The Alloy FPS is a very good keyboard on its own, and all the more impressive when you consider it is the very first offering from a brand that is itself fairly new as well. It aims to meet the needs of the growing customer base that wants a good, reliable mechanical keyboard with a clean aesthetic and minimal bezel. It does so fairly well too, with less volume than some TKL keyboards I have used in the past, and that is saying a lot.

There are a lot of other good things I can say about the keyboard - the first impressions alone merit a mention, with bundled accessories galore that help sweeten the deal even if you were not originally planning on using all of them. The thick steel plate adds rigidity, and the lower surface area means not much more mass added with making this well capable of taking around if you so desire. It being available with three different switches and in seven different layouts means a lot of customers will find this with support for their local language, and not just the usual ANSI and ISO users. The braided, detachable cable is a nice touch, and the braiding is well done to where I do not anticipate any fraying anytime soon. The presence of a USB pass-through port is also appreciated, albeit a USB 3.0 port would have been better.

That really ends up being the theme of my issues with this keyboard - could have been better. The keycaps could have been better, the positioning of the secondary legends could have been better, the feature set for a gamer could have been better, and when you consider everything, the price point could have also been better. There are now so many keyboards in the $75-$100 price range that it is not even funny anymore, and keyboards from yesteryear as well as new ones come with more features than this one the target gamer audience might appreciate, even if they go unused. When it comes down to the bottom line, you are paying for the convenience of transporting the keyboard, and I would rather have seen HyperX spend that money elsewhere.

A lot of these complaints are easily mitigated, however, and there is no denying that the base for a long-lasting keyboard is present here. As such, I do recommend this for the money, and if you can get it on sale then all the better. Just account for an additional $30 or so for a full keycap replacement set.