Closer Examination

As we saw before, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 keyboard comes in a plastic wrap to keep it pristine and free of dust out of the box. Taking it off, we get our first look at the keyboard. It is extremely clean and minimalist, which is in line with the design language of other HyperX Alloy Origins keyboards, but runs the risk of looking very similar to other such 60% keyboards released this year. The keyboard adopts a monochrome color scheme with a black aluminium body up top and for the bottom, black PBT keycaps with white doubleshot injected legends, and a black steel plate you can barely see through the gaps. The case also has the curved finish we saw on the Alloy Origins Core, which makes this look and feel even smaller than it is. Bezels are otherwise tiny, and branding comes in the form of the HyperX logo on the front of the space bar keycap.

As with pretty much every other 60% keyboard, the alphanumeric section is all you get here. Even Tilde (~) is replaced, in this case with Esc. This is the most common 60% form factor layout, but note the bottom row. Unlike others that go space bar, R. Alt, Fn, Menu, and R. CTRL to round off the bottom-right corner, HyperX switched things slightly by going with R. Alt, Menu, R. CTRL, and Fn. Clearly, the Fn key is key in more ways than one for utilizing layers, and HyperX wants you to know that it is all the way at the end here. Given the smaller number of dedicated keys, we have more secondary legends than usual. HyperX has gone with traditional legends on top and the layered functions on front, which allows HyperX to use a PBT doubleshot injection for the keycaps and top-located legends, but laser etched front legends. As it stands then, expect to see the top-placed legends backlit just fine and the front-facing legends backlit poorly at best. The font typeface is also such that the modifiers are mostly using symbols rather than text, and the usual secondary legends are put alongside the primary ones to where everything is generally smaller than necessary.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle of the plastic casing, albeit placed lower, and a compacted HyperX logo above it. Four rectangular rubber pads on the corners keep the keyboard from sliding around on the desk, and two sets of keyboard feet at the top open up to optionally elevate the keyboard in two separate options for a total of three elevation steps. These feet also have rubber pads on the bottom for grip and to prevent scratches on the resting surface, and the keyboard is small enough to where even the smaller feet keep the keyboard in place well.


As is the norm, the front facing towards the monitor is where we see this keyboard's connectivity options. The USB Type-C port is fairly recessed to where some aftermarket cables may not fit, and it is closer to the top-left corner compared to the Alloy Origins Core with the top-right biased port. As such, the USB cable will likely not snag a right-handed user's mouse cable here. You will need an available USB Type A port on your PC, and USB 2.0 will suffice, although the lack of USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) ports is not really a problem with even relatively recent hardware.


The keycaps have an OEM profile, and the various rows are thus sculpted accordingly, except of course with only five instead of the usual six rows. They have a floating design which allows for easier cleaning, but can cause more light bleed. The provided keycap puller works well enough, although the keycaps are snug to where you may have to approach at an angle, which increases the odds of scratching the keycap sides with this plastic ring puller. The stock keycaps are thick PBT plastic with an average wall thickness of 1.31 mm and will resist developing a shine from finger oils over time compared to the usual ABS plastic keycaps. The top legends are doubleshot injected in a loop-less manner, which will basically last forever. As mentioned before, the front-facing legends are laser etched, which will have these wear out quicker relative to those up top if touched consistently. The good thing is that you will never really touch them in practice, so the laser etching process is not as big a deal for longetivity. As expected, backlighting will be affected depending on where the legends are located relative to the LED underneath. As it turns out, the front-facing legends are not even backlit here, so this is really the only con of the keycaps. We have standard keycap spacing here; that said, I suggest using the stock keycaps until you are familiar enough with the layered functions.


At the time of this review, there is only one switch option for the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 in the HyperX Red switches. Based on previous Alloy Origins keyboards, I expect other switch options to come up over time. For now, there is only the linear switch option. As the name suggests, this Red switch has red-colored sliders and housing, which really show up nicely with the floating keycaps when seen from the sides. The LEDs are separate, above the switch, and the larger keycaps use Cherry-style stabilizers to complete the experience that isn't quite Cherry but close enough. There is the lightest of lubing on the stabilizers, enough to feel, but not to where it is satisfying if you have experienced better.


You can see the two replacement keycaps in use here, with the 1u keycap used for the Esc key and the space bar keycap being the more glamorous of the two. Shame that these are both ABS keycaps, but I understand the case for the space bar key at least given the more intricate design. I went back to the stock keycaps for consistency and because I personally prefer the stock look.