Custom keyboards have grown in popularity, and pre-built mechanical keyboards raise their bar to stay competitive.
Thanks to the folks from HyperX, we get to check out the HyperX Alloy Origins 60. A compact 60% mechanical gaming keyboard.
What comes in the box are the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 keyboard, some documents, and a USB C cable. It also ships with a keycap puller, a replacement ESC key featuring HyperX’s logo, and a unique topographic design spacebar.
Worth noting that the additional keycaps are made from ABS plastic and the rest are durable PBT double-shot keycaps. This is to ensure the printing won’t fade and the lighting can shine through the legends.
Since we are talking about lighting, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60’s RGB backlighting is well implemented and offers extensive customization like brightness and effect through the HyperX’s NGENUITY software. You can also set macros to any key and save up to 3 profiles to the keyboard’s onboard memory, so you don’t have to reconfigure from scratch.
I love how it lights up and the floating key design allows it to shine to the side.
The keys are the same size as on a standard keyboard; the only differences are some keys now doubled up the function. Those like the directional pad, F-keys, delete, home, Pg up and down has been added to other keys and need to hold down the FN key located on the bottom left to activate.
Coming from a 65% keyboard which I mostly use for script writing and video editing, the transition is a bit tough in the beginning, especially since I use a lot of directional keys. It took a while for me to get used to it. If you can’t live without the direction keys, you can always re-assigned the whole arrow keys to be primary via the HyperX’s NGENUITY software.
The petite-size keyboard is constructed with aircraft-grade aluminum and has some weight to it at 738 grams. Features detachable cable which allows you to change to your preference or custom coiled cable. Three levels of height adjustment with two collapsible feet. Overall the build feels premium and solid.
The HyperX Alloy Origins 60 that I have here comes with the HyperX Red linear and it also comes with the Aqua switches option. The HyperX Red switches are light and responsive with low click latency. It has a 45g of actuation force, a 1.8mm actuation point, and a total travel distance of 3.8mm.
The stabilizer feels and sounds good except for the spacebar key. Don’t get me wrong, it’s solid with no rattling, just that I didn’t feel the uniformity with other keys. Probably some lubing and tweaking would improve it.
Do take note that these switches are not hot-swappable which isn’t a big deal as this keyboard should last you a while as it offers an impressive 80 million keystroke lifespan. On top of that, it is also backed with 2 years warranty by HyperX.
For the sound test of the HyperX Red linear switches, you can check my FastView video of the mechanical keyboard below;
Verdict
For the price of US$ 100 which translated to about RM 440, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 is easy to recommend if you are down with a 60% keyboard. Premium build quality from the aluminum chassis, double shot PBT keycaps, reliable mechanical switches, and easy-to-use companion software.
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