HyperX announces first gaming keyboard with its own switch design

HyperX has been making gaming keyboards for a few years now, and like many other manufacturers has mostly been using Cherry MX or Kailh keyswitches depending on the price point. Today at Computex, however, HyperX is announcing its first keyboard to use a new keyswitch design from the company itself.

The keyboard is called the Alloy Origins, and as you can see from the above photo, HyperX’s switches are based on typical reds, which are a popular choice for competitive gamers because of their high responsiveness. HyperX has tweaked the red design further, however, shaving the travel distance and actuation point down to 3.8mm and 1.8mm respectively. That’s 0.2mm lower than a standard Cherry MX red switch.

All of this is to say that if you really like red switches and wished they felt… redder, the Alloy Origins might be worth a look. It certainly felt snappy in my brief hands-on, though it’s hard to pass judgement on a keyboard in a few minutes. But it won’t be the best choice for most mechanical keyboard enthusiasts who use them for typing more than gaming.

Here’s what the Alloy Origins itself looks like. It’s a full-sized keyboard with a trim aluminum frame, and it’s pictured here with HyperX’s “black pudding” translucent keycaps, which I have to say I kind of dig. You can, however, get the keyboard with more demure black caps if you don’t want your desk to look like a scene from Enter the Void.

The Alloy Origins will be available in the third quarter of this year for $109.99. That’s the same price as HyperX’s similar Alloy FPS RGB, which uses Kailh switches.