Introduction

NuPhy is a relatively new keyboard brand that has already made a big mark for itself by offering well-priced keyboards with features attracting the enthusiast keyboard community—think open-source firmware, QMK/VIA support, generally clean designs, decent build quality, and a good selection of switches on offer. It's arguably more popular for its low profile keyboards too, and debuted on TechPowerUp earlier this year with the Air96 v2 wireless mechanical keyboard. Heading to the NuPhy website now, you will notice there is now a separate tab for keyboards and HE keyboards, with the latter now taking over the gaming keyboard market thanks to the use of Hall effect (HE) magnetic switches allowing for very fine control over switch actuation, and associated benefits including the ability to assign multiple functions to the same switch or even analog control, as we have seen before.


NuPhy decided it can show up the other already established HE keyboard brands today by releasing the world's first low-profile HE keyboard. This also means we get to see the debut of low profile magnetic switches, with Gateron having teased them over the summer. Normally you would think that low profile magnetic switches would ruin the whole selling point of having a long travel pathway to allow further customization, and yet there is a clever design with the switches here which results in the same amount of stem travel as most full-size HE switches! The Air60 HE uses two of these new switches in the form of the Gateron Low Profile Magnetic Jade and Jade Pro, and uses a 60% form factor coupled with NuPhy's new web-based configurator that promises all the features you could ask for—except wireless connectivity, this keyboard is too small to fit a battery inside. But for everyone else, I suspect the NuPhy Air60 HE will be of great interest, so let's thank the brand for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp and begin our review with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

The NuPhy Air60 HE ships in a thin, clean-looking product box with the product name, a render of the keyboard, and salient features on the front. A list of contents inside and some basic product specs are seen on the back in addition to a small blurb about NuPhy itself. The inner box can be easily removed from either side of the outer sleeve, and this allows a closer look at the black cardboard box with a simplified render of the keyboard. Side flaps help keep the contents inside in place during their way to you, with the keyboard placed inside a wax paper wrap and under a hard plastic dust cover for added protection, and the various accessories either on top or to the sides in separate compartments.


The accessories include a multi-language quick start guide (online copy here) which also doubles up as a poster on the back. Additionally, we get some spare keycaps for macOS and those are in a different colorway to replace some of the stock keycaps as we will see shortly. NuPhy also provides a nice keyboard cable going from a right-angled Type-C connector to Type-A, both placed in purple strain relief and gray branded plastic housings matching the rest of the cable. We also get a branded combo metal wire-style keycap puller and switch remover tool, again in the same color scheme.