When the @nuphystudio #Air60HE hit the market, it was the world’s first magnetic low-profile keyboard that promised a new typing experience and incredible gaming performance. Now, its bigger sister, the Air75HE, has arrived, refining and enhancing what made the original so good. With thoughtful tweaks here and there, the Air75HE elevates the concept to new heights, addressing the weakish points of its predecessor while maintaining that sleek, low-profile design.
Disclaimer: this unit was sent out to me for testing purposed, however, @NuPhyHE had no influence on this review.
I will compare #Air75HE with Air60HE in a few aspects during this review. For the full Air60HE review, go here.
SPECS
In The Box
Design and Build Quality
The Air75HE is Nuphy’s second low-profile HE keyboard after the Air60HE. It’s a sleek, compact 75%, non-exploded, layout keyboard, wired-only with a back cable connection. Features include Nuphy’s Rapid Switch for three mechanical profiles, two side LEDs, south-facing RGB, ABS nSA keycaps (both opaque and translucent), a high-quality Shenzen Arbiter PCB, plate-mounted stabilizers, and a powerful NU2–8k-D-2407 MCU supporting an 8k polling rate. It’s hot-swappable with Gateron Mini Jades or Pro, very low profile, and doesn’t need a wrist rest. It also has kick-out feet for adjusting typing angles.
The base consists of ABS plastic with an attractive steel plate that reflects like a mirror. The top is entirely aluminum. The product feels robust and solid, though the kick-out feet seem somewhat fragile, as if they might break easily (but they don’t).
Creating a low-profile keyboard with magnetic switches involves challenges, especially with sound dampening. Nuphy seems to have prioritized exceptional latency over other features. They opted out of popular elements like gasket mounts, PC/POM plates, sound dampers, and switch pads, instead using PCB foam, plate foam, and silicone at the bottom for a cleaner typing sound. It’s unfortunate they couldn’t include their Ghost Bar solution due to design limitations (just like with Air60HE); although there are silicone dampeners by the space bar, they don’t match the sound and quality of the Ghost Bar. Despite these compromises, for a low-profile keyboard with Hall effect switches, the build quality and solutions are commendable. The decision to keep it wired is understandable since wireless technology could increase latency, which is a no-go for pro gamers.
The differences to Air60HE are the following:
- it’s bigger, 75% layout
- the keycaps are fixed now and are fully “non-shine through” because you could see some shine coming through them in Air60HE (very small but still)
- the translucent keycaps are moved totally to the right ride
- the kick-out feet don’t fold under pressure, sometimes it could happen with Air60HE
- the USB-C port is moved from the side to the back of the keyboard
Switches
Jades Pro seem to be setting the industry standard and are currently my top choice. Also, a word of caution from personal experience: when modifying the appearance of your Air75HE, be careful not to accidentally remove keycaps along with their switches, particularly with the space bar. Ensure you press them back in properly — that one hasn’t changed in this unit either. On second thought, that doesn’t need to be a flaw — I’ve struggled so many times with removing switches in different keyboards in my life, so I tend to think it’s better to follow Nuphy’s way.
Keycaps
The translucent nSA keycaps on this model have also been used and they add a striking visual flair that complements the keyboard’s design. However, these can become somewhat distracting in a dark environment if the RGB lighting is set to high brightness, but fortunately they have been moved totally to the right side. I found out that the texture of the translucent keycaps offers more grip compared to the stock dye-sub keycaps, which feel somewhat slippery, particularly if you’re accustomed to Cherry profiles. This slipperiness might take some getting used to, so I opted to replace them right away.
I couldn’t stop myself from replacing the stock keycaps with Canopus shine-through nSA keycaps as well:
The sound from this keyboard isn’t what you’d expect from a MacBook-like keyboard; it’s designed as a gaming keyboard with HE switches, after all. The sound quality is really good, although the space bar is slightly louder and doesn’t include the Ghost Bar solution because of the Air75HE’s design limitations. But I guess I’m nitpicking now.
Latency
Nuphy stated their Air75HE would achieve a 0.1 ms delay. Given that Nuphy sacrificed wireless connectivity for lower latency, I anticipated similar performance but slightly higher due to the real world scenarios which are a bit different than lab tests. Although I haven’t conducted lab tests, I can confirm the Air75HE was remarkably fast and responsive, placing it among my top picks for low-latency keyboards. To get these results, you’d need to use the lowest RT settings at 0.01 mm, which Nuphy’s software supports. With hardware tests pending, I suspect it might even outperform the Field75HE and Wooting80HE due to its 8k polling and scanning rate, though the difference of 1–2 ms is imperceptible to humans. We’re now in a realm where the benefits of further reductions are minimal. But If I were to bet my money on it, Air60HE would probably be a hair faster than Air75HE, just because the board of Air75HE has more keys to scan.
Air75HE supports the same web-based hub that all other magnetic keyboards from NuPhy do:
that has received a few updates since my last article on Air60HE.
Gaming Performance
Here are things you can do via software:
- SOCD (Simultaneous Opposite Cardinal Directions): For gamers, especially those playing fast-paced shooters like Valorant or Quake, this feature is a game-changer. SOCD enhances your strafing by allowing precise movement inputs, improving your control in-game. Although it’s banned in some games like CS2 due to the advantage it gives, in games where it’s allowed, it’s an absolute must for serious players.
- Rapid Shift (Rappy Snappy Equivalent): NuPhy’s software offers Rapid Shift, their equivalent of the popular Rappy Snappy feature. This feature allows for near-instantaneous key response changes, making it perfect for competitive gaming, where speed and precision are critical.
- Hyper Shift (Rapid Dual Trigger Equivalent): Perhaps the most impressive gaming feature is Hyper Shift, which is NuPhy’s answer to DrunkDeer’s Rapid Dual Trigger. Hyper Shift counter-strafes your key input, making it incredibly useful for games like CS where timing your movement is crucial. Frankly, it feels almost overpowered, giving you a serious advantage by perfecting your strafing in intense combat scenarios.
- 8K Polling Rate & 8000Hz Scan Rate: The software enables an impressive 8000Hz polling rate and a 8000Hz scan rate for the keyboard, something rarely seen among competitors. While many hype up the 8K polling rate, NuPhy’s development team has delivered 8K scan rate, which is actually more critical for delivering faster input times than the polling rate.
Rapid Trigger and Actuation Point customization with 0.01mm accuracy: The software allows for Rapid Trigger and Actuation Point customization with a precision of 0.01mm (RT) and 0.1 (AP), giving users unparalleled control over their key actuation points. This level of accuracy is perhaps even too precise for FPS gaming, but I am sure some will appreciate it. One small nitpick: it resets to default 0.01 mm even after I set it to 0.1 mm once I try to customize another key. A bit annoying.
Dead Zone configuration, switches recalibration (you might have to do this after a new update is released), DKS, Mod Tap, Toggle Key features.
Tick rate (for games that may require it like CS2), anti-wobbliness switches level and gaming optimization — all to enhance your gaming experience and reduce errors and obstacles that may come in your way
Comprehensive Customization: Of course, the software also includes all the standard customization options you’d expect from a high-end keyboard — key remapping, macro creation (added recently), RGB adjustments, and more. The ability to assign macros and remap keys is intuitive, allowing you to tailor your layout to suit your workflow or gaming style seamlessly.
There’s one more thing you need to know — some people from CS reported to me that Nuphy’s SOCD is not detected by server software. I checked in Quake on my side and it is true — it is indeed undetectable. That’s something you have to know before purchasing this keyboard.
Nuphy really deserves recognition for pioneering actually the world’s first low-profile Hall Effect (HE) keyboards. They somehow managed to meet the diverse needs of both gamers and productivity users. Compared to my Air60HE, I find the Air75HE slightly superior in some ways for both gaming and work. There are improvements over some features that might have a bit controversial in Air60HE but they’re gone now. I truly think it’s a fantastic keyboard — it’s compact, equipped with excellent switches, has robust software, and is incredibly responsive. My criticisms are minor: the default keycaps could still be a better and grippier (though replaceable) and I wish Nuphy offered more color choices for this model. But that’s pretty much it.
Closing Thoughts
- 2nd world’s low-profile HE keyboard
- absolutely minimal latency with 8k polling/scanning rate
- very sleek, ultra compact, great looking
- great switches from Gateron, hot swappable
- shortcoming of Air60HE have been addressed and fixed (translucent keycaps moved to the side, kick-out fee don’t fold under pressure, USB-C port moved to the back, keycaps seem thicker now)
- very potent software
- cool translucent keycaps to pimp up the looks
- good support on discord, the dev team also listens to feedback
