Another season has arrived, and with it a host of exciting new mechanical keyboards. Here are quick-fire reviews of four favourites that I’ve tested over the past month, from two extremely good value options with both niche and mass-market appeal (the trendy Nuphy Air75 v2 and odd Gamakay LK75) to two of the most customisable and expensive keyboards I’ve ever tested (the fancy Drop CSTM80 and the godlike Mode Sonnet).
Beyond the usual key feel impressisons and longevity stats cited by mechanical keyboard enthusiasts, the strength of this category is that there is just so much you can do to tweak and customise every aspect of your keyboard, from keycaps and switches to more subtle elements like plates, weights, foam and cases. This quartet demonstrates that flexibility ably, and while certain trendy features like gasket-mounted switches are included more or less throughout, there are also some new options I’ve not seen in mainstream gaming keyboards – so take a look if you want to see what Corsair, SteelSeries and Razer will be offering in a few years’ time!
Use the links below to jump to just the keyboard you’re interested in, or scroll on to see the full holiday assortment.
Nuphy Air75 V2 review: transformative upgrades to an already excellent value low-profile wireless keyboard
We’re currently recommending Nuphy’s Air, Field and Halo keyboards in various Digital Foundry guides, so I was keen to take a look at the firm’s recently released Air V2 board to see what’s changed. In short, the new keyboard now boasts a semi-transparent bottom cover (with colour-coordinated internals), 1000Hz polling over 2.4GHz (equalling most gaming keyboards, double the rate of the V1) and other input lag optimisations, 2.2x more battery life in Bluetooth mode, open source QMK/VIA firmware support (allowing customisation via web browser!), PBT keycaps, new switch options, and even redesigned bottom feet that allow for use directly on top of the latest MacBook keyboards.