This is effectively part two of The Great HyperX Keyboard TPU Roadtrip of 2021, or whatever catchy phrase you may prefer. The Alloy Origins Core in the TKL form factor was first, which also was my first look at the HyperX Aqua switch. The package there cost less and had the same design scheme; the primary difference was with the stock keycaps, which were definitely cheaper in both senses of the word. With the 60% form factor of the Alloy Origins 60, we have better keycaps that cost more to make and fewer keycaps/switches/LEDs, but with most of the R&D from before, yet it costs $10 more. Is that fair compared to the Alloy Origins Core?

Probably not, at least to me. The biggest issue I have is the single switch offer, which in 2021 is a hard sell as everyone is making their own switches with different feedback mechanisms. Sure, the 60% form factor could be expected to have lower volumes sold compared to a TKL board, but that is not for the customer to worry about. When compared more directly to other 60% keyboards and even some 65% keyboards, of which we have tested several even this year, the $100 price point comes in slightly above average. There are more expensive keyboards, including those using higher-end aluminium cases with custom keycaps, as with the Ducky Mecha SF or more ergonomically oriented Kinesis Gaming TKO. Most of the 60% offerings from smaller brands tend to either be much less or way more. Mainstream competitors come in slightly higher generally, such as the CORSAIR K65 RGB MINI.

So with that in mind, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 does not seem too bad. It even has better build quality than most 60% pre-builds, with a two-piece aluminium body that is light and strong. The stock keycaps are also very good and have front-facing legends to illustrate the already pre-programmed layered functions that give users back some of the functions missing from the base layer. There is a good amount of onboard functionality even for customization, including for the RGB backlighting. But for finer control, you need to settle for the software experience that is HyperX Ngenuity, which is where my biggest complaint comes in. I already went over it in detail, but HyperX really needs to get things locally, improve the user experience, and actually get this thing out of what seems to be a never-ending Beta experience.

The silver lining is that the software does the job assuming you can download and install it, offering bug-free customization over lighting and key mapping to where it will meet the needs of almost everyone. Once you have set things up for up to three profiles saved onboard, just have it running in the background without interacting with it outside of firmware updates, or perhaps more compatible hardware down the line. But there are more shortcomings here, including with the switch options, or lack thereof, the value proposition, and the software experience even compared to smaller brand offerings to where I would say wait for a sale before you get the Alloy Origins 60.