HyperX Alloy Origins Keyboard Review – Kissed by a Keyboard

Have you ever had a keyboard key kiss you on the finger? No? Well, I think I have and I’m pretty sure I liked it.

The HyperX Alloy Origins is a new breed of mechanical keyboard. It comes with a few different options but the configuration I’ve been hands-on with has the new HyperX Red Linear keys and, let me tell you, these things are a bit of a trip.

It also comes with fully configurable LED lights so you can get your full RGB colour shift on as well as few other nice little features.

Hyper X Alloy Origins Keyboard Review

The first thing I want to talk about are these keys. I’m a heavy typist and gamer, so I when I’m looking at a keyboard I tend to want something that can do both. I like a ‘middle of the road’ kind of set up in a comfortable configuration.

The HyperX Red Linear keys featured on the HyperX Alloy Origins keyboard are incredibly light. They have very little resistance and bounce straight back up to your fingers, almost like they’re giving them a little kiss. It’s incredibly weird if you’re not used to such a light form keyboard, and I was very unsure.

I like a bit of feedback on my keys, some resistance, or I thought I did. After about a week of using this keyboard on the regular, I am completely used to the quick and direct response provided by these keys. They go straight down and straight back up again and it is allowing me to type at faster paces than before.

My accuracy has taken a slight hit as it’s so easy to knock the wrong key, but now that I’m more used to them I wouldn’t say it’s any worse than my previous typo count.

Finger Kissing Good

For gaming, it also seems perfect.

You can get a much faster response time and potentially strain yourself less often thanks to these keys. I don’t play a lot of games that rely on twitchy keyboard skills but I could definitely see it helping.

To test my new found love, I tried to go back to an older keyboard with more resistant keys and it felt sluggish, like typing through mud. I’m sure I’d get used to it again but for now, I’m really enjoying typing like blue hedgehog on speed.

A slight downside would be the noise. Compared to some mechanical keyboards these aren’t the loudest keys by any means but they’re still clacky bois. I enjoy it when typing as the combined sound of keys going at a million miles an hour makes me feel like a badass but for things like streaming, be aware that your mic may pick it up.

Light as a Photon

The LEDs in the HyperX Alloy Origins are also impressive. Much like the Hyper X ram I reviewed, these are surprisingly bright. The LEDs themselves are positioned in a different spot than on many other keyboards and I think you can tell the difference.

This can be customised in the Ngenuity software but it’s still in beta. You can do things like change the colours, use different effects, even set colours to open with different games (but they don’t seem to go back to a default mode automatically when you’re done, yet). The keys are individually lit too so you if you want to highlight particular keys used in-game, or set effects to them you can also configure that.

I really enjoyed the ability to use pastel colours for something a bit different from the regular RGB shift but I also would like to be able to add more customisations. One of the modes highlights keys at random in a sort of twinkling sky pattern and I’d love to be able to set this up for when my computer is idling, for example. These things are likely still to come once the software is fully out, but for now, the colours are vibrant and actually do add a sense of fun to the device.

The ability to set up macros and game modes are also a really nice touch and it’s cool that there’s enough onboard memory to store those profiles. This means you can take your keyboard to a friends house and it should still work how you remember, though it could be that you need to install the Ngenuity software on their PC as well.

Keys to my Heart

The other notable features are small things but really add to the quality of life. The profile is relatively slim and even with the ten pad, I found this keyboard took up a relatively small amount of space on my desk while still being comfortable. Despite its size, the HyperX Alloy Origins is made of sturdy strong materials which feel like they could survive even the harshest gaming sessions.

The stands have three angles you can position them to for comfort and it charges via USB C. Perhaps the only downside with the general features is Hyper X removed the USB port as it wasn’t getting enough use. I personally quite like one of these in my keyboard but if it allowed for some of the other features instead I can understand the sacrifice.

Overall, despite my initial reservations, I really like the HyperX Alloy Origins keyboard. The keys are comfortable, responsive, and lightning-fast. They’re customisable and look really nice on your desk, no matter what kind of configuration you decide on for your LEDs. I’ve found both typing and gaming very satisfying and although there are a few things I think could be better, overall this is probably one of my favourite keyboards I’ve ever used. Even if, like me, you’re not sure about those speedy red linear keys, I recommend giving it a chance – sometimes love can surprise you.

The HyperX Alloy Origins was reviewed using a keyboard provided to PowerUp! by HyperX.