the first column to the right of the numbers has five keys, but the bottom two keys are both Enter and the two keys above that are both + (normally, the Enter and + keys are vertical 2U keys). It's not quite the same, but it worked well enough for me for data input and other numberpad tasks.

The switches themselves are pre-lubed linear switches with a smooth, consistent keypress and no tactile or audible bump. Typing on the KP7 (well, for as much typing as you can do) is a surprisingly pleasant experience — it's not going to wow any hardcore keyboard enthusiasts, but the linear switches, slim, flat keycaps, and speedy, lightweight Hall Effect actuation is a great combo for extra gaming keys. And, as the KP7 is entirely tactile, it's much easier to integrate into your work (or game) flow. The extendable thumb bar (which just pulls away from the keyboard in a diagonal / downward direction) is also comfortable when you're using the KP7 as a gamepad. The keys on the thumb bar are well-placed, but I did find the knob difficult to turn without hitting other keys, as it's flush with the keys around it.

Software

The KP7 is programmable via Turtle Beach's Swarm II software, which originally belonged to Roccat. It's designed to work in tandem with the KB7 keyboard, but you can still program it fully without having to depend on the keyboard at all. You can use Swarm II to change the keypad's actuation, toggle on and adjust Rapid Trigger and ReacTap, and set up multi-input. You can also use it to remap keys up to four layers deep (Fn, Game Mode, and Easy Shift).

You can customize the KP7's bright, per-key RGB lighting in the software. This works pretty well when you're just customizing the KP7 alone, but I had issues getting the keypad to light up seamlessly alongside the KB7 (they were often out of sync, and/or the KP7 seemed to go into hibernation immediately and often when it was connected to the KB7 — even if it was being powered separately via its own USB-C port.

The Bottom Line

The KP7 is an interesting product — it's designed to work with the KB7, but I actually like it better as a standalone keypad. Partly because it works better as a standalone keypad — it was very finicky in my tests when it was connected to the KB7, regardless of whether it was powered separately or through the keyboard. This is probably because of the software, which, while fairly straightforward for the KP7, still wasn't great. For example, I was prompted to update the KP7's firmware everytime I connected it to the KB7 — but not when I used it as a standalone keypad.

The KP7 isn't the only standalone numberpad-slash-gaming-keypad out there, but it's the only one I've seen that manages to switch between the two modes pretty seamlessly. We tested Nordic Game Supply's The Shrimp mini-keyboard a few years ago, but that was definitely designed as a gaming keypad first and a numberpad... not at all. At $99.99, the KP7 isn't cheap, but it's versatile enough that you can definitely make it worth it.

I test a lot of keyboards, but that doesn't mean I'm always using a brand-new keyboard. I do make a point to type every keyboard review on the keyboard I'm testing, but I usually stop using the keyboard once I've finished the review. I'm a writer and a gamer, so I'm very particular when it comes to the keyboard I use every day — and it's usually difficult for me to find one keyboard that satisfies both my writing side and my gaming side. But there are a few keyboards I keep coming back to for one reason or another.

First things first: while I test a lot of keyboards, any full-size keyboard (one with a 10-key numberpad, that is), is probably going to get a second look from me. I'm the kind of person who really needs a 10-key numberpad, a full function row, and, ideally, a higher-than-average number of dedicated macro keys. While I don't personally need a volume knob — I usually map volume control to two of my mouse's 19 buttons — I won't say no to a rotary knob (or two). So this is, to some extent, informed by my preferences and isn't just a purely objective list of the best keyboards we've tested (this is a more objective list of the best keyboards we've tested), but don't worry — it's not all full-size keyboards.

My current daily driver technically isn't a full-size keyboard, but functionally it... sort of is. It's the Corsair Galleon 100 SD, which I've been using pretty consistently since I reviewed it back in February. It's technically a TKL layout — full function row, navigation cluster, and arrow keys, but no numberpad — but it has a built-in Stream Deck with two rotary knobs, 12 customizable LCD keys, and a full-color screen (non-touch). I thought I needed a numberpad, but what I really needed was... well, a bunch of extra keys next to the keyboard that basically make up a numberpad, I guess.

But the built-in Stream Deck isn't the main reason I've been using this keyboard so consistently — it's the keyboard itself. This is a great-feeling and -sounding keyboard — it comes with Corsair's MLX purple switches (linear), which are pre-lubed and have an actuation force of 45g. I don't usually like linear switches, but these are smooth, stable, and lightweight, and they have a nice thocky sound when they bottom out, which is unusual for linear switches. The keyboard's PCB is hot-swappable, but I haven't bothered switching these out because I genuinely enjoy typing on them. The keycaps are double-shot PBT, but I've noticed the alphanumeric keys are starting to get a very minor shine after three months of consistent use. And I like that they're lower profile (close to Cherry profile).

Of course, the built-in Stream Deck is definitely part of what keeps this keyboard on my desk. I still use the 12 LCD keys as a numberpad much of the time, because I use an external free cam software in several of the games I play, and its controls are set up by default to work with a numberpad. But for when I'm not using the free cam software, I've programmed in a couple pages' worth of other shortcuts (though one page is just various special characters/symbols I usually insert with Alt codes — so, technically still numberpad functionality). I'm still not fully convinced that a built-in Stream Deck trumps a numberpad, but I like the Galleon 100 SD's keyboard enough that I'm willing to work with it.

Full-size gaming keyboards are sort of hard to come by — prior to the Galleon 100 SD, I was (reluctantly) using the full-size Glorious GMMK 3 as my "numberpad keyboard," alongside the Wobkey Crush 80 Reboot Pro as my "typing keyboard." While the GMMK 3 is beautiful and super solidly built (my iteration was a custom-built wireless full-size version with a full aluminum case and magnetic tactile switches), its typing experience leaves something to be desired. Enough "something" that I switched it out for the Crush 80 Reboot Pro if I knew I was going to be just typing for a while. Occasionally, I also switched it out with the Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro, which is a full-size wireless low profile keyboard with optical switches (it comes with both linear and clicky switch options; I like the clicky switch version), just because it was easier to quickly switch between the DeathStalker V2 Pro and the Crush 80 Reboot Pro — the GMMK 3 is not only one of the heaviest keyboards I own, the way its base flares outward makes it very difficult to pick up.

As for why I swapped in the Crush 80 Reboot Pro, well, that's pretty simple: It's one of the best feeling and sounding keyboards I've used, and it's just so enjoyable to type on. It's a wireless TKL keyboard, which means it has a full function row, arrow keys, and navigation cluster but no 10-key numberpad (and no built-in Stream Deck or any extra macro keys to make up for that), but I tend to use it in wired mode because the wireless switch is located under the Caps Lock key. It comes with Kailh Cocoa switches, which are factory-lubed linear switches with an operating force of 45g and a bottom-out force of 55g, and these sound incredible — crisp, creamy, and very satisfying when they hit the board's gasket-mounted flex-cut FR4 switch plate. The board has excellent acoustics overall, thanks to additional Poron case foam and extra PCB film for consistency. However, the board isn't really set up for gaming, as it only gets a 500 Hz polling rate over its wired connections (and only 250 Hz over its wireless connection).

Another keyboard I still sometimes switch in as a daily driver between testing is the Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless, which has been at the top of our list of best wireless gaming keyboards for a while now. I don't love 96-percent keyboards because I can't quite get used to the layout, but it is significantly more compact than full-size keyboards and sometimes I do actually need my desk space back. For comparison, the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless is 14.84 inches (377mm) wide, while the Galleon 100 SD is 17.64 inches (448mm) wide and the GMMK 3 is 18.2 inches (462mm) wide. The DeathStalker V2 Pro is 17.2 inches (437mm) wide, while the Crush 80 Reboot Pro is 14 inches (355mm) wide. That's right — the Strix Scope II 96 Wireless is less than an inch wider than the Crush 80 Reboot Pro, which is a true TKL keyboard.

If I ignore its 96-percent layout, the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless is almost perfect — it's compact and lightweight, but it still sounds fantastic thanks to its case, which is plastic (with an aluminum alloy top plate) but is stuffed with case-dampening foam. It comes with Asus' ROG NX Snow switches, which are linear, pre-lubed, and have an actuation force of 45g, but I've since switched these out for other switches (Kailh White Owl Box switches — clicky and tactile). While the NX Snows do have that "refined linear" feel that Asus keeps boasting about, I'm not a big on linear switches to begin with — Corsair's Galleon 100 SD and Wobkey's Crush 80 Reboot Pro are exceptions.

The Asus ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless, which launched barely two months ago, is sort of the successor to the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless — sort of. It's also a wireless 96-percent hot-swappable gaming keyboard with a gasket mount design, and it also sounds and feels pretty good, but it doesn't offer much if you're already using the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless. It comes with Asus NX V2 switches (we tested the linear Snow V2 switches), but that's the only real "upgrade" — and since I've already swapped out the switches in the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless, this didn't seem worth the switch.

It might seem like I'm just jumping on every full-size or nearly full-size gaming keyboard that comes across my desk, but that's definitely not true. I recently looked at Keychron's new Q6 Ultra 8K, which is a pretty impressive board on paper: full aluminum case, 8,000 Hz polling rate, and up to 660 hours of battery life over said 8,000 Hz polling rate. It comes with Keychron's Silk POM switches in three flavors (Red/linear, Brown/tactile, or Banana/tactile), and we tested the Brown tactile switches, which are pre-lubed, with an operating force of 55g and a soft tactile bump. I fully expected to love this keyboard, but I just could not get into the typing experience. I think it was a mix of the switches — I'm very particular about tactile switches, it turns out, and Keychron's Silk POM Brown switches were slightly too heavy with not enough feedback for me — and the keycaps. The keycaps, which are double-shot PBT in a KSA profile, are just so, so high for how deeply curved their tops are. They were uncomfortable from the start, and they didn't get more comfortable with use — and combined with the heavier actuation and unsatisfying tactility of the switches, it was just an awful overall typing experience for me.

While it's true that both the keycaps and the switches in this keyboard can be swapped out pretty easily, the other features didn't really stand out enough for me to make that effort. The keyboard's 660-hour battery life over an 8,000 Hz polling rate is very impressive, but I don't really need a wireless full-size keyboard like this — it measures 17.56 inches (446mm) wide and weighs nearly 5 pounds (4.93lbs / 2,238g); it's not going further from my desk than any cable can stretch.

Cherry's gaming branch, Cherry XTRFY, introduced the first 8K ultra-wideband gaming keyboard at Computex 2026 earlier today. The new K63W Pro features a 70-percent layout, gasket mount construction, and low-profile switches for a slim, compact, gaming powerhouse with ultra-low latency and high throughput. The keyboard will debut in the EU in early July for €179.99 and will launch in the U.S. in August at $169.99.

It's not the first 8K gaming keyboard, but it is the first with ultra-wideband technology — a short-range, high-frequency wireless technology that's less prone to signal interference than 2.4GHz wireless. This means the keyboard will have a more stable high-speed connection that won't mess with (or be messed with by) other wireless peripherals, such as wireless gaming mice or headsets. The keyboard gets true 8,000 Hz polling over both its wired and wireless connections, which is still probably overkill for most users but means it should (in theory) be the fastest, most responsive gaming keyboard on the market when it launches.

“With the K63W Pro, we wanted to evolve wireless gaming even further. Ultra-Wideband technology and 8K polling deliver extreme performance, while the carefully tuned gasket construction creates a typing feel you would never expect from a low-profile keyboard. The result is a keyboard built for both competitive gaming and hours of daily typing,” Joakim Jansson, Director of Product Management at Cherry, said in a press release.

Design-wise, the K63W Pro is a 70-percent keyboard — meaning it keeps the full function row and arrow keys, but drops the single-key navigation row you see on the more typical 75-percent layout. Cherry says this new layout is "optimized for gaming, keeping the F-row while reducing side bulk to maximize space for mouse movement." In addition to a modified layout, the keyboard is also low-profile — featuring Cherry's MX Low Profile 2.0 switches in a gasket mount design, which creates a typing experience that "feels controlled, cushioned, and surprisingly deep for its size" (according to Cherry).

The keyboard also has a 6,000 mAh battery that delivers up to 1,100 hours of usage, "depending on settings such as polling rate and RGB intensity." We'll assume this means that it won't get 1,100 hours over an 8,000 Hz polling rate, but who knows — Keychron's ZMK-based Q Ultra series gets up to 660 hours of battery life over 8,000 Hz polling rates, so maybe the K63W Pro will surprise us.

The Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro will launch in the EU in July and will hit shelves in the U.S. in August, with retail prices of €179.99 and $169.99, respectively.

For most of the past 20 years, black and red have been the iconic colors of Asus’ ROG brand. But to celebrate two decades of the Republic of Gamers, the company has settled on a black-and-gold motif, which we’ve already seen on its RAM and other components in a Computex teaser. This also extends to peripherals, as seen with the Asus ROG 20th anniversary Harpe II Extreme Edition mouse and the Asus ROG Azoth Extreme Edition 20 wireless gaming keyboard that we’re looking at here.

The 75% clacker is a reimagining of the carbon fiber-adorned ROG Azoth Extreme we looked at in 2024, with a mix of transparent and partially transparent keycaps (the primary keys have traditional black crowns with transparent sides, while the rest of the caps are a smoky, glossy plastic. It’s also $100 more expensive than the launch price of the previous Azoth. There’s also a gold metal jog wheel, as well as gold accents along the back, magnetic gold feet (in two sizes), and even gold screws holding the whole thing together. And, naturally, the RGB backlighting under the switches defaults to a gold color out of the box. If nothing else, this is a much bolder design than the original ROG Azoth Extreme.

Asus ROG Azoth Extreme Edition 20 Specs

Design and features

At nearly 3.5 pounds with an all-metal chassis, the ROG Azoth Extreme Edition 20 feels a bit unnecessarily solid, and overkill definitely feels like part of the design at a fundamental level. The silicone-and-metal wrist rest adds an extra 1.3 pounds on its own, and doesn’t attach to the keyboard. But with silicon feet and so much heft, it’s not likely to move unless you want it to, just like the keyboard itself.

Asus says at least some of the accents are 24 karat gold-plated, as is the removable plate on the back. The chamfered edges on the top plate are also gold colored, as is the rocker knob to the right of the 1.47-inch color touchscreen.

The 2.4 GHz connection (Bluetooth and wired operation are also supported) supports 8K polling, but just like the previous Azoth Extreme, you’ll need to use the included Polling Rate Booster dongle to get the top refresh rate. The screen can play animations, show photos, and show system stats – there’s even a built-in keystrokes per second counter that Asus says is for music and rhythm games. Moving through the various modes is as easy as swiping horizontally on the screen.

The back is where you’ll find a nice chunky switch for the three connectivity modes (wired is in the middle, and the keyboard supports charging while tethered), with the USB-C port on the opposite corner. Presumably, the plastic section in the middle, apart from being a space to write out “Republic of Gamers” is there to allow wireless connectivity through the otherwise heavy metal chassis.

A lot is happening on the bottom of the ROG Azoth Extreme Edition 20, which is where you can attach one of two pairs of gold feet via magnets if you like a little lift in the back. There is also a name plate, which is gold-plated on one side, and a more ROG-traditional black, white, and red on the other.

The plate is also held on by magnets, and removing it reveals a slot for storing the slim 2.4 GHz SpeedNova dongle, as well as the two-way switch for adjusting the rigidity of the keyboard’s gasket mount. But just as I said when I saw the original Azoth Extreme at CES 2024, the difference in feel between the two modes makes less of a difference than moving between switch types. Both options feel pretty rigid. I suspect most owners will play with the gasket switch a few times, then leave it in one position for months or years.

Carbon fiber remains in the keyboard’s positioning plate, and the transparent linear ROG NX Snow switches are factory-lubed, resulting in a smooth feel and a pleasing clack while typing with no discernible ping. There is also a tactile NX Snow switch, but our model came with the linear option. This is one of the nicest-feeling and sounding gaming-specific keyboards I’ve used to date – given the price, that’s not particularly surprising.

Accessories

Aside from the keyboard, wireless dongle, and the backplate, Asus includes three extra switches (which is kinda skimpy, given the price), along with a metal switch puller and a plastic keycap remover. You also get a 2-meter braided cable, as well as the Polling Rate Booster, which you’ll need if you want a faster response time than the 1,000 Hz that’s supported by the keyboard itself. But since the switches here are mechanical rather than magnetic, 1,000 pings per second is probably enough for the majority of gamers.

Web-based adjustability

I’m not the biggest fan of Armory Crate (or any gaming peripheral software suite, to be honest), so I like that Asus makes heavy use of its Gear Link (https://gearlink.asus.com/) web app for keyboard control here. With the mouse plugged into your system, you can dig pretty deep into the settings via the site.

The settings here feel a little limited compared to theoptions with the 20th Anniversary Harpe II mouse. But you can assign keys and key combinations. Macro recording is supported on the fly by pressing the Fn and Left Alt key to start and stop macros, then pressing the key you want it assigned to.

There are also lots of options for adjusting the screen and the RGB lighting. I particularly like the Music Mode preset, which lets you display an animation and artist / track listing of whatever song you’re listening to. There’s also an option for displaying CPU and GPU stats, including frequency, temperature, fan speed, voltage, and use. There are enough options for the screen (and they’re easy to navigate, thanks to touch and the jog button) that I feel like the screen here is something I would use and fiddle with quite a bit if this were my main keyboard.

Gaming (and working) with the Asus ROG Azoth Extreme Edition 20

While I didn’t have as much time with the keyboard as I would have liked before jumping on a plane to Taipei for Computex, I did use it for work and gaming for about a week. While I generally prefer clicky switches for writing, lubed linear switches have either gotten good enough, or I have gotten used to them enough that I don’t mind using them for productivity tasks. And the linear NX Snow switches here, combined with the general overall quality of the rest of the keyboard, meant I was happy to work on this keyboard for hours – the somewhat muted and very solid sound (and feel) of the keyboard certainly helped.

And whether I was slicing through demons in Doom: The Dark Ages, racking up headshots in Borderlands 4, or checking out the new expansion pack in Dome Keeper, the Asus ROG Azoth Extreme Edition 20 kept my gaming fingers happy. I can’t say that the keyboard made me a better gamer, but it certainly didn’t make me worse, or require much in the way of adjustment. Some gamers may miss the extra programmable keys that would come with a larger key layout, but I’ve personally always found 75% the sweet spot for both work and play.

ROG Keycap Mystery Box Edition 20

Asus also sent along a case of blind box 20th Edition keycaps that it will also sell to commemorate two decades of ROG, which are priced at $24.99. They are tiny replicas of other ROG products, like mice, keyboards, and headsets. There’s a mystery cap that I didn’t get in my box, but of the six standard blind box keycaps, my favorite by far is the ROG Chariot gaming chair, because the chair spins, and I spent at least five minutes with it affixed to the Escape switch, snapping it and watching it spin. Either it’s a great momentary escape all on its own, or I really need a break after I get back from Computex. There must be a grass-themed keycap, right?

A few years ago, Keychron released the highly anticipated Keychron Q1 and we loved it. Since then, the company hasn’t looked back. Over the last several years, the company has produced dozens of mechanical keyboards, ranging from gasket-mounted enthusiast-tier planks to low-profile office boards.

The Keychron K3 Ultra, which is currently on Kickstarter for a price of $105 and is available in white or black, is a low-profile mechanical keyboard with a 75-percent design. The K3 Ultra is unlike most keyboards we review, as it features real wood sides — similar to the Keychron K2 HE Special Edition — 8,000 Hz polling, the brand's home-built tactile switches, and very impressive battery life.

However, that’s just what’s on paper, so is the Keychron K3 Ultra a good mechanical keyboard? Let’s find out.

Design

The Keychron K3 Ultra is an ultra sleek, low-profile mechanical keyboard with a 75-percent silhouette, a polling rate of 8,000 Hz, insane battery life, hot-swap sockets and edges made of real rosewood, which is the type of wood you see on premium guitar fretboards.

While it seems like almost every new mechanical keyboard on the market is sporting a gasket-mount design, the K3 Ultra uses a traditional tray-mount design. However, Keychron didn’t skimp out on the typing experience, as you still get multiple layers of foam and the company's own low-profile tactile switches.

The switches are Keychron’s Banana Switches. The banana switches are described to be similar to Panda switches, which, depending on who you ask, are the holy grail of tactile switches thanks to their gentle yet tactile bump. If you’re unfamiliar with switches outside of Gateron or Cherry MX, I found the banana switches to be similar to Cherry MX Clears. I also want to add that the switch resembles the Vault-Tec logo from Fallout.

I don’t know what it is, but the PC hardware community has fallen in love with wood, as evidenced by the Fractal Design North and the Montech XR Wood. Is it because PC hardware enthusiasts are becoming fed up with RGB? I don’t know, but I personally don’t mind it, as long as it fits the bill. According to Keychron, the K3 Ultra has rosewood sides, which, as I mentioned above, are present in some of the most high-end guitars and instruments. Because I do play guitar, and have one with a rosewood fretboard, I was curious to see how it’d look on a keyboard,and I was disappointed. While rosewood does vary in color, most of the time it is pretty dark. However, the K3 Ultra’s rosewood is very light. Fortunately, Keychron made the wood sides removable — so I guess you can do some DIY to darken them, but all in all, I am a bit disappointed.

A big complaint I've had with Keychron’s keycaps in the past has been how bad the legends often look. Despite being double-shot PBT, they are frequently crooked and uncentered. However, it seems like Keychron went back to the drawing board and fixed their caps because they are much better now. But are they perfect? No. I noticed the “P” on the backspace key looks like it’s in bold print, for example — but overall, I'm impressed.

It’s kinda funny — I keep forgetting the Keychron K3 Ultra is primed to keep up with the big dogs in competitive gaming with its 8,000 Hz polling rate, because its design is very professional. In addition to being faster than lightning, the battery life is incredible. With 8,000 Hz enabled, you’re looking at upwards of three months or 550 hours of battery life, which is impressive — most 8,000 Hz polling rate peripherals get less than 20 hours' worth of battery life. Keychron's newest 8K keyboards are running on ZMK firmware, which accounts for their impressive battery life, and while the Keychron V5 Ultra 8K gets 690 hours of battery life, the K3 Ultra is a very slim, low-profile board.

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Keychron K3 Ultra

It has been a long time since I have used a low-profile mechanical keyboard, so I was excited going into this review. After unboxing the Keychron K3 Ultra and setting it up, I started typing with it while working and didn’t want to stop. I genuinely love typing with this keyboard. It took me a bit to realize why, and the reason is that it reminds me of my 2013 MacBook Air’s keyboard — which got me through all of college, many reviews and ultimately over a decade of use. However, that’s just one of the reasons; the other is the banana switches.

I’m usually not a tactile switch person — almost all of my personal keyboards have linear switches, as it's just what I prefer. However, the K3 Ultra has me considering buying a low-profile switch tester kit so I can experiment with other low-profile, tactile switches — which is possible due to this board’s hot-swap PCB. So, yeah, this little low-profile plank changed my outlook on tactile switches.

The keycaps on the Keychron K3 Ultra are their own LSA profile and are double-shot PBT, ensuring durability for years and a more ergonomic shape. As mentioned above, Keychron’s history with keycaps isn’t great, but they’ve certainly improved them because the legends (minus one or two wonky ones) are solid. The LSA caps are comfy and never caused any typos and the off-white tone of them looks good with the rosewood sides.

The Keychron K3 Ultra arrived just in time for me to play Resident Evil 9: Requiem, which seemed like the perfect game to test this keyboard with. Resident Evil games aren’t the most fast-paced, but when playing as Leon, you do need to be quick — especially when parrying and swapping weapons. In addition, I didn’t need a full-size keyboard with a numberpad for the survival horror RPG, so why not use the Keychron? And, as expected, the K3 Ultra performed perfectly — I didn’t experience any switch chatter (double clicking) or latency issues.

Overall, I was very, very happy with the typing and gaming experience on the Keychron K3 Ultra, and it definitely feels like the keyboard for a combination of office use and gaming.

Software

I can’t even complain about it anymore, because other companies are doing it, but I am still going to — I can’t stand when peripherals use web-based apps instead of downloadable software, which is the case for the Keychron K3 Ultra. The K3 Ultra is supported by Keychron’s “Keychron Launcher,” which is very similar to VIA, the open-source key mapping software we know and love.

With that aside, Keychron Launcher worked really well and offered loads of features such as macro recording, 24 pre-configured RGB settings, which can be changed on the fly if the keys are remapped and a laundry list of other features.

I should also mention that when you receive the Keychron K3 Ultra, you'll need to make sure you go into “Advanced Mode” in Keychron Launcher and set the polling rate to 8,000 Hz — because it’s set to 125 by default.

Bottom Line

The Keychron K3 Ultra is, by far, one of my favorite mechanical keyboards in recent history. Keychron makes A LOT of keyboards, and I’m glad they were able to do something different here. While I am a bit disappointed in the rosewood sides, wood is wood and for $105, it really isn’t worth complaining about. The K3 Ultra is the ultimate office mechanical keyboard and is super portable thanks to its sleek frame, yet it still has the specs to compete with some of the best gaming mechanical keyboards. If you're looking for something a little more substantial, however, the Keychron V5 Ultra 8K is a little pricier but features a 96-percent layout and better battery life.

What do Google Sheets experts do for fun? In the case of the staff at sheets.works, they have built The Listening Museum for mechanical keyboard audio aficionados. This is a collection of 36 iconic to modern classic keyboards that have been multisampled and put into an interactive site. Just click on any of the keyboards represented on the page, turn up your speakers, and bash away. The museum features keyboard models, including the IBM Model M, a multitude of Cherry MX models, and popular modern product samples from the likes of SteelSeries and Logitech.

I’ve owned, and still own, some great keyboards, with some vintage models dating back to the 1980s, and newfangled models with hall-effect adjustable actuation switches. However, there are plenty of samples at the Listening Museum that I can’t recall testing/hearing.

The interface at the online museum is pretty good. Clicking on the IBM Model M (for example), a soft keyboard panel appears to the right, so you can make keystrokes by mouse clicking. I did this as I’m currently using a CoolerMaster CK720, which has pretty noisy Cherry MX Blues and Greens across its various zones.

Back to the IBM, and I do believe it would be even noisier than my compact modern input device with gaskets and foam dampening layers. The museum makers assert that the Model M is “the archetypal ‘clacky’ keyboard and the reason people collect vintage boards.”

Its characteristic sound comes from the way “the coiled spring buckles sideways and slaps a pivoting hammer into the membrane. The spring resonates like a tuning fork inside the hollow ABS barrel; the steel backplate amplifies that ring; the big case acts as a soundbox,” explains the Model M section of the museum. “That is why nothing modern sounds like it.”

Audio accuracy?

As I’m actually using Cherry MX Blues while perusing the Listening Museum, I had to check out the accuracy – in the context of my ears, speakers, and environment. There are three MX Blue sampled keyboards to check through, and I must say none of them sounded like my CK720.

That’s a bit of a shame, considering the work put into making the museum. The curators have thought about such disparity, though. If you scroll down to the bottom section of the main page, you can read the headlined plea “A note before you flame us.”

There, it is made clear that “sound tests are inherently limited: microphone, room, host board, keycap set, codec, and your speakers all color the result.” And key sound can vary a lot between hosts for numerous other reasons. Fair enough, and I was never tempted to flame the curators...

Despite those observations, The Listening Museum could still be a valid resource for understanding the plethora of keyboards and keyswitches out there – and their audible feedback, which is a major part of the experience. If you are interested in exploring keyboards and don’t have a big electronics mall handy, YouTube is another good place to hear lots of well-known and obscure keyboards in action.

Check out our frequently updated Best Gaming Keyboards 2026: We've Tested Full-size, TKL, Mini, and more features to see what the cream of the crop is right now, according to our experts.

Keychron's V5 Ultra 8K is a wireless mechanical 96-percent keyboard with a hot-swappable PCB, a programmable rotary knob, and up to an 8,000 Hz polling rate — plus up to 660 hours of battery life while using that 8,000 Hz polling rate. The battery life is the keyboard's primary selling point, as most keyboards and peripherals with an 8K polling rate have pretty abysmal battery life. The V5 Ultra 8K is available now for $120, which puts it around $40 over the price limit for the best budget mechanical keyboards, though it's still pretty affordable considering its features.

Design and Construction of the V5 Ultra 8K

The V5 Ultra 8K is a hot-swappable wireless mechanical keyboard with a 96-percent layout, which means it has almost all keys — a full function row, arrow keys, a 10-key numberpad, and a row of navigation keys, as well as a programmable rotary knob.

The numberpad and arrow keys are shifted over so they're right next to the alphanumeric keys, giving the keyboard a much smaller footprint than a typical full-size keyboard. The keyboard measures 15.41 inches (391.5mm) wide by 5.85 inches (148.7mm) deep, and is 1.17 inches (29.6mm) high at the back, not including the keycaps.

The 10-key numberpad is located next to the alphanumeric keys — it's cramped, though a little less cramped than the layout of the Asus ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless that we looked at recently. There are three navigation keys above the numberpad (Del, Home, End), as well as a programmable rotary knob in the upper-right corner. The rotary knob is plastic, with a smooth top and textured side, and is notched and clickable.

The keyboard features a plastic case, so it's not too heavy — but it's still pretty solid, weighing in at 2.17lbs (983g). It's a simple, well-made keyboard with a squared-off plastic top case with a matte black finish and a moderate bezel. It comes in just one color (black) and just one style (fully-assembled), with your choice of Keychron's Silk POM switches (red, brown, banana) already installed. It also features OSA-profile double-shot PBT keycaps in black and dark gray, with brick-red accent keys (Esc, Enter). The keycaps are not shine-through and feature white, printed legends. The Function row features white printed secondary legends for Mac users. Keychron also includes alternate keycaps for Windows users.

On the back of the keyboard, you'll find two sets of flip-out feet for angle adjustment — the default typing angle sits at 3 degrees, and can be adjusted to 8 degrees or 10 degrees with the flip-out feet. Along the top of the keyboard, on the left side, you'll find a USB-C charging port and two switches — a power switch, for switching between 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and wired connectivity; and a Windows/Mac switch. On the right side, there's a small storage slot for the keyboard's 2.4GHz wireless dongle.

The keyboard comes with several accessories, including a 6-foot braided USB-C to USB-C cable with a USB-C to USB-A adapter attached, a USB extender, and a 2.4GHz wireless dongle (located in the storage slot along the top of the keyboard). It also comes with tools for customizing the keyboard, including a dual keycap/switch puller, a screwdriver, a hex key, and extra case screws.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the V5 Ultra 8K

The V5 Ultra 8K comes with Keychron's Silk POM mechanical switches in red (linear), brown (tactile), or banana (tactile). Our review unit came with banana switches, which have an actuation force of 57g and a total travel distance of 3.4mm. While I didn't love the extremely light tactility of the brown tactile switches in the Keychron Q6 Ultra 8K, the banana tactile switches have a more traditional tactile feel, with a light but noticeable tactile bump on the way down, and no audible "click."

Typing on the V5 Ultra 8K was a relatively pleasant experience — the switches still weren't my favorite, but they were smooth and stable and relatively easy to get used to. The OSA profile of the keycaps also helped — OSA keycaps are relatively close to OEM height, but slightly lower than KSA-profile keycaps (like we saw on the Q6 Ultra 8K), with wider, flatter tops and less aggressive angling. Typing on the V5 Ultra 8K wasn't quite like typing on a keyboard with Cherry-profile keycaps, but it was much more comfortable, for me, than typing on the Q6 Ultra 8K.

Of course, the V5 Ultra 8K features a hot-swappable PCB and comes with a keycap/switch puller, so it's pretty easy to swap in your own switches and keycaps, if you like. Keycaps and switches aside, the V5 Ultra 8K feels nice, thanks to its flexible gasket mount, and sounds decent, too — the case is pretty well-dampened, and the polycarbonate plate gives you a bright, crisp sound.

Gaming on the V5 Ultra 8K is solid, thanks to its N-key rollover and high 8,000 Hz polling rate, though serious gamers will probably want to opt for red (linear) switches instead of tactile switches. The V5 Ultra 8K does have plenty of extra keys thanks to its 96-percent layout, but if you're used to a full-size board, the layout may still throw you off. (I can't really get used to the location of the arrow keys on 96-percent boards, no matter how much I use them).

Features and Software of the V5 Ultra 8K

The V5 Ultra 8K is configurable via Keychron's web-based Keychron Launcher, which you'll need to connect to via a wired connection. You can use the Keychron Launcher to remap keys, set up "Snap Action" (Keychron's software-based version of SOCD), and customize the backlighting.

There are several customizable lighting presets you can pick from, or you can choose per-key lighting, which lets you pick the color (and effect, though the effects are more limited) of each key individually. There's also an option for "mix RGB," which lets you set up two different RGB zones on the keyboard.

While it's not quite as robust as the layered lighting effects you can get from gaming peripherals apps, such as Razer's Synapse or Corsair's iCUE, the ability to customize per-key RGB is more advanced than you'll find on keyboards that rely on QMK / VIA for customization.

You can also use the Keychron Launcher to update the firmware, test keys after hot-swapping switches, and record and manage macros.

Of course, one of the big selling points of the V5 Ultra 8K is its battery life — it gets up to 660 hours of wireless battery life over a 2.4GHz wireless connection with an 8,000 Hz polling rate (with the lighting turned off). Unlike the Q6 Ultra 8K, the V5 Ultra 8K ships with a standard 1,000 Hz polling rate out of the box — you'll need to connect to Keychron Launcher and switch the polling rate to 8,000 Hz manually (and you'll need to do this for both the wired and wireless connections, which have separate polling rates). Of course, if you want to use the keyboard with the backlighting turned on, the battery life drops significantly, even at the lowest brightness setting, to just 200 hours — which is still pretty good, considering.

The Bottom Line

If you don't mind the cramped 96-percent layout, the Keychron V5 Ultra 8K might just be everything you want in a keyboard — it's got all the keys you could ask for, an unnecessarily high polling rate, crazy-long battery life, and it's not too expensive, at just $120. And there's not a ton of competition, because 96-percent layouts aren't terribly common. There's the recently-launched Asus ROG Strix Morph Wireless, which has a similar all-plastic build and hot-swappable PCB, but lacks the 8K polling rate and somehow still manages to get worse battery life (590 hours vs. the V5 Ultra 8K's 660, so it's not that much worse) — and costs $20 more. And there's our long-time favorite Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless, which has a better build and a higher price tag (though it's currently on sale for just $136 at Amazon).

Keychron first announced its new Q6 Ultra 8K at CES 2026 — a full-size, wireless mechanical keyboard with a hot-swappable PCB and up to an 8,000 Hz polling rate. Which isn't too unique, until you take a look at the rated battery life: up to 660 hours, over a 2.4GHz wireless connection with an 8,000 Hz polling rate (and the lighting turned off). That's significantly longer than any other 8 KHz polling rate keyboard (or peripheral), and it's because the Q6 Ultra 8K is one of the new Keychron keyboards that utilizes ZMK firmware instead of QMK firmware — ZMK is optimized for wireless efficiency, and, well, it clearly makes a difference.

The Q6 Ultra 8K is a large, sturdily-built keyboard with a full aluminum body and double-shot PBT keycaps, which makes it a good option for gamers who want a full-size board (there aren't that many out there). But it's going to need more than a very impressive battery life to land a spot on our list of best wireless keyboards. The Q6 Ultra 8K is available now for $239.99, in both black and white colorways.

Design and Construction of the Q6 Ultra 8K

The Q6 Ultra 8K is a wireless mechanical keyboard with a roomy, full-size layout, an all-metal build, and a double-gasket design. It comes fully assembled, with a programmable rotary knob, in black (black case and black and dark gray keycaps with teal accent keys) or white (white case and white and gray keycaps with red accent keys). Our review unit came in black.

The Q6 Ultra 8K is a sturdy, well-built keyboard housed in an all-metal chassis. Unsurprisingly, it's pretty hefty, weighing in at just under five pounds (4.93lbs / 2,238g). Its black aluminum top case features sharply angled corners and a moderately-sized bezel; it's not particularly unique, but it does look very clean. The bottom case is slightly smaller — also black aluminum, with a standard 5.3-degree typing angle. The back features a decorative gold-colored back plate with a futuristic celestial pattern printed on it.

This is a large, full-size keyboard, with alphanumeric keys, a full navigation cluster, a 10-key numberpad, and a set of four extra macro keys above the numberpad. It measures approximately 17.56 inches (446mm) wide by 5.39 inches (137mm) deep, and is 1.22 inches (31.09mm) high at the back, not including the keycaps. With the keycaps, it's just under 2 inches (50mm) high at the back, and is approximately 1.37 inches (34.8mm) at the front. It's a relatively high keyboard, and I expect most people will feel more comfortable with a wrist rest.

The keyboard comes with double-shot PBT keycaps in a KSA profile, which is a Keychron redesign of the SA profile. The keycaps are tall, with sculpted rows and narrow, deeply curved tops. They have printed, non-shine-through legends, and a few keys have secondary legends printed (in a smaller, gray font) in the lower right corners. The keyboard's function row doubles as its media keys (set up for Mac users), and there's a CNC aluminum rotary knob located between the function row and the navigation cluster. The knob is clickable, notched, and well-made, and can be programmed in Keychron's companion app.

There's a USB-C charging port along the top left of the keyboard, as well as two switches — a power switch that lets you toggle between 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth, and a Win/Mac switch that lets you toggle between PC and Mac modes. While I'm definitely not a Mac person, one thing that's nice about the switch is that the function row is already set up to perform media/lighting functions in Mac mode, which means you can just flip the switch and access your media keys and then flip it back to access your function keys. (Yes, you can also use the Fn key, which is made for just this, but I don't use media keys that often.)

In the box, the Q6 Ultra 8K comes with several accessories: a 6-foot (1.8m) braided detachable USB-C to USB-C cable, a USB-C to USB-A adapter, a USB extender, and a 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle. It also comes with a screwdriver and a hex key for opening the board up, a dual keycap/switch puller, extra gaskets and screws, and alternate keycaps for Windows/Mac users.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Q6 Ultra 8K

The Q6 Ultra 8K is a mechanical keyboard with a hot-swappable PCB. It comes with your choice of Keychron Silk POM switches, in Red (linear), Brown (tactile), or Banana (tactile). Our review unit came with Keychron Silk POM switches in Brown, which have an operating force of 55g, a pre-travel distance of 2mm, and an overall travel distance of 4mm. The switches are factory-lubed and tactile, which means they have a tactile bump — though it's a very soft tactile bump — but no audible click when pressed.

I didn't really like typing on the Q6 Ultra 8K for a couple of reasons. The combination of switches and keycaps just wasn't for me. I'm picky about tactile switches, and the Keychron Silk POM Browns were a little too heavy to actuate and the soft tactile bump made them feel more like sticky linear switches than actual tactile switches. The switches were relatively smooth and stable overall, but the higher keycap profile and heavier actuation meant I found myself missing a few keystrokes here and there. Moving my fingers across the board felt sluggish, even though typing tests suggested that my speed and accuracy didn't take a significant hit. I managed to consistently type at around 115 words per minute (wpm) at 98% accuracy on this board, which is worse than my typical speed of around 125 wpm, but not that much worse. However, it definitely felt worse, and I was still missing letters occasionally, even after a week of using the board.

The keyboard sounds pretty decent — the case is well-dampened, and the switches give you a slightly bright, clacky sound with each stroke. It's not my favorite sounding keyboard, but nothing stood out as problematic.

As far as gaming goes, the Q6 Ultra 8K is pretty solid. The higher-profile keycaps didn't bother me while I was gaming, as I'm not usually trying to hit quite as many different keys in quick succession — and travel distance between keys isn't as much of an issue. The keyboard doesn't have magnetic switches — though there is a magnetic switch version of this keyboard, the Keychron Q6 HE 8K — so it doesn't benefit from things like RapidTrigger, but it does have an 8 KHz polling rate and an impressive battery life (when the lighting is turned off), which means it might be worth a look if you want a high polling rate and you hate plugging things in.

Features and Software of the Q6 Ultra 8K

The Q6 Ultra 8K can be configured via Keychron's web-based Keychron Launcher. While I agree that the trend of web apps can be frustrating for those who want to adjust their keyboard settings and don't have an internet connection, this is a large, full-size keyboard — I don't think most people are going to be traveling with it, and are likely to be connected to the internet whenever they want to go in and tweak settings.

You can do several things in the web app, including remapping keys, setting up snap action, recording macros, adjusting the keyboard's backlighting, updating the firmware, and changing other settings. The keyboard does ship with an 8,000 Hz polling rate out of the box, so you don't need to connect the keyboard to the app (unlike most 8 KHz polling rate peripherals, which ship with 1,000 Hz polling rates and require you to go in and change the polling rate).

Perhaps the most impressive feature of the Q6 Ultra 8K is its battery life, which Keychron rates at up to 660 hours with an 8,000 Hz polling rate and the backlighting turned off. This does drop to just 200 hours with the backlighting turned on at its lowest level, but that's still pretty good considering the 8 KHz polling rate. The reason this keyboard is so much more efficient than most wireless 8 KHz polling peripherals is because it uses ZMK firmware (instead of QMK), which is optimized for wireless performance.

The Bottom Line

The Keychron Q6 Ultra 8K is a full-size wireless mechanical keyboard with a wildly impressive battery life. While most wireless peripherals with an 8,000 Hz battery life can barely last a full day without needing to be plugged in, the Q6 Ultra 8K can last months — even with the backlighting turned on. Which is great — however, perhaps not quite as necessary in a full-size keyboard like this. (Where are you going with it, that you can't plug it in every once in a while?)

While it wasn't my favorite keyboard for typing, it is hot-swappable and, with different keycaps, could be perfectly usable. Plus, there aren't that many full-size wireless gaming keyboards on the market, as many gamers prefer something more compact — like a TKL or a 75-percent, or even a 96-percent like the Asus ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless we recently looked at.

HyperX, HP’s gaming subsidiary, is back with new peripherals, and today we’re looking at its newest 1800-sized keyboard — the Eve 1800. The Eve is a $50 membrane-style keyboard that features RGB backlighting, dedicated volume keys... and that’s about it. In 2026, there are definitely keyboards you can get for less than $50, such as the Keychron C2 Full Size, or the Redragon K582. And if you can afford to spend a little more than $50, there are a lot of budget mechanical keyboards worth checking out. With all the options available, is there even any room for a $50 membrane-style keyboard?

Specs

Design

The HyperX Eve 1800 is a non-mechanical keyboard, utilizing membrane switches, 10 zones of RGB lighting, 12-key rollover with dedicated volume keys, and a price tag of just $50. While $50 might seem “cheap” for a keyboard, there are many options on the market that offer more customization than does the Eve 1800.

The 1800-size keyboard name isn’t thrown around too often, because it’s usually referred to as a 96-percent. Similar to how the 80-percent keyboard is usually referred to as "tenkeyless," 1800 is just a different name for the 96-percent size. This means it's not quite full-size — it has fewer keys, and it also moves the numberpad over next to the alphanumeric keys to save on space. And it does save on space, measuring 16.11 inches (409.2mm) wide, 5.60 inches (144.6mm) deep, and 1.4 inches (35.1mm) at its thickest point without keycaps.

While the HyperX Eve 1800 sounds pretty decent on paper, it isn’t a great keyboard — and it feels almost obsolete in 2026. The biggest issue with the Eve is the location of the volume keys. The volume keys are on the left side of the keyboard, which means it shifts all of the other keys to the right.

One of the only good features about this board is the 10-key numberpad, which is practical for day-to-day use and is useful for MMORPGs (or any game that calls for a boat load of keybinds). In addition, I love the dedicated media keys; I feel like dedicated media keys have become forgotten in today’s keyboard market. Unfortunately, the HyperX Eve 1800 only features volume adjustment and has nothing dedicated to skipping songs. In addition, the buttons feel really mushy and cheap.Have you ever had a button on an Xbox or PlayStation controller become sticky? That’s what it feels like to use the volume keys on this keyboard. Sure, they work — but they aren't pleasant to use — and the board suffers from an awkward layout because of it.

The rest of the board is pretty basic, design-wise. The entire board is made of brittle plastic and it's very light, but not in a good way. The back features two sets of flip-up feet for angle adjustment, and the board has a non-detachable rubber cable that feels like it will kink up in a couple of years (or less).

Typing and Gaming Experience on the HyperX Eve 1800

My friends and I have been tinkering with modded Minecraft servers, so that was the game I was playing during my time with the HyperX Eve 1800. Because Minecraft is a simple game to operate, I didn't feel too hindered by the keyboard’s design — other than the times when I had to use text chat. The Eve doesn’t even sport any “gaming” features except for the tactility of the membrane switches, and 12-key rollover, which are present in almost every keyboard nowadays.

I struggled to type with the HyperX Eve 1800 due to the location of the volume keys. For example, when I would type the letter “A,” I would accidentally hit the caps lock key instead, which was very frustrating. I did get used to the Eve 1800 fairly quickly, but I continued to make more typos than I normally do throughout my testing.I want to add that this isn’t a common occurrence for 1800 or 96-percent keyboards. When I reviewed the Epomaker TH96, which has an even more cramped layout, I never experienced any typing mishaps.

Nothing really stood out when typing or gaming with the HyperX Eve 1800. Since the switches are membrane, the typing experience isn’t any different from the standard Dell keyboard the IT department provides you with at your nine-to-five. But if you haven’t used a membrane keyboard in a long time (or, for some reason, haven’t used one at all), the bottom-out feels mushy and it's nowhere near as satisfying as a mechanical switch. That said, I actually do normally enjoy the sound and feel of membrane switches, so it was a shame this board handicapped my ability to type as much as it did.

I understand that some keyboards take time to get used to — especially ergonomic ones, such as the ErgoDox — but at least with ergonomic keyboards you'll (hopefully) benefit from using them, in the long run. The HyperX Eve 1800, however, is not an ergonomic keyboard, and it doesn't have any features that make it worth the adjustment period.

Software

The HyperX Eve 1800 utilizes the company’s NGENUITY software, which is the same program that powers the Origins 2 65 we recently reviewed. While you can remap any key, you cannot adjust the lighting on a per-key basis. Instead, you’re bound to adjusting zones of the board or the following light modes: alternating, solid, swipe, breathing, calming waves, twinkle, confetti, sunrise and surging waves.

All in all, NGENUITY is a decent piece of software, but I don’t think it will find much use if you decide to buy the HyperX Eve 1800, since your ability to customize the board is pretty limited.

Bottom Line

I hate to say it, but I genuinely do not know what HyperX (or HP) was thinking when it designed the Eve 1800. Especially when you can get a decent mechanical keyboard for the same price, or maybe $20 - $30 more — there are plenty on our list of best budget mechanical keyboards. When using the Eve 1800, I found myself wondering — did HyperX even test this board’s design? The Eve 1800 does come with RGB lighting, and, because it's an 1800-sized board (96-percent — with almost the same amount of keys as a full-size board, but more compact), it does allow for more desk space...but there are many better options on the market.

The thing that bothers me the most with the HyperX Eve 1800 is that you’re not really benefiting from using it over any other keyboard. I understand there’s a learning curve for some keyboards, like the ErgoDox, but that board is designed to prevent RSI (repetitive stress injuries) and offers a lot of customization. The Eve 1800 is just like any membrane keyboard — but with the added issue of having to get used to a slightly-off layout.

Asus' ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless has been at the top of our best wireless gaming keyboards list for a while, and it's not hard to see why — it's a well-made, hot-swappable mechanical gaming keyboard with a compact but versatile 96-percent layout and fantastic battery life.

The Strix Morph 96 is a wireless hot-swappable gaming keyboard with a gasket mount design and a compact 96-percent layout. It features bright per-key RGB lighting with lightbars along the sides, a side-mounted customizable rotary knob and button, and three forms of connectivity — 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and wired (USB-C). It's available now, and it retails for $139.99.

Design and Construction of the Strix Morph 96

The Strix Morph 96 is a wireless mechanical gaming keyboard with a compact 96-percent layout, which means it has alphanumeric keys, a full set of function keys, arrow keys, a 10-key numberpad, and five navigation keys (Home, Ins, Del, PgUp, and PgDn). It's got almost as many keys as does a full-size keyboard, but everything is squished together. There's definitely a learning curve with the cramped layout (I, personally, have never been able to fully get used to the 96-percent layout, even after months and months of using one), but if you don't mind having your arrow keys practically on top of your punctuation, it can definitely save some desk space.

The Strix Morph 96 measures approximately 15.67 inches (398mm) wide by 5.28 inches (134mm) deep, and is 1.54 inches (39mm) thick at its thickest point, including the keycaps. This is slightly larger than my favorite 96-percent Asus Rog Strix Scope II 96 Wireless, which measures 14.84 x 5.16 x 1.57 inches (377 x 131 x 40mm), but is still smaller than most full-size keyboards. The board weighs just under 2.5 pounds (2.48lbs / 1,125g), which is a little heavier than the Strix Scope II 96 Wireless (2.23lbs / 1,012g) but lighter than the original Asus ROG Azoth (2.61lbs / 1,186g).

The Strix Morph 96 Wireless is a nicely-built board, with a machined aluminum top case in matte gunmetal gray over a black plastic bottom case. The top case has sharp, clean edges and covers the top, front, and back of the board — the sides, which have LED lightstrips, are plastic. Asus' Republic of Gamers branding is subtle(ish) — for Asus, anyway. "Republic of Gamers" and the ROG eye logo is printed in white on the black spacebar; "Republic of Gamers" is also integrated into the lightbar on the left side (but not the right). On the back of the board, you'll see a larger ROG eye logo incorporated into the decorative texture.

Okay, it's not that subtle. But if you want it to be even less subtle, Asus includes three ROG-branded translucent keycaps to replace the Esc key and the two Enter keys (alphanumeric and numpad). It also includes an alternate Ctrl keycap for those who can't stand the look of the Copilot key.

The Strix Morph 96 Wireless comes with doubleshot ABS keycaps with white printed legends. The keycaps are low profile (Cherry profile, or close), with a lightly textured matte finish and sculpted rows. There are secondary legends printed on the sides of the keycaps for onboard media and lighting control, as well as for macOS users. The keyboard is macOS-friendly and you can easily switch between PC and Mac mode with a keyboard shortcut (Fn + Tab).

The keyboard also has a notched, clickable plastic rotary knob on the left side, near the top. It's paired with a small square button located right above it, which cycles through the various functions when clicked. The knob is semi-customizable — it comes with three preset functions that you can cycle through out of the box: Volume (click to mute), media track (click to play/pause), and keyboard brightness adjustment (click to set to 100% / 0%). These functions can be turned off in Asus' new web-based Gear Link app, but they can't be modified.

There's also a fourth customizable function, which is set to act as a scroll wheel by default (click for left mouse button functionality). You can change this to perform keyboard, mouse, and multimedia functions, or to quickly access an app or Windows shortcut (though your options are still pretty limited — it can open Copilot or perform about six basic shortcuts, such as copy/paste). This is a little disappointing, as the knob is somewhat unique — there aren't many left-side knobs. I'm not a big rotary knob person in the first place, but I did find myself using this one to scroll, occasionally. I'd like to see more customizability, however, as the preset functions are ones I won't use — I map my volume and media controls to my mouse buttons, and I don't really fiddle with lighting outside of initial setup.

On the back of the keyboard, you'll find two sets of plastic flip-out feet for adjusting the board's tilt. Along the top, there's a USB-C port for charging/wired connectivity, power switch that lets you toggle between 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth, and dongle storage for the board's 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle.

In the box, the Strix Morph 96 comes with a handful of accessories, including a 6.5-foot (2m) rubber USB-C to USB-A cable, a USB extender, a 2-in-1 keycap and switch puller, extra translucent accent keycaps, and a torx wrench for opening the case. The keyboard is designed so you can easily open it and tinker around inside — the top case is held on with five screws and the board can be disassembled without flipping it over.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Strix Morph 96 Wireless

The Strix Morph 96 Wireless comes with your choice of Asus' NX V2 mechanical switches in Snow V2 (linear) or Storm V2 (clicky). Our review unit came with the Snow V2 (linear) switches, which the brand describes as "refined linear" — factory-lubed linear switches with a 40gf initial force (53gf total force) and an actuation point of 1.8mm. This isn't the first time I've used these switches, and they're pretty nice for linear switches: Smooth, stable, speedy, and lightweight — perfect for gaming, and surprisingly pleasant for typing.

Like most of Asus' gaming keyboards today, the Strix Morph 96 Wireless also comes with a hot-swappable PCB that accepts both 3- and 5-pin mechanical switches, so you can swap in your own switches if you don't find Asus' options appealing.

Typing on the Strix Morph 96 is a very pleasant experience — more pleasant than I was expecting, and I already had somewhat high expectations given Asus' track record with gaming keyboards. The linear switches are smooth and lightweight, which, combined with the low-profile, textured keycaps, makes it easy to type quickly for long periods without feeling any fatigue. The keyboard does feature a gasket mount design and a translucent PC positioning plate — it's comfortable to type on, and it gives off a crisp, clacky sound. There are two layers of dampening material in the case, but case ping was pretty minimal. It wasn't the most perfect-sounding keyboard I've used, but for a relatively budget-friendly mainstream gaming keyboard, it's impressive.

The NX Snow V2 linear switches are excellent for gaming, as they're smooth and swift with quick actuation so your fingers can fly across the board without any second guesses (or re-presses). The extra keys in a 96-percent keyboard are also handy for games that need extra keybinds (and it's not nearly as difficult to get used to the 96-percent layout when you're gaming, as opposed to touch-typing). This is still a mechanical keyboard, not a magnetic one — while Asus does have some gaming-oriented functionality you can turn on in its Gear Link app, including "Speed Tap," the brand's implementation of SOCD, you won't find Hall Effect-specific features such as RapidTrigger.

Features and Software of the Strix Morph 96 Wireless

The Strix Morph 96 is fully customizable via Asus' new online app, Gear Link. You can use Gear Link to customize the keyboard without plugging the keyboard in (provided the 2.4GHz dongle is plugged in), which is convenient (and unique — most web-based apps require a wired connection to work). You can use Gear Link to remap keys (though you only get one, limited secondary Fn layer), turn on and adjust Speed Tap, customize the rotary knob and lighting, and adjust the power settings.

It's not entirely web-based, however. Asus simply cannot stop itself from installing software on your PC — if you'd like to do things like record and setup macros or customize the rotary knob to open up a website or input a preset string of text when you turn/click it, you'll need to download and install the appropriate Gear Link Companion "extension" app. Gear Link Companion apps are smaller extension apps that let you access more of your device's functionality, but they need to be installed on your PC (and you do need to restart your PC upon installation). So close, Asus... so close.

The Strix Morph 96 Wireless offers three forms of connectivity: 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and wired (via USB-C). Asus rates the board's battery life at 590 hours over a 2.4GHz wireless connection with the lighting turned off; that number drops to around 100 hours with the lighting turned on. In Bluetooth mode, the battery is rated for about 750 hours with the lighting turned off (110 hours with the lighting turned on). This isn't quite as impressive as the Asus Strix Scope II 96 Wireless, which gets 1,500 hours of battery life over a 2.4GHz wireless connection with the lighting turned off (90 hours with the lighting turned on, though, so it seems like the Strix Morph 96 Wireless' lighting might be a tad more efficient).

The Bottom Line

The ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless is everything I've come to expect from Asus' keyboards — it has a nice, clean build, it's comfortable to type on and excellent for gaming, and it gets excellent battery life. I'm a big fan of the move to this new Gear Link app (even if I felt slightly tricked when I still had to download an extra companion app), as it works well and doesn't add 75 unnecessary background processes like Armoury Crate does. At $140, the ROG Strix Morph 96 is also much more budget-friendly than the ROG Azoth line (the Azoth X debuted with a retail price more than twice this — $300 — last year).

But I'll also point out that at this exact moment, the pricier Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless is currently selling for $129.99 at Best Buy. That's $50 off of its debut retail price ($179.99), $80 off its "current retail price" of $209.99, and still $10 less than the ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless. The ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless also has a 96-percent layout, a hot-swappable PCB, a similarly-limited multi-function roller, and it feels and sounds great. It also comes with a wrist rest, double-shot PBT keycaps, and significantly better battery life (even though the ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless' battery life is pretty impressive).

Keyboards aren't like other components — you don't need to upgrade every couple of years, and the tech is largely the same (just implemented differently), so the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless is still a great buy. The ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless will probably end up being a good option in the future, once the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless clears shelves, but for now... I'd wait.

Remember when all electronics came in the same general color scheme of off-white / beige / slightly gray? While Epomaker's RT82 isn't quite as gimmicky as 8BitDo's NES-inspired retro keyboards, it's still a little gimmicky. It features an off-white all-plastic case with light gray accent keys, and in the upper-right corner, you'll find a magnetic detachable mini color LCD screen designed to look like an old-school computer monitor. The screen displays whatever you want it to: the date/time, a custom picture or gif, or your keypresses in real time.

But we're not looking at the RT82 for its screen (which is detachable, anyway). This 75-percent wireless mechanical keyboard is extremely quiet, with hot-swappable switches, lower-profile dye-sub PBT keycaps, and five layers of sound dampening in the case. It also features a 1,000 Hz polling rate and N-key rollover, so you can use it for work or play. It comes in one color (with two switch options) and normally retails for $85.99 but is currently on sale for $77.39 at Amazon. While it's not the absolute cheapest keyboard we've seen, its current sale price puts it right within the price range of our best budget mechanical keyboards.

Design and Construction of the RT82

The RT82 is a retro-inspired wireless mechanical keyboard with a 75-percent layout — that means it has alphanumeric keys, arrow keys, and a full function row, as well as a single column of navigation keys (Home, Delete, PgUp, and PgDn). In the top right corner, where many 75-percent boards have rotary knobs or a couple of extra navigation keys, the RT82 has a mini LCD screen designed to look like a retro monitor. The screen attaches magnetically via pogo pins (which is probably a good thing, as it means you can store the keyboard without worrying about snapping the screen off).

The keyboard is fairly compact, measuring 12.86 inches (326.7mm) wide by 5.64 inches (143.2mm) deep, and is about 1.57 inches (39.8mm) high (at its thickest point but not counting the detachable "monitor"). The front of the keyboard is 0.86 inches (21.8mm) high — not so high that you need a wrist rest to be comfortable, but you might still want one. It weighs just under 2 pounds (1.94lbs / 879g).

Unlike a lot of mechanical keyboards on the not-quite-gaming side, the RT82 features an all-plastic build with a matte plastic ivory case and dye-sublimated PBT keycaps in the same color, with light gray accent keys (plus three one-off accent keys in salmon, sage green, and dark gray). The keycaps have printed legends — not shine-through, though the keyboard does have per-key RGB backlighting that shines fairly brightly through the keys.

The LCD screen is housed in a small plastic box, and measures 1.14 inches diagonally and sits about 1.18 inches (30mm) above the keyboard. This makes the total height of the keyboard just under 3 inches (76.2mm), for those of you who are thinking about clearance for storage. In its default state, the screen shows the time, date, battery life, and a few board-specific statuses (Win/Mac mode, connection type, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock). The screen can also be customized to display up to three personal pictures or GIFs, or it can be set to display your key input in real time.

The bottom of the keyboard has four small rubber strips to keep it from moving around your desk, as well as two sets of plastic flip-out feet to adjust the keyboard's angle. The default angle is 5 degrees, and the flip-out feet allow you to adjust it to 7.5 or 11 degrees. The keyboard's USB-C port is located along the top left; next to it, you'll find a power switch for switching between connection types, and a handy storage space for the board's 2.4GHz wireless dongle.

In the box, the RT82 comes with several accessories: the detachable mini LCD screen (packed separately), a 2-in-1 switch and keycap puller, a 6-foot (1.8m) white, braided detachable USB-C to USB-A cable, and 2.4GHz wireless dongle (stored in its storage space on the board), extra keycaps for Mac users, and a couple of extra switches.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the RT82

The RT82 comes with your choice of Epomaker's Creamy Jade or Sea Salt Silent switches. Our review unit came with the Sea Salt Silent switches, which are silent, pre-lubed linear switches with an actuation force of 45g. They're extremely quiet and smooth, with a soft, cushiony bottom-out — though I think I'd prefer if the actuation force were slightly lighter. Of course, the board has a hot-swappable PCB, so you can also swap in your own switches.

The keyboard comes with dye-sublimated PBT keycaps in a Cherry profile, which is lower-profile than the traditional OEM profile and features sculpted rows. The caps have a soft, slightly textured finish and lightly curved tops, with printed legends.

Typing on the RT82 is pleasant, if a little too soft and quiet for my liking. The low-profile keycaps mean your fingers aren't traveling quite as much, and while the keypresses are soft, they're not at all mushy. The board is gasket-mounted, with five layers of sound-dampening material (Sandwich Latex, an IXPE switch pad, a PET sound-enhancement pad, and bottom foam and silicone) for a sound profile that is definitely very... dampened. This is one of the quietest keyboards I've ever typed on, so if you're looking for something that won't annoy those around you, it's definitely worth a look.

Gaming on the RT82 is fine — while it's set up to allow gaming, it's definitely not a gaming keyboard first. It does feature N-Key rollover and a 1,000Hz polling rate (both wired and wireless), as well as bright, south-facing per-key RGB lighting, so it's got everything most people need in a gaming keyboard. But it doesn't come with things like dedicated media keys or gamer-ready software. The RT82 is programmable with VIA, which is an open-source mechanical keyboard customization software. It's great for remapping keys and recording macros, but it doesn't have the features you'll find in mainstream gaming peripheral software, such as per-game presets or an easy-to-enable game mode.

Features and Software of the RT82

To customize the RT82 with VIA, you'll need to have the keyboard's .json file (which you can download here). Then, all you do is plug the keyboard in, navigate to VIA, connect the board, and then load the .json file in the design tab. Then, you'll be able to remap keys, record and save macros, and customize the keyboard's RGB backlighting.

The LCD screen is customizable via a different web-based app, which is... clunky, but understandable, as VIA is a generic software. The only thing you can customize on the screen are the custom images/gifs you can add (up to three); the other two screen modes cannot be customized. To add your own images, you'll need to navigate to Epomaker's LCD Screen Driver Software and connect the keyboard. Once it's connected, you can upload three of your own images and edit them (color adjustment, text, drawing) in the software. Then you can save your images to the keyboard and cycle through the screen's three modes with the Fn + Enter shortcut.

The RT82 is a wireless keyboard with three modes of connectivity: 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and wired(USB-C). It sports a 4,000 mAh battery that lasts up to 14 hours with the screen and RGB backlighting turned on, which isn't great but also isn't unexpected. With the RGB lighting turned on and the screen turned off, you can expect around 17 hours, and with the RGB turned off and the screen turned on, around 45 hours. You should get around 115 hours with both turned off, which is pretty solid.

The Bottom Line

The Epomaker RT82 will appeal to those who like its retro styling and soft, quiet keypresses. It’s a budget-friendly hot-swappable mechanical keyboard with a surprisingly pleasant typing experience that can also hold its own in most gaming situations. The screen is definitely a gimmick, but at least it's detachable — in theory, this means Epomaker could make alternate accessories (such as a knob or... something else) that you could swap in, if you didn't want the screen, but there are no such accessories as of this writing.

As we saw at CES, Keychron is all about making keyboards entirely out of unusual materials. Before it announced its upcoming designs in concrete, resin, and marble, Keychron launched a keyboard — the Q16 HE 8K — made (almost) entirely of ceramic.

The Keychron Q16 HE 8K is a 65-percent wired magnetic keyboard with an enclosure and keycaps made of ceramic. It features a hot-swappable PCB, RGB backlighting, built-in PC/Mac modes, and up to an 8,000 Hz polling rate. Keychron may not (really) be a gaming company (or, well, it has a separate gaming division — Lemokey), but this keyboard is clearly designed with gamers in mind. Gamers who live for the aesthetic, that is.

Of course, the aesthetic doesn't come cheap — the Q16 HE 8K is available now in navy blue or light green colorways, and it costs $229.99.

Design and Construction of the Q16 HE 8K

The Q16 HE 8K is a 65-percent wired magnetic switch keyboard with a ceramic case and ceramic keycaps. It has a 65-percent layout, with alphanumeric keys, arrow keys, and a single column of navigation keys (Delete, End, Page Up, and Page Down) on the right side. It's small, but many gamers are looking for something small — it doesn't take up too much desk space, so you have plenty of room to make big mouse swipes, and a lot of games don't require more than a handful of alphanumeric keys, anyway. (A 65-percent keyboard at least has arrow keys; 60-percent keyboards ditch even those and take some getting used to.)

The keyboard measures 12.4 inches (315mm) wide by 4.36 inches (110.8mm) deep, and is 1.54 inches (39.09mm) thick at its thickest point, including the keycaps. This is close to the same size as the Arbiter Studio Polar 65 — one of my favorite 65-percent magnetic switch keyboards, which measures 12.4 x 4.29 x 1.57 inches (315 x 4.29 x 40mm). The Q16 HE 8K weighs slightly more than the Polar 65 at 2.34 pounds (1,060g) versus 2.2 pounds (990g).

The keyboard is made entirely of glossy-coated ceramic, which looks nice as long as you don't touch it. If you're thinking that glossy ceramic keycaps sound like they'd be a nightmare for fingerprints, you are correct — this keyboard attracts fingerprints instantly. I basically had to wipe it down for every single picture, and handle it with white gloves otherwise. Keychron does include a microfiber cleaning cloth in the box, which is good because you'll use it more often than you use the keyboard. I think the color might also play into this — the navy blue is darker and seems like it shows fingerprints more easily.

Also, while the glossy ceramic is definitely a look, I wouldn't necessarily say it's the super-premium look of ceramic that I assume Keychron is going for. The high shine and uniform color was a little underwhelming for me. The keycaps feature a Cherry profile (lower-profile, with sculpted rows), and feel like... well, what you expect something very glossy to feel like: not too different from regular keycaps with a gloss coat. They are very slippery, but the low profile and the sculpted rows helped keep my fingers in place. Still, I'm not sure I love this texture for fast-paced gaming where you're darting between keys.

The back of the keyboard looks about like what you'd expect — four rubber strips for keeping the board in place, and... not much else. Like many enthusiast keyboards, it's on the heavier side, so it doesn't come with flip-out feet for adjusting the angle. There's a USB-C port at the top center, with a PC/Mac switch for switching between modes next to it.

In the box, the Q16 HE Pro comes with a few accessories: a 5-foot (1.5m) braided USB-C to USB-C cable, a USB-C to USB-A adapter, a dual keycap/switch puller, a screwdriver, extra screws and feet, the alternate Mac OS keycaps, and a microfiber cleaning cloth.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Q16 HE 8K

The Q16 HE 8K comes with Keychron's "Ultra-fast" Lime magnetic switches, which are pre-lubed linear switches with a starting force of 30g and an ending force of 55g and an actuation range of 0.1 - 3.35mm. The keyboard features a hot-swappable PCB, so you can swap in your own switches, though, like most magnetic switch keyboards, you can only use other magnetic switches — and Keychron warns that it's not compatible with Gateron, Jade, or other magnetic switches. So that leaves you... with Keychron's magnetic switches? Let's just say that you probably shouldn't consider this board if you hate the sound of the switches it comes with.

Typing on the Q16 HE 8K is... well, let's just say it wasn't my favorite typing experience. Now, I'll point out that I haven't tried a lot of ceramic keycaps — and I haven't tested any for longer than a quick feel. But I have tested other non-ceramic keycaps and keyboards, and given that the allure of ceramic is supposed to be a better feel and sound, I can confidently say I was not impressed.

As I mentioned earlier, the keycaps don't feel much different from extremely glossy non-ceramic keycaps on the surface. Of course, there aren't a lot of extremely glossy keycaps (because extreme gloss attracts fingerprints, I assume), so I suppose they're somewhat unique-feeling in that sense. I can feel the difference when I'm typing, however — the ceramic keycaps feel a little heavier and thicker.

Keychron describes these keycaps as offering a "uniquely cool and silky-smooth touch, while delivering a clear, resonant sound with every press." And while they are smooth (too smooth), I'm not getting this "clear, resonant sound." They're clacky, but not in a good way — my keypresses are very loud for how hollow and rattly they sound. This is not only the keycaps' fault, of course, and the board does have sound-absorbing foam and a latex bottom pad to tune the acoustic profile, it's... not really working. I just didn't expect this keyboard to be so... noisy — and again, not in a good way.

As for feel, since the keycaps don't feel particularly good (or bad), the only takeaway there is that they're a little too heavy — I'm definitely starting to feel some fatigue, and I write a lot, so that's saying something. The switches, at least, feel good — they're very smooth, stable, and responsive, and the lighter starting actuation is perhaps the main thing that's keeping my fingers from tiring.

As for gaming — the Q16 HE 8K has all the hot gaming features thanks to its magnetic switches — Rapid Trigger, SOCD, dual-actuation, long-press actuation, and adjustable actuation by individual key. It also gets up to an 8,000 Hz polling rate, which you can change using Keychron's web app (Keychron Launcher); it ships with a default polling rate of 1,000 Hz. But there are a lot of magnetic switch gaming keyboards with 8K polling rates out there — some of which are also from Keychron. Switch performance aside, these keycaps are just too slippery for gaming. While I didn't slip and miss keys a crazy number of times, I couldn't help thinking that I wouldn't have missed any if I'd been using regular keycaps.

Features and Software of the Q16 HE 8K

The Q16 HE 8K is configurable with Keychron's web-based software, Keychron Launcher. While I don't love most non-web-based peripheral apps, I also don't love web-based apps — after all, it seems a little ridiculous to have to connect to the internet to remap a couple of keys or switch your polling rate.

That said, Keychron Launcher at least worked smoothly for me, unlike some web-based apps I've used recently. The app has a lot going on, but what you need to know is that this is where you can remap keys, customize the lighting, and adjust various magnetic switch features, such as actuation distance, Rapid Trigger, SOCD, and dual-actuation. You can program up to four layers on the keyboard, though you'll have to figure out which key you're using to switch between them. The keyboard comes with a handful of preset Fn key shortcuts, mostly for configuring the RGB lighting on the board; you'll probably need to set a few of your own, since you're working with fewer keys than most.

The RGB backlighting is moderately bright but the ceramic keycaps are of course not shine-through, so you'll only see the lighting as it filters through the gaps. Keychron includes 22 preset lighting effects that you can cycle through without even using the software. You can also set the keyboard's per-key RGB and layer multiple effects — more than you can do with QMK / VIA (the open-source software many boutique keyboard companies, including Keychron, use for their non-magnetic keyboards), so that's nice.

The Bottom Line

For the world's first all-ceramic keyboard, the Keychron Q16 HE 8K is definitely underwhelming – at least to me. It looks nice if you like the ultra-glossy finish, but you'll need to wipe it down every time you want to look at it. And while I'm not necessarily a connoisseuse of ceramic keycaps, this keyboard didn't sound or feel as good as most of the non-ceramic keyboards I've tested recently. (The Corsair Makr Pro 75, which is also a magnetic board that costs way more than it should, sounded better than this.)

If you're looking for that premium ceramic keycap feel, you unfortunately won't get it here. But if you're looking for a 65-percent magnetic switch gaming keyboard that you can also enjoy typing on, I still love the Arbiter Studio Polar 65.

If you have been a member of the PC hardware world for even a short amount of time, you’ll know HyperX is one of the biggest names out there. The gaming subsidiary of HP is known for making some of the best microphones, headsets, mice, and gaming keyboards, and at a relatively affordable price point. HyperX's Origins line of gaming keyboards is a staple: The keyboards come in several sizes, are excellent for gaming, and often go on sale (so we're often recommending them). The brand debuted the next generation — the HyperX Origins 2 series — at CES 2026, starting with the Origins 2 65 and the Origins 2 1800 (full-size).

We're taking a look at the HyperX Origins 2 65, which is the next-gen update to the HyperX Alloy Origins 65. The Origins 2 65 is, like its predecessor, a 65-percent mechanical gaming keyboard, but it's packed with upgrades: Hot-swappable switch sockets, lightning-fast linear switches, up to an 8,000 Hz polling rate, and a unique o-ring mount design. It's available now, in black, for $119.99.

Specifications

Design

The HyperX Origins 2 65 is, as the name suggests, a 65-percent mechanical keyboard. The Origins 2 features an o-ring mount design (more on that later), per-key RGB, a frosted back polycarbonate case, a hot-swappable PCB with support for 5-pin switches, dampening foam in the case, and a polling rate of up to 8,000 Hz.

The switches — HyperX's Linear Reds — are mechanical and are practically the same as the classic Cherry MX Reds, but utilize a “box-style” construction like you’d see from Kailh. I’ve always been a fan of the box design, as it limits stem wobble and typically features a tighter housing. The switches are very smooth and are rated for 80 million keypresses. But, because this PCB is hot-swappable, you can use any mechanical switch you want — which is what I would personally do, since I’ve always found linear switches to be too light for everyday typing.

As mentioned above, this keyboard features an o-ring mount. What that means is that there's a rubber o-ring sandwiched between the PCB and switch plate — while this might sound obscure to non-mechanical keyboard enthusiasts, it is somewhat common if you dig deeper into the market. The last time I used a mechanical keyboard with an o-ring mount was when I looked at the CannonKeys Bakeneko65. The goal of this mounting style is to provide a more responsive — and less harsh — typing experience. Unfortunately, the Origins 2 65... didn’t give me this feeling. If I'd been blindfolded, I wouldn't have even guessed that the Origins 2 65 was an o-ring mounted mechanical keyboard, because it ultimately feels like any other well-dampened, mechanical, tray-mounted board.

In addition to its attempted ambitious mounting design, HyperX also offers customization in the Origins 2 65 with different-colored cases. You can't pick a color at the beginning (all Origins 2 65 keyboards ship with a translucent smoke gray polycarbonate case), but you can purchase different colors for around $19, which isn't too bad. You can currently choose from royal blue, light pink, and white cases on HyperX's website — all cases are translucent. The cases are easy to swap out, though you pop the keyboard in from the bottom, unlike the custom cases for Drop's CSTM series (which overlay from the top).

If you happen to have a 3D printer, you can also print your own case, as HyperX is kind enough to offer up the source files for free on its Printables page. (If you don't have a 3D printer, check out our list of the best 3D printers.)

Although I rarely use RGB on my keyboards, I kept it enabled while I was testing the Origins 2 65 — because it just looked that good. It's bright and vibrant; there's a setting called confetti — and even though it's just a slow, flickering preset, it looks great combined with the keyboard's shine-through switches and polycarbonate switch plate and keycaps. It made me feel a bit nostalgic for my original Glorious GMMK that I bought about seven years ago, which had a similar lighting effect. You won't have the same nostalgia trip as I did, but you'll find something you like in the lighting options. The Origins 2 65 features the following lighting presets: alternating, solid, swipe, breathing, calming waves, twinkle, confetti (my favorite), sunrise, and surging waves. The lighting is per-key, so you can also adjust each key's lighting individually. The RGB looks very good on this keyboard — it's bright and pretty, and this is accentuated by the shine-through keycaps and switches. However, you can't shuffle between RGB modes on the keyboard itself — you need to do it manually in the Ngenuity software, which is inconvenient (and a bit inexcusable in 2026).

The rest of the HyperX Origins 2’s design is pretty straightforward. On the back it has one set of flip-up feet along with four rubber feet to keep it from slipping around your desk. The USB-C port is located along the top left of the board, and the cable is removable.

Typing and Gaming Experience on the HyperX Origins 2 65

The HyperX Origins 2 65 is attempting to bridge the gap between "best gaming keyboard" and "best typing keyboard," and it doesn't quite succeed — it's much better for gaming than it is for typing. The keyboard comes with a HyperX Linear Reds, which have an actuation force of 40g and a short 1.8mm travel actuation. The keyboard features a hot-swappable PCB and a polling rate of up to 8,000 Hz — and with its compact size, it's perfect for fast-paced gaming.

I’m in the midst of my New Game Plus (NG+) run on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 because it’s easily the best game I have played in recent memory and I want to 100% it with a keyboard this time around, as I used an Xbox controller in my original playthrough.

Because Expedition 33 utilizes a parry and dodge system, you need to be quick, and because of that, I needed a fast keyboard. While I don’t really believe in polling rate, I do believe that lighter switches play a huge role in succeeding in any fast-paced game.

Performance-wise, the HyperX Origins 2 65 did a great job keeping my expedition alive and my in-game deaths were limited to lack of skill — not a shoddy keyboard. I don't know if it's the compact size, the snappy response, the light actuation and short travel, or all of the above, but I loved gaming with the Origins 2 65.

While I thoroughly enjoyed gaming with the HyperX Origins 2 65, I was a bit disappointed by the o-ring mount design. I’m not sure if it’s because CannonKeys made a splash with the Bakeneko by providing an exquisite, bouncy typing experience, but the Origins 2 felt like a tray mount with good noise dampening. In addition, the switches are loud. While I didn't expect a mechanical keyboard enthusiast-tier typing experience, it does feel like HyperX had a lot of potential with the o-ring mounting system and the POM switches... but that just kind of fell flat.

All in all, the gaming experience with the HyperX Origins 2 65 is superb, but the typing experience was subpar at best.

Software

The HyperX Origins 2 65 is supported by the company’s NGENUITY software and I found it to be simple to use and not bloated like some other mechanical keyboard software. NGENUITY actually reminds me a lot of “VIA” which is the open-source key mapping software used by most enthusiast-level mechanical keyboards.

NGENUITY allows you to change lighting effects, re-map keys and record macros. That’s it — and this is good, because I don’t like when keyboard software is bloated with unnecessary features nobody will ever use.

That said, it was cute to see an animated hedgehog appear when I selected the confetti lighting preset.

Bottom Line

The HyperX Origins 2 65 is an interesting mechanical keyboard — it's definitely a gaming keyboard, first and foremost, but its o-ring design suggests the brand is also trying to appeal to keyboard enthusiasts. Unfortunately, that effort falls a little flat — if you're looking for a compact gaming keyboard that will also give you an enthusiast-level typing experience, we suggest the magnetic Arbiter Studio Polar 65 (or you can just go straight to enthusiast with something like the Mode SixtyFive custom keyboard).

I do hope HyperX will go back to the drawing board and refine its o-ring design, because the components are there — it just needs to be implemented better. But despite the ho-hum typing experience and the lack of ability to change the keyboard's RGB presets on the fly, I did enjoy gaming on the HyperX Origins 2 65. It's a compact, customizable board with easy-to-use software, light linear switches, and a snappy 8,000 Hz polling rate. If you're looking for a compact gaming keyboard you can easily personalize, the Origins 2 65 is a solid option.

It's nice to see mainstream gaming companies paying attention to the enthusiast side of peripherals — and some of the best gaming keyboards now are a mix of both — but why are they all so expensive? Corsair followed in Glorious' footsteps last year with the launch of its custom builder and the Makr 75, which started at $140 for a barebones kit and ended up closer to $250 - $300 for a full board, and those weren't even magnetic switches.

Well, now it has magnetic switches (and it comes pre-built).

The Makr Pro 75 is a pre-built wired gaming keyboard with Hall Effect magnetic switches and a premium build. It's the magnetic switch version of Corsair's Makr 75, but while the Makr 75 is a DIY kit, the Makr Pro 75 only comes prebuilt. (It's still upgradable via the Makr 75's modules, however.)

It comes with Corsair's MGX Hyperdrive linear magnetic switches and double-shot PBT keycaps in white, black, and yellow, and it gets up to an 8,000 Hz wired polling rate (which seems to be the hot feature this year). It also features a hot-swappable PCB and a full aluminum case with eight layers of sound dampening. It's a pretty impressive keyboard from a mainstream gaming company, but it's also pretty expensive — $249.99, in one colorway, available now.

Design and Construction of the Makr Pro 75

The Makr Pro 75 is a magnetic wired keyboard with a 75-percent layout. It has alphanumeric keys, a full function row, arrow keys, and a line of navigation keys (Home, PgUp, PgDn, and End) as well as a programmable rotary knob. It features a full aluminum body, a gasket-mounted hot-swappable PCB, and double-shot PBT keycaps, and is designed to be largely customizable.

The Makr Pro 75's aluminum case is fitted together with hex screws. The top plate has a medium-sized bezel with a mild slope, and is finished in a smooth, slightly glittery black. Corsair's text logo is located on a nameplate at the top center, and the brand's ship logo is printed in light silver at the bottom left. The keyboard has a standard 75-percent layout with a programmable rotary knob in the top right corner — which can be swapped out for an LCD module (sold separately). The shine-through, double-shot PBT keycaps come in a nice, clean colorway of white and black with yellow accents.

The keyboard measures approximately 13 inches (330.2 mm) wide by 5.59 inches (142 mm) deep, and is 1.85 inches (47 mm) thick at its thickest point (including the keycaps). This makes it slightly larger than the Asus Azoth X (12.81 x 5.36 x 1.57 inches / 325.42 x 136.16 x 40.5 mm), but it's still a pretty compact keyboard overall. It's also decently hefty, weighing in at 2.83 pounds (1.282 kg).

The back of the board features a geometric design with a round logo plate in the center. It has two removable magnetic "feet" for angling the keyboard toward you as you type, which is a nice touch — most fully aluminum keyboards don't come with any way to adjust the typing angle, as the regular plastic flip-up feet are usually too flimsy. While I would argue that you also don't need to adjust the typing angle on most keyboards, it's still nice to have the option. You'll also find a PC/Mac switch in the upper left corner, which is something we don't really see on keyboards from mainstream gaming companies. It doesn't include any Mac keys, but has Mac legends printed on the sides of the keycaps.

In the box, the Makr Pro 75 comes with several accessories: a 6-foot (1.8m) detachable, braided USB-C to USB-A cable, a dual keycap/switch puller, a screwdriver, a hex key, and extra gaskets and screws.

Specs

Typing & Gaming Experience on the Makr Pro 75

The Makr Pro 75 comes with Corsair's MGX Hyperdrive magnetic switches, which are linear, pre-lubed magnetic switches with an actuation force of 30 - 55 grams and an adjustable actuation point of between 0.1 - 4.0 mm (adjusted in 0.1 mm increments). Like other magnetic switches, they support all the fun gamer-oriented features: dual actuation, Rapid Trigger, and FlashTap (SOCD). They're rated for up to 150 million keystrokes.

Typing on the Makr Pro 75 is a pleasant experience; The switches are smooth and stable, and the keyboard sounds decent out of the box. The board comes with eight layers of sound-dampening in the case and has a rigid FR4 switch plate (for better switch stability, according to Corsair), which gives the keyboard a bright, crisp typing sound. It's not necessarily my favorite, and I prefer something deeper (and louder), but it does sound better than most gaming keyboards.

In terms of comfort, the Makr Pro 75 is OK, but I expected a little better. I think it's the combination of the keycaps (double-shot PBT in an OEM profile — higher profile, sculpted rows) and the switch plate that bothered me. The typing experience on this keyboard is pretty stiff, despite the gasket mount structure. The lack of flex combined with the higher-profile keycaps just felt a little taxing for me (but, of course, I type more than most).

Gaming on the Makr Pro 75 is similar to gaming on any other 75-percent Hall Effect magnetic switch gaming keyboard — you get all the gamer-oriented features such as Rapid Trigger and FlashTap (I'm still not sure if anyone actually uses dual actuation in gaming or anywhere), along with a lightning-fast latency-free 8,000 Hz polling rate, if that's what you're looking for. (And the 75-percent layout leaves you plenty of room to go crazy with your mouse.) I don't love that there doesn't seem to be a way to easily enable a game mode on the keyboard, however — you can lock the Windows key in the device settings in the Web Hub, but that's not exactly a convenient way to do things.

Features and Software of the Makr Pro 75

The Makr Pro 75 is configurable via Corsair's new web-based Web App (it also seems to be at least cursorily recognized by iCUE, but that's it). You can use the Web App to customize the keyboard's RGB lighting and configure its magnetic switch features, including setting actuation point and dual inputs for individual switches, turning on Rapid Trigger, and configuring FlashTap.

You can also remap keys and record macros, configure the rotary knob, and change a handful of device settings, including polling rate. The Makr Pro 75 gets up to an 8,000 Hz wired polling rate (but it ships with a 1,000 Hz polling rate). The Web App also has a section for switch testing and calibration — you'll need to calibrate if you decide to swap out your switches, and it handily lists some of the compatible switches (like most Hall Effect keyboards, the Makr Pro 75 can only accept other magnetic switches).

The Makr Pro 75 is part of Corsair's DIY series; while this keyboard comes prebuilt, it's designed to be upgradeable via Corsair's modules. There are only two upgrade modules — an LCD module that you can swap in for the rotary knob, which has a 1.3-inch color screen that can show system stats (or Corsair logos, I don't know), and a wireless module that adds 2.4 GHz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity.

Of course, while it's nice that there are options to upgrade this keyboard, they're not exactly cost-efficient. The LCD module costs $49.99 and the wireless module costs $79.99, so a wireless, LCD Makr Pro 75 will set you back $380.

The Bottom Line

Corsair's Makr Pro 75 is a well-built magnetic keyboard that looks and feels like a premium, custom board. It offers a nice typing experience — very bright and crisp, if too rigid for me — and its magnetic switches and 8,000 Hz polling rate will appeal to the gamers looking for every advantage. But it doesn't really have gaming features beyond that (it doesn't even have a conveniently-accessible game mode at the moment), and if we look at it as an enthusiast board with magnetic switches, it's just kind of mediocre. Lemokey's L5 HE 8K has magnetic switches and an 8,000 Hz polling rate, and offers a better, more comfortable typing experience — and it's $50 less ($199). The Magger 68 has a smaller layout, but it's a magnetic switch 8,000 Hz polling rate keyboard, and it's on sale for less than $70. The Makr Pro 75 is a solid board, but you can probably do better.

Razer has just refreshed its iconic Huntsman lineup with a new addition, the Huntsman Signature Edition. The company's latest flagship keyboard is $499.99 directly from Razer's website. The highlight feature here is the updated design, featuring a CNC-machined aluminum chassis with a PVD mirror finish on the back. It includes all the customary high-end gaming features you'd expect.

• Check out the Razer Huntsman Signature Edition at Razer

This keyboard still uses the Huntsman V3 Pro platform and just builds upon it with some luxury refinements; most of the upcharge is associated with its construction. We gave the V3 Pro a very positive score, so this should be even better.

You get the same internals —Razer's custom 'Gen 2' optical switches, which enable an insane 8,000 Hz polling rate, but the board is wired-only to enable it.

Since these are analog switches, the board also supports Snap Tap, aka SOCD, which allows you to quickly actuate different keys without ever fully depressing one. It's a borderline cheat code for strafing that's banned in most esports. You get all the other analog goodies like customizable actuation points, rapid trigger, and analog input for emulating dynamic controls on racing games and such.

As you can see in the pictures above, the back is where most of the upgrade lies. The standard V3 Pro wasn't exactly a looker, but this one is fully deserving of the bespoke label. Gone are the cheap-feeling feet and the gaudy text; instead, you get a clean and minimal design that looks more like a custom keyboard's weight. There's a tasteful Razer logo in the middle, but you do lose the dual-stage height adjustment.

The chassis is milled out of 6063 aluminum, both the anodized top and the PVD bottom, which should make the keyboard weigh a lot more. Lastly, the keycaps seem to be the same shinethrough doubleshot PBT that came with the standard V3 Pro. Even though the press material is very monochrome, the board, of course, fully supports RGB, and it's available to buy from February 22, only at Razer.com.

If you weren't sold on the idea of a virtual Stream Deck built into Corsair's Scimitar Elite SE Wireless mouse, what about a physical Stream Deck built into Corsair's latest keyboard? Corsair's new Galleon 100 SD keyboard is a premium mechanical wired keyboard with a built-in Stream Deck. Instead of a numberpad, you get two programmable dials, a (non-touch) screen, and 12 customizable LCD keys. It's not a bad idea — Stream Decks are like macropads on steroids, and what dedicated macro user doesn't want hyper-customizable macro keys built into their keyboard?

Of course, this functionality doesn't come cheap. The Corsair Galleon 100 SD will set you back $350 (that's more than the Asus ROG Azoth X), which isn't too surprising considering Stream Decks cost anywhere from $60 - $250 (not counting the studio version). But the best gaming keyboards start at just over $100, so the Galleon 100 SD needs to be both an excellent gaming keyboard and an excellent Stream Deck to be worth that price tag.

Design and Construction of the Galleon 100 SD

The Galleon 100 SD is a mechanical gaming keyboard with what is technically a TKL layout — alphanumeric keys, function keys, arrow keys, and a full 3 x 3 navigation cluster, and no 10-key numberpad. However, it does have a built-in Stream Deck where the numberpad would normally go. And the Stream Deck does have 12 keys, a screen, and two programmable knobs, and can technically function as a numberpad. So it's... sort of a full-size keyboard? Corsair is calling it full-size, but since I need both my numberpad and my Stream Deck for some things, I beg to differ.

The Galleon 100 SD is a pretty good-looking keyboard, all things considered. It's definitely a gaming keyboard — it's got bright, per-key RGB lighting (that comes with an obnoxiously flashy default setting... and I love flashy RGB, so that's saying something) and a Corsair-branded lightstrip across the top, plus the built-in Stream Deck; it definitely looks like a gaming keyboard, but a premium one. It features an aluminum top case over a plastic bottom case, and the aluminum is finished in a smooth, sparkly matte black with beveled edges and the keyboard's name printed in tastefully small letters along the bottom of the left edge.

The right side of the board is where you'll find the built-in Stream Deck, which consists of two programmable knobs, a 2.5 x 1.25 inch (63.5 x 31.75mm) color screen, and 12 LCD keys arranged in a 3 x 4 grid. I know Corsair says that this keyboard has a 5-inch (127 mm) diagonal screen, and it technically does — the LCD keys are laid over the screen (that's why they're LCD keys). However, the part that functions as a screen only measures approximately 2.75 inches (70 mm) diagonally.

If you have a Stream Deck, this will look somewhat familiar depending on what model you have. The knobs are notched, clickable, and feel great — machined metal with texturing on the sides. They control the screen, which is separated into four parts for different "widgets"; each knob controls the two widgets below it, which you can switch between by pressing the knob for a few seconds. The right knob controls volume by default, while the left knob cycles through your Stream Deck modes (or "pages" of LCD keys).

The LCD keys are similar to those on other Stream Decks — they're the same size as those on the Stream Deck Neo, and they feel about the same. That is to say, they're fine for Stream Deck functionality, but they're a little mushy compared to regular keys. (This is an important distinction, as Corsair is trying to pass this off as a numberpad replacement.)

Along the top of the keyboard, you'll find three USB-C ports. The two ports in the middle are for charging and supplying power to the third, which is a pass-through port. The bottom of the keyboard features four large non-skid rubber feet, as well as two sets of flip-out feet if you want more of an angle while you type. You shouldn't have to worry too much about this keyboard moving around your desk as you type, because it's pretty hefty: It weighs 3.07 pounds (1.392kg), which is heavier than most mainstream gaming keyboards (though nowhere close to some enthusiast boards with full aluminum bodies).

This keyboard is big, but it's not nearly as big as the name Galleon suggests. It measures 17.64 inches (448mm) wide by 6.26 inches (159mm) deep and is 1.65 inches (42mm) thick at its thickest point if you include the knobs. However, the board itself is closer to 0.86 inches (21.8mm) thick at its thickest point without the keycaps. The front of the board is around 0.7 inches (17.8mm) thick, so it's not too high, ergonomically speaking. That said, the Galleon 100 SD does come with its own detachable magnetic wrist rest, which is 17.64 inches (448mm) wide by 3.5 inches (89mm) deep, and 0.83 inches (21mm) thick at its thickest point.

The wrist rest is made of plastic, with soft, leatherette-covered memory foam padding and Corsair's text logo printed vertically down the center. It's not the fanciest wrist rest I've seen — the leatherette seems a little thin, and I suspect it won't last more than a year or so with regular use — but it's sleek and comfortable and it fits the keyboard.

As for other accessories, the Galleon 100 SD comes with just a couple in the box: two 6-foot (1.8m) braided USB-C to USB-A cables and a combination keycap/switch puller.

Spec

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Galleon 100 SD

The Galleon 100 SD is, first and foremost, a keyboard — and it's actually a surprisingly nice one. The board only comes with one switch option: Corsair's MLX Pulse (purple) switches, which are designed to be "thocky and linear." They're pre-lubed, with an actuation force of 45g; they actuate at 2.0mm and have a total travel of 3.6mm. They're nice-feeling linear switches, with smooth, straight keypresses that have no audible or tactile bump, and they do have more of a "thocky" sound when you bottom out than do most linear switches. I'm not the biggest fan of linear switches in general, but I liked typing on these.

The Galleon 100 SD does feature a hot-swappable PCB that accepts both 3- and 5-pin switches, so you can always swap in your own switches if you want to. Of course, while hot-swappability is always a great option to have, I'm not desperate to drop $350 on a keyboard only to have to also swap out the switches — hopefully we'll see Corsair offering the Galleon 100 SD with more than one switch option in the future.

The keyboard comes with double-shot PBT keycaps with shine-through legends. The keycaps feel fine: They have that slightly-textured, matte PBT finish, and seem to be in something close to a Cherry profile (lower profile, sculpted rows). The board features six layers of sound-dampening foam in the case to reduce echoes and case ping, and it's pretty effective. I heard almost no case ping in my testing, and while it's not the best keyboard I've ever listened to, it's pretty impressive for a mainstream gaming keyboard. It's on par with Asus' original ROG Azoth (but, of course, it also costs $100 more... so it should be).

Naturally, the Galleon 100 SD is also great for gaming. The standard TKL layout is all you need for most games these days, and the lower-profile keycaps make it easy to fly across the board. The keyboard also gets up to an 8,000 Hz polling rate (though it ships with a default 1,000 Hz), which you can enable via the Corsair Web Hub, assuming you can get it to work (more on this in a moment). It is a mechanical keyboard — not a magnetic switch keyboard, so it doesn't support RapidTrigger, but you can set up FlashTap (Corsair's version of SOCD).

Features and Software of the Galleon 100 SD

Corsair has recently been abandoning its universal peripheral software iCUE in favor of its new Corsair Web Hub, which is — you guessed it — a web-based app for configuring your peripherals. You can also install the Web Hub on your PC, so you're not dependent on an internet connection just to change your keyboard or mouse settings. I love this idea in theory, but in practice... the Web Hub worked for me about 40% of the time, and that's if I'm being generous.

I managed to get it to connect maybe three of the forty times I tried, and this includes both the online version and the "installed" version. At first, it was a firmware update issue — the Web Hub wouldn't recognize the keyboard until the firmware was updated, but of course, the firmware update was something I needed to install via the Web Hub. It did eventually manage to connect and install the firmware update, but then it refused to connect for no reason after that. Luckily, there wasn't much I wanted to do in the Web Hub, except change the crazy disco of a default RGB setting (which I did quickly, one of the three times it managed to connect). But I suppose if you can get it to connect, you can also reassign keys, set up FlashTap, and change some settings (such as the polling rate).

But Corsair Web Hub is just for the keyboard side. The Stream Deck side is controlled by Elgato's Stream Deck software. (While it's a little inconvenient to have to use two programs to set up one device, I suppose it would be more inconvenient if I had to try to use the Web Hub to set up the Stream Deck side, because then nothing would work.) Elgato's Stream Deck software is much smoother and actually works, and the Stream Deck ecosystem is very robust — which is what you need for something like a Stream Deck. The Elgato Marketplace has all sorts of third-party plugins that will let you control various devices and settings with your Stream Deck, provided you take the time to set it up.

Of course, you don't have to set everything up right away: The Galleon 100 SD comes with a pre-installed profile with several pages of presets for gaming, media, and chatting, so it's pretty useful right out of the box.

The Bottom Line

I like the Galleon 100 SD, because I like Stream Decks (now that I've gotten to know them, anyway), and I'm always a fan of more buttons. But I do miss my numberpad — I use both my numberpad and my (separate) Stream Deck for various things, but even if you're not someone who needs a ton of extra keys, tapping out numbers on LCD keys is absolutely not the same.

But full-size keyboard woes aside, the Galleon 100 SD is a surprisingly solid keyboard. If you're in the market for both a premium gaming keyboard and a Stream Deck of some sort, this is... an option. It's not really a great deal, but $350 is probably around what you'd pay if you bought both separately. (You can grab the Stream Deck+, which has eight LCD keys, four dials, and a touch screen, for around $160 right now.)

Razer just joined the list of peripheral manufacturers that offer browser-based customization of their devices with the beta release of the Razer Synapse Web utility. The company says that its lightweight web app will work directly on Chromium-based browsers like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera, allowing users to customize their Razer Huntsman V3 keyboards online.

This new web app will not replace the traditional Synapse 4 utility and its full menu of customization options. Instead, Razer envisions it as a complement to that app to let Razer customers who only need a quick settings change or are using a locked-down system to tweak their keyboards.

“As the newest layer of Razer’s Synapse ecosystem, Synapse Web brings pro-level control into a modern, web‑native format,” Razer said in its press release. “The Razer Huntsman V3 line of keyboards is the first device line supported at launch, with more to follow as the platform expands. Compatible devices include: Razer Huntsman V3 Pro 8KHz, Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL 8KHz, [and the] Razer Huntsman V3 Pro Mini.”

The company said that the web app was developed with input from its own Team Razer athletes and other esports players that rely on custom tuning to stay at the top of their game. A web-based tool ensures that the most important settings are easily and quickly accessible from a browser, which could be handy in tournament or practice situations where installing apps isn't possible.

Synapse Web also allows users to “view, edit, and save profiles directly to device memory for consistent settings everywhere," which means that not only can one modify their personal Razer hardware to taste, but also that potentially any Razer peripheral could be customized anywhere a browser is available, even if someone's personal device has to remain at home.

Nevertheless, you’d still need to install the Synapse 4 app if you want more advanced customization, like game-specific profiles, using macros, or changing performance settings, and integrating the RGB Chroma effects on multiple Razer products. We’re unsure if Synapse Web will fix the several issues noted in Tom’s Hardware’s worst-to-worst ranking of gaming peripheral apps, but this might even be a welcome move for gamers who have grown tired of Synapse 4’s shenanigans on their PCs.

Old-timers around here will remember the ill-fated Optimus keyboards with LED displays underneath the keys. They were quite ahead of their time, but alas, never widely produced. The advent of streaming and the growing popularity of shortcut pads revitalized the notion, though, and Corsair's Galleon 100 SD combines the best of both worlds.

Describing the Galleon in one sentence is simple: it's a near-full-sized keyboard, except the usual numeric pad is instead an Elgato Stream Deck. The trick here is that it's all one unit, thus obviating the need for separate cabling, configuration utilities, and desk space.

The Galleon's Stream Deck contains 12 keys, each with its own LED display, resting underneath a main 720x1280 screen along with two dials. Each key is fully customizable, and although the Galleon seems targeted at streamers first, the pad can be used with many apps and games, from Spotify to Final Fantasy.

In fact, not only has Corsair posted multiple guides detailing the extensive software controls, but the Galleon also supports plugins from the Elgato Marketplace, so once you have a Galleon, you can sail there right away for customization booty. Notable application-specific plugins include Twitch, YouTube, Discord, OBS Studio, and a multitude of games.

As for the keyboard itself, it's a pretty fancy unit all of its own. It has pre-lubed Corsair MLX pulse linear switches, resting on a gasket-mounted PCB and six layers of sound dampening. The switches are hot-swappable, and you can employ three- or five-pin switches as the board supports both.

All that should provide quite a comfortable and quiet gaming experience, and it's further improved by the 8 KHz polling rate and Flash Tap SOCD. That's Corsair's take on prioritizing the last pressed movement key so that, for example, it's easy to counter-strafe in Counterstrike 2 by pressing the opposite direction without releasing the first.

The Corsair Galleon 100 SD is pricey at $349.99, but it seems like decent value, as a Stream Deck is about $135 all on its own. Corsair says these will ship between January 30 and February 2, essentially two-upping every other potential competitor by actually existing in the market and arriving with an application ecosystem ready to roll.

There are other options, but none quite as solid. The Finalmouse Centerpiece Pro keyboard is similarly priced but only expected to materialize in September, while the Flux keyboard seemingly never went into full production. And although the aforementioned Optimus keyboards from Art Lebedev looked fantastic, very few made their way onto users' desks.

Mechanical keyboard maker Keychron is going all in on wireless with its new Q Ultra series — which will have ZMK (rather than QMK) firmware — launched Monday at CES 2026.

The Q Ultra series will be, according to Keychron, the "first mass-produced ZMK mechanical keyboard series of its kind, offering up to 660 hours of battery life in 8K polling rate in wireless mode."

Yes, you read that correctly — 660 hours of battery life with an 8K polling rate, thanks to the ZMK firmware. ZMK is, like QMK, open source — but it uses a different license (the MIT license), and is developed with wireless keyboards in mind (QMK doesn't natively support any wireless microcontrollers; QMK-based wireless keyboards like Keychron's Q1 HE or the Wobkey Rainy 75 Pro use dual- or hybrid microcontrollers, and still need to be wired for configuration). Anyway, all this to say that ZMK is (much) more power-efficient than QMK, as evidenced by the fact that Keychron's upcoming Q Series will have 660-hour, 8K polling rate battery life.

It's not just the firmware that's improved, of course. The Q Series will also feature Keychron's new Silk POM switches, which the company says is made from a new material that "delivers a richer sound and improved typing feel favored by typing enthusiasts." The keyboards will also have full aluminum bodies with layered acoustic foams and double-gasket structures for improved typing sound and feel, and double-shot PBT keycaps in a KSA profile. You'll be able to get that ultra-high 8K polling rate over both the wireless and wired connections.

The Q Ultra series, launched today, comes in three layouts: the Q6 Ultra (100-percent / full-size), the Q3 Ultra (TKL), and the Q1 Ultra (75-percent). The Q6 Ultra retails for $239.99 and the Q3 and Q1 Ultra both retail for $229.99.

Keychron is also updating its V Series with new V Ultra models, which have the same improvements seen in the Q Ultra series — up to 660 hours of battery life with an 8K polling rate thanks to the ZMK firmware, updated switches to Keychron's Silk POM switches, as well as a new 1MB Flash microcontroller. The V5, V3, and V1 Ultra all have both 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity (and wired), and will be available later this month. The V5 Ultra (96-percent layout) will retail for $119.99, while the V3 Ultra (80-percent TKL layout) and the V1 Ultra (75-percent layout) will both retail for $114.99.

Finally, Keychron also announced a few fancy special edition luxury keyboards that are (literally) rock-solid. The Keychron K2 HE Resin and the Keychron K2 HE Concrete will both launch this Feb. — both are 75-percent layout boards with Hall Effect magnetic switches and 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. And yes, they are made of resin and concrete.

The Q1 HE 8K Marble Version will launch in April 2026, and will feature an 8K polling rate and Hall Effect magnetic switches (also a 75-percent layout), and will be made out of marble. We're not sure if the keycaps will also be made of marble, but my colleague Matt Safford said the keycaps on the concrete board did not feel like normal plastic.

No word on pricing for these, but I'm sure they will not be cheap.

It probably seems like every new gaming keyboard on our list of best gaming keyboards these days has magnetic Hall Effect switches — because, for the most part, they do. But not Turtle Beach's latest addition to its Vulcan II series. The Vulcan II TKL is just a regular old mechanical keyboard that does exactly what you'd expect from the cheaper version of the brand's TKL layout (the Vulcan II TKL Pro does have magnetic HE switches, by the way).

The Vulcan II TKL is a wired mechanical gaming keyboard with a hot-swappable PCB, bright customizable RGB lighting, and smooth, lightweight linear mechanical switches. It looks just like the other keyboards in Turtle Beach's Vulcan II lineup — that is, very pretty if you like lots of light spillage on your keyboard (I do), and the included Titan HS switches are speedy, accurate, and quiet, which some people will love (I didn't). The Vulcan II TKL is available now for $120.

Design and Construction of the Vulcan II TKL

The Vulcan II TKL is a wired keyboard with a TKL (tenkeyless) layout, which means it doesn't have a 10-key numberpad but has everything else — function keys, arrow keys, and navigation keys.

The keyboard is housed in a slim plastic chassis with a brushed aluminum top plate. It comes in only one colorway (black), and is fairly compact, measuring 14.42 inches (366.16mm) wide by 5.41 inches (137.22mm) deep, and is 1.27 inches (32.15mm) thick, including the keycaps (the chassis is much slimmer at 0.65" / 16.6mm at its thickest point). While it's not a particularly hefty keyboard — it weighs 1.29 pounds (584g) — it features a nice, premium-feeling build: the plastic chassis has a beveled edge that sits flush with the aluminum top plate, and everything feels very solid. In the upper-right corner, there's a slim plastic volume knob (clickable), the only "extra" key on the board.

The Vulcan II TKL has T-shaped ABS keycaps with shine-through legends. T-shaped refers to the shape of the keycap viewed from the side — these keycaps are thin, about 0.16 inches (4mm) thick, leaving most of the switch exposed. This allows the keyboard's bright, customizable RGB lighting to shine even brighter, and is kind of Turtle Beach's (or, well, Roccat's) signature aesthetic for the Vulcan line. (In fact, the Vulcan II TKL features basically the exact same aesthetic as the other keyboards in this line, e.g.,

\ the Vulcan II Mini, the Vulcan II, the Vulcan II Max.) The keycaps have smooth, lightly curved tops and a profile similar to an OEM profile — fairly tall, with straight (not sculpted) rows. Luckily, the Vulcan II TKL is compatible with most third-party keycaps (not all keyboards in this lineup are), so you can swap these out whenever you want.

The Vulcan II TKL is a wired keyboard, but it features a detachable USB-C cable, with its port located along the top, on the left side. On the back of the keyboard, you'll find two sets of plastic flip-out feet, as well as four moderately-sized pieces of non-slip rubber pads to keep the keyboard in place during intense gaming sessions. I didn't have any issues with the keyboard slipping around my desk while I was typing or gaming, but I'm not a particularly emotional gamer.

The Vulcan II TKL comes with a handful of accessories in the box: a 6-foot (1.8m) detachable braided USB-C to USB-A cable, a combination keycap and switch puller, and three extra switches.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Vulcan II TKL

The Vulcan II TKL features Turtle Beach's in-house Titan HS (linear) switches, rated for up to 50 million keystrokes, with a 45g actuation force and a 1.8mm actuation distance. Unlike (what seems like) most gaming keyboards on the market right now, these are not Hall Effect switches — they're regular old linear mechanical switches. The keyboard does have a hot-swappable PCB that accepts both 3- and 5-pin mechanical switches, so you have plenty of switch options if you don't like the switches it comes with.

Typing on the Vulcan II TKL is... an interesting experience. Keypresses are lightweight and smooth, with a soft, mushy sound. They don't feel particularly mushy — and I didn't have any issues with accidentally pressing keys while I was typing or gaming, so my general accuracy wasn't affected — but they sound mushy. This seems to be almost entirely the switches — the case isn't very thick, but it does a decent job of absorbing sound, and there's very little case ping.

Perhaps switching out the keycaps would improve the typing experience — I found the Vulcan II TKL's keycaps to be a little too high-profile, especially on such a thin, low-profile chassis. But that's just personal preference, and the keycaps are easy to swap out — though most other keycaps will mean losing all that showy RGB lighting. This board does have a north-facing PCB, so full-sized keycaps will likely reduce the lighting by a lot.

Gaming on the Vulcan II TKL is solid, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend this keyboard for competition. The switches are smooth, and my keypresses were accurate, even if they didn't sound as perfectly crisp as I wanted them to; I didn't have any issues with switching between keys quickly or moving my hand around the board to find different keys. While the switches aren't magnetic and therefore do not support features such as Rapid Trigger, actuation adjustment, or Snap Tap, they actuate quickly (1.8mm), and Turtle Beach has its own software solution to Snap Tap that you can set up with the Swarm II software.

Features and Software of the Vulcan II TKL

The Vulcan II TKL is customizable via Turtle Beach Swarm II, which is the universal peripheral software Turtle Beach inherited when it fully absorbed Roccat. You can use the Swarm II software to remap keys, customize the keyboard's RGB lighting, update firmware, and set up "ReacTap," which is Turtle Beach's answer to Snap Tap / SOCD. It's a software solution that lets you bind two inputs to one key, allowing you to then activate a second key by pressing it without fully releasing the first (like Snap Tap, ReacTap prioritizes the last-pressed input. Also like Snap Tap and other variations of this feature, it might be considered cheating in certain games.

I've never been a big fan of the Swarm II software, but I didn't have any issues with it this time around. There are only two screens for the Vulcan II TKL (remapping and lighting), and remapping is fairly straightforward — the keyboard is equipped with multiple layers you can remap, including a Function layer and an "Easy Shift" layer. Easy Shift is activated by holding down Caps Lock (can be reassigned) and is just another full keyboard layer. You can also turn on ReacTap on the remapping screen — you can set it up yourself with custom keys, but Swarm II also gives you the option of quickly assigning it to A & D (for strafing). The volume knob is unfortunately not remappable.

The lighting options for the Vulcan II TKL are, as always, very pretty — I'm a big fan of the company's default AIMO lighting scheme, which is bright, colorful, and not as mundane as typical spectrum cycle defaults, but there are also a handful of other presets you can choose from, as well as an editor for fully customizing every key.

The Bottom Line

The Vulcan II TKL is a nicely-built compact TKL keyboard featuring the Vulcan II's signature aesthetic — slim chassis, brushed aluminum top plate, T-shaped keycaps, and bright, glowy RGB lighting. It's fully mechanical, equipped with soft, lightweight linear switches (that will at least make your coworkers and roommates happy) and a decently sound-dampened case. It's not a particularly exciting keyboard — it looks just like the other Vulcan II keyboards, but it looks great if you like the look.

It is $120, though — not particularly expensive in general, but a little pricey for a wired keyboard that doesn't have too many extra features. You could spend a little more and pick up something like the Logitech G515, which is lower-profile and wireless (but not as pretty, in my opinion), or you could pick up a magnetic keyboard like Arbiter Studio's Polar 75 Pro, which retails for $165 but is currently on sale for $110.

Iconic mechanical switch manufacturer Cherry is in deep financial trouble, with its debts now exceeding its total equity. Because of this, the company had to hold a general meeting, and it’s now considering selling either its peripherals or its Digital Health & Solutions division to stay afloat, according to a report from Heise Online. It should be noted, though, that Cherry’s keyboard switches fall under the components division, while its peripherals business focuses on actual keyboards and mice. This means that the beloved Cherry MX switches are safe from being taken over by another company, at least for now.

Cherry held the patent for the legendary Cherry MX switches that many mechanical keyboard enthusiasts swear by, but it finally expired in 2014. This led to an explosion of competing switch brands, like Gateron, Kailh, and Outemu, among others, which you can find in the best gaming keyboards. Furthermore, the company has since lagged behind the competition in releasing innovations, with other companies being the first to introduce factory-lubed and Hall-effect switches. Even gaming peripheral companies like Corsair, Logitech, and Razer have introduced their own switches sourced from Cherry’s competitors.

The COVID-19 Pandemic allowed the company to flourish until 2021. But by 2022, its sales had fallen by half to just EUR 41.2 million. Its total turnover recovered in 2023, but the Digital Health & Solutions and components divisions continued to slip. Things have gotten so bad that its Chief Financial Officer, Jurjen Jongma, said that the only way for the company to survive is to sell some of its parts. “Due to the groups low market capitalization and the current share price of Cherry below one euro, it is currently neither possible nor advisable to strengthen the group’s equity in any way other than through strategic mergers & acquisitions options,” said Jongma.

As part of the company’s cost-cutting measures, it has also ended switch production at its headquarters in Auerbach. Instead, it will outsource manufacturing to partners in China and Slovakia. Aside from the potential sales of one of the divisions mentioned above and outsourcing switch production to cheaper locations, the company has also already sold the Active Key division, its hygiene peripheral device business, for 21 million euros, secured extended financing worth 23 million euros, and received support from its majority shareholder, Argand Partners.

Leading action-and webcam brand Insta360 has gifted real gold keycaps to its most valued employees. SCMP reports that this generosity has become something of a tradition in recent years at the Shenzhen, China-based imaging technology firm. On ‘Programmer’s Day’ last month, for example, 21 keycaps were gifted, worth up to $45,000 each.

The firm’s practice of sharing out golden gifts reportedly started around four years ago. This likely coincided with the firm gaining traction and a good reputation for its imaging hardware.

Since that time, and over consecutive ‘Programmer’s Day’ events in China, Insta360 has reportedly given away 55 gold keycaps. It is notable that, as the price of gold has climbed, the monetary value of these keycap gifts has more than doubled since the tradition began.

Established gold culture

Now, a ‘gold culture’ seems to be firmly embedded at Insta360. At a party last year, the SCMP reports that a 50-gram pure gold bar was presented to a competition winner. A recently married couple (both employees) was also gifted a pure gold coin. Moreover, to mark the firm’s 10-year anniversary in July, everyone at the company (including interns) was given a gift box including pure gold stickers.

Thus, it isn’t surprising that the prominent imaging brand has started to become known as the ‘gold factory’ among locals.

Management philosophy

Gold keycaps symbolize that each keystroke is a touch that “turns the stone into gold,” says Insta360 founder Liu Jingkang. The boss explained to the SCMP that the value of gold, in his eyes, comes from its implications of stability and reliance.

This philosophy seems to be going down well with employees and envious folk at other firms. One Insta360 employee is quoted as saying, “I will work harder and fill my whole keyboard with gold keycaps.”

We awarded the Insta360 Link the Best Webcam for Content Creators award in our frequently updated roundup, and please check out the full review. However, there are newer models from the firm on the market now, with AI enhancements.

Mechanical keyboards have become more popular than ever, thanks to TikTok for typing ASMR videos and the support for said peripherals on gaming consoles such as the Xbox and PlayStation 5. That said, there are so many boards featuring different switches, case materials — heck, even cables. But right now, one of the hottest commodities in the best gaming keyboards is the magnetic switch. Companies have been battling for the best Hall Effect keyboard on the market since magnetic switches have become more popular.

Today, we have the new Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 - a 96-percent mechanical keyboard with Hall Effect switches and, most notably, an LCD screen. This isn’t the first time Corsair has used magnetic switches — a couple of years ago, I reviewed their K70 Max RGB and was pleased, overall. However, it's been a couple of years, so it's time to see if this new board is worth a look.

Specs

Design of the Vanguard Pro 96

The Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 is one of Corsair’s many mechanical keyboards, sporting their MGX Hyperdrive Linear switches, Axon hyper-processing technology and a new LCD screen in a 96-percent form factor. The Vanguard is only available in black and has a price tag of $230.

The first thing I noticed on the new Vanguard Pro 96 was its LCD screen. The screen is vibrant and configurable, but it wasn't what I expected when I opened the box. Because we’ve grown accustomed to seeing screens on everything from power supplies to all-in-one liquid coolers, I was surprised to see this screen wasn’t as customizable as I thought it would be. According to Corsair, you can use the screen to display custom animations, images, system specs, and more. However, I could only get photos to display. I did not see an option to display my system specs or custom animations in Corsair's Web Hub.

While the support for gifs is neat, you need to make sure they’re below 500 KB; if they're larger, you'll see a frustrating notice.

I tried about five or so different gifs and could not find one under that size, so I ended up sticking with photos (and I was able to upload a couple of different ones). Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed by the screen. That said, I did receive my review model before release, so Corsair might still be working on improving Web Hub’s compatibility with the Vanguard Pro 96.

The Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 also has a new feature that allows you to control your Elgato Stream Deck with the keyboard. Next to the FN key on the Vanguard Pro 96, there's a key that resembles the Elgato logo. If you press that key, you can then toggle between different Elgato Stream Deck functions, such as mute, record, etc. Don’t worry — if you’re like me, and do not own a Steam Deck, accidentally pressing the key will not change anything. You can also disable it or remap it.

The build quality of the Vanguard Pro 96 is pretty solid. While it is almost entirely plastic, it seems pretty robust, and like it can handle the occasional drop or fist slam during bits of rage in-game. The board sounds good too — inside, you’ll find multiple layers of sound-damping foam to eliminate case and spring ping.

While the Vanguard Pro 96 has a couple of new features, you’re still getting Corsair's AXON technology, which provides you with a polling rate of 8,000 Hz, 20 layers of on-board lighting effects that can be configured, and a keystroke range from 0.1mm to 4mm — which is on par with other high-end magnetic gaming keyboards.

The keycaps are made of double-shot PBT plastic, which is thick and durable and also allows the RGB lighting to shine through. On the left side of the Vanguard Pro 96 are five dedicated macro keys — something I haven’t seen in years. As mechanical keyboards have become more feature-packed, companies have moved away from dedicated macro keys — so I love this. Beside the five macro keys is a gaming mode key, which turns the polling rate down to 1,000 Hz, turns WinLock on, and switches the backlighting to red. This isn’t a new feature, but it's worth pointing out, for any competitive gamers out there.

When I reviewed the Corsair K70 Core RGB, I was surprised by how smooth the switches were out of the box — and I can confirm the MGX Hyperdrive linear switches in the Vanguard Pro 96 are even better than their non-magnetic counterparts. But I'll go into more detail on the switches later in the review.

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Vanguard Pro 96

The Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 arrived in the midst of my Battlefield 4 reboot. Thanks to Microsoft locking me out of my old Xbox account, I'd lost all of my progression, so I had to start at level one on Battlefield 4. The keyboard worked very well for gaming. I didn’t experience any latency issues and I even adjusted the actuation points on keys 1-5 to 1mm so I could swap weapons/gear with less force.

The Vanguard Pro 96 is also a convenient keyboard for everyday use, as it includes a 10-key numberpad. I am a massive advocate for numberpads; I have been using the same Filco Majestouch numberpad for over three years, and I can’t work without it. I will say that since the Vanguard Pro 96 is a 96-percent board, and not a full-size board, it took me a little while to get comfortable with the numberpad as it's a smaller keyboard overall..

The keyboard comes with Corsair’s MGX Hyperdrive linear switches, and I love them. While I was really impressed by Corsair Reds in the K70 Core RGB, you do lose out on the Hall Effect / magnetic switch capabilities with those. Also, the bottom-out isn’t as harsh on the magnetic switches, and the switches are quieter overall. One of the things I dislike about Hall-effect switches is their sound. Because the switches have magnets in them, they can be pretty loud, but the MGX switches sound like any other Cherry clone — which was great and very tolerable.

Keep in mind, I’m only scratching the surface when it comes to this keyboard’s capabilities. The AXON technology, dedicated macro keys, and rotary knob are absolutely worth experimenting with if you are a true gamer or want to set macros to make your day-to-day processes simpler. Like all gaming keyboards, the Vanguard Pro 96's strength is in its customizability.

Software of the Vanguard Pro 96

Unlike the K70 Core RGB, the Vanguard Pro 96 is powered by Corsair’s online Web Hub.

As the name suggests, Web Hub is an online-only software — and I’m not a fan of the idea. I had no issues with iCUE, and I genuinely do not understand why Corsair thought it would be a good idea to make an online-only configuration software for a keyboard as customizable as this one. What if you’re traveling and want to fine-tune the actuation on your WASD keys and don’t have access to WiFi? It seems like an inconvenience to require an internet connection to adjust the keyboard's settings.

Fortunately, Web Hub works fine. I didn’t have any issues with it, but if you buy this keyboard, be sure to update the USB Wired Polling Rate to 8,000 Hz in the device settings because the board will arrive with its polling rate set at 1,000 Hz.

Bottom Line

I really like the Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 overall. While I’m kind of annoyed by the online-only configuration tool, the keyboard makes up for it — it sounds great, and the switches are fast, feel good, and aren't too loud. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of visual capabilities of the built-in LCD screen (while it’s nice to have a picture of my dog, Daphne, on my keyboard... it's not necessarily the most useful feature).

While I like this keyboard, I'm not sure it's worth $230. Sure, the screen, customizability, and generous support for your Stream Deck is cool — but I don’t think it’s $230 cool. Instead, I'd recommend Corsair's K70 Max RGB, which is less than $200 and does just about everything the Vanguard Pro 96 does. If yu're not sold on magnetic switches, I'd also recommend the K70 Core RGB, which is just $70.

A keyboard can make or break the experience of using your PC, so it’s highly recommended that you get a proper one for your workstation or gaming rig. Unfortunately, these peripherals can be pricey, with the best gaming keyboards often costing over $100. Fortunately, we found a budget option just before Amazon Prime Big Deals Day in the $50 SteelSeries Apex 3 TKL — even better, it’s currently on sale at just $16.99 on Woot!, giving you even bigger savings.

• Check out this deal on Woot!

We reviewed the SteelSeries Apex 3 TKL soon after it launched, and it received our Editor’s Choice award. That’s because even though it costs just a little less than $50, it surprisingly punches way above its weight. This keyboard gives budget PC builders a chance to get a decent peripheral, and at 66%, you’re saving even more if you buy it right now.

The Apex 3 TKL isn’t a mechanical keyboard, which will disappoint some enthusiasts. But despite that, it offers a lot for $16.99. You get dedicated media keys, IP32 water resistance, adjustable feet, and a user-friendly app. There’s also an RGB backlight to help you see the keys in the dark (although it isn’t per-key). And if you do not appreciate the racket that more expensive clicky mechanical keyboards make, you’re going to love the Whisper-Quiet membrane switches SteelSeries used on this budget keyboard.

Of course, you’re going to miss out on a few things. For example, it doesn’t come with a detachable USB cable and only supports 24-key rollover. It’s also pretty light, coming in at less than one and a half pounds (639 grams, to be exact) — close to the weight of the 13-inch iPad Air. However, these are trade-offs I’m willing to accept to get a decent gaming keyboard for under $20.

The TKL layout is ideal for budget gamers who also use their PC for productivity tasks. You get large swathes of desktop real estate for swiping your mouse during intense gaming sessions, but you still get all the alphanumeric and navigation keys on it. You’ll only lose the numeric keypad, which some people don’t use anyway, while still retaining the alphanumeric key layout most are accustomed to, minimizing mispresses.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

Google Japan’s Gboard team has designed and open-sourced a revolutionary new keyboard that boldly eschews keys in favor of dials. The so-called Gboard Dial Edition (machine translation) was devised as a novel and intuitive physical keyboard design, influenced by the seminal and decades-trusted rotary telephone input method.

Every year, at the beginning of October, it has become a Japan Gboard team tradition to show that their skills are not merely limited to the realms of the software keyboard for which they are best known. As proof, they showcase an innovative paradigm-shifting physical keyboard and share the maker source files, so enthusiasts can recreate and build from their inspirational designs.

In 2024, the team made a keyboard that was influenced by the Möbius strip. Other outstanding designs, in years prior, included the bending spoon keyboard (using analog pressure control), a Morse-code keyboard (single key), and a linear ruler-like device (for those with a strong x-axis preference).

In that context, the Gboard Dial Edition doesn’t seem so outlandish. Moreover, if you watch the video (closed captions with translation are available), the Gboard team puts forward some arguments for making your own Gboard Dial Edition.

Innovation avoids ever decreasing circles

The Gboard Dial Edition takes the dial input method to new heights, with its main QWERTY dial cutting user response times and input times via the use of concentric rings. Having separate dials for other important key clusters can also scale dial input speeds by allowing for parallel inputs.

Other touted advantages of the Gboard Dial Edition include:

• Reduces the chances of RSI from typing, pressing, and tapping actions
• The keyboard emits a nostalgic, soothing, whirring sound as you turn then let the dials return to position
• The chance of typos is reduced as dialing is a more calming and considered input method than hitting keys
• This fresh design language offers a rounded experience

In the source blog post, the Google team also showcases some interesting colors and finishes for the Gboard Dial Edition. In addition to basic primary colors with white dials, there are samples shown with fabric covers designed to fit in with your home décor.

The rotary phone-era influenced mouse stand is another interesting proposition. The development team suggests this accessory can be used for intuitive video conferencing presence control. Resting your mouse on this stand can put any calls on hold, toggling your video camera and microphone while you take a break.

The self-proclaimed “keyboard dream from the future,” the Norbauer Seneca mechanical keyboard, is one of the most expensive production input devices we have seen. Despite its sky-high price range, spanning $3,600 to $8,090 plus extras, the Seneca is currently out of stock. Moreover, the wait list is a luxury sports car-esque six to nine months, according to the official site.

We first reported on the Seneca back in May 2024, ahead of the First Edition’s touted release schedule. At that time, we summed up this premium keyboard’s design as offering a retro-futuristic electro-capacitive keyboard with purportedly silent stabilizers – at a price. We also deep dived into Ryan Norbauer’s quest to optimize key stabilizers, without any trade-offs. And, of course, we stared slack-jawed at the cost of this thing. Who would have guessed that Norbauer & Co. would end up not being able to keep up with the pace of demand?

Above: Adam Savage of MythBusters fame recently interviewed Ryan Norbauer.

So, to help fill the time while you wait for your Seneca order to be fulfilled, let’s take a look at what your (potentially) high-four-figure outlay gets you. In addition to the underlying keyswitch and stabilizer tech, which is a signature feature of the Seneca, Norbauer doesn’t shy away from the use of premium materials and manufacturing methods.

There are four finish options for the First Edition TKL keyboard, and they are all based on a metal chassis. Three aluminum finishes are available, and these are Oxide Gray, Travertine, and Heatshield. They all look matte and are fingerprint-resistant, providing a solid case for the keyboard mechanism. If you want to push the boat out further, there’s also a raw, uncoated titanium chassis option, with a sandblasted surface.

For keycaps, Norbauer has looked to the aesthetics of the first personal computers, with a slightly sculpted finish, which is also known as MTNU. The material of choice is double-shot PBT, as used on many of the best mechanical keyboards we see in our test labs.

All these material choices and refinements sound appealing, but even at this astronomical price, there seem to be some compromises that might mean the money-is-no-object Norbauer Seneca isn’t for you.

Missing features

Let’s start by considering whether you might like to tilt the keyboard forward a little. Would you type more comfortably by increasing the keyboard rake? Norbauer eschews adjustable feet built into the keyboard, and instead offers a “beautiful teak wood” riser that slots under the keyboard, adding a 3° incline and $290. It is claimed this sliver of wood is "precision CNC machined in South Africa." In terms of woodcraft, CNC may be accurate, but it isn't a premium production method (hello IKEA). Norbauer's keyboard riser is basically a kitchen chopping board with an incline.

As a writer who has been working professionally on PCs and Apple devices since the mid-1990s, I’ve been through a lot of keyboards. However, a fondness for one, which was actually released back in 1990, has stuck with me to the present day. I’m referring to the Apple Extended II mechanical keyboard, also known as the AEKII model M3501. The model you see in the photos is the third I have personally owned.

AEKII details

This substantial 3.75 pounds (1.70 kg) input device is a fulsome sized mechanical keyboard, with F-keys up to F15, a comprehensive set of navigation keys, and a numpad. There’s even a power key to the upper right. Other notable features are its twin quick-keys hanger pegs, which let you overlay shortcut reference sheets around the F-key area. There are two ADB ports (Apple Desktop Bus, a proprietary DIN interface introduced on the Apple IIGS), left and right (so you could plug an ADB mouse either side), and there’s a large elevation slider to its rear, which adjusts the tilt of the keyboard deck by raising an almost full-width rubber tipped foot.

The majority of keycaps are PBT, but the tell-tale touch-smoothed and yellowed space bar uses ABS plastic. These mechanical keyboards came with a variety of Alps switches, which are no longer in production, and are distinctly different from modern alternatives like Cherry MX switches. Modern keyboard aficionados seem to suggest the nearest equivalent switches are made by Matias.

The sample I am currently typing this article on has what I think are the cream/ivory damped switches. Lifting a keycap to see the color stems shows they are kind of off-white, but I can’t be 100% sure if they have darkened from simply being so very old.

DIY is better

For some reason, I sold my previous AEKII, which was in perfect working condition with a genuine ADB cable, and a commercial solution to adapt it to USB. That adaptor was the Griffin Technology iMate Universal ADB to USB Adaptor, complete with its original packaging. Getting just £38 (~$50) for this keyboard, cable, and adaptor bundle in 2017 was a tragedy, as I now see the iMate alone is selling for $90 to $200.

However, the iMate wasn’t as good as the DIY solution that I will take you through. That commercial plug-it-and-forget-it dongle didn’t offer the online configurator you will be able to use if you go ahead and make this homebrew converter yoruself.

Get all the parts together

Before duplicating this project, you will need the following things:

• An Apple ADB keyboard
• A Pro Micro 5V (Arduino compatible), ATmega32U4. Make sure the listing confirms it runs at 5V and 16 MHz.
• An Apple ADB cable, or an SVHS S-Video 4-pin lead, like I used.
• A 1 Kilohm resistor (Brown-Black-Red, we've got a cheat sheet to help.)
• Soldering equipment
• A multimeter

I was lucky enough to get the keyboard you see in an “untested” condition for under £20 posted (~$27), the ATmega32U4 was £7.35 ($9.90), and the SVHS cable was £3.25 ($4.38), delivered. I already had a box of hundreds of different resistors, soldering bits and pieces, and a multimeter.

If you are in the market for some soldering equipment, please check out our extensive best soldering irons buying guide, where we have tested many different models.

Software for firmware and flashing

Getting the software set up and successfully flashed as firmware is my recommended first step. The firmware can be verified after it is flashed, so you know this side of the equation is correct. Then, you can plug in your DIY adaptor to confirm that you’ve soldered everything correctly.

I pondered over a few firmware choices before going with TMK converter firmware, which was successful. Rather than distract you with tales that led down a blind alley, or just veered off in the wrong direction (for me), I'll keep things simple and share what did actually work for my setup.

The winning choice, in my case, for this ADB to USB converter is known as the TMK converter firmware. This firmware seemed more focused on my retro keyboard converter needs than others, and thus felt like a better fit for the project. Some of the notes on the updates in the forum caught my eye, such as “ISO keys should be correctly supported.” TMK offered an online configurator and flasher, too.

One worrying thing about the TMK firmware, for my build, was that the project originator warns against using microcontrollers like the one I had already purchased. "Please don't ask help for problem specific to Pro Micro here," writes TMK project founder Hasu on the above-linked forum.

Nevertheless, after a brief visit to the online TMK Keymap Editor and a couple of mouse prods to adjust key positions, I downloaded my tweaked TMK firmware file (default named unimap.hex, and just 68KB in size) moments later.

Subsequently, I’ve only edited (then reflashed) my TMK firmware once - to change the power key into a shortcut key that launches a calculator. Maybe I'll repurpose some lesser-used keys for media keys later, or add a 'layer' full of such functionality.

Testing the web-based flashing ‘Flash on Web’ for TMK, I haven’t got it to work in any browser. But as I already had the QMK Toolbox, from earlier experimentation, which works very nicely with the ATmega32U4 hardware, that's what I used.

Flashing firmware with QMK Toolbox

QMK Toolbox (run in Administrator mode) can be used to flash new firmware to the ATmega32U4. This connects via Micro-USB, and once you plug it into the PC, you will see a red light as evidence that it is powered up. If this is your first use of the microcontroller, you should be prompted by QMK Toolbox to install the necessary drivers to communicate with the tiny developer board.

Once you see your MCU recognized in the toolbox, go and select your *.HEX file from wherever you saved it. The 'unimap.hex' we saved earlier from TMK’s online configurator will have been saved, by default, in the Downloads folder.

Next, click the Auto-Flash checkbox in the Toolbox UI. You are about to reset your ATmega32U4, so it will be receptive to uploading the selected firmware. While it is still powered and connected to the USB, get a small conductive instrument, perhaps the end of a blade screwdriver, to bridge the PCB holes marked GND and RST.

A brief touch of those two holes, simultaneously, will reset the board and, in the QMK Toolbox window, you will see text scrolling by saying things like “Attempting to flash… Flash complete.” On my PC, this process took just a few seconds.

Using this software, you can also confirm your current firmware by selecting Tools > HID Console from the top menu. This is a good way to check your current firmware is actually what you think it is.

Windows Device Manager also confirms the freshly flashed ATmega32U4 is now recognized as a new keyboard. You will see the extra keyboard entry appear and disappear as you plug and unplug the microcontroller. To be clear, even if you don't have the actual Apple ADB keyboard plugged in at this point, it is still listed as an HID Keyboard Device.

Your ATmega32U4 is now ready for wiring up, another process with plenty of potential wrong turns, pitfalls, and issues. Hopefully we can keep you on the straight and narrow.

Preparing the hardware

Successful wiring of the cut-in-half SVHS lead to the ATmega32U4 took me three attempts. There are several guides out there on blogs, and in forum posts - but the most common pitfall is wiring the Data (labeled ‘3’ on this microcontroller's PCB), 5V (VCC), and Ground (GND) wires in a mirror image to what you actually need. I fell victim to this error, too.

So, I went from rev.1 wiring – just wrong, to rev.2 wiring – unintentionally mirrored, to rev.3 wiring – bingo. Sorry, but my soldering got worse over subsequent revisions – just in case I had to change it all again. But I’m from the school of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” so as rev.3 was functional, without any flakiness, it wasn’t finessed.

Please follow these steps closely if you are using an SVHS lead chopped in two like I did. This will remove any doubts about whether you should be looking at the Male or Female ADB pinout (mirrors of each other) for wiring guidance.

Switch your multimeter into continuity mode (probes touched together will make a beep sound). We are going to connect up the stripped and tinned wires in a mirror of what is suggested in the ‘Build Converter Yourself’ section of the TMK forum, linked above. Instead, follow the diagram below.

So, following my ‘Male’ connector example, and checking your multimeter in continuity mode to confirm which wire is which, your success should be guaranteed. Again, this is as long as you use the same cabling choice and microcontroller as I did.

As a first microcontroller-side soldering step, I tinned the stripped wires to get them ready for soldering. Next, I decided to thread the 1K resistor across the Data (labeled ‘3’ on the PCB) and VCC holes, around the back. A bit of solder got the resistor nicely seated. Then I fluxed and tinned the resistor legs, poking upwards, ready to accept the wires from the cable.

Next, it was a cinch to solder the SVHS cable wires to the Data and VCC points. Lastly, the GND you found on the SVHS cable connects to the GND on the ATmega32U4 PCB to create a common reference to ground. Perhaps check your soldering again now, using your multimeter's continuity function, to make sure all is connected correctly.

If all has gone as planned (and hopefully anyone following this will feel the benefit of my many mistakes) you should be able to use your gloriously vintage AEKII (or other Apple ADB keyboard) with this adaptor on your modern computer.

Now, you are familiar with fiddling with TMK’s online configurator and QMK’s Toolbox for flashing, any subsequent tweaks should be very easy. You can even go and set up oodles of keyboard layers, packing multitudes of media control keys, web navigation keys -- there are lots of other options.

A box for the ugly dongle

Last but not least, somewhat envious of my colleagues with the best budget 3D printers at home, I decided to make a simple wooden receptacle for the ADB to USB adaptor I’d put together.

What you see in the gallery is just a sawn-off bit of old pine that was lying around the garage. I drilled an appropriately sized hole to hide the ATmega32U4 inside. Then, the piece was sanded, stained, and polished.

According to an early Amazon México listing, Logitech is preparing to launch the Signature Slim Solar+, a wireless keyboard in every sense of the word. The Signature Slim Solar+ features a solar panel, providing owners with a battery lasting up to 10 years.

Less sophisticated wireless keyboards utilize AA batteries that can last for several months. Conversely, some of the more advanced models depend on a cable or a wireless charging pad to replenish their batteries. The latest innovation from keyboard manufacturers involves the integration of solar panels. Similar implementations have been observed in products from Lenovo, and Logitech has done this before, too, with the K750 Wireless Solar.

The Signature Slim Solar+ design will look very familiar if you're a Logitech aficionado. The upcoming wireless graphite-colored keyboard resembles an MX Keys S, but it features an additional solar panel above the top row of keys. The narrow solar panel absorbs daylight or artificial light, so you don't have to worry about rainy days. The battery is said to have a lifespan of up to 10 years, according to Logitech. Your mileage will obviously vary, depending on your usage conditions.

Logitech has branded the wireless charging technology as "Logi LightCharge", described (translated from Spanish) as "a charging innovation that combines a light-absorbing strip and a long-lasting, energy-efficient battery." It could just be marketing talk, or Logitech added something extra, but we won't know for sure until the product has launched.

The Signature Slim Solar+, made from 70% recycled plastic, is a full-sized keyboard with a footprint of 15.9 x 5.6 x 8 inches (430.8 x 142.9 x 20.2 mm) and weighs 1.5 pounds (700 g). It's slightly larger than the MX Keys S due to the solar panel, but the Signature Slim Solar+ is up to 14% lighter.

A Japanese company has started selling the My Key Keychain that accepts Cherry MX-compatible switches and keycaps, allowing you to bring your favorite keyboard feel wherever you go. This clear accessory measures approximately 20 x 20 x 12 mm, weighs around 7 grams, and features a 25 mm long chain and carabiner, allowing you to attach it to your bag or keys easily.

You do have to provide your own switch and keycap, though, so you’d need to order a single set if you don’t have extra pieces lying around at home. It’s currently pre-selling on the BTO Shop for JPY 380 (approximately $2.57 at the current exchange rate) per piece or JPY 2,980 (approximately $20.16) for a set of ten.

This keychain is a great way to show off your favorite switch and keycap combination to friends and colleagues, as you don’t have to bring the entire keyboard with you just for them to experience what it’s like to use. Aside from that, you can also use it as a fidget toy — so, whether you love a clicky, tactile keyboard or a creamy, linear one, you can pass the time with your fingers on your favorite typing sensation.

If you want to change its feel, you can use a switch puller to remove the installed switch and replace it with your new favorite one. It will also work great as a unique giveaway, say, for a gamer-themed wedding or birthday party, or a corporate event. Unfortunately, delivery is currently limited to Japan. Therefore, you’ll need to use a shipping forwarder or travel to Japan yourself if you wish to obtain it.

Lifestyle computer peripheral brand, Higround, has launched what it describes as its “most unconventional design” yet. The new BLUR Basecamp 75+ keyboard seeks to recreate a highly stylized retro video game artifact, made real, for your desk (h/t PC Gamer). Don’t be fooled by the potato-mode graphics, though; underneath the hazy and distorted keycap legends, this is a hot-swappable, pre-lubed, dampened, thocky, enthusiast keyboard with customizable RGB.

Coming from a brand which was set up by enthusiasts “unsatisfied with the plain keyboards marketed to us,” Higround is no stranger to strange. The majority of the firm’s prior keyboard designs feature undulating or other abstract etchings atop the keycaps, with the meaningful legends visible on the front face. It looks like there is no such luxury on the BLUR Basecamp 75+, but the character blurring seems to be at the precise level where the glyphs remain distinguishable without too much squinting.

Of course, touch typists and even seasoned hunt-and-peckers only need the occasional glance at their hands, assuming there are finger nubs on the usual F and J home row keys. The keycaps are made from 1.5mm thick PBT with 5-sided dye-sub printing, making them relatively durable.

While the makers mention that the look of this product is inspired by the graphics rendered by Sony’s revolutionary PS1 console, I can also vividly imagine one of the white-coated scientists in Golden Eye on N64 typing on something like this. PC Gamer thought the BLUR Basecamp 75+ looks like something out of Half-Life 1, naturally.

Enough about this input device’s appearance. What do you get under the blurriness? As we mentioned in the introduction, the BLUR Basecamp 75+ build appears to have significant appeal to keyboard aficionados.

Between the black and silver plastic that adorned much of the consumer tech of the 80s and 90s and the aggressive, RGB-everything gamer stylings of the last decade, I'm ready for a change of pace when it comes to my peripherals and PC parts. And while wood accents have become increasingly common, adorning cases like the excellent Lian Li Lancool 217, I can't say I'm tired of the look yet – which is good for Keychron, because the company is all in on the concept. I first tested its white, 75-percent K2 HE Special Edition last summer, and as the heat descends on 2025, I'm busy clacking and gaming away on its larger sibling, the K8 HE Special Edition – this time in black. And while there are some caveats, I still love this design for both its look and the switch / keycap feel.

Design of the Keychron K8 HE Special Edition

Keychron sent us the Special Edition of the K8 HE in black, but the company offers up multiple variants. The Special Edition versions will be offered in black or white ($139), with rounded OSA keycaps that aren't shine-through (limiting the RGB lighting that can escape between the keys). These versions have metal top and bottom frame pieces and solid-wood sides.

And for those who prefer brighter RGB lighting over the wood accents, the K8 HE Standard Edition has shine-through keycaps with an OEM profile, but has what seems to be a more basic and plastic shell for $129. Personally, I feel like the OSA keycaps alone are worth the extra $10, to say nothing of the wood and metal accent panels that make for a more premium feel. But it's always nice to have options – especially when some of those options cost less.

There's still a lot to love with the K8 HE Special Edition, aside from the wood side panels. The rounded OSA keycaps fit the design and feel good – as do the pre-lubed Gateron linear switches (which Keychron is now calling Nebula Linear K8H-F1). And there are more keys and switches here than the smaller model. This 80% layout spreads the F-row out more for a less-cramped feel, and adds a cluster on the right for a more traditional placement of the page up / down keys, as well as insert, delete, home and end. And the arrow keys are also moved to the right, with ample spacing around them, making them easier to find by feel whether you're gaming in the dark or just trying to get the cursor in the right box in Excel.

The key spacing here does have some oddities, though. There's a very noticeable key-shaped gap between the escape and F1 keys in the upper left, and a couple more half-spaces to the left of F5 and the right of F8.

The large space next to the escape key bothered me the most, because it just looks strange on a keyboard that still manages to be one of the prettiest I've ever used. What it also tells me is that there was definitely room for a volume knob on the top row, which is one of the only things I found myself missing on this whole line from Keychron.

Also a limitation on the HE line (and, to be fair, most magnetic-switch keyboards) is the fact that while the keys are hot-swappable, Keychron says it only works with the included purple Gateron switches that come pre-installed. So if you like to try out different switch types, you'll have to look elsewhere. That said, while I've strongly preferred clicky switches for typing since before picking up my first Das Keyboard in 2012, the linear switches here feel very good, to the point that I haven't felt a strong desire to go back to a keyboard with a pronounced tactile bump.

In terms of connectivity, you get 2.4GHz and Bluetooth modes. Wired over USB-C is, of course, also supported. And the company includes a decent braided cable in the box, along with a hex wrench for taking off the wood side panels and a small screwdriver for getting access to the interior of the keyboard.

There are also extra keycaps for Windows or Mac, a keycap / switch puller, and an extender for the RF dongle included. I used the keyboard with the USB-A dongle plugged into one of the ports on my powered USB hub (as well as occasionally over Bluetooth with my laptop) and never had any issues with connectivity.

Two-level flip-up feet on the bottom of the keyboard let you adjust the rear height to your liking. And while I know you generally shouldn't need to raise the angle of the keys while sitting at your desk, I prefer typing with the lower of the two feet levels flipped up, lifting the back of the keyboard up slightly.

The keyboard also has rubber pads to keep it stable on your desk. Its 2.61-pound weight also helps there, without feeling unnecessarily heavy.

As with previous K2 HE, almost all of the physical controls and connections live on the left edge. Here you'll find the USB-C port for charging or wired use, plus two switches – one for Windows, Android, or Mac connectivity, and the other for 2.4GHz, wired, or Bluetooth modes.

Keychron claims that you'll get up to 110 hours of run time with the backlight off, using the 4000 MAh battery. I used the keyboard for work and gaming for over two weeks, with the backlighting on while gaming and off when working, and never had to charge it.

There's also a reset button under the space bar keycap. But in the weeks I used this keyboard (and the months I've used the smaller H2), I never had the need to use the reset switch.

The stabilizers are screw-in and are mounted on the PCB, and they keep the bigger keys from being wobbly. The smaller keys also feel smooth and stable, thanks to the two plastic rails of Gateron's Double-Rail switches, which seem to hold the top of the switch in place horizontally as you press it down.

As noted earlier, I've strongly preferred tactile (usually clicky) switches for typing, but the linear switches that Keychron uses in this keyboard are generally the smoothest I've ever used. In fact, the lubed switches, combined with the sound-dampening foam and stabilizers, deliver a feel and sound that I found myself preferring over the Corsair K65 Plus Wireless — even after I added tactile Holy Panda X switches and improved keycaps to the Corsair keyboard.

Specs

Software for the Keychron K8 HE

Apart from its pleasant switches and gorgeous aesthetics, I also found the software for the K8 HE refreshing. Instead of some bulky, confusing, crash-prone program that's designed to work with 100 products (and generally leads to 100 or so curses), Keychron uses a web app (https://launcher.keychron.com/) for its HE line, which is where you'll assign keys, control the RGB lighting, record macros, and adjust and assign things to the magnetic switches.

I plugged the keyboard into my system with a USB cable, and the process of using the web app worked pretty much as I expected.

You get three locally stored profiles, and you can adjust the switch actuation in 0.1mm increments.The function row has media controls, but there's no knob — and as a result, I often found myself trying to mash the volume down when jumping into a game after playing some music. So just like with the K2, I clicked the tab for media controls and assigned the PgUp / PgDn keys to volume control with a few clicks. There was no need to hit a save button or something similar, and the keys remained mapped to volume control across multiple devices.

There are some limitations, though. At one point I had the idea of trying to map a light press of the PgUp button to volume up and a full press to volume down. But it turns out that while you can pretty easily assign different actions to different actuation levels on the same key, the feature appears to be limited to controls from standard buttons or macros, and doesn't work with media controls.

You can cycle through several patterns via the key lighting key in the upper-right corner of the keyboard, but the web-based Launcher is also where you'll need to go for finer color controls, like choosing between single static colors. Since I've been slowly playing my way through Doom: The Dark Ages, I set the lighting to a pulsing red while gaming, and left it off while working.

Note that, at least on the Special Edition models, the RGB glow is held back by the solid keycaps. If lighting is important to you, you might want to consider the Standard Edition model, which uses shine-through caps to give it a more traditional gaming keyboard look.

Gaming and typing on the Keychron K8 HE

I do a fair bit of PC gaming, but I stick mostly to strategy games and single-player FPS titles like (Doom: The Dark Agees), so I'm not the best person to take full advantage of the K8 HE's magnetic switches. Still, I used the keyboard to pound and slice and shoot my way through a few levels of the latest Doom, and found the K8 again an excellent companion that felt comfortable and familiar. That's likely in part because I've mostly been using the Keychron K2 HE as my daily driver for the past several months.

I also found myself wanting to use the K8 HE for work, even though it doesn't have tactile switches. I've also intermittently been using the 8bitdo Retro Mechanical Keyboard for the last couple of years, and I like its clicky tactile Kailh Box White v2 switches and retro NES-themed shell. But compared to the Keychron K2 HE, it feels more like a kid's toy (which it is, in fairness, designed to mimic), with its creaking and hollow-feeling plastic shell and comparatively bulky frame.

The Keychron also has a retro look, but feels and sounds so much more premium. I'm not sure if it's the operation force of the switch, the pre-lubed components, or the stability of the dual-rail system (probably a combination of all three), but I didn't find myself double-pressing letters like I usually do when I'm typing with linear switches. These are the nicest linear switches I've used for both gaming and typing – Gateron deserves a lot of credit for that feat.

Bottom Line

There are certainly competent keyboards that feel pretty good and cost less than Keychron's K8 HE – some of which can be found on our best budget mechanical keyboards page, and some of those have a knob or a volume wheel, which the K8 HE lacks. But considering its solid, premium feel, pre-lubed magnetic switches, and stunning wood-accented looks, the K8 HE doesn't feel overpriced at $139. It also has pleasing keycaps and a web app for controls that I actually enjoy using. There are certainly higher-priced keyboards (and keyboard kits) that feel less feature-packed than Keychron's offering.

If you like swapping out different switch types, you should stick to a traditional mechanical keyboard. And if you don't like the admittedly odd gaps along the function row of the 80% K8 HE, maybe consider the smaller, 75% K2 HE Special Edition. And if you need a dedicated numpad, the K4 HE delivers the same design and features as the K2 for $5 more than the K8. There's also a 65% model that ditches the Function row altogether, dubbed the K6 HE, despite being the smallest of the bunch.

I'm not sure who is choosing the names for Keychron's HE lineup, but I'm glad there are lots of layout options. Because between the wood-accented looks and the lubed magnetic switches, these are the best keyboards Keychron makes – but they'd still be better with a volume knob.

Atomic Keyboards is on the cusp of launching its MDR Dasher Keyboard on Kickstarter. In April, we reported on this sci-fi thriller-inspired input peripheral remake becoming a limited-edition product. However, it now appears that Atomic Keyboards is targeting a wider audience for its Apple TV+ Severance-inspired device via Kickstarter.

Key points include that the product will be crowdfunded, starting at $599 (a touted $300 discount compared to retail), the product design and components are taking a premium route, and that three swappable layouts will be available to buyers. Units should ship starting in November.

For a brief recap of the MDR Dasher Keyboard from Atomic Keyboards, it is a design inspired by the hit Apple TV+ Severance series. We must also point out that this TV-audience-targeted concoction of technology was itself inspired by the Data General 6053 ‘Dasher’ terminal, an archaic terminal keyboard design from 1977.

Bringing the old to an alternative sci-fi future, and then back a little bit

Atomic Keyboards appears to have undergone several design iterations since we last reported on the MDR Dasher Keyboard. From the Kickstarter blurb and images, it now looks like the product includes three alternative layout options. The Innie Layout, Outie Layout, and Dasher Layout are all very adequately explained by the images below. However, whichever you choose, it will still be a huge presence on your desk.

We aren’t sure at this pre-Kickstarter stage whether every backer will receive all the components necessary for the three layout options shown, although it is hinted that this is the case. Another hint at this flexibility is the price increase since the announcement of the limited edition. Back in April, we saw Atomic tease a crossed-out $399 price, suggesting a lower price. Now the firm is telling sci-fi keyboard aficionados to ‘secure your best price’ with crowdfunding offers starting at $599, which is claimed to be a $300 discount compared to the eventual retail pricing.

Construction and configuration details

The Atomic MDR Dasher Keyboard product page provides additional information about the finished form of the Kickstarter product. The case, which houses the keyboard deck and (optionally) the trackball, is made from fully CNC-machined aerospace-grade aluminum and weighs 7kg. This should provide an undeniably steady platform, characterized by Atomic as “thocky, firm, and deeply satisfying.”

We also learn that the layouts are quickly swappable thanks to a magnetic top sheet. Moreover, it is intriguing to read that “All switch positions are hot-swappable, so you can easily create your custom layout. Just add switches and keycaps, and you’re ready to go.” So that means the three layouts shown are just curated examples. Switch configurations can be set, as well as macros and more, via a simple configurator web app – no software/driver is required.

The trackball, if you choose to use it, offers a 50mm profile with “two CNC-machined custom keycaps paired with MX switches” for clicking duties.

We don’t wish to be critical of this ‘Mysterious & Important’ design, so we hope for the best, but this niche product probably won't make the ranks of the best keyboards here on Tom's Hardware, mainly due to its niche appeal and price. However, it would be pleasing if this initial impression were to be proved wrong.

We loved the original Asus ROG Azoth, and how it introduced keyboard enthusiast features, such as hot-swappable switches and a full switch lubing kit to get gamers started with the custom keyboard side of things — it would probably make our best gaming keyboards list, were it not for the price (and Armoury Crate). But it's two years old, so it's due for an update — Asus did release the Azoth Extreme last summer, but it wasn't really an update so much as it was a premium alternative to the original.

But Asus has updated a few things in its new ROG Azoth X — new switches, keycaps, and accessories, and a very different aesthetic. The ROG Azoth X is a wireless 75-percent keyboard with a small OLED display in the upper right corner.

It features a plastic chassis with an aluminum top plate, double-shot PBT keycaps with three translucent sides for brighter, better backlighting, and your choices of Asus' ROG NX switches in Snow (linear) or Storm (clicky). Like the original Azoth, the Azoth X has a hot-swappable PCB and extra attention paid to case foam and sound-dampening, though it now sports a more interesting aesthetic than the original's boring (but premium-looking) dark-gray-on-darker-gray.

Actually, the Azoth X is very different-looking — it's all white with Asus' "Stellar" theme keycaps, which are white and black with accents in a blue-red gradient. The keycaps also have a sort of retro aesthetic to them, with squared-off tops and a sci-fi inspired font. And I have to say... I don't hate it — it's eye-catching without being way too much. But it does have a very distinct style, and that might not be for everyone.

The Azoth is available now for $299.99.

Design and Construction of the ROG Azoth X

The keyboard features an aluminum top plate painted a smooth, matte white, atop a plastic chassis. It's a little less hefty than the original Azoth — the Azoth X weighs around 2.17 pounds (985.5g), versus the original Azoth's 2.61 pounds (1,186g). (And it's quite a bit lighter than the Azoth Extreme, which weighs 3.22lbs / 1,460.5g.)

Still, at just over 2 pounds, the Azoth X is heavier than most 75-percent boards from mainstream gaming companies — the Razer BlackWidow V4 75%, for example, weighs 1.8 pounds (815g), while the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless weighs 1.65 pounds (747g).

The Azoth X is fairly compact, measuring 12.81 inches (325.42mm) wide by 5.36 inches (136.16mm) deep, which is basically the exact same size as the original Azoth.

The keyboard is 1.57 inches (40.5mm) high at its thickest point (including keycaps), with the front edge measuring 0.56 inches (14.2mm) high. It comes with a rubber wrist rest that measures 12.81 inches (325.42mm) wide by 3.54 inches (90mm) deep, making the entire setup 8.92 inches (226.6mm) deep.

The Azoth X looks pretty different from both the original Azoth and the Azoth Extreme. It's the same size as the original Azoth, but that's basically where the aesthetic similarities stop — the Azoth X is entirely white, with silver hardware and a shiny, mirrored OLED screen in the upper right corner.

The keyboard features dye-sublimated double-shot PBT keycaps with three translucent sides — the sides facing away from you — for better RGB lighting shinethrough. The keycaps themselves are white and black, with blue, red, and purple accents. They have primary legends printed on the tops and secondary legends printed on the side that faces you.

The original Azoth impressed us with its minimalist, understated design, and by comparison the Azoth X is much more... in your face. But I like it — the muted gray and black of the original Azoth did make it look expensive, but it also made it look almost exactly like every other high-end gaming keyboard trying to dial back the gamer aesthetic.

The Azoth X is bright, different, and interesting to look at, but it doesn't aggressively scream "gaming keyboard." The keycaps' theme and retro styling make it look more like an enthusiast board, though the bright RGB backlighting still gives it plenty of gamer flare.

The Azoth X has a small grayscale OLED screen in the upper right corner, which is about the same as the screen on the original Azoth — a 2-inch grayscale animated OLED that measures 2.28 x 0.83 inches (58 x 21mm) and is controlled by a three-way control knob and button combo.

Pressing the button switches between modes — media control (volume), media control (track), brightness adjustment (backlighting), lighting effect, and brightness adjustment (OLED display), and the knob adjusts the settings. You can also adjust the keyboard's backlight brightness and effect using Fn shortcuts (Fn + arrow keys).

The back of the keyboard is plastic, with four rubber strips to hold it in place on your desk and two levels of plastic flip-out feet. There's a power switch that lets you toggle between wireless connections along the top right, next to a place to store the keyboard's 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle. The USB-C charging port is located on the opposite side.

The keyboard comes with a handful of accessories in the box, though not quite the original Azoth's full lubing kit/station. On the connectivity side, there's a 6-foot (1.8m) braided USB-C to USB-A cable and a USB extender for the keyboard's 2.4GHz wireless USB-C dongle.

The keyboard is hot-swappable, so it also comes with a switch puller and a keycap puller and three extra switches, plus an alternate Ctrl keycap for the right Ctrl key, which functions out of the box as a Copilot key.

Like the Azoth Extreme, the Azoth X also comes with a wrist rest — which is, arguably, a more useful accessory than a lubing kit. The Azoth X's wrist rest is white and made of silicon with a soft-touch finish, and features the iconic ROG eye logo debossed on the right side.

It fits perfectly up against the keyboard, and while it's not plush or padded, it provides solid, firm support for your wrists and palms while typing (and it's pretty comfortable, too). I did complain about silicon looking less-than-premium when we saw a similar wrist rest with the Azoth Extreme, but the Azoth X isn't a $500 keyboard (the Azoth X's wrist rest is just silicon, not silicon and metal, like the Azoth Extreme's).

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the ROG Azoth X

The ROG Azoth X comes with Asus' house-brand NX switches in either linear (NX Snow V2) or clicky (NX Storm V2). Like the other keyboards in the Azoth lineup, it features a hot-swappable PCB and comes with a keycap/switch puller, as well as three extra switches, to get you started.

The NX Snow V2 switches are Asus' second-gen "refined linear" switches, and feel like... well, slightly-refined linear switches. They feature a smooth, straight linear press with no audible click or tactile bump, and they feel very good — they're pre-lubed and very consistent.

The Azoth X has a gasket-mounted design for flex, and an FR4 positioning plate — which is slightly stiffer than I prefer, but does offer a bright, crisp "pop" sound when you bottom out. The case features five layers of sound-dampening material (one layer of silicone and four layers of PORON foam), for what Asus calls "sublime" acoustics.

The acoustics are good, but I wouldn't call them sublime. While there's very little case ping, the space bar has a loud, deadening "thunk" that's inconsistent with the other keys. This is because the space bar has been packed with silicone to prevent it from sounding hollow and rattly — and it doesn't, but it is instead much louder than the rest of the keys. I ended up swapping it with a regular space bar, and it sounds much better — it rattles a little, but it's much better than the thunking. (Swapping out the space bar isn't an ideal solution, as it disrupts the whole "themed keycap" aesthetic, but it's an easy one.)

As for the keycaps themselves, they have flat, square tops and a smooth, slightly matte finish. They have a Cherry profile, which means they're lower-profile than OEM keycaps and have sculpted rows.

I have no complaints about the Azoth X's keycaps — they were comfortable enough but didn't otherwise stand out. They are double-shot PCB, at least, so they should last longer than the typical ABS keycaps found on most mainstream gaming keyboards.

Typing on the Azoth X is both comfortable and pleasant, and it's especially impressive compared to other mainstream gaming keyboards. It also sounds good, though the sound is brighter and more on the "pop" side, rather than the "thock" side.

If you're looking for a gaming keyboard that really does have a sublime typing experience with linear switches, I'd suggest the Arbiter Studio Polar 75 Pro or the Meletrix Boog75 (though the latter is more for typing than it is for gaming).

Features and Software of the ROG Azoth X

The Azoth X is configurable using Asus' Armoury Crate software, which is — as you probably know by now — my least favorite peripheral software. However, this time there's a twist, because the Azoth X now comes supporting Asus' new web-based Armoury Crate, which is, well... entirely online. That means you don't have to download the awful bloatware that is Armoury Crate just to customize your keyboard — supposedly.

At the time of this writing, I was unable to find the web-based Armoury Crate at the link Asus provided, so I attempted to take the Azoth X for a spin in the regular, software-based Armoury Crate.

Of course, I was required to update the firmware twice, for some reason, and restart my computer, before I could use Armoury Crate. Once I was in, it offered the standard functionality of key remapping, customizing the control knob and the OLED screen — you can upload your own pictures, including GIFs, to display on the screen (or you can turn it off, to save battery life) — changing the lighting, and checking battery life and adjusting power settings.

It also lets you set up "Speed Tap," which is basically snap tap or SOCD ("Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions"). This is a gaming feature that prioritizes the most recent input between two keys and releases the earlier one so you can switch directions / strafe quickly in games like Counter-Strike 2. It's a pretty controversial feature, as many consider it to be cheating.

The original ROG Azoth has backlighting, but it's not particularly visible, as the original Azoth also has solid, non-shinethrough keycaps. The Azoth X, however, has semi-translucent keycaps — or, well, keycaps that are translucent on three sides, for a much more satisfying backlighting effect. You can adjust the keyboard's backlighting on the keyboard itself, using Fn shortcuts, on the OLED screen, using the multi-function knob/button, or in Armoury Crate.

The Azoth X has three forms of connectivity — 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth (up to three devices simultaneously), and wired (USB-C). It boasts an impressive battery life akin to its predecessors — up to 1,600 hours with the backlighting and OLED screen turned off, over a standard 2.4GHz wireless connection.

Asus says that it can also get up to an 8,000 Hz polling rate with the ROG polling rate booster... but it doesn't come with an ROG polling rate booster, so you'll have to buy that separately (not that anyone really needs a keyboard with an 8,000 Hz polling rate).

The Bottom Line

The ROG Azoth X is an interesting update to the Azoth and the Azoth Extreme — it goes in a very different aesthetic direction, but it's one that gamers might appreciate, with better-looking RGB backlighting and an overall theme that's... gamer-adjacent. It offers a much better typing experience than most mainstream gaming keyboards, and features a hot-swappable PCB for those who want to experiment with the enthusiast side of things.

Still, the typing experience isn't quite as "sublime" as one you'll get from a more enthusiast keyboard (or something that's just on that side of the line, such as the Meletrix Boog75), so keep that context in mind. And perhaps I'm the only one who hated the thunky space bar, but that inconsistency was enough to remind me that this is still a gaming keyboard and not an enthusiast keyboard — even if Asus is trying very hard to pass it off as one. It's also a whopping $300, which is $50 more than the original Azoth (and only $200 less than the Azoth Extreme). If you're looking at keyboards in the $300 range, an enthusiast board such as the Mode Loop TKL (2024) offers a much better.

If you're looking for a low-profile wireless gaming keyboard, you might still be looking — there aren't too many on the market, as "gaming" usually suggests a focus on performance, while "low-profile" usually suggests compromising performance for convenience and portability. But there are a few low-profile gaming keyboards out there, such as Logitech's G915 — which found its way onto our list of best wireless gaming keyboards several times over the years since it first launched in 2019.

Needless to say, it's time for an update — but Logitech knows better than to fix what isn't broken. So, it's not too surprising that the new Logitech G915 X TKL looks almost identical to the original G915 — right down to the wrapped aluminum top plate, dedicated connectivity, game mode, lighting, and media buttons, and light-up "G" logo in the upper left corner. But there are changes that you can't see on the surface — namely, Logitech's new low-profile switches (in linear, tactile, or clicky), which have been refined for more stable keypresses and compatibility with third-party keycaps. The new board also sports decent battery life (if you turn off the RGB backlighting), tri-mode wireless connectivity, and a slightly more solid (and heftier) case build.

The G915 X series includes both a full-size and a TKL option — we're taking a look at the TKL version, which comes in black and white and was priced at $199.99 when it launched in Sept. 2024, but now appears to have increased in price to $229.99.

Design and Construction of the G915 X TKL

The G915 X TKL is a wireless low-profile gaming keyboard with a tenkeyless (TKL) layout. This means it has a full function row, arrow keys, and a navigation cluster, but no 10-key numberpad.

The keyboard is sleek, as in slim, but it sports a pretty roomy layout, with space between the function keys and dedicated connectivity buttons and media keys located along the top. It comes in two colorways — white, which has a silver brushed-aluminum top plate and white keys with shine-through legends; and black, which has a gunmetal gray brushed-aluminum top plate and black keycaps with shinethrough legends.

The G915 X TKL looks a lot like its predecessor, the G915 TKL. The keyboard sports the same brushed-aluminum top plate — though it's now slightly thicker (1.5mm vs 1.2mm) for (slightly) more structural strength and a more premium typing experience.

The brushed-aluminum top plate wraps around the sides, giving the keyboard unique, rounded edges. It features Logitech's "G" logo — backlit, as this is the flagship lineup of Logitech's low-profile gaming keyboards, after all — and eight round, backlit, soft-touch buttons. The first two buttons are for switching between 2.4GHz "Lightspeed" wireless and Bluetooth connections — like the G515 Lightspeed TKL, the G915 X TKL can only connect to one Bluetooth device at a time, so you can really only switch quickly between two devices. (Still, that's probably all you need — how many Bluetooth devices do you need to type on at once?)

The next button turns on Game Mode, which you can set up in Logitech's G Hub software, and the last button in that cluster adjusts the brightness of the backlighting (or turns it off completely). The next four-button cluster is just media keys, and is pretty self-explanatory: rewind, play/pause, fast forward, and mute.

There's also a wide metal volume roller, which has light striations for grip and a smooth (not notched) roll. The media keys and volume roller are remappable; the connectivity/game mode/lighting buttons are not. If you're the kind of person who uses dedicated media keys and likes to switch between connections or in and out of Game Mode quickly, the G915 X TKL lays it all out there for you. But if you're like me, who almost never uses dedicated media keys or switches away from her PC, this does seem like a waste of space.

The G915 X TKL is a slim but moderate-sized keyboard. It measures 15.2 inches (368mm) wide by 5.91 inches (150mm) deep, and is 0.88 inches (22.6mm) thick at its thickest point, including keycaps.

It has the exact same dimensions as its predecessor, the G915 TKL, though the new G915 X TKL is slightly heavier at 1.9 pounds (860g), vs the original's 1.8 pounds (810g). It's surprisingly heavy for how slim it is, and the weight makes it feel like a solid, well-built board.

The keyboard may not be the most compact low-profile keyboard, but the roomier layout makes for a more comfortable typing experience — the Fn keys are spaced (in groups of four), which makes it easier to touch-type Fn shortcuts without looking at the keyboard, and the arrow keys and navigation cluster are not right up next to the alphanumeric keys.

This might not seem like a big deal, but trust me — it's much easier to switch to a roomy layout like this than it is to switch to something ultra-compact, like the perfectly-fit-together Nuphy Air75 V2.

On the back of the keyboard, you'll find four strips of anti-slip rubber and two sets of flip-out feet, which set the typing angle to 4 degrees or 8 degrees. There's also a convenient slot for storing the 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle, which is always handy on a keyboard that's sized for travel like the G915 X TKL is.

In the box, the G915 X TKL comes with a 5.9-foot (1.8m) USB-A to USB-C charging cable, a USB extender, and a 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the G915 X TKL

The G915 X TKL now features Logitech's new, redesigned low-profile switches in linear, tactile, or clicky. They're the same switches we saw in the Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL — low-profile with a POM cross-style stem for a more stable keypress, a better typing experience, and compatibility with third-party keycaps.

Our review unit came with linear switches, which have an actuation force of 43g and actuate at 1.3mm (reduced from 1.5mm in the old switches), with a total travel distance of 3.2mm (increased from 2.7mm in the old switches). The switches feature a smooth, consistent keypress with no tactile bump or audible click, and were speedy enough for me to keep up (as much as I normally can, anyway), in fist-person shooters like Counter-Strike 2.

Gamers usually like linear switches for their speed, and I will say that the linear switches' slightly lower actuation force did seem to make a difference here — not one that was noticeable in gaming so much as it was in typing, however. My fingers were flying across the keyboard so quickly that I did initially find myself making quite a few errors, and I blame that on the lighter actuation. The linear switches have the lightest actuation force; the tactile switches have an actuation force of 45g, while the clicky switches have an actuation force of 48g. (All three switch types have the same actuation point and total travel distance.)

The keycaps also likely contributed, at least somewhat, to the learning curve on this keyboard — they're wide and flat, with lightly curved tops and that slightly gritty texture you expect from double-shot PBT keycaps.

The higher-quality double-shot PBT keycaps are definitely appreciated — while the switches have been updated to be compatible with third-party keycaps, that doesn't mean there are tons of low-profile keycaps out there — and regular keycaps won't work on a low-profile switch. The keycaps have shine-through legends, which are crisp and clear and show off the keyboard's bright RGB backlighting perfectly.

The G915 X TKL does suffer from some of the same issues as its cheaper counterpart, the G515 Lightspeed TKL, especially when it comes to sound: this is a pretty rattly keyboard, though Logitech has done a decent job of sound-dampening in the case.

The switches are factory-lubed and feel smooth, but typing on this keyboard will get you a consistent, lightweight rattling from the keycaps every time you press a key down. It's not necessarily an unpleasant sound, but it's not what most keyboard enthusiasts are looking for in a keyboard. The G915 X TKL has an aluminum top plate, so it doesn't get the same plasticky rattle as the G515 Lightspeed TKL did in our testing, but it does occasionally give some mild metallic pings. That said, typing on a low-profile keyboard always involves some sort of compromise.

Features and Software of the G915 X TKL

The G915 X TKL is configurable with G Hub, which is Logitech's universal gaming peripheral software. You can use G Hub to customize the keyboard's lighting (and sync the lighting effects with other Logitech G products you might own), remap keys and buttons, and set up game mode.

Remapping in G Hub is more convoluted than it needs to be, but thanks to Logitech's new "Keycontrol," you can map three layers deep — primary, Fn, and G-Shift. You can also save profiles in the software and on the device itself, and tie profiles to specific apps or games. The media keys and the volume roller are reprogrammable, but the first four buttons (2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, Game Mode, and lighting) are not.

The keyboard features bright, per-key backlighting, which looks great against the shiny, top plate. In G Hub you can customize the color of each key individually, if you want — and this includes the Logitech "G" logo and each of the buttons along the top.

G Hub also comes preloaded with a handful of standard effects — color cycle, breathing, audio visualizer, etc. — and allows you to create and save your own animated lighting effects, which can be layered. You can control the brightness of the backlight directly from the keyboard using the dedicated lighting button.

The G915 X TKL has three forms of connectivity — 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and wired (via USB-C). The first connectivity button toggles between 2.4GHz wireless and wired, while the second button switches to Bluetooth (and can also be held down to enter pairing mode). You can only connect to one Bluetooth device at a time, however, so this is not the keyboard for you if you have multiple phones.

Logitech rates the G915 X TKL's battery life at "up to 1000 hours" over 2.4GHz wireless — but that's with the backlighting off, of course. With the lighting on at full brightness you can expect to get around 42 hours, which is still pretty good — enough to get you through more than a week's worth of pretty heavy usage before you'll need to recharge.

The Bottom Line

If you were looking to replace your G915 TKL with a slightly better G915 TKL, the G915 X TKL is a solid update to the line. It features more versatile switches — though they're not hot-swappable — better battery life, and a solidly-built case — and it's speedy enough, even for competitive gamers. And while the typing experience is a little rattly, it's not bad — once you get used to the lighter-weight switches and flat, smooth keycaps, you'll be typing up a storm on this keyboard without any issues.

There are low-profile keyboards with better typing experiences, but they tend to be mediocre for gaming — the Lofree Edge and the Chilkey ND75 LP both sound and feel great, but aren't great for gaming despite their general specs (N-key rollover, 1,000 Hz polling rate) suggesting they are. While gaming peripheral software often infuriates me, it does happen to have a lot of features that are convenient for, well, gaming — and while G Hub is overcomplicated, it's a decent companion when you're, well, gaming.

Of course, if you're looking for something very similar to the G915 X TKL, just... cheaper, the less premium G515 Lightspeed TKL is the same size and thickness and costs $139.99.

Creator uwo’s lab built the world’s loudest mechanical keyboard live on his Twitch channel, where he adds several noisemakers to liven up the typing experience. You can see in the preview shared on X (formerly Twitter) that he started with a 65% keyboard attached to a breadboard, which is then attached to relays and linear actuators that hit a steel plate. Apparently, the tinkling sound is not enough, so he added a steel tongue drum with two rubber mallets powered by compressed air, which hit the drum with every key press you make.

As for the finale, uwo’s lab wanted to add something special —a heating coil that would activate when you hit a certain typing speed, which gets so hot that it would ignite a short burst of machine-gun firecrackers. Unfortunately, he did not want to reprogram the breadboard, so he manually activated it with a battery. He tried doing it again a second time, but the fuse failed, so he just lit it up with a lighter and then typed while the firecrackers were blowing up.

The Twitch stream to create this doohickey, which, according to uwo’s lab, is below contraption but above thingamajig, took almost five hours, and the result was quite chaotic but fun. Aside from that, the build itself had wires, cables, and pneumatic hoses all over the place, adding to the mayhem, but you can still see the keyboard and the visual and aural pandemonium that happens when he starts typing.

Tom’s Hardware dropped by Royal Kludge’s booth at Computex 2025, where our team explored all the layouts and designs the mechanical keyboard specialist has to offer. We’ve seen several models on display, ranging from a near-full 96% layout to the most compact 60% keyboard. So, whether you like a compact design that gives you a lot of space to move your mouse or prefer the functionality of a Num pad and extra function keys, there’s a suitable RK keyboard for you.

Some of the smallest keyboards on display include a 60% keyboard, which drops all the extra keys (including the function and arrow keys) and only leaves you with the alphanumeric keys. But the keyboard on display replaces the stock keycaps with a unique swirl design, making it an excellent addition to any minimalist workstation. The corresponding keys are still printed on the south side of the keycap, though, so you won’t get lost when typing.

There’s also a 65% keyboard, which is similar to the 60%, but gives you back your arrow and some control keys. The one on display looks like the RK68, but the case includes a built-in strap, making it easy to carry around with you. This makes it the perfect companion for those who love going to LAN parties, as it’s easy to lug around. It also has a unique purple and white theme, making it stand out from the usual all-black or all-white keyboard builds.

We get several more options if we move up one size to 75%, ranging from slim, low-profile builds to models with five extra macro keys, a volume control knob, and even an LCD screen. As usual, you get a myriad of color options — from the usual monochromatic light or dark keys to retro-style beige, red, and brown combinations. Speaking of keycaps, RK also has a unique keycap design on display in a frame. This may not be for everyone, but if you’re tired of the usual plain letters on your keyboard, this will definitely catch your attention.

The biggest keyboard we’ve seen is a 96% layout that smushes the Num pad closer to the main alphanumeric keys. You lose some keys, like Scroll Lock, Pause, Print Screen, and Insert, while some keys become smaller with this design. However, you still mostly retain the full functionality of a full-size keyboard and get a few more inches of space on your desk. It also has a large LCD screen on the upper right corner next to the volume control knob, showing you different information.

Cherry has today announced "a bold new chapter" in its history at Computex 2025, debuting its new IK inductive switch, as well as three new MX mechanical switches, MX Honey, MX Blossom, and MX Falcon. The move heralds Cherry's inaugural inductive switch technology, with promises of no mechanical wear and power use reduction in wireless keyboards.

Starting with the headline, Cherry's new IK is a next-gen analogue switch that uses patented inductive sensing technology. Cherry says this enables true contactless actuation through electromagnetic field detection. Cherry says the result is no mechanical wear, "even after millions of keystrokes. IK also reportedly consumes 50% less power than magnetic switches and only 5% of the power of Hall effect switches, which could drastically improve the battery life of the best wireless keyboards. Cherry IK also features RGB lighting and customizable actuation, and is expected to debut in Fall 2025.

Coming in June 2025, Cherry's MX Honey switch is the company's first silent tactile MX switch, perfect for those who don't want to disturb their office neighbours but still want the tactile response that only the best mechanical keyboards deliver. Featured in the MX2A family, they feature a newly optimized spring and factory-applied premium lubrication. 36-switch consumer kits will also follow at a later date.

The new Cherry MX Blossom is the company's lightest linear mechanical switch ever, apparently, with an actuation force of just 35 cN. This features the same mechanical improvements of the MX2A series mentioned above, and will be available in June 2025, with consumer switch kits "coming soon."

Finally, there's the MX Falcon, which Cherry says is a "community-inspired tactile switch" for heavy typists and enthusiasts, inspired by retro designs and "the crisp snap of typewriters", this one is not for the faint-hearted and definitely not for the office.

It's Cherry's first long-pole stem switch, with a sharper bottom-out and richer sound. Again, this will be available in early June with 36-switch kits coming soon after.

Firebrand Linux creator and kernel maintainer Linus Torvalds has returned to using a mechanical keyboard packing his preferred Cherry MX Blue (clicky, tactile) keyswitches. In a post about the latest Linux 6.15-rc6 on LKML.org (h/t The Register), the developer admitted he had been "using a quieter low-profile keyboard" for the last six months. However, the unnamed 'board has now been consigned to the spare parts bin in favor of an input peripheral boasting a "noisy clackety-clack" character. Perhaps Torvalds just isn't old enough yet for the keyboard warriors' equivalent of a quiet life with pipe and slippers.

Torvalds can't actually remember why he switched to a quieter, low profile keyboard. He isn't based in a shared office space, where a noisy mech keyboard would potentially disturb others, he muses. Nevertheless, he'd decided to give the switch half a year to stick, but has now judged the endeavor to be a failure.

Too many typos

The main reason for his return to the noisy side, other than some emotional preference, appears to be based upon a perceived increase in the amount of typos his prose was afflicted with. "It seems I need the audible (or perhaps tactile) feedback to avoid the typing mistakes that I just kept doing," pondered the Linux creator. Humorously, Torvalds says that he has for the last six months been able to blame the switch of keyboard for his typos. "Anyway, going forward, I will now conveniently blame autocorrect since I can't blame the keyboard," was the punch line.

The choice of keyboard is certainly an individual one, and beyond the basic mass market devices you will find in non-specialist stores there are now significant businesses devoted to custom, esoteric, and even artisan input devices and accessories.

Even if you have got to the stage where you have found your favorite keyswitch from the host of linear, tactile, clicky alternatives and based on different technologies, there remains the question of your favorite keyboard layout and size. That's not to mention all the kinds of extras that now get added to a humble keyboard, such as OLED displays, touchscreens, knobs, wheels, selectors, sliders, and so on.

We recently took a look at Wobkey's Rainy 75 Pro, which sounded great — and cost a mere $139 (or $99 for the Lite version). Wobkey promises its new Crush 80 Reboot Pro is like the Rainy 75 Pro, but better. Specifically, the company says it has a new sound profile that sounds "more firm and crisp," thanks to re-optimized foam layering in the case and additional PCB film "to create a more consistent sound for the wider keys." If that's the case, this might be one of the best mechanical keyboards we've tested.

The Crush 80 Reboot comes in both a Lite version and a Pro version, both of which are available now — the Lite version ($159) has a smaller battery and no RGB lighting, and comes with HMX Frost switches and a PP switch plate. The Pro version ($169) has twice the battery life, RGB back- and side-lighting, and comes with Kailh Cocoa switches and a FR4 switch plate. The Pro version also comes in 10 different colors, while the Lite only comes in silver or black. We reviewed the Pro version.

Design and Construction of the Crush 80 Reboot Pro

The Crush 80 Reboot Pro is a wireless mechanical keyboard with a TKL layout, which means it has a full function row and 3 x 3 navigation cluster (but no numberpad). We've been seeing a lot of 75-percent keyboards lately, so it's nice to see a true TKL (some of us use those navigation keys — albeit, not for navigation). The Crush 80 Reboot Pro comes in 10 colorways: black, white, navy, silver, warm silver, red, blue, pink, purple, and yellow. Our review unit came in "warm silver," which is sort of a very light champagne color, with off-white keycaps and beige and salmon accent keys. It also features a bronze-colored backplate with light decorative texturing and a shiny, mirror-like PVD coating.

The Crush 80 Reboot Pro has a hefty, precision-engineered full CNC aluminum case with a matte, anodized aluminum finish. It features a tiny bevel around the edges and a heartbeat-shaped cutout under the navigation cluster, for the keyboard's RGB lighting to shine through. It's also a toolless case, which means that you don't need any tools to open it — the case is held together with magnetic ball-catch structures (a little more secure than the Drop CSTM80's interchangeable top-plate). To make it even more tinker-friendly, the PCB connects to the battery via magnetic POGO pins instead of a flex cable.

The Crush 80 Reboot Pro's case is moderately compact for a TKL, measuring 14 inches (355mm) wide by 5.43 inches (138mm) deep, and is 1.34 inches (34mm) thick at the back (its thickest point), making it close in size to (but slightly smaller than) the Mode Loop TKL. It measures 0.75 inches (19mm) thick at the front, which isn't too bad but you may still want to use a wrist rest. The keyboard is pretty heavy, however, weighing a whopping 5.25 pounds (2,380g) — nearly a pound heavier than similarly built keyboards, like the Meletrix Boog75 (4.28lbs / 1,941g).

Aside from the heartbeat light, the keyboard is fairly simple — it doesn't even have a rotary knob (which might be a dealbreaker for some). The sides have a stepped design where the case hangs over the battery. This design gives the keyboard a slightly smaller footprint and, more importantly, makes it easy to pick up and move — Glorious' GMMK 3 has a bottom case that flares out slightly and is unnecessarily difficult to pry off of a desk. There's a small strip of RGB lighting under each side.

On the bottom of the Crush 80 Reboot Pro, you'll find four anti-slip rubber feet and the board's decorative keyboard weight with built-in dongle storage. The backplate on our review unit had a shiny, mirrored finish over an interesting stonewash texture; it is certainly pretty to look at (if a little difficult to get good pictures of). In the middle of the backplate there's a magnetic metal door that pops off to reveal storage for the keyboard's 2.4GHz USB-A dongle, which is a nice touch but probably not all that necessary given that this keyboard comes with its own storage case (and also weighs over five pounds — you're probably not going to travel with it all that often).

Speaking of which, the Crush 80 Reboot comes packed in its own protective carrying case — a hard-sided zipped case with Wobkey's logo embossed on the front. Inside the case, you'll find a mesh compartment with the keyboard's accessories, which include a 6-foot (1.8m) braided USB-C to USB-A cable, a keycap and switch puller, extra screws, gaskets, silicone bumpers and feet, and switches, and an alternative aluminum positioning plate, as well as an optional IXPE pad.

The keyboard comes packed in a soft, microfiber cloth bag in a "separate" compartment. While you're probably not going to be doing a lot of traveling with a keyboard that weighs over five pounds, the case is a nice touch — the keyboard compartment is separated from the accessories by a panel, and has velcro straps to keep the board securely in place. The case is pretty large — not really convenient for travel, but it's big enough to keep all of the keyboard's accessories (and more) in one place.

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Crush 80 Reboot Pro

The Crush 80 Reboot Pro comes with Kailh Cocoa switches, which are linear switches with an operating force of 45g and a bottom-out force of 55g, and 3.6mm of total travel. These are the same switches we saw in Wobkey's Rainy 75 Pro, and they felt just as good here as they did there — ultra-smooth and consistent, with a crisp but creamy sound. The switches are factory-lubed and have just the right combination of operating force and travel to make me reconsider my general dislike of linear switches. The keyboard's PCB is also hot-swappable, however, so you can swap in your own mechanical switches if you're looking for something other than Kailh Cocoa switches.

The Crush 80 Reboot Pro has a gasket-mounted flex-cut FR4 switch plate, which makes for a very comfortable typing experience. The thick, double-shot PBT keycaps combined with the Cocoa switches and the FR4 plate gives this keyboard excellent typing acoustics — crisp and firm from the plate material, but also deep and thocky. Wobkey has added additional poron case foam for better sound, as well as extra PCB film for a more consistent sound on wider keys. This appears to work well, as larger keys sounded very consistent, with no hollowness, instability, or rattle. The keycaps have a lower profile with sculpted rows, and the slightly matte texture of double-shot PBT.

This keyboard isn't really built for gaming — it comes with a 2.4GHz wireless receiver, but only offers a 250 Hz polling rate (3ms latency) over that connection. You can get a higher 500 Hz polling rate (2ms latency) over the keyboard's wired connection, but that's still not fast enough to meet the gaming industry standard of 1000 Hz (1ms latency). That's not to say you can't use it for gaming, as it's fine for games where speed is not a maximum priority, but it's not what I'd recommend picking up for first-person shooters or eSports.

Specs

Features and Software of the Crush 80 Reboot Pro

The Crush 80 Reboot Pro is configurable with VIA, which is an open-source QMK-based web app that most custom mechanical keyboards use. It's fairly versatile, but it doesn't have some of the extra features you'll find on custom peripheral software (such as the ability to switch profiles by program/game). You can remap keys up to three layers deep and record and save macros, and Wobkey provides separate JSON files for the board's wireless and wired modes.

The Crush 80 Reboot Pro has a south-facing PCB with aRGB backlighting, as well as "secret side lighting" (downward-facing RGB along the sides of the case). You can control the lighting directly from the keyboard using Fn shortcuts, and each of the keyboard's three "zones" (backlighting, heartbeat cutout, and side lighting) can be controlled individually. You can also control the backlighting (not the heartbeat cutout or the sidelighting) in VIA, but it's not any more in-depth than what you can do on the keyboard — pick from 18 preset effects, and adjust color/brightness/speed.

Wireless and Battery Life of the Crush 80 Reboot Pro

The Crush 80 Reboot Pro offers three forms of connectivity: 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth 5.0, and wired (via USB-C). It comes with its small 2.4GHz wireless dongle stored under a metal plate on the back, which is attached with magnets.

Like the Rainy75, the Crush 80 Reboot Pro's wireless power switch is hidden under its Caps Lock key — you'll need to take the key off to turn the board on and off. This isn't very convenient, and it's sort of unclear if leaving it on affects battery life — the keyboard sports a 7,500 mAh battery, but Wobkey doesn't give any numbers for how long it will last on Bluetooth or 2.4GHz wireless. I've been using the keyboard for about a week off and on, and the battery is down to about halfway (you can check the battery life by pressing Fn + spacebar — the number keys will light up to indicate an estimate of your remaining battery life).

You can switch between connections using Fn + Tab — this is important, because the keyboard doesn't automatically switch to wired mode unless you manually do this after plugging it in, for some reason. The keyboard can pair with up to three Bluetooth devices simultaneously.

The Bottom Line

The Crush 80 Reboot sounds even better than Wobkey's Rainy 75 Pro — which sounded great in our testing — and it's got a great, toolless case that comes in a ton of different colors. At $169, it's priced a little lower than expected, but not so low that it's really budget-friendly. Also, while it's easy to customize yourself, it doesn't come with a lot of customization options aside from color — it lacks a rotary knob or media keys, and it only comes in one switch option.

This is a great keyboard for someone new to the mechanical keyboard hobby — it gives you a great out-of-the-box experience and is relatively easy to customize yourself. But if you already know what you want, you're better off going with a board that offers options, like the Mode Loop TKL. And if you're a gamer, Lemokey's L3 offers extra keys and a rotary knob, while the Meletrix Boog75 and the Arbiter Studio Polar 75 both feature excellent builds and magnetic switches.

Keyboardio is renowned for crafting unique keyboards tailored to enthusiasts, featuring distinct and ergonomic designs. Today, however, we received an email from the company explaining that they will cease taking orders for US customers entirely, starting April 23, 2025. It's not yet clear when US orders will start again, but this is confirmed to be in response to the current tariff situation, particularly on Chinese imports.

On the official website, the team confirms that all items sold to American customers will be heavily taxed starting in May. While the products sold by Keyboardio are designed in the United States, the physical hardware is manufactured in China. All shipments for Keyboardio are processed in Hong Kong, regardless of the customer's location. As a result, all items sold are subject to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. According to Keyboardio, anything expected to arrive after May 1st will be subject to a 20% import tax. Additionally, HK Post will charge a tax of 90% per package or up to $100 for each item within the package.

Another key component to be aware of is the "de minimis" rule. In the past, customers in the US could order things without paying import fees if the purchase was under $800. However, this is changing in May, and Keyboardio expects taxes to hit their products anywhere between 20% and 145%. The team also explained that carriers like DHL are no longer accepting USA-bound packages that rely on clearance from customs, and HK Post is expected to follow suit.

There aren't a ton of low-profile mechanical keyboards on the market — after all, the best mechanical keyboards are about trying to achieve an amazing typing experience, and low-profile keyboards tend to be about compromising said experience for something slim, lightweight, and travel-friendly. But not everyone wants to travel with a paper-thin Apple Magic Keyboard, so it's always nice to see a well-built low-profile board that delivers a fantastic typing experience — and it's even nicer to see one with a sub-$100 price tag.

Chilkey's ND75 LP is the brand's popular ND75 keyboard in low-profile form, and it comes with all the bells and whistles: wireless, with a full-aluminum body, double-shot PBT keycaps, a hot-swappable PCB, and tri-mode wireless connectivity. It even has a little LCD screen that shows you the time, battery life, and various settings like system and Caps Lock (and can, of course, be configured to display a picture or gif of your choosing — because that's important). The ND75 LP is a little heavy to be a travel-friendly low-profile keyboard, but it's nice to have the option of traveling with something that prioritizes typing feel and sound over portability.

The ND75 LP is available now, for $99 (black and white versions) or $105 (color versions).

Design and Construction of the ND75 LP

The ND75 LP is a wireless low-profile mechanical keyboard with a 75-percent layout, which means it has arrow keys and a function row, but no number pad and only a few of the navigation keys (Del, Ins, PgUp, and PgDn).

It also features a small 1-inch screen on the right side, which shows the time, battery life, and connection status by default and can be used to configure some of the keyboard's lighting effects. (You can also, of course, upload an image or gif to play on the screen, but we'll get to that later.)

The ND75 LP is slim and low-profile, but it's also hefty — it weighs a solid 2.88 pounds (1,305g), which is about 4.5 ounces heavier than the Asus ROG Azoth. It is slim, though, measuring just 1.05 inches (26.6mm) thick at the back and 0.37 inches (9.3mm) thick at the front. The keyboard is 12.68 inches (322mm) wide by 5.45 inches (138.5mm) deep, which makes it just slightly larger than the Nuphy Air75 V2 (12.5 x 5.2 x 0.59 inches / 316.4 x 132.5 x 13.5mm) — though it is, of course, 1.5 pounds heavier than the 1.31lb / 598g Air75 V2. It does have a roomier layout than the Air75 V2 — the function keys are separated into clusters of four, and the arrow keys are offset slightly from the alphanumeric keys.

The keyboard is so heavy because it features a fully aluminum case with a decorative keyboard weight on the back. The keyboard comes in six colors, starting at $99 for pure white and jet black (both of which come with black and white keycaps and black keyboard weights on the back). The more colorful options cost an extra $6: lavender, baby blue, silver, and milk tea (a light orange-beige color). These options all come with matching keycaps and silver keyboard weights on the back.

Our review unit came in baby blue, which has white alphanumeric keycaps with light blue printed legends, and light blue accent keys with white printed legends. It's an attractive keyboard, with a finely-machined two-part case, thick, double-shot PBT keycaps, and concentric circles etched on the backplate for style.

The back of the keyboard features four small silicone anti-slip feet in addition to the backplate. The feet fit into the grove on the wrist rest, in the event you want to use the wrist rest as a keyboard stand to adjust the board's typing angle from its standard 6.5 degrees to 10 degrees. This probably isn't necessary, but it's a nice touch, especially for people who shy away from full-aluminum mechanical keyboards because they're concerned about not being able to change the typing angle. It's not the most advanced solution, but it works well enough.

In the box, the ND75 LP comes with a handful of accessories, including a 5-foot rubber USB-C to USB-A cable, a dual keycap/switch puller, and a slim rubber wrist rest. It also comes with a screwdriver, three extra switches, a 2.4-GHz dongle, and the parts you'll need if you want to switch the keyboard's mounting system from gasket-mount to top-mount. The company also includes a replacement flexible flat cable, because you can pretty easily rip the one that connects the screen to the PCB if you yank the top cover off too aggressively.

Speaking of which, the ND75 LP's case is tool-less. The top case is held on magnetically, so all you have to do to open up the keyboard is apply some pressure and pop it off (but not too far off, or that cable will rip). The magnets are fairly strong — I tossed this in my bag and went traveling with it, and not once was I worried the top case might separate or get jostled loose — but it pops off easily enough. (For what it's worth, the flat cable that attaches the screen is pretty long — you'd be unlikely to accidentally rip it unless you just forgot that there was a screen altogether. Once inside, you can switch the keyboard's mounting system using the included accessories, or, well, do whatever else you want before you pop the top back on.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the ND75 LP

The ND75 LP sounds and feels great out of the box — and not just for a budget-friendly, low-profile keyboard. The keyboard features Chilkey's self-developed Aster switches, which are full POM linear switches with a total travel of 3mm — pretty close to the standard switch travel of 3.5 - 4mm.

The switches have an actuation force of 45g with a bottom-out force of 52g, and are rated for up to 50 million keystrokes. They're super smooth, thanks to their pre-lubed full POM construction, and, combined with the premium double-shot PBT keycaps, they sound great. The board also features five layers of sound-dampening material inside, and the plate-mounted stabilizers are well-lubed, so you won't get any hollowness or rattle.

The keycaps have an LSA profile — low-profile, with large, rounded tops that let you slip smoothly between keys while still giving you plenty of room to prevent typos. The rows aren't sculpted, but I'm not sure that would do much on a low-profile keyboard like this, anyway. The keycaps have a smooth, lightly textured finish, and sound and feel premium. The keyboard does have backlighting, but the keycaps aren't shine-through — so, while there's enough light to give you a pretty lightshow, it's not all that useful for actually seeing the keys, if that's important to you.

This is a low-profile keyboard, so it's fairly short in the front (0.37 inches / 9.3mm), but it also comes with a wrist rest... just in case. The wrist rest is small, and can either be used as wrist rest or as a way to angle the back of the keyboard toward you; I'm not sure it's terribly useful either way, but it's a nice inclusion — especially on a budget board — and it has a nice, soft rubbery feel.

The ND75 LP comes with a gasket-mount structure that's flexible enough to be comfortable while still delivering crisp, thocky sound. But if you're looking for even crisper, thockier sound, you might want to switch the board to a top-mount, which you can do by popping the top case off and using the screws Chilkey includes with the board to switch over. It's a surprisingly easy board to tinker with — not that most boards are difficult, but the magnetic top case is a nice touch.

The ND75 LP features N-key rollover and a 1,000 Hz polling rate over both its wired and 2.4-GHz wireless connections, so while it's not necessarily designed for gaming it will absolutely work in a pinch. Its low-profile linear switches are also excellent for gaming, as they're quick and snappy and it's easy to move around the board quickly. The board's 75-percent layout also makes it a great gaming option, as it's not so small you'll be missing keys, but it's also not so large you won't be able to make big mouse swipes on a small desk or table.

Features and Software of the ND75 LP

The ND75 LP is configurable — to some extent — on the board itself using Fn shortcuts and the built-in screen. You can navigate through the screen with Fn + the plus/minus/enter keys, and you can do things like change the keyboard's lighting effects, color, and brightness. You can also switch connections and system types from this screen. Of course, you can also do these things using Fn shortcuts — you don't technically need the screen, it's just a nice thing to be able to look at for confirmation.

As for keymapping, macro recordings, and putting the image or gif of your choice on the keyboard's screen, you'll need to use Chilkey's online configuration software for that. The online software is fairly straightforward:

Connect your keyboard and you can remap keys (two layers), adjust the backlighting, and upload your own picture to the keyboard's screen. There is a macro recorder, but otherwise the software is fairly basic — remapping is limited to keyboard and mouse functions (and macros), and lighting is limited to preset effects. But it does save directly to the board, and you can make up to three configurations.

While you can use the screen to switch between connections, you'll probably just end up using the built-in shortcuts — Fn + Q, W, and E for Bluetooth, FN + R for 2.4Ghz wireless, and Fn + T for wired.

The power switch for wireless connectivity is located under the right shift key, which is a little annoying, especially if you were thinking of traveling with this keyboard. But this is perhaps not the most travel-friendly keyboard — it's fairly heavy and there's no place to store the tiny 2.4GHz wireless dongle, so you'll need to depend on Bluetooth or a wire for connection when you're on the road.

While this shouldn't be too much of an issue, I definitely had some problems with the keyboard's Bluetooth connection — specifically, whenever I connected to another Bluetooth device (such as a mouse or a headset), the board's Bluetooth would disconnect and then be unable to reconnect for some reason.

This was frustrating mostly because I'd forgotten to bring all but one USB cord with me, so when I was trying to charge my other devices I would occasionally find the keyboard was just no longer connected to my laptop, and then I had to decide whether I was going to type on my laptop's built-in keyboard or hope my mouse could work on a 5-minute charge.

On top of that, the board's battery life is not great (especially given its weight). It has two 1,800 mAh batteries, but both the backlighting and the screen will drain those faster. I found the keyboard lasted about one full day of typing (8 - 10 hours), which is... well, not great. It almost makes me wonder if, given the weight and screen, this would have made more sense as a wired-only keyboard (perhaps it would have been cheaper, too).

The Bottom Line

The ND75 LP is a very impressive board for the price — it looks, sounds, and feels like a premium mechanical keyboard, features a customization-friendly magnetic case and hot-swappable PCB, and tri-mode wireless connectivity (sort of) — and it's under $100 (unless you want it in a pretty color, in which case it's $105). Other similar low-profile keyboards looking to deliver a premium typing experience, like the Lofree Edge and the Nuphy Air75 V2 are pricier (though they are lighter weight, thinner, and more travel-friendly) — and don't sound as good.

That said, this isn't the most travel-friendly keyboard, for more reasons than just its weight. The ND75 LP's battery life is mediocre at best; its Bluetooth connectivity leaves something to be desired; and there's nowhere to store the 2.4-GHz dongle. So if you're traveling with it, it'll mostly be a wired keyboard. It's far from the thinnest or lightest low-profile keyboard, and while Chilkey's Aster switches are excellent, they are the only option — it would be nice to see a tactile switch option, for that ultimate typing experience.

Hit sci-fi thriller Severance, on Apple TV+, has inspired a remake of one of the signature keyboards featured in the show. The input peripheral enthusiasts at Atomic Keyboard are now accepting sign-ups for a limited edition Macrodata Refinement (MDR) Dasher Keyboard.

The pictures show various angles of the gorgeous new MDR Dasher Keyboard from Atomic Keyboards. Your eyes are probably immediately drawn to the spacious deck, which actually features a compact layout. Also, the purposeful design, with a trackball and cluster of directional keys nearby, makes this keyboard stand out from the crowd.

In the words of Atomic Keyboards, this largely blue-shaded device “boasts a unique 73-key, 70% layout with no Escape, no Control, and no Options keys (Praise Kier).” That is a reference to the stifling situation in the show and Kier Egan - the revered founder of Lumon Industries, where Severance is set.

Those with an ear to the ground in either sci-fi or keyboard circles, might already be aware that the new Atomic Keyboard effort is set to be a tribute to a tribute. The famed TV show MDR device is thought to be a rework of the Data General 6053 ‘Dasher’ Terminal, an archaic design from back in 1977.

Thankfully, the Atomic Keyboard product will bring some aspects of its influences back up to date. The upcoming limited run will come with a USB Type-C interface and is said to be compatible with Windows, Linux, and MacOS systems.

We aren't sure about the price of the upcoming MDR Dasher Keyboard, or how limited the quantities may be. However, Atomic Keyboards shows a $399 price crossed out, hinting at a price not too far below this figure.

A device purposed for claustrophobic retro office grind

Alternative retro-inspired tech features heavily in Severance, which revolves around the lives of a few workmates in the Macrodata Refinement dept at Lumon Industries. A central quartet of office workers sit across from each other in front of bulbous screened monitors focused on a character-based UI. Terminal users interact with a large matrix of numerals using the keyboard and trackball to narrow down and select data.

We don’t really understand this data refinement role, and we probably aren’t supposed to. It is probably just a visual metaphor for meaningless daily office grind. Meanwhile, the office atmosphere is claustrophobic and authoritarian, with the office workers we get to know not allowed to leave the building with their workaday memories intact.

Apple TV+’s Severance, which is now on season 2, is more fun than we might have made it sound. It brims with key dramatic ingredients like character building, multiple layers of tension, and a general unease at the situation these ‘severed’ minds find themselves in.

Soon, you will be able to own the (unofficial) keyboard hardware. But this niche product probably won't make the ranks of the best keyboards here on Tom's Hardware.

Interestingly, there have also existed signs of the full Terminal on Apple's site. If you search the web for 'Apple Lumon Terminal Pro,' you'll see links for now-deleted product pages on Apple.com.

Gaming keyboards with magnetic Hall Effect switches used to be fairly pricey, but these days you can find one affordably priced right on Amazon — thanks to last year's influx of Wooting-esque boards. Of course, just because something is cheap and accessible doesn't mean it's going to be the best at what it sets out to do.

That's where the iQunix EZ63 comes in. It digs into the details with the intent of being the single most responsive Hall Effect keyboard you can buy today. It's certainly one of the best-built HE keyboards I’ve tested so far, and it backs up its speedy-response claims with measurably lower latency, all while sporting the style the brand has come to be known for. Although responsiveness at the levels the EZ63 and its competitors are aiming for are mostly imperceptible to us mere mortals, it's safe to say that this keyboard delivers a fantastic gaming experience and doesn't leave any performance on the table.

iQunix EZ63 Specs

Design of the iQunix EZ63

The iQunix EZ is available in two different layouts: the standard EZ60, which uses a traditional 60-percent layout; and the EZ63 — what we tested for this review — which has a 60-percent layout plus arrow keys and a dedicated Delete button. Both versions do away with the function row, navigation cluster, and editing cluster, and instead offer full programmability, allowing you to add any of the missing functions as secondary keys using iQunix's online configurator.

This compact layout has benefits for gaming — which is its intended purpose, after all — however, it may prove difficult to use when typing normally if you're not already used to this kind of limited layout. The lack of many keys found on larger and more common layouts can take some getting used to. But for gamers, it allows you more room for large mouse swipes and also lets you keep your hands closer together for improved comfort over time.

The EZ63's layout is a bit easier to get used to thanks to the arrow keys — but, curiously, iQunix did not map many of the missing functions that gamers and typists might want to the secondary layer by default. For example, there is no default mapping for Print Screen, which gamers often use for taking screenshots. Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down are also nowhere to be found. Thankfully, these are easy to add back in if you need them, but it would have been nice to see these functions mapped to the keyboard's secondary layer straight out of the box.

The EZ63's build quality is hard to argue with, however: the keyboard is made out of solid aluminum that has been anodized for brighter colors and increased durability. The keycaps are also excellent — made out of durable PBT plastic and formed with a doubleshot molding process so the legends will never chip or fade.

iQunix's Star Trail switches — built collaboratively with Gateron — are very good, and are second only to Gateron's Magnetic Jade Pros. Both represent the peak in sound and feel for magnetic key switches at the moment, and you don't have to be an enthusiast to notice the improvement. The EZ63 is also available with the Jade Pros, though I suspect that many gamers who also want this keyboard for typing will prefer the Star Trail switches for their slightly heavier touch and greater customizability in actuation points.

The design of the EZ63 is nothing if not interesting — though, like most iQunix keyboards, you'll need to get on board with the theme as well as the design of the case. While it's clearly well-made and definitely has a visual identity that sets it apart from the competition, you'll need to be a fan of gray, white, and blue, and also not have a need for adjustable tilt feet — instead, the aluminum sides have the feet built-in. It's set to a 6.5 degree typing angle, which is right in the middle of the options provided by most gaming keyboards with flippy feet, but you're out of luck if you want something adjustable.

RGB fans will also be pleased to hear that the keyboard supports per-key backlighting. Since the keycaps do not use backlit legends, they're not much help for typing in the dark, but the backlighting does create a nice bed of light. It's not the brightest keyboard lighting — it's still visible in a well-lit room, but it definitely looks best in the dark.

Keyboard enthusiasts will be pleased to hear that the EZ63 incorporates gasket mounting for a quieter, dampened typing experience. Now, it's not an especially soft typing experience by design. Because Hall Effect keyboards are so sensitive and rely on precise measurements of the magnetic flux, flex is something that is best avoided.

The second highlight is that the keyboard doesn't require calibration like most other magnetic keyboards do. Instead, iQunix has developed an automatic tuning system that keeps each key switch calibrated in real-time. It's a small thing but a timesaver and one less thing to worry about when you have Rapid Trigger enabled or multi-action keys.

But, as iQunix itself says on the EZ63’s product page, performance is what matters most. It starts with an 8,000 Hz polling rate. This means that the keyboard is reporting key presses to your PC eight thousand times every second (0.125ms). While that’s not a rare polling rate these days, it pairs that with an internal “scan rate” of 5,000 Hz.

While the two are often conflated, a keyboard’s scan rate is how often its processor scans to see if a key is pressed. A keyboard’s polling rate is how often it reports that to the PC. The internal scan rate directly impacts total latency. Unfortunately, keyboard manufacturers don’t often disclose the scan rates of their keyboards, but it is usually lower than the polling rate. So, a 1,000 Hz polling rate keyboard may only have a 500 Hz scan rate, raising the real world, full-report latency higher than the one millisecond touted on the features list.

With a 5,000 Hz scan rate and an 8,000 Hz polling rate, the EZ63 is able to offer measurably lower latency. In fact, on its Instagram account, iQunix subtly boasted about beating the Wooting 80HE at Wooting’s own booth. Admittedly, only by a single millisecond — so we’re well within the margin of error — but it’s impressive, nonetheless.

The switches also have a role to play. iQunix partnered with Gateron to create the Star Trail switches and they’re an immediate upgrade to the Magnetic Jade Pros that have been so highly lauded. They’re a slightly heavier switch, with a bottom-out force of 60gf, while the Jade Pros are 50gf, so you’re less likely to make typos. You can adjust the actuation point across its entire 4.0 travel, with smaller programmable deadzones at the top and bottom, and you can set trigger distances in impressive 0.05mm distances (most HE keyboards are locked to a full millimeter).They’re incredibly smooth, sound great, and have less wobble, thanks to a rail system that locks the switches to tighter tolerances. They’re also rated for 150 million key presses compared to the "paltry" 100 million of the Jade Pros.

If you're up for a change, the switches are hot-swappable. Just be aware that, like most magnetic keyboards, it is configured only for a small selection based on the magnetic strength of a handful of different switches. As of this writing, you can choose between iQunix Star Trails, Gateron Magnetic Jade Pros, or Gateron Pink Jade Pros.

Look, we’re getting into the weeds here. The fact of the matter is that, with the exception of the feel of the switches themselves, these spec differences aren’t going to be something you can actually feel. They’re paper differences — measurable by machines, but virtually imperceptible when compared against something like the Wooting 80HE. It’s about removing the glass ceiling above your performance and having a pro-grade tool at your fingertips when it’s time to compete.

That isn’t to say that the EZ63 won’t feel better than cheaper Hall Effect keyboards — I definitely noticed a difference between it and my Arbiter Polar 65, and that’s especially true when you factor in some of its software capabilities. Of course, at more than a 40% price increase, I expected nothing less.

That’s why it’s important to consider it as a full package, so let’s move onto the software.

Software for the iQunix EZ63

The iQunix EZ63 does not have downloadable software. Instead, it uses an online configurator that allows you to change the key maps, the actuation settings, rapid trigger, SOCD, and the lighting.

The software is fairly easy to come to grips with — though it is still in development. For example, as of this writing, the opening dialog box isn't in English. This is expected to change in the near future. There also aren't explanations for some of the layer access controls, so you have to have some background knowledge into QMK or VIA.

I was impressed with the amount of options it provided. For example, setting a custom actuation point is easy enough that a complete newcomer should have no problem. On that same screen you can adjust Rapid Trigger settings. It's not groundbreaking, but it is intuitive.

Using the software, you can remap keys across a whopping ten layers. This is more than twice the layers you can map on most of iQunix's other keyboards — and most gaming keyboards in general, excepting those with cloud-based profile saves. Unlike those keyboards, though, all of the layers are stored right in the keyboard's firmware and don't require any software or Internet connection to access. These layers can then be accessed through different methods, such as designating one key to turn a layer on and off or activating a layer just when a certainty is held. There is a dedicated Fn button but you can also choose any other that you would like if it's more convenient. (For example, I use the Caps Lock key so that I can always press it with my pinky and keep my fingers on Home Row.)

Another interesting feature is that you can assign multiple pairs of keys for SOCD. SOCD, sometimes called Snappy Tappy or Snap Tap, allows you to instantly overwrite your last keypress by pressing another one and then resume that keypress when you release it. In practice, this allows you to strafe more rapidly than you would otherwise be able to. Many keyboards limit you to a single pair of keys, such as A and D, so I was pleased to see this expanded functionality.

Wooting still has some additional functions, like full analog controls in gamepad emulation, but it's impressive what iQunix has built into this early version of the software. In time, it's likely that the company will continue to add even more features to make it more competitive in this segment of the keyboard space. It has proven to be a popular launch so far, so there’s every reason to continue improving upon it.

The biggest limitation is with the keyboard's RGB backlighting. While you can set the animation preset, the brightness, and the speed, you won't find advanced options for custom animations like you would in Razer Synapse or Corsair iCUE. Still, it's easy to get up in the running and takes only minutes to have the keyboard looking good — as long as you like one of the animations included in the generous selection of presets.

Typing Experience of the iQunix EZ63

The typing experience on the EZ63 is overall good, but it is clearly not tuned for typing straight out of the box. I say this because the default is only around one millimeter. With relatively lightweight linear switches, this makes them feel very sensitive and they are prone to typos.

Now, this is easily corrected with the online configurator and using that tool it can actually become quite good for accuracy when typing. After some trial and error, I set my typing actuation point to be all the way down at 3.2mm. With this simple change, the EZ63 became one of the most accurate keyboards I have tested. Typos are still possible if you are prone to bottoming out, but if you are a fast touch typist it's an effective solution to minimize errors.

As I mentioned in the previous section, the typing experience is firm. This has been the case for every Hall Effect keyboard I've tested to date and isn't something I particularly mind. But if you prefer that soft bottom-out with noticeable give under normal keypresses, this isn't the keyboard for you. If, instead, you put more value on the smoothness and stability of the keys, you will likely find a lot to enjoy here.

Given iQunix's track record of delivering some of the best pre-built keyboards on the market, it comes as no surprise that the EZ63 is quite a refined keyboard. The switches are smooth, without the barest hint of spring ping, the stabilizers are pre-lubed and don't rattle at all, and because the keycaps are so thick, they lend a pleasant solidity to the typing experience and depth to the sound.

Despite the lack of adjustable tilt feet, the natural angle of the keyboard and the height of the front lip were about perfect for me. I typically type between 90 and 100 words per minute, and was able to match that here just as soon as I set the lower actuation point to better match productivity applications.

Though it feels good to type on, its compact layout could potentially be an issue for some users. If you need a function row or dedicated navigation and editing buttons, this simply won't be the keyboard for you. Trying to use the keyboard for productivity also highlights the lack of default mappings for some very common keys. You don't have to be a writer to benefit from using Page Up and Page Down on your keyboard. With so many places these functions could be mapped on the secondary layer, it's a bit disappointing that iQunix just leaves them blank and forces you to map them yourself. Again, it’s not difficult, but should it be necessary? I don’t think so, especially not when the vast majority of users will also be using the keyboard for normal typing.

Gaming Experience on the iQunix EZ63

Ultimately, this is a gaming keyboard and, unsurprisingly, that's where it shines best. Now, I'm not going to lie: This keyboard, like every other, is not going to suddenly make you an amazing gamer. You will still need the skill and have to put in the practice if you want to achieve greatness. At the same time, you can tell that a lot of care and effort went into making sure this keyboard will deliver the best possible performance for competitive gaming.

Because of its faster scan rate, it's fair to say that it is one of, if not the, fastest gaming keyboard you can buy right now. How long it will hold that title is an open question, and whether or not it will personally benefit you is another. But it certainly feels responsive under the fingers.

I played multiple rounds of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 and loved the reactive feel. With Rapid Trigger set to reset the switch as soon as I let up even a half a millimeter, starts and stops felt instant in a way that is measurably small but definitely noticeable in actual gameplay. Ground-breaking? No, but it definitely makes this keyboard a strong competitor to Wooting.

Getting the most out of it does take some setup. You'll need to go into the software and make sure you have an actuation point that feels comfortable to you. While there, it's best to enable Rapid Trigger and set your reset point and deadzones to their minimums. This will ensure that you are getting the fastest possible performance from the keyboard. With everything set to its minimum (except for the actuation point, because its minimum will literally trigger keys from bumping your desk), The EZ63 begins to feel like a hair-trigger gaming keyboard. You think it, and it happens.

Much like an ultralight gaming mouse, this kind of responsiveness allows you to forget about the peripheral in front of you. Does that make a difference? I suppose that depends on the skill you are bringing to the table. In my opinion, I believe that anything that helps the peripheral get out of the way and allows you to just respond, confident that you are going to have the reaction that you are expecting at all times, is a good thing that can only enhance gameplay.

If you do happen to be a bit of a keyboard aficionado, you will likely appreciate the slightly heavier weight of the Star Trail switches too. If you are a pure gamer who only cares about the lightest touch however the Magnetic Jade Pros or Jade Pinks will probably be the better choice with the latter coming in at only 30gf. But don't breathe too hard, or they'll actuate and you'll blow your cover.

Bottom Line

The iQunix EZ63 is a great keyboard that manages not to be another "me too" in a gaming market currently overwhelmed with choices. The company's dedication to focusing on performance while still bringing in some of the qualities it has become best known for, like its full aluminum case and unique sense of style, make it one of the best contenders for a magnetic gaming keyboard available today, especially if you like the compactness of the Wooting 60HE but need those arrow keys, or simply want a keyboard that feels significantly higher quality: better made, better tuned, and better presented straight out of the box.

If the EZ63 isn't your thing, the next logical choice is Wooting. You have the Wooting 60HE or the Wooting 80HE if you prefer something closer to a 75% layout. The Arbiter Polar 65 is another solid option that costs significantly less. It's not quite as responsive as the EZ63 but it's still a Hall Effect keyboard with much better responsiveness than any mechanical gaming keyboard out there. If you're looking for something from a tried and true gaming brand that you can find at the likes of Best Buy, the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro is one of the best options.

While it's true that the majority of us will never be able to tell the difference between single milliseconds of responsiveness, there's something to be said for knowing that you have one of the fastest and most responsive gaming keyboards available. Like a carpenter that demands only the best tools, professional gamers demand the best peripherals. The iQunix EZ63 fits that bill in more ways than one. It won’t be perfect for everyone, but if you’re the type of gamer seeking a compact, competitive keyboard that pulls out all the stops, it’s a great choice.

iQunix is a brand that, for a long time, seemed to exist behind the scenes — you had to be in the know to recognize its name. Over the last couple of years, it has come into the mainstream in a big way, delivering some of the most interesting and high-quality pre-built keyboards available. So far its keyboards have all been full-height and fairly traditional to use, albeit with interesting designs and layouts. The Magi65 Pro breaks that trend.

The Magi65 Pro is the company's first foray into the world of low-profile keyboards. Not content to simply deliver a traditional LP that would suit laptop users and fans of chiclet keys, it instead set out to directly challenge its biggest competitors. In true iQunix fashion, the Magi65 Pro has a unique style, excellent build quality, premium components, and offers a great typing experience. Available in Standard ($119) and Pro ($139) versions, this keyboard offers great bang for the buck with only a few trade-offs.

iQunix Magi65 Pro (MG65 Pro) Specs

Design of the iQunix Magi65 Pro (MG65 Pro)

The Magi65 comes in two versions. The standard MG65 uses a traditional 65-percent layout. This means that it lacks a function row but includes dedicated arrow keys and a column of navigation and editing buttons. The MG65 Pro, however, includes an extra section on the right with a volume knob, RGB strip, a four-way media controller, and a neat magnetic storage compartment for its 2.4GHz wireless dongle.

The button layout of each version is exactly the same. It's a condensed rectangle without any space between its different sections of keys. The button area measures roughly 12 inches by 4 inches and is good for saving desk space, though if you choose the MG65 Pro you'll obviously have an extra couple of inches to consider on the right for its extra features. Like most low-profile mechanical keyboards, the keys are entirely flat for improved ergonomics, and carry a small learning curve if you’re used to a sculpted profile.

All it takes is a glance to see that the Magi65 is a unique keyboard. The keycaps are colored to match either the Shadow Black or Ochre White themes. I was sent the black version, which has white legends with copper-toned sub-legends. There's a copper colored metal accent key, and on the right in the multimedia section, the track controls are in the form of a copper-colored, rounded-off “X.” There is per-key RGB lighting as well as some stylish patterning on the dongle cover and the back. Flip it over and you'll find that the feet are small-but-chubby black X's and that the keyboard has a separate but matching weight with grid lines across its surface.

Pick it up — or, better yet, type on it — and you'll see even more how set-apart this keyboard actually is compared to other low profile options. The case is made entirely of metal, and though it's small, weighs just under 2.3 pounds. It won't be sliding around on your desk anytime soon. Given its weight and those X-styled feet, you also won't be using it directly on top of your laptop's keyboard deck anytime soon, either.

It certainly feels high quality, but at the same time its weight works against it. The keyboard supports crime-free old wireless connectivity with Bluetooth 5.1 (up to three devices), and 2.4GHz wireless for gaming-grade latency. It's not the kind of keyboard I would personally want to carry in a bag, however: It weighs half as much as many productivity laptops, and it's heavy enough that you'll certainly feel its addition in a messenger bag or backpack.

Despite these somewhat contentious choices, I see what iQunix was going for here, and I like it. It's not the most portable low-profile keyboard in the world, but clearly isn't intended to be. Instead, this strikes me as more of an enthusiast option for fans of the low-profile design.

This design inspiration becomes even more evident when you dig into its details. The keycaps, for example, are made of thick, dye-sublimated PBT plastic. This gives them increased durability over time, greater resistance to oils, and a deeper sound signature when typing quickly. The Gold Red switches are pre-lubed and are also clearly tuned for a rounded, pleasant sound profile. There are multiple layers of sound-dampening and sound-enhancing foam. Even the FR4 plate has obviously been selected for its mix of balanced sound and somewhat flexible structure.

Unlike many full-height enthusiast mechanical keyboards and the Lofree Flow, one of its key competitors, the MG65 Pro doesn’t use a gasket mount structure to soften its keystrokes. Instead, it uses a modified tray mount structure, which iQunix calls Le-Tray mount. Instead of screwing directly into the bottom case, the four mounting poles are covered with a silicone sleeve to reduce vibrations. Opting for only four mounting points seems like an intentional decision, because it preserves a bit of flex in the typing experience. Given that the keyboard is only half an inch thick, it is impressive — and, more importantly, comfortable.

The switches are also hot-swappable. This is a great feature to see, but it doesn't have the same level of utility as it would on a full-height custom keyboard. This is because low-profile switches are not as standardized, or interchangeable, as MX-style switches. But there are alternatives to be found, and more options will inevitably continue to arrive in the future.

To support its wireless functionality, the keyboard ships with a 3000-mAh battery. iQunix quotes this at 300 hours over Bluetooth, without RGB backlighting. I've been testing it for around a month with intermittent lighting use, and I haven't had to recharge it yet. Typically I would consider this kind of measurement misleading because backlighting can be integral to the appearance and low-light functionality of many keyboards. But while it certainly enhances its look, I found that the keyboard looked good enough on its own — so turning it off wasn’t such a big deal. The legends on the keycaps are also not backlit, so you're not sacrificing visibility.

Typing Experience of the iQunix Magi65 Pro (MG65 Pro)

The MG65 and MG65 Pro are only available with iQunix's own Gold Red switches. This is a linear switch with a 45-gram actuation force, making it similar to a Cherry MX Red in weight. The company doesn't share any specifics about its other specs, such as the travel distance or the material used, but they offer generous travel that I would peg at around 3mm.

A standard cherry switch has a travel distance of 4mm, while some low-profile switches, like the Kailh Choc V2s, can be as shallow as 1.3mm. This makes the MG65 Pro a middle ground between full-height key travel and typical low-profile key travel. In practical terms, it means that it feels much closer to a normal mechanical keyboard than what you might imagine a keyboard with an 11mm front height might. As someone who hates the ultra shallowness of older, low-profile keys, the iQunix is a pretty great alternative in this style.

Typing on the keyboard feels good. The keys are comfortable and reasonably well cushioned, thanks to the limited mounting points, silicone wrapping on each and the flexible FR4 plate. The switches are smooth, and the added travel made climbing the learning curve of the completely flat profile easier than I found it to be on some competitors. In smoothness and comfort to use, it is right on par with the low-profile flow and Nuphy’s latest Air V2 keyboards.

iQunix really highlights the keyboard’s construction and its impact on sound and feel. Sound-wise, I would still give a slight edge to the Lofree Flow because of its all POM switches and gasket mounting structure. It's so subjective, and the sound profiles are so close, that you would have to be an enthusiast with an ear for nuance to draw hard conclusions on which is "better."

The Magi65 Pro sits in good company. It is at least as good as the Nuphy Air V2 series, and is separated from the Lofree Flow, which is what I consider to be the best sounding, best feeling low profile keyboard available today. In a nutshell, the typing experience is excellent. It's a great middle ground between full-height and low-profile keyboards, and it both sounds and feels better than most of its low profile competitors (excepting the two named here).

Gaming Experience on the iQunix Magi65 Pro (MG65 Pro)

The Magi65 Pro is not a gaming keyboard, but it can certainly be used as one. The 2.4GHz wireless connection offers a full 1,000 Hz polling rate, which is equivalent to 1ms of latency. This is still the standard for most wired gaming keyboards, so you can game with confidence, knowing that you won’t take a loss because your keyboard wasn’t as ready as you were.

I've been playing a lot of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and the MG65 worked perfectly. It's not an 8K keyboard, and frankly, it doesn't need to be. The smooth, linear switches were perfect for reacting to what was happening in the game. Allowing me to forget that I was using a low-profile keyboard and not one of my regular customs or dedicated gaming keyboards.

I'm not a big macro user, but I would be remiss if I didn't highlight that the keyboard’s gaming capabilities are enhanced by how easily and deeply programmable it is. Recording macros and creating custom layouts for individual games is easy and, if you want it to be, completely software-free.

Software for the iQunix Magi65 Pro (MG65 Pro)

The Magi65 uses VIA for all of its programming. VIA is an open-source programming tool popular within the enthusiast community. It can either be run locally on your computer or accessed through a website to make changes on the go. It provides all of the functionality you would expect without going into the same level of complexity and polish that most gaming gaming software suites do, but it's a fantastic tool that gives you plenty of options to program your keyboard exactly as you would like it, without needing to actually install anything on your host PC.

VIA offers full control over all of your keymaps, allows you to record macros, and also allows you to customize and control the keyboard's lighting. All of your keymaps and macros can be assigned across four layers. Think of these like virtual keyboards that can be accessed by holding a button of your choice.

Everything is unlocked, meaning that you can assign any key, including function keys, anywhere you like. These layers can also be accessed in different ways — for example, holding, tapping, or even assigning a dual-function key where holding it accesses a layer while tapping it sends the original function. While this does take a while to get used to, once you learn its capabilities, it offers a deep ability to customize the keyboard to your exact workflow.

It can also be quite useful for gaming. Assigning macros follows the usual process of pressing a record button, sending your inputs, and then mapping that macro to a key. We're not losing much functionality here; however, it's not quite as in-depth as something like Razer Synapse. You can't insert custom events, for example, but you can adjust the delays between commands to make sure they function properly in your game of choice.

Being able to map multiple layers of commands is very useful in games as well. Using this system, you can have custom key maps for up to three different games and applications. If you do need to make changes, it's as simple as going to the website, tapping the key you want to change, and choosing what you would like there instead.

The biggest limitation comes down to the RGB backlighting. While you are able to choose from a wide range of preset animations, as well as set your exact hue and saturation for many of them, there is currently no easy way to assign per-key lighting schemes.

Bottom Line

The iQunix Magi65 Pro is a great option for anyone considering a low-profile keyboard who also wants a top-tier typing experience. It's not exactly the most portable, which could be a deal-breaker — it’s one of the biggest reasons many people consider a low profile keyboard in the first place — but the trade-off in portability is exceptional build quality, typing, and aesthetics. It's the kind of keyboard that makes you want to keep using it, which is about the biggest compliment any keyboard can earn.

If you do need something a little more portable, the Lofree Flow and Lofree Edge are two excellent options that are thinner and lighter, and still offer great sound and feel. They’re a bit more expensive, however, so if you’re not up for spending that much, the Nuphy Air60 V2 and Air75 V2 are also great options. None of the competition offers quite the same blend of build quality and aesthetics, however, which makes the Magi65 Pro well worth a closer look all on its own.

The mechanical keyboard market has been flooded with pre-built keyboards featuring magnetic switches over the past year — it seems like a new 75-percent magnetic switch keyboard boasting Rapid Trigger and Snap Tap comes out every week. But because magnetic switches are largely aimed at gamers, we haven't seen a lot of magnetic switch gaming keyboards that are larger than 75-percent.

We've seen some — like Glorious' wildly-expensive custom-built GMMK 3 series. And now, the Keydous NJ98-CP V2 HE, which is a much more budget-friendly option. This almost-full-size keyboard (96-percent layout, or 98 keys), may not have a full aluminum case, but it's got a numberpad that turns into a calculator, a programmable rotary knob, and a programmable, detachable screen. (Just because.)

It's wireless and features a hot-swappable PCB that accepts both magnetic switches and mechanical switches, which is handy considering the lack of standardization in the magnetic switch market at the moment — you can always fall back on your favorite mechanical switches.

Designed to compete with the best mechanical keyboards, the NJ98-CP V2 HE is available now for $150 — not exactly budget-priced, but less than half the price of other full-size options.

Design and Construction of the NJ98-CP V2 HE

The NJ98-CP V2 HE is a wireless magnetic switch keyboard with a 96-percent layout — it's designed to give you almost all of the functionality of a full-size keyboard in a more compact form. The keyboard has a full function row and a full numberpad, as well as three of the navigation keys (Delete, PgUp, and PgDn), as well as a dedicated calculator key. The numberpad is also squeezed closer to the arrow keys, and has a 1u 0 key to fit. The keyboard also features a volume knob (programmable) in the upper right corner, which is next to a detachable magnetic docking screen.

By default, this screen displays a number of stats (Num lock, Caps lock, battery life, connection, and time), as well as a gif of a cat (which is cute, I guess). You can customize this screen with your own images or gifs using the keyboard's companion software, similar to the screen seen on the Asus ROG Azoth and ROG Azoth Extreme.

This screen also acts as a screen for the keyboard's built-in calculator function, which you can access by hitting Fn + Numpad Enter. I'll admit this is pretty handy if you... well, frequently need a calculator, though I wish the shortcut was easier to hit one-handed (I can hit it one-handed, but it's not convenient). Also, the dedicated calculator key, which opens up your PC's onscreen calculator, seems like overkill in addition to this feature (how many calculators do you need?!).

The screen is easily removable — it just pulls off, though the magnet is strong enough that you shouldn't have to worry about accidentally knocking it loose. I'm not sure why the screen is removable, as it doesn't work on its own, but Keydous does sell replacement screens in different colors (light pink, light green, and khaki) on its website for $20, so I suppose it's just another way to customize your build.

The keyboard is housed in a plastic chassis with a slightly textured matte finish, which is not the fanciest-looking (or feeling) chassis material. The keyboard comes in six colorways: white (white case, white keycaps, light blue and orange accent keys), black samurai (black case, black keycaps, yellow accent keys), pale green (white case, cream keycaps, green accent keys), star dream (white case, gray-to-black ombre keycaps, translucent teal accent keys), and shadow (gray-to-black ombre keycaps with shine-through side legends) with either a white or a black case. Our review unit was in star dream, which has dye-sub PBT keycaps in a Cherry keycap profile.

The keyboard measures 15.87 inches (403mm) wide by 5.43 inches (138mm) deep, and is approximately 1.57 inches (40mm) thick at its thickest point (including keycaps). It's slightly larger than the Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless (14.84 x 5.16 x 1.57 inches / 377 x 131 x 40mm), because it adds the navigation keys in a column next to the numberpad (instead of along the top, like the Strix Scope II 96 Wireless does).

The roomier layout is nice for those who frequently use the numberpad, though the overall compact layout will still take some getting used to if you're moving from a full-size keyboard. You can get this keyboard with either an aluminum or a brass positioning plate (brass costs $15 more); our review unit with its aluminum plate weighed in at 2.52 pounds (1,144g) — solid, but not particularly heavy.

On the back of the keyboard, you'll find four small anti-slip rubber pads, as well as a set of flip-out feet to change the keyboard's typing angle. This is a nice feature, as a lot of the magnetic switch keyboards we've been looking at recently have had aluminum cases and no angle adjustment. The power switch is also located on the back of the keyboard, which is a little inconvenient if you frequently turn your keyboard on and off — but at least the keyboard is fairly lightweight and so the switch is not too much of a hassle to get to. Finally, there's a little slot for the keyboard's 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle, which is small and unassuming (a little too unassuming — there's no label on the USB dongle at all, and I immediately forgot what it belonged to).

In the box, the keyboard comes with a keycap puller, a switch puller, and a 5-foot (1.5m) rubber USB-C to USB-A cable. It also comes with extra keycaps (Mac keys and accent key replacements), a 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle, and a USB extender.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the NJ98-CP V2

The NJ98-CP V2 HE comes with magnetic switches, but the hot-swappable PCB supports both magnetic and mechanical switches (3- and 5-pin) — like Glorious' magnetic GMMK 3 — and you can mix magnetic and mechanical switches.

It comes with Kailh Ice Cream Magnetic Switch V2 switches, which are linear magnetic switches with an initial force of 30gf and a total travel of 4mm. They have all the features that magnetic switches have: adjustable actuation (between 0.1 and 4.0mm), Rapid Trigger, Dynamic Keystrokes, and SnapTap, which you can set up and configure in the Keydous Driver companion app.

Typing on the NJ98-CP V2 HE feels and sounds quite good — the switches are smooth, consistent, and stable, and the stabilizers are well-lubed. The case comes with three layers of foam inside, which do a very good job of dampening sound and absorbing any case ping.

While it's not the absolute best-sounding keyboard we've tested, the aluminum positioning plate combined with the sound-dampening foam makes for a nice, crisp, consistent overall sound — except for the space bar. The space bar has a deeper, somewhat out-of-place "thock" to it, which is noticeable but not so much so that it's overly distracting.

The keycaps that came with the star dream colorway are made of dye-sublimated PBT and have a Cherry keycap profile. The Cherry keycap profile is relatively low-profile with sculpted rows, for a comfortable, easy-travel typing experience. These keycaps have slightly curved tops and a lightly-textured finish that's just slippery enough for speedy typing — I was able to consistently hit around 130 wpm with 99% accuracy on this keyboard right out of the box.

The keycaps vary slightly depending on which colorway you get — the star dream, pale green, black, and white colorways have Cherry profile keycaps, while the two shadow colorways have OEM profile keycaps.

For productivity, this keyboard's built-in calculator does seem to be pretty handy. However, when you go into calculator mode by pressing Fn + Numpad Enter, you can't enter any input on the keyboard until you leave calculator mode — so you can't enter the numbers into your PC without exiting calculator mode, and exiting calculator mode clears the calculator. I suppose maybe that's why there's also a dedicated calculator button on this keyboard — in case you need to enter in your numbers on your computer.

But, of course, this is a keyboard — how often are you not going to be using your computer when you're using this calculator? While I did think this feature was pretty neat at first, I now think you probably don't really need it alongside a dedicated calculator button. But maybe there's some use case I'm not considering.

For gaming, the NJ98-CP HE V2 is as solid as any other magnetic switch keyboard. It has a solid, 1,000 Hz polling rate over both its 2.4GHz wireless connection and its wired connection, and game mode (Fn + Windows Key) is built in.

It also offers adjustable actuation, which lets you adjust the point at which the key actuates (individually for each key, if you like), as well as Rapid Trigger, which matches the key's actuation point to its de-actuation point, so you can press it down as soon as you let go of it, without having to wait for it to pass a specific de-actuation point. The keyboard's low,

Cherry profile keycaps and linear magnetic switches make it easy to quickly glide across the keyboard, but the keyboard itself is perhaps a little too big for most gamers. However, if you're a gamer like me and you need all the buttons, the NJ98-CP V2 HE is probably one of your only options on the market.

Features and Software of the NJ98-CP V2 HE

You can configure the NJ98-CP V2 using the Keydous Driver, which is available both as a download and a web app. It is pretty clearly translated from Chinese, and all the documentation is also translated from Chinese, which makes it a little confusing and convoluted at times.

You can turn on and adjust the keyboard's magnetic switch settings — actuation point, Rapid Trigger, Dynamic Keystrokes, Toggle Keys, Snap Tap, etc. and also calibrate the switches when you've swapped in new magnetic or mechanical switches. The software also lets you remap and configure keys (on multiple layers) and the rotary knob, and includes a built-in macro recorder.

You can also customize the screen with your own pictures or animations. The software is actually pretty impressive here, if perhaps a little unnecessarily detailed — you can upload your own images or gifs, or you can draw things on the "draw board" and save them to the hardware — and your drawings can have colors and multiple frames.

I didn't spend too much time exploring this, but it is kind of neat if you love customization. You can also upload and share your presets — whether they're keymaps, drawings, or lighting effects — with others in the Keydous Driver community.

The keyboard has bright RGB lighting with per-key configuration using the app. It comes with several presets (and you can also do some limited customization directly from the keyboard using shortcuts), but you can also change each individual key's lighting (if you like) and you can save lighting effects to different layers (so, for example, you know what profile you're currently using).

Wireless Performance and Battery Life of the NJ98-CP V2 HE

The NJ98-CP V2 offers three forms of connectivity: low-latency 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and wired via USB-C. It offers a solid 1,000 Hz polling rate over both 2.4GHz wireless and wired connections, which is the standard for gaming keyboards — though we've recently seen a few magnetic switch keyboards with ultra-high polling rates (such as the Luminkey Magger 68 HE and the Lemokey L5 HE 8K).

Keydous rates the NJ98-CP V2 HE's battery life at around 800 hours in power saving mode — that is, with the screen and the lighting turned off. With the screen and the lighting set to "always on," the keyboard gets just 29 hours (which is pretty respectable considering "always on" means never sleeping). The screen displays the battery life by default, but if you change the screen or turn it off, you'll still get a low battery warning at less than 10% thanks to a red light under the F12 key.

The Bottom Line

There really aren't very many full-size magnetic switch gaming keyboards on the market — and this technically isn't even full-size, either. So if you're the kind of person who needs a numberpad or just a lot of extra keys, your options are pretty limited.

Luckily, the Keydous NJ98-CP V2 HE is such a solid contender that you may not even want to look further — it's wireless, with smooth magnetic switches and great out-of-the-box performance and sound, and its hot-swap PCB accepts both magnetic and mechanical switches. At $150, the NJ98-CP V2 HE isn't dirt-cheap, but it costs quite a bit less than most mainstream full-size gaming keyboards (let alone magnetic ones) — Glorious' full-size GMMK 3 magnetic switch keyboard currently starts at $191 for the wired version and $320 for the wireless version.

As an occasional keyboard reviewer and dabbler in the vast, deep waters of the custom keyboard hobby, I regularly find myself wondering about the latest (tactile) switches and perusing the seemingly endless spectrum of keycaps. On that journey, I've occasionally encountered Awekeys, a company that takes a step up from the typical ABS or PBT plastic, and crafts its keycaps from metal. So when the company reached out about its latest offering – a Viking-inspired metal keycap set with a distressed or antique finish – my fingers couldn't resist trying them out.

Awekeys' sent me the "Thor Copper" set with traditional legends and some Norse-inspired accent keys, but the set will also be offered in "Frigg Silver" and "Odin Gold," as well as with runic sublegends corresponding to the alphabet used by Germanic tribes before they adopted the Latin alphabet. As someone whose living room has several copper accents and who has also visited several Viking-era sites in the far north of Scotland, this keycap set felt like it was made for me. So I removed the wood-themed keycaps I'd been using on the Keychron K2 HE Special Edition for the past couple of months and began installing the Awekeys keycaps.

What exactly goes into a metal keycap set, and how much does it cost?

The Viking Antiques keycap set may come in copper, gold, or silver, but the metal at the core is a copper and nickel alloy that gives the caps an extremely solid and hefty feel – arguably too hefty, at least when it comes to the space bar, but I'll get back to that. An Awekeys representative tells me the antique copper set I typed this review on is plated with real copper along with a protective nano-coating. The texture is somewhat slick and smoother than it looks in photos, but the extra weight and coolness of the metal give the typing experience a unique and premium feel. And barring something disastrous like a house fire, they do feel like they'll last forever – as you might expect from keycaps made from a similar alloy as the U.S. nickel.

How much coin do you have to throw down to own a set of coin-like keycaps? Well, that depends. As the company has done in the past, it's launching these keycaps via Kickstarter with significantly lower prices if you order early in the process (the first 24 hours of the campaign or throughout if you pledge $2 to become an Awekeys VIP). A kit for 60% keyboards is $139 at the reduced price, or $209 MSRP if you miss the early window or aren't a VIP. An 80% kit will start at $149 for VIP members or first-day pledgers (also $209 MSRP), and a 100% kit will be available at $179 for VIP or first-day orders, with a $279 MSRP.

The above prices are for the copper set I tested or the silver colorway. Gold, which the company says is more complicated to produce, starts at $189 / $299 for the 60% base kit, and jumps all the way up to $299 / $499 for the 100% gold kit. These prices don't include the five accent keys (the world tree, Odin's ravens, Viking ship, warrior, and wolf) which are $79 extra for copper and silver and $99 for gold. There are various other add-ons, as well as a third early bird pricing tier if you miss the first day of the campaign but pledge before those kits sell out.

There is no denying that the price of these keycaps is high – especially if you don't get in early. But unlike previous kits, the company is at least offering lower-priced options for sub-100% keyboards so you don't have to pay for keycaps you won't use. Language support now goes beyond ANSI QWERTY layouts, with legends available in German, Nordic, Japanese, and Korean. The rune sublegends, runes-only, and blank keycaps are also options. The company says if they get enough interest in other languages, they may expand the legend options further.

As always, we caution that pledging to a crowdfunding campaign is not the same as buying something. There is no guarantee in these situations that you will get your pledged items as described – or at all, particularly if the pledge goal isn't met. But the $40,000 goal seems reasonably modest, and the company has completed four previous campaigns in the past. Still, pledge at your own discretion.

Installation

The custom-cut foam packaging of the metal keycap set is arranged in two layers, and, once I set them both out on my coffee table, finding the right keys was easy thanks to the clear legends (a major issue I had with the above-mentioned wood-themed keycaps). Installing the individual metal keycaps is a similar experience to plastic caps, lining up the stem holes with the switch stems, and I didn't run into any major issues getting all the Awekeys keycaps on the Keychron K2.

That said, there were some oddities. Many of the switches didn't press all the way down on the stem at first, even though they felt like they did. Once all the keys were covered with the copper caps, I noticed about a third of the keys were slightly taller than the rest. So I had to methodically go through all the keys and press them down harder than I've had to with any other keycaps, and most of them snapped down further onto the switches with an audible sound.

You also might notice that the stem attachment points don't have the typical circular enclosure as is typical with plastic keycaps. But if anything, the metal keycaps seem to fit more snugly on switches than most plastic keycaps. And while there is some keycap wobble if you go looking for it, it wasn't enough that it bothered me and it didn't make the caps feel cheap at all.

In the end, with my Keychron setup, a few of the keys were shorter or taller than those surrounding them, though the issue is clearly with the non-standard layout of the Keychron keyboard I used. The delete key, pushed over one spot from the right corner by the dedicated lighting key, was shorter than the caps that surround it. And the home key, normally near the top of the keyboard, was taller than the other keys surrounding it because Keychron chose to move it three rows down from its usual spot. These are issues you're likely to encounter to some degree with aftermarket keycaps and any non-standard keyboard layout, so Awekey isn't at fault here. Still, when you pay this much for metal keycaps, it's the kind of small imperfection that can sometimes be hard to ignore. If your keyboard's software allows for it, you could of course reassign keys to better fit the kaycap layout, but personally, I'd rather live with a few taller or shorter keys than try to re-train my muscle memory about where keys are "supposed" to be.

Awekeys also included the five Viking-themed accent keys in the box. I chose the standard-sized Yggdrasil cap for the lighting control button in the upper-right corner, and the dual-width Huginn and Muninn (Odin's ravens) key as a replacement for the standard backspace key. To balance those accent keys on the right side out, I eventually replaced the caps lock key with one with a picture of a Viking ship (possibly Naglfar). There's also a wide accent key depicting a warrior with an axe and shield that looks like it could replace the enter or left shift keys, but as of this writing, that one and the wolf cap are still in the foam packaging, along with the 30 or so extra keycaps that you'll need if your keyboard is full-sized.

Typing experience

Because the copper/nickel keycaps weigh so much more than typical plastic caps, they add a surprising amount of weight both literally to the heft of your keyboard and to the overall typing experience – and some of that takes some getting used to. Keychron lists the K2 HE Special Edition I used to test the Awekeys caps as weighing 966 grams. With the Awekeys metal keycaps installed, the keyboard weighs 1,433 grams. That's a 48% weight increase for this keyboard, or a little over a pound for the installed keycaps. And keep in mind that's without the 30 or so keys I didn't use. Adding the full set will likely add about a pound and a half to your 100% keyboard.

And while the added weight isn't necessarily a bad thing (unless maybe you often travel with your keyboard), it does change the typing experience. As you might imagine, the heavy metal keys change the sound that the keyboard makes when you type, adding a deep, authoritative thock that sometimes (but not always) sounds metallic. With this Keychron keyboard, I found the spacebar sounded the most metallic when I thumbed it. It's not an unpleasant sound and could probably be lessened by upgrading the stabilizers.

But depending on your switches, you may want to do that, and change the switch for the spacebar. The large spacebar keycap in particular is so heavy that I frequently found myself entering spaces when I didn't intend to. My thumbs have a tendency to rest on my spacebar when I type, it seems, and because the metal is so heavy, even the slightest brush of a thumb would insert a space (or ten) when I where it didn't belong. After a few days, my thumbs got used to this issue and it happened a lot less as I learned to hold them above the spacebar, but at least in the 10 days or so I've been using these keycaps so far, my thumbs would still occasionally "forget" and I'd have to delete a few extra spaces.

Even picking the keyboard up quickly off my desk caused the spacebar to press, at least with the Gateron HE switches that shipped with the Keychron K2 HE review unit I'm using. Keychron says those switches have a 40-gram starting force, and an Awekeys rep told me the company recommends "starting with a 60gf spring for the best balance." So it seems the switches I'm using aren't the best fit for these keycaps, but I really only have an issue with the space bar. The problem for my situation specifically is that because this is a magnetic switch keyboard that only officially supports Gateron's HE switches, I can't just drop in some random mechanical switch I might have lying around with a stronger actuation force. And from what I can find online, the Gateron HE switch with the highest starting force tops out at 50gf. So if you like light switches or your keyboard uses hall-effect (magnetic) switches, make sure to check your switch options before buying. And considering HE switches are the hot thing in keyboards right now, that's likely to be an issue that many users with recent keyboards might encounter when using metal keycaps.

In the meantime, I'll be here trying to get my thumbs to stop brushing against the spacebar a few times a day. Or maybe I'll eventually disassemble the switch under the spacebar and insert a stronger spring. I wouldn't say the spacebar weight issue is a deal-breaker, but it probably isn't something most people think about when considering buying luxury keycaps. Since I didn't have this issue with any of the other metal keycaps in the kit, Awekeys might want to look into tweaking the spacebar to make it a little lighter.

Also a note for gamers, particularly those already using HE switches. While I didn't have any major issues as a casual gamer, if you've trained your fingers and fine-tuned your magnetic switches to very specific actuation tolerances, you're probably going to have to re-adjust your settings after installing these keycaps, because they definitely weigh substantially more than the plastic caps you're probably using now.

Bottom line

After considering Awekeys metal keycaps over the last couple of years as I stumbled on them in social posts, emails, and ads, I was intrigued to try them out. And after spending a couple of weeks using the company's antique copper set, the experience has been very positive. I like the way they feel, love the deeper sound, and of course they look like noplastic keycap and should last for several years – if not decades. If you're after "endgame" keycaps for your "endgame" custom keyboard and you like the way these (or the silver or gold variants look), then these caps might be exactly what you're after.

That's not to say my experience with these copper caps was perfect. Unless you never leave your thumbs near the spacebar when you type (or maybe your switches of choice have a heavy actuation force), you may find yourself dealing with several accidental spacebar presses per day. I certainly did, and while the issue did happen less as my thumbs adjusted, it never went away completely. And due to the extra weight of the keys, serious gamers will likely have an even bigger adjustment to deal with.

Mostly though, I think if Awekeys could just find a way to lighten the weight of the spacebar keycap in particular, that would eliminate the vast majority of the frustrations I had with this metal set. Of course, pricing will also be a frustration for many. I could see myself spending around $150 for a set of metal keycaps. And if you get in on the ground floor of the company's Kickstarter, that's around what you'll pay for the 80% kit. But the full $209 price for the 80% kit feels like a lot. And the $279 MSRP for the 100% (or $299 for the gold model) makes it feel like the kind of thing that Vikings used to raid monasteries to acquire. For those who already spend several hundred dollars on high-end custom keyboards, dropping $200-$300 (or more) on keycaps that may last longer than the fingertips you use to press them might seem reasonable. For the rest of us, plastic keycaps still get the job done, even if they don't feel or sound as nice as metal.

The Logitech G915 TKL is a low-profile mechanical keyboard that launched back in 2020, but it's still a good and capable option for those looking to build out a high-end gaming system. We loved the keyboard when we reviewed it back then, and many still love it today, despite the launch of newer models. One of its few downsides, though, was its $230 price tag. If you've been waiting since 2020 and still haven't gotten one, it may finally be your time.

The Logitech G915 TKL is currently on offer at a massive discount of 48% for the white model, bringing its price down to $119.99. If that’s not your style, the black model is also offered at 47% off for just $121. These massive discounts will save you over $100 on the purchase price, allowing you to finally get a beautifully crafted low-profile RGB mechanical keyboard without breaking your budget. While still not on par with the prices that you find on our best budget mechanical keyboards list, it makes it far more affordable than some of the premium models that you can find included in our best gaming keyboards.

The $120 price point is an absolute steal for the Logitech G915 TKL, especially as you get high-quality low-profile switches available in tactile, clicky, or linear. It also uses a single-piece aircraft-grade brushed aluminum alloy for its top plate, giving you the rigidity and solid build that you’d expect from a premium gaming keyboard. Aside from that, you get per-key lighting, allowing you to fully customize the look of your mechanical keyboard and even highlight specific keys.

You free up a lot of space on your desk since the G915 TKL drops the numpad, thus giving you ample room for moving your mouse around or placing an extra set of controllers around your workstation. Despite that, you still get media controls and a volume control wheel, making it easy to control your audio without pressing extra keys. There are three ways to connect the keyboard to your PC — via a wired USB-A to MicroUSB connection if you want the reliability of a cable (and for charging it), via Lightspeed technology with an included USB-A dongle, and Bluetooth.

If you want to know more about this keyboard and see your purchase options, you should visit the Logitech G915 TKL product page on Amazon. If you're interested, you should hurry, as we don’t until when this deal will last.

If you're looking for an easily customizable keyboard but don't want to build your own, Drop's aptly named CSTM line has you covered.

The CSTM80 is — as you might expect from the name — a mechanical keyboard that's designed to be customized. Just about everything, from the top plate to the case weight, can be swapped out, and Drop sells additional case plates, switch plates, keycaps, and case weights on its site. The keyboard comes with Gateron Brown Pro 3.0 or Milky Yellow KS3 switches and a polycarbonate top plate, as well as ABS keycaps with shine-through side legends. It's not designed to be a gaming keyboard, necessarily, but it does boast a 1,000 Hz polling rate and N-key rollover. And its TKL layout is the perfect size for most gamers.

The CSTM80 is available now for $149, but you can also pick up a barebones version (no keycaps, switches, or top case) for $99.

Design and Construction of the CSTM80

The CSTM80 is a wired mechanical gasket-mount keyboard with a tenkeyless (TKL) layout, which means it has a full function row, arrow keys, and a 3 by 2 navigation cluster. It also has an extra F13 function key, but no rotary knob.

The CSTM80 has a polycarbonate case with a decorative magnetic top case. The base keyboard comes with a black ABS top case and matching black ABS keycaps with shine-through side legends. Drop sells additional top cases in various colors, patterns, and materials, which you can find on their CSTM80 collection page. Drop shipped us a couple of extra top cases to swap out for our review, including the polycarbonate Overgrowth case ($35, currently on sale for $19) and the aluminum decorative case in silver ($59, currently on sale for $39). The case is extremely easy to change — it just pops off. The top case fully covers the sides of the keyboard as well.

The black case that the keyboard comes with is nicely made, if a bit boring, with a half-inch bezel that surrounds the keyboard and a chamfered edge. The keyboard measures 14.7 inches (374mm) wide by 5.8 inches (148mm) deep, and is 1.3 inches (34mm) thick at its thickest point. It weighs about 2.8 pounds (1,272g) with the included ABS top case and keycaps installed, but you can change the weight by adding a heavier top case or replacing the keyboard's standard aluminum case weight with one of Drop's custom options (replacing the case weight is slightly trickier than replacing the top case, as you'll need to unscrew it from inside).

The keyboard measures about 0.74 inches (18.7mm) at the front, so it's high enough that some people might want a wrist rest, though I didn't feel the need to use one. The board has a typing angle of 6 degrees.

The back of the keyboard has four anti-slip rubber feet and a standard silver brushed aluminum keyboard weight, which is replaceable.

In the box, the CSTM80 comes with a braided USB-C to USB-A cable, a keycap puller, a switch puller, optional Mac keycaps, and extra gaskets.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the CSTM80

The CSTM80 comes with your choice of Gateron switches — either Brown Pro 3.0 (tactile) or Milky Yellow (linear) switches. Our review model came with Brown Pro 3.0 switches, which are pre-lubed and have an operating force of 55gf and a total travel distance of 4mm. They have a mild tactile bump and no click, though they're moderately loud switches — perhaps not ideal if typing in a quieter office environment. The keyboard also has a hot-swappable PCB that accepts both 3-pin and 5-pin mechanical switches, so you can swap in your favorite switches.

The Brown Pro 3.0 switches feel very good, though they're not quite as tactile as I expect from tactile switches (perhaps I'm just used to the heavier bump of the Glorious Panda Standard HE switches I've been using recently on the GMMK 3). Despite the switches' operating force being slightly heavier than most switches at 55gf, the extra weight wasn't noticeable.

The CSTM80 comes with black ABS keycaps with smooth, lightly-curved tops and shine-through side legends. They have a Cherry profile, which means they have sculpted rows and are lower profile than traditional OEM keycaps. The keycaps are very comfortable to type on, and I do like the smooth feel of the ABS tops, though ABS usually means you'll start seeing shininess in a few months. The shine-through side legends make for an attractive overall look, and while it would be nice to see PBT keycaps, I suppose this keyboard is designed to be customized.

The combination of the smooth, low-profile keycaps, the mildly tactile switches, and the gasket mount makes for a very comfortable and pleasant typing experience. The case does have built-in foam and silicone for sound dampening, and it's a nice sound overall — not the absolute best, but it's a great-sounding keyboard out of the box, especially with its overall polycarbonate construction. The switches and stabilizers (Gateron screw-in PCB-mounted) are smooth, lubed, and I had no issues with rattle or scratchiness.

While this keyboard is designed for typing, it does have a low-latency 1,000 Hz polling rate and N-key rollover — so you'll have no issues using it for gaming. The switches are very responsive and snappy, perfect for almost all games — though you'll probably want to look at something with linear switches (perhaps magnetic) if you're primarily into competitive first-person shooters.

Features and Software of the CSTM80

You can configure the CSTM80 using Drop's Keyboard Configurator, which is not the most user-friendly software. The keyboard is also compatible with QMK / VIA, however, so you can use those to remap keys and adjust the board's lighting if you're more familiar with them.

To use the Drop Keyboard Configurator, you'll first need to flash the board with firmware. But this is a fairly simple process and the Configurator will walk you through it. Once the board has been flashed, the software should recognize your keyboard, though I needed to unplug and replug each time I opened the software for this to work. The board comes with three layers of programming (the base layer, a media key layer, and a test layer), and you can remap keys or switch layers around in the software. You can also customize the keyboard's lighting and link different lighting effects to specific layers. While you can program different layers, there's no real way to set up different profiles.

The Bottom Line

The Drop CSTM80 is a very solid keyboard for both typing and gaming, and the easily swappable top case is cooler than I expected — it's nice to be able to change the look of your keyboard on a whim, without having to remove all of the keycaps (and makes for a much easier cleaning experience). While I don't use on-keyboard media controls, some people will definitely miss the rotary knob.

The CSTM80 isn't necessarily aimed at gamers, but the 1,000 Hz polling rate and snappy switches make it a great choice for anyone looking for a keyboard that can move seamlessly between work and play. The CSTM80 may not be quite as premium as the Mode Loop TKL (2024), which starts at $299, but it's a very solid alternative and even easier to make your own.

More and more Hall Effect switch keyboards have been popping up on the peripheral marketplace, and the Endgame Gear KB65HE was one of the earliest magnetic keyboards to be released. I’ve enjoyed spending a long time trying out this keyboard for both typing and some hardcore gaming. Still, I did have some early quality control issues when the keyboard first arrived and it took me a while to find the time to resolve the initial problems.

HE switches are marketed as having less wear and tear compared to more commonplace mechanical switches with the mechanism reduced to just a tiny spring and an even smaller magnet — fewer contacting parts hopefully equal a longer lifespan. They're also aimed at gamers — and some have made it onto our list of best gaming keyboards — as HE switches allow for Rapid Trigger and other tweaks that traditional mechanical switches do not.

The Endgame Gear KB65HE uses Gateron’s KS-37B HE switch and with the aid of the Endgame Gear software you can set the actuation or threshold point to anywhere between 0.1 and 4mm, which can make the switches super sensitive for responsive gaming, or slightly less responsive if you want to use the keyboard for typing — and I can confirm the KB65HE is good at both.

Design and Construction of the Gear KB65HE

The Endgame Gear KB65HE isn't much to look at — there are no screens, knobs, or fancy switches and color schemes — and I love it. The keyboard still has gamer-friendly per-key RGB lighting for those who want to color-match their peripherals — but apart from that, it’s just a no-nonsense keyboard. It's built well, however: it's quite heavy, weighing 2.31 pounds (1,050g), which is hefty for a mini 65-percent keyboard.

Thanks to its heft, the KB65HE won't move around on your desktop while you're typing or gaming without some amount of force. It has a black CNC-milled aluminum chassis that measures 12.4 inches (315mm) wide by 4.2 inches (108.8mm) deep, and is 1.4 inches (37.2mm) thick at its thickest point. The KB65HE just feels like a quality product in your hands — the fact that it is so thick and heavy helps to stiffen the keyboard to the point where it has zero flex, and, combined with ample silicon dampening layers in the case, is a very quiet keyboard to type on... aside from the noisy spacebar, which rattles loudly when it springs back up after being pressed.

The KB65HE's 65-percent layout manages to squeeze in 69 keys — including the arrow keys — while keeping the keyboard's total footprint fairly diminutive. The keyboard features luxurious double-shot PBT keycaps — made in collaboration with Ducky — which are very well-made with a lightly-textured surface and feature shine-through for the board's RGB lighting. The keyboard has a hot-swappable PCB, but of course it's only compatible with (some?) magnetic HE switches.

In the box, you’ll find a braided USB-A to USB-C cable, an alternate Esc button - yellow and adorned with the Endgame Gear logo, plus some bigger rubber feet that raise the angle of your keyboard ever so slightly. These feet are easily swapped by just pulling out the existing feet and pushing the others in.

Specs

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Gear KB65HE

For gaming, I found the responsiveness of the Gateron KS-37B HE switches to be exceptional, but that was only after I spent a couple of days taking all the switches apart and adding some of my own Krytox 205g0. The quality control on some of the Gateron switches’ “pre-lubed” POMs was pretty dire. When I first began testing and typing on the KB65HE the key presses felt very sticky and scratchy, with some keys being so rough that they got stuck and didn’t pop back up.

The keycaps used are double-shot PBT, made in collaboration with keyboard makers Ducky. They’re super-comfy to type on, with just the right amount of texture to them, and they make the keyboard feel more like an enthusiast keeb rather than a prebuilt gaming keyboard.

While typing on the keyboard I found I had to dial back the threshold quite a bit, as I was getting a lot of extra inputs if I accidentally brushed another key. I also found the rebound of the space bar caused the key to register multiple space inputs — partly a me-issue, as I’ve developed a habit for really hammering the spacebar with my right thumb when typing. This is a magnetic keyboard, so you can adjust the actuation level to help combat this.

Features and Software of the Gear KB65HE

The KB65HE is a wired-only keyboard with fast 1000 Hz polling and extreme customization potential with the ability to set the actuation threshold for each key on the keyboard separately or choose to set them all at the same level. Endgame Gears' configuration software is great: very lightweight and functional, with a simple user interface that makes it easy to customize everything from the switch actuation to key assignments and lighting with a simple mouse click.

You can set up profiles in the software with potential profiles for say, gaming, with a super-responsive 0.4mm threshold, and perhaps another profile for typing out your office work with a slightly less-responsive 2mm threshold. The difference between the two doesn’t sound like much, but in use, the difference is extremely noticeable. (You don’t realize how much you rest your fingers on the keys until you try setting the threshold to 0.1mm and notice your in-game characters moving, seemingly without you pressing the key down, but it’s registering enough weight for an input.) It takes a little bit of trial and error to find your personal sweet spot. But once you do, the actuation level can make a real difference.

The Bottom Line

If the Endgame Gear KB65HE didn’t have the initial issues with the sticky switches, I would struggle to find any real faults with this keyboard, apart from a few niggles. But if it arrived for me in this state, then it would have been returned for a refund, hopefully, it was a one-off or a small QC issue that has now been resolved. It’s a massive shame though, as once I added some lube, the keyboard experience totally changed: Gaming on the KB65HE felt like I was cheating in some games, with the responsiveness being so high I was moving left and right dodging hits and landing shots in line with my actual finger movements.

The look and feel of the Endgame Gear KB65HE, although understated and a little plain for some, was exactly what I liked about the keyboard. It might not have the flashy lights and gimmicks of a lot of gaming keyboards, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Having the solid aluminum chassis made it a solid bit of kit — it didn’t move around the desk during hectic gaming sessions and it was also a delight to type on, with a satisfying typing sound when I was working. The simple design and solid black coloring were design choices I would certainly go for, and at $139 / £139 it’s priced conservatively for such high-quality construction and components.