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We took a close look at HyperX's new keyboard, the Alloy Origins, earlier this week, and were left impressed with it. The company had sent along also a set of their new replacement keycap set for us to check out, and this seemed like a great product to trial out a shorter article format to cover products that otherwise would not merit multi-page reviews. Let us know what you feel about such posts, and if you would like us to expand coverage accordingly.
The HyperX-branded PBT plastic keycaps with doubleshot injected legends use the so-called "pudding" construction, with the top 1/3 of the keycap sides only left opaque to allow for more light to go through. The black and white set was originally sold beginning late last year, and there must have been enough demand for HyperX to dedicate a new SKU for an all-white edition. Read past the break for more on the new keycap set, including fit and finish on the Alloy Origins keyboard too.
Packaging here is in line with that of the HyperX Alloy keyboards, with a white and red color scheme and illustrations galore on the front and back. Indeed, the packaging alone does a good job of showing how the final product will look on a HyperX RGB keyboard, such as the Alloy Origins. There are seals on the sides to keep the contents inside in place.
The contents include a keycap layout map that is handy when between replacement and organizing where the removed keycaps can go. The keycaps and keycap puller come in three vacuum-sealed plastic bags which really are all one-time use. The included puller is a plastic ring-style puller, which works fine but risks scratching the sides of the keycaps, as opposed to a wire-style puller.
A closer look at the replacement keycaps reveals that these are indeed doubleshot injected, and the use of the white plastic is extremely obvious. Indeed, most of the keycap uses a white plastic that has a satin finish to help better diffuse light coming out the bottom and sides of the keycaps, and the legends are white injected into the slightly darker white base plastic that occupies the top surface and a bit more. This type of keycap is colloquially referred to as a "pudding" set, and HyperX is not the first to come up with this. Secondary legends are in the same location as on the stock keycaps except for the keyboard-specific secondary legends on the Alloy series of keyboards from HyperX which are absent on this set.
When comparing the stock keycaps on the Alloy Origins to this replacement set, there is the use of ABS vs. PBT plastic with the latter having the more textured finish and much thicker walls (1.38 mm on average). Font and size of the legends are different too,with the replacement set containing looped legends with seams similar to the vast majority of doubleshot injected keycaps, and the top surface is also larger on these PBT keycaps. Overall, these should fare better not just in terms of the typing experience (which is somewhat subjective, to be fair), but longevity and the lighting effect on the Alloy Origins RGB keyboard.
Seen above is also a look at the keyboard with the replacement keycap set installed outside of the alphanumeric keys to allow for better contrast with the stock keycaps. It is all the more obvious with the keyboard lit up, say in a static white color, where the side walls of the keycaps and the larger top surface all allow for more light in combination with the white plastic reflecting more light too.
The HyperX doubleshot PBT pudding keycaps (in white) costs $24.99 from their web shop, which is a really good deal considering these will be compatible with a lot of third-party keyboards as well (at least those adopting the "standard" bottom row spacing).
View at TechPowerUp Main Site
The HyperX-branded PBT plastic keycaps with doubleshot injected legends use the so-called "pudding" construction, with the top 1/3 of the keycap sides only left opaque to allow for more light to go through. The black and white set was originally sold beginning late last year, and there must have been enough demand for HyperX to dedicate a new SKU for an all-white edition. Read past the break for more on the new keycap set, including fit and finish on the Alloy Origins keyboard too.
Packaging here is in line with that of the HyperX Alloy keyboards, with a white and red color scheme and illustrations galore on the front and back. Indeed, the packaging alone does a good job of showing how the final product will look on a HyperX RGB keyboard, such as the Alloy Origins. There are seals on the sides to keep the contents inside in place.
The contents include a keycap layout map that is handy when between replacement and organizing where the removed keycaps can go. The keycaps and keycap puller come in three vacuum-sealed plastic bags which really are all one-time use. The included puller is a plastic ring-style puller, which works fine but risks scratching the sides of the keycaps, as opposed to a wire-style puller.
A closer look at the replacement keycaps reveals that these are indeed doubleshot injected, and the use of the white plastic is extremely obvious. Indeed, most of the keycap uses a white plastic that has a satin finish to help better diffuse light coming out the bottom and sides of the keycaps, and the legends are white injected into the slightly darker white base plastic that occupies the top surface and a bit more. This type of keycap is colloquially referred to as a "pudding" set, and HyperX is not the first to come up with this. Secondary legends are in the same location as on the stock keycaps except for the keyboard-specific secondary legends on the Alloy series of keyboards from HyperX which are absent on this set.
When comparing the stock keycaps on the Alloy Origins to this replacement set, there is the use of ABS vs. PBT plastic with the latter having the more textured finish and much thicker walls (1.38 mm on average). Font and size of the legends are different too,with the replacement set containing looped legends with seams similar to the vast majority of doubleshot injected keycaps, and the top surface is also larger on these PBT keycaps. Overall, these should fare better not just in terms of the typing experience (which is somewhat subjective, to be fair), but longevity and the lighting effect on the Alloy Origins RGB keyboard.
Seen above is also a look at the keyboard with the replacement keycap set installed outside of the alphanumeric keys to allow for better contrast with the stock keycaps. It is all the more obvious with the keyboard lit up, say in a static white color, where the side walls of the keycaps and the larger top surface all allow for more light in combination with the white plastic reflecting more light too.
The HyperX doubleshot PBT pudding keycaps (in white) costs $24.99 from their web shop, which is a really good deal considering these will be compatible with a lot of third-party keyboards as well (at least those adopting the "standard" bottom row spacing).
View at TechPowerUp Main Site
