HyperX used to be considered the gaming division of Kingston solely because their system memory and solid state drives offered the high performance that you needed to power a serious gaming computer. While those products are still what I would consider the core business of HyperX, they now offer other items that should also appeal to gamers. We have looked at a few of their gaming headsets in recent reviews, and this time around we will be looking at their first gaming keyboard.



The HyperX Alloy FPS mechanical gaming keyboard is shown in the promotional image above, and from this view you may not be able to see how unique it really is. While it offers plenty of the features that gamers demand, it offers some interesting twists that should appeal to plenty of users in the market for a new keyboard. Before taking a look at the sample provided for review, let's take a look at some of the published data on the Alloy, as taken from the official product page on the HyperX website.

Features:

» Compact design ideal for FPS gameplay
» Solid-steel frame
» Ultra-portable design with detachable cable
» Cherry® MX mechanical keys
» Convenient USB charge port
» Game mode, 100-percent Anti-Ghosting and full N-key rollover functions
» HyperX red backlit keys with dynamic lighting effects
» Additional colored, textured keycaps for FPS gameplay

Specifications:

» Keyboard Switch: Cherry MX
» Type: Mechanical
» Backlight: Single color, Red
» Light effects: 6 LED modes and 5 brightness levels
» Connection type: USB 2.0 (2 USB connectors)
» USB Passthrough: Yes (mobile phone charging only)
» Polling rate: 1000Hz
» Anti-ghosting: 100% anti-ghosting
» Key rollover: 6-key / N-key modes
» Media control: Yes
» Game mode: Yes
» Cable Type: Detachable, braided (length: 1.8m)
» Dimensions:
   » Width: 441.65mm
   » Depth: 129.38mm
   » Height: 35.59mm
» Weight (keyboard and cable): 1049g

Plenty of familiar items are listed above, including the use of Cherry MX blue switches. What you may notice missing from the list is a software suite, as Kingston has opted to make it all about the keyboard with no software required. Many gaming keyboards require a software package to be installed so you can customize things fully, so Kingston has left things like programmable macros out, and has made control of the keyboards LEDs and other settings all possible through the keyboard without software.