HyperX Alloy Origins 60 - Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, Ultra Compact 60% Form Factor, Double Shot PBT Keycaps, RGB LED Backlit, NGENUITY Software Compatible - Linear HyperX Red Switch,Black

Why it's worth it

The Alloy Origins 60 strips a keyboard down to 60% of the usual size and puts the space back on your desk for wide mouse swings. An aircraft-grade aluminum body and double-shot PBT keycaps make it feel far sturdier than its footprint suggests.

Sixty percent keyboards exist to give your mouse room, and this one does that better than most. Cut the number pad, the function row, and the arrow cluster, and you free up a stretch of desk that matters at low mouse sensitivity. Competitive shooter players make wide arm sweeps. If you've been bumping your keyboard mid-flick, this is the fix.

The build is the reason to pick it over other small boards. The whole body is aircraft-grade aluminum, so it doesn't flex or slide when you're mashing keys. The keycaps are double-shot PBT, which resists the shine that cheaper ABS caps develop within months. Secondary functions are printed on the sides of the caps, which sounds gimmicky and turns out to be genuinely useful when you're learning the layer shortcuts.

From our review of 8 hyperx gaming gear

What we like

• +Sixty percent keyboards exist to give your mouse room, and this one does that better than most
• +The build is the reason to pick it over other small boards
• +HyperX rates its own linear Red switches for 80 million presses, and owner reports back that up — people a year in describe no…
• +You will spend a week relearning where things are

What to know

• –NGENUITY draws the loudest complaint on this board
• –The switches are soldered in
• –The 60% layout is a genuine dealbreaker for some jobs