HP’s gaming brand, HyperX has long been known for quality products at relatively affordable prices.  The new HyperX Alloy Rise 75 gaming keyboard and Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini – Wireless Gaming Mouse are two quality products from HyperX that fall, not in the affordable range, but somewhere in between.

I’ve used HyperX products in the past and were enamoured with them so when we got a chance to check out the new keyboard and mouse we jumped at the opportunity.

Design and function

HyperX has built the new mechanical Alloy Rise 75 keyboard to help enthusiasts customise it to their liking.  It is “built for personalisation and customisation at every level.”  What they mean by this is that you can hot-swap the key switches, the magnetic top plate, badges, volume wheel and more.

The keyboard is gasket mounted, which is different from many other manufacturers who built their keyboards with incredibly sturdy metal bases to prevent any give or movement of the keyboard while gaming ferociously.  This gasket mount gives the keyboard a premium feel and functionality with its subtle movement and give.

By this we mean that the circuit board and cover plate on which the switches are mounted are mounted on gaskets.  This means they move separately from the housing of the keyboard and, in theory, making them quieter and giving a softer typing feel.  There is a “give” to the keyboard and keys while hammering away at the keyboard.

Comparing it to my other gaming keyboards you can definitely feel and hear a difference.  The softer feel of the keys gives a much nicer feel if you are using the mechanical keyboard for typing – as a general rule I do not but it does occasionally get used for that.

The HyperX keyboard offers the ability to quickly and easily swap out the top plate and volume knob with a white and blue version available at this stage. We were sent the white version, and it was a simple snap off of the old top plate and snap on of the new one.  You can also switch the silver HyperX logo badge on the side to one of several variations that can be purchased from HyperX.

As with most gaming keyboards you can easily swap out the key caps and switches as you wish.  The hot-swap sockets support three and five pin switches so you can stick in your own favourite MX-style switch. 

The keycaps and switches included in the Alloy Rise 75 keyboard out of the box are decent switches although they aren’t especially clickety – well, compared to my usual brown switches they aren’t anyway.  The included switches are solid and don’t seem to have much wobble and give compared to other gaming keyboards I have on hand – this is apparently due to the stems of the included switches being a box-style – see below.

RGB colouring is present, for every key, and can be customised using the HyperX NGENUITY app on your PC.  Here you can change key macros or bindings easily, something I love, especially in a productivity sense.

The keyboard has some added FN key functionality including quickly changing the brightness of the RGB lighting, or you can set it to auto so that it lowers the brightness itself when gaming in a darker environment based on the ambient light present in the room.

Connectivity

The HyperX Alloy Rise 75 keyboard offers wired connectivity only which is disappointing.  With so many other keyboards offering a wireless option which can still produce high polling rates thanks to a 2.4GHz connection it is disappointing that HyperX didn’t build in some wireless connectivity into this.  

Their wireless mice include a wireless dongle so it is surprising they didn’t include one for the keyboard as well.  The USB-C cable they have included for connectivity is a fabric covered cable which is very nice and feels premium, allowing it to not get caught on anything else you have on your desktop.

Performance

As a general rule the performance is really good although it feels very different to my usual gaming keyboard.  It just feels softer – the difference is certainly noticeable.  I have a keyboard with brown switches and one with red and the red one is similar to this HyperX keyboard but it is still a “softer” feel.

Performance is the same, although with the softer feel it does feel like activation is slower on the HyperX keyboard HyperX say it is not with the activation point being close enough to the same as the other keyboards that you do not notice any difference in real world gaming.

Who buys it?

The HyperX Alloy Rise 75 gaming keyboard may be gasket-mounted, making for a much nicer typing feel with the keyboard, but that isn’t the key point here.  The customisation is.  You can buy a single keyboard and switch out the top plate, choosing between Black, Blue and White, switch out the volume knob, change the HyperX logo badge along with all the usual keycap and switches being hot swappable.

My only issue with the keyboard is its connectivity.  Some of us have a fairly restricted desk and as such try not to have too many cables snaking around.  The HyperX Alloy Rise 75 is wired only.  There is no wireless option at all – a big letdown.  

If you want a pure customisable keyboard from a big name gaming manufacturer you should check this one out.

The HyperX Alloy Rise 75 gaming keyboard is available now at the HyperX website and at all good PC retailers for RRP $277 in black.  You can also buy a full-size version along with various Top Plates for the keyboards and different switches as required.  

Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini – Wireless Gaming Mouse

There’s not really much to say about this mouse. It is nearly exactly the same as last year’s HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 wireless gaming mouse — it is just 16% smaller.

Being smaller, it is all of 2 grams lighter and at a miniscule 59 grams it is super light but, funnily enough, feels the same weight as last year’s version for me. It still glides effortlessly across my new gaming mouse pad (which was worth the outlay for those considering a dedicated mousepad) with the PTFE feet on the bottom minimal but allow for a great experience when gaming.

Performance is the same as last year with a nice clicky feel to the activation of the buttons. There are once again six programmable buttons, a polling rate of up to 8,000Hz (using the USB 2.4Ghz wireless dongle), a battery life of 11 hours, Bluetooth connectivity if preferred, and the same 26,000 DPI HyperX sensor.

So how does it feel? Too small for me. I have average sized hands, and the mouse is too small for me and my palm grip. It doesn’t sit comfortably under my palm, not filling out the full length resulting in some soreness after a period of use. I am not the target market for this mouse, and those with smaller hands who have tried it have liked it, just not I.

If you have a small hand, then this is a great choice for a gaming mouse for you but if you have average to large hands look to the standard HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 if you want a decent gaming mouse without breaking the bank.

The HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini wireless gaming mouse is available in black and white colours for RRP $149 from all your favourite PC shops.