I had just finished testing an ultra-low profile keyboard when this one arrived, not quite as thin, and yet decidedly short enough to interest anyone in the market for a low profile keyboard. These typically tend to be smaller—think 65% or 75% form factor—so the NuPhy Air96 V2 was a pleasant surprise in that regard. This is part of NuPhy's "Air" series of keyboards, so it also sells smaller keyboards in different sizes too in addition to the various accessories for them. Still, a keyboard that has 100 dedicated keys that weighs ~650 g while still having an aluminium frame is neat. The folio case and the wireless connectivity also enables people to take it along with them, however less practical it may seem. The keyboard also addresses a lot of the same issues most recently reviewed keyboards have—it has a lot of switch options, comes in different colors with matching accessories, and there are even spare keycap sets ready to go so you don't have to worry about finding some that are guaranteed to fit into the low profile switches. Having both first-party and third-party switches covering all three feedback mechanisms is also nice, especially as they also cover different actuation distances and forces too.

I looked through the comparison table NuPhy has to see how the original Air96 is like, and it does feel like the Air96 V2 basically builds upon what is already a good keyboard. Going for open-source firmware will no doubt please many who dislike poorly optimized re-skinned OEM software solutions, and VIA works plenty fine even if you have to find the JSON file through a Google search first as NuPhy doesn't have it directly linked on the product page for whatever reason! There's dual OS support with NuPhy targeting macOS users by default, but at least providing spare keycaps to make it easy for Windows users. I would have liked to see the Print Screen keycap included though! The keycaps are opaque so the increased lighting effects in VIA end up doing accent lighting only. The good news is the keyboard does have side/bottom lighting too, courtesy LEDs and a frosted plastic panel on the bottom. I'll also give a shoutout to the wireless connectivity on hand with 2.4 GHz working flawlessly enough to where I wrote this entire review without the keyboard wired up to my PC and without having any issues. The Bluetooth connection was not perfect though, but nothing compared to the frustrations I had with the Lofree Edge before. As it stands, the pros heavily outweigh the cons for anyone in the market for a low profile keyboard. I am happy to recommend the NuPhy Air96 V2 accordingly.