HyperX has become one of the biggest names in the PC gaming market, and offer a wide range of accessories including mice, microphones, headsets, and keyboards. Today, they’ve expanded their catalogue with the new Alloy Elite 2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, the latest iteration to the Alloy family. Featuring ABS Pudding Keycaps, dedicated media keys, a large metal volume wheel, USB 2.0 pass-through, an LED light bar, and HyperX Red Linear Mechanical Switches the Alloy Elite 2 is a force to be reckoned with. But should you invest in the Alloy Elite 2, or does its features not warrant upgrading? Let’s take a look.
Specifications:
- MSRP: $129.99
- Keyboard
- Switch: HyperX Switch
- Type: Mechanical
- Backlight: RGB (16,777,216 colors)
- Light effects: Per key RGB lighting and 5 brightness levels
- Onboard memory: 3 profiles
- USB 2.0 Pass-through: Yes
- Anti-ghosting: 100% anti-ghosting
- Key Rollover: N-key mode
- LED Indicator: Yes
- Media control: Yes
- Game Mode: Yes
- OS compatibility: Windows® 10, 8.1, 8, 7
- Key Switches
- Switch: HyperX Red
- Operation Style: Linear
- Operating Force: 45 g
- Actuation Point: 1.8 mm
- Total Travel Distance: 3.8 mm
- Life Span (Keystrokes): 80 million
- Cable
- Type: Attached, Braided
- Length: 1.8 m
- Dimensions
- Width: 444.0 mm
- Depth: 174.0 mm
- Height: 37.4 mm
- Weight (Keyboard and cable): 1530 g
Alloy Elite RGB vs Alloy Elite 2
The HyperX Alloy Elite 2 keyboard differs from its predecessor in a few distinct ways. First, the Elite 2 is $40 cheaper than when the Alloy Elite RGB first launched in 2018. This is because the Elite 2 has several sacrifices in what’s included in the box: there’s no wrist rest, there aren’t the eight replacement gaming keycaps, and no keycap removal tool. I found it weird that the Alloy Elite 2 decided to forego the wrist rest that came with the original. There is a gel memory foam wrist rest available for $19.99 on the HyperX website, but I wish one still came packed-in with the keyboard.
I suppose this is a boon for those who prefer no wrist-rest anyways since you’re not spending extra money on something you won’t use. For me, this was a disappointment because I like having my wrists supported during long gaming sessions. It may be a personal preference, but nonetheless I had to rely on one of my other keyboard’s wrist rests in order to type comfortably. The eight swappable gaming keycaps, which featured a titanium color and themed texture, aren’t included either. They are available separately on the HyperX website for $15.00 though.
The biggest difference between the Alloy Elite RGB and the Alloy Elite 2 comes down to the mechanical switches. Whereas the first Elite utilized standard Cherry MX switches in either Blue, Red, or Brown, the new Elite 2 uses their proprietary HyperX Red Linear Mechanical Switches instead. Compared to the Cherry MX Red, the HyperX Red have a slightly smaller actuation point and a less total travel distance by about 0.2mm each. Additionally, HyperX claims their Red switches have a lifespan of about 80 million keystrokes, compared to the Cherry MX’s approximate 50 million. Meaning the Alloy Elite 2 will keep going strong well into the future.
Build Quality and Design
The outside appearance and overall aesthetic of the HyperX Alloy Elite 2 keyboard is the exact same as its predecessor. It features a solid steel frame top plate and a “floating key” design that makes the keys look suspended over the frame instead of being embedded inside. This steel frame body gives the keyboard significant heft and weight, making it the heaviest keyboard in my collection. This also gives it some more durability and is less likely to bend or warp with use (or misuse).
The body of the keyboard is divided from the very top row by a signature LED light bar, which houses 16 lighting-zones covered by a plastic diffuser. On the top-right are four silver-keyed dedicated media buttons and a large, metal volume wheel. The media keys include Skip Back, Skip Forward, Play/Pause, and Mute All buttons. They all stand in stark contrast to the rest of the black-topped keycaps on the keyboard. The top-left side features three quick-access buttons that control the brightness levels, the three on-board memory profiles, and a Game Mode button.
The keys are an ABS version of the company's Double-Shot PBT Pudding-style Keycaps that feature HyperX’s font on a black legend with a translucent white base. These pudding keycaps allow for more RGB light to come through the sides, making it wholly more impressive and really makes the lighting stand out. Instead of a subdued backlighting, the glow emanating from the keys themselves create a more immersive and beautiful display.
Honestly these are one of the best upgrades HyperX could make to any of their keyboards, as I think these keycaps offer a distinctive and unique aesthetic.
The back of the keyboard features a USB 2.0 pass-through located to the right of the thick, braided power cable on the back of the keyboard. This cable feels quality, but it is heavier and lacks the flexibility of most other cables. The power cable splits off into a Y with two separate USBs to plug in: one for the keyboard itself, and one for the pass-through. Of course, it is entirely optional to only plug in the one USB to power the keyboard if you don’t want to use the pass-through feature.
There aren’t any cable channels under the keyboard since the cable sticks out directly from the back, which means you can’t redirect where the thick power cable comes from. This wasn’t a problem for me since I like it centered anyways, but it can disrupt cable management. On the underside of the keyboard sits four rubber feet for grip and a single pair of flip-up stands to raise the keyboard up.
Usage Impressions
Using the Alloy Elite 2 was an adjustment. I’m more familiar with the clicky and tactile Blue and Brown mechanical switches that provide physical resistance and – in the case of the Blue switches – an audible cue when pressed. I was surprised at first with how fluid typing was on the HyperX Red linear switches. They performed smoothly and were quieter than any of my other keyboards. Admittedly, it took me a while to find where the actuation point was as opposed to my other mechanical keyboards because of these switches. It's a small learning curve, but one that I quickly got over to where I now prefer the Red linear switches over any other.
The Red switches are especially useful for long gaming sessions and those looking for the fastest possible actuation with the least amount of resistance. The force required for actuation is only 45g, Since the lack of resistance lessens possible fatigue from extended use, I’m actually surprised that these aren't more preferred for typists. But I can see how one gets used to the feedback from the mechanical click when you’re focusing on accuracy in writing more so than casting a spell in World of Warcraft, or throwing a grenade in Destiny 2.
That said, when I performed several typing tests from TypingTest.com and KeyHero.com, I discovered that my average words per minute on the HyperX Alloy Elite 2 hovered around 85 whereas my Blue switch mechanical keyboard stayed between 95 and 100 WPM. The Red linear switches may be more comfortable to type on and can more easily spam key presses for certain games, but it just doesn’t provide the feedback necessary for me to outperform a Blue or even a Brown switch for typing. The Alloy Elite 2 also features N-Key rollover to register every keypress, no matter how many keys are simultaneously being held down.
For everything else, I absolutely loved the Alloy Elite 2. The overall design of the keyboard is superb, and I love the LED light bar at the top of the keyboard. Sadly, the Function row of keys hid most of the lights from view. Likewise, the number pad blocks Game Mode status light next to the Caps lock and Num lock lights on the right of the keyboard. These are small complaints, but I can’t help but think that HyperX should have spent time in re-designing the Alloy Elite 2 as opposed to just “switching” out the switches and replacing the keycaps.
One thing that needs no redesign are the dedicated media keys. The media keys and the metal scroll wheel are some of the highlights on the Alloy Elite and Alloy Elite 2 keyboards. The scroll wheel controls the volume and compared to my other keyboards that sport a similar wheel, HyperX got it right with the Alloy Elite’s. I really like how easy it is to slide the wheel, as opposed to the others that feel similar to a mouse’s scroll wheel. I like having a separate Mute Volume media key instead of clicking in on the volume wheel as well. On other keyboards, I’ve accidently muted my volume before when I’ve gone to adjust it.
The only problem I encountered while using the Alloy Elite 2 was when playing Hyper Scrape, Ubisoft’s new Battle Royale game. Sometimes key presses either wouldn’t register, would register multiple times, or phantom keypresses would cause my character to do something random. It should be noted I also had similar issues with my wireless mouse, including connection issues and clicks not registering. I think these problems were more so because of the beta status of the game than anything else, but I felt like it was worth mentioning. That said, I never experienced any other problems in Destiny 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, or Path of Exile when I was testing the keyboard.
HyperX Ngenuity Software
It wouldn’t be an RGB keyboard without software to customize it with, and HyperX is no different. Their NGENUITY software launched alongside the original Alloy Elite keyboard at the beginning of 2018 and has since been improved upon to also include customizations for mice, RAM, and headsets that feature RGB lighting. Unfortunately, the level of customization and default options are nowhere near what’s available on apps like Razer’s Synapse or Corsair’s iCUE.
There are only seven default looped lighting effects on the HyperX NGENUITY app, including breathing, wave, and swipe. There are three reactive effects which are fade, explosion, and flame. The explosion effect sends a reactive wave through the keyboard. The fade does just that and fades the key pressed into another color. Lastly, flame is more like a reverse lightning strike to me. The effects are underwhelming and make me think that HyperX just really dropped the ball when it comes to customizations.
The NGENUITY software is anything but. It took me way too long to figure out how to add additional profiles on the app. For the longest time, I thought that you could only have three profiles, and if you accidently deleted one that you would have to make it again from scratch. Thankfully, this is not the case. You can set different preset profiles to load into the keyboard’s on-board memory for quickly changing between, or you can store them in the NGENUITY software to swap out later. You can even link specific games to them through the app, which is nice.
I also couldn’t figure out how to create macros in NGENUITY at first. I knew it used to be a feature two years ago, but it used to have a separate tab on the left side of the app. HyperX has since removed that tab and integrated it with the Keys section. (Yes, it’s been that long since I’ve used the app). This area lets you not only remap existing keys, but also lets you create and bind custom shortcuts, macros, and even mouse functionalities onto the keyboard. The macros can go extremely in-depth as well: I created a macro to write out the beginning lyrics to David Bowie’s ‘Magic Dance’ from Labyrinth just for fun. Did I then proceed to spam it in World of Warcraft’s general chat? Absolutely.
Regarding macros, I think the Alloy Elite 2 would have been a perfect opportunity to introduce macro keys onto the keyboard. A lot of gaming keyboards feature extra customizable keys specifically for this purpose, and it feels like a miss that HyperX hasn’t taken the leap of faith with the Alloy Elite 2. The top area above the light bar and in-between the easy-access keys and media keys would have been a perfect location for several macro keys to be added. As it stands, that space is currently barren and useless. Maybe if HyperX makes an Alloy Elite 3 in a few years, we might see them use that space more creatively.
Final Thoughts
The HyperX Alloy Elite 2 keyboard is amongst the greatest mechanical gaming keyboards that I have ever used. It’s extremely unfortunate then that the customizable NGENUITY software is lacking in so many departments and ultimately holds this back from being one of the best RGB keyboards ever. That said, the changes made from the Alloy Elite to the Alloy Elite 2 are overall for the better. The HyperX Red linear switches feel fantastic, although they may not suit every gamer’s needs. The pudding keycaps that are included make this keyboard really stand out. And thanks to the removal of the extra gaming keycaps and the wrist rest, the Alloy Elite 2 is even cheaper than its predecessor as well.
With features like dedicated media controls, a USB 2.0 pass-through, and on-board easy access buttons the HyperX Alloy Elite 2 keyboard is one of the best-value mechanical gaming keyboards on the market. At such a competitive price, I won’t be surprised if more gamers start becoming HyperX loyalists. There are some missed opportunities that I wish were addressed, like the lack of both the macro buttons and improvements to NGENUITY, but overall I think that the HyperX Alloy Elite 2 will have a permanent home on my desk for the forseeable future.
Disclaimer: The product described in this review was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.