The HyperX Alloy Core RGB gaming keyboard has all the market buzzwords going for it. There’s gaming. There’s RGB. There’s good marketing words like Alloy and Core. Great product shots with rainbow illumination, and a top light strip for no reason except to show off more RGB and make your keyboard take up more room. But the real question is, does it perform?
So the HyperX Alloy Core retails for about 50 dollars us, 40 pounds in Britain, 70 Canadian, and about 2000 Taiwan dollars, and comes with a 2 year warranty. We’ll throw the link here for the HyperX mouse they occasionally bundle with it on Amazon, and the upcoming review of the Pulsefire Core is coming soon.
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Key features are multi-key anti-ghosting, gaming keys, spill resistance
Key features of the HyperX Alloy Core are multi-key anti-ghosting, gaming keys, spill resistance, braided type cable and a 1000 hertz polling rate which is non-removable and comes right out the center, so no cable routing options.
Measuring 44.3 centimeters by 17.5cm, this membrane type keyboard has a good weight at just over 1.1 kilograms or 2 pounds 7 and a half ounces, and it’s got a solid build, with just a bit of flex.
And the standout feature is the top light bar, and out of different RGB implementations we’ve seen, the fading between colors is very smooth and looks really great.
Included in the box are instructions on how to work the RGB, a support card telling you where to go if you have issues, and a thank you note from HyperX.
First impressions are pretty good, with a nice overall design. Micro-ridges on the front surround the front bezel logo. The top of the keyboard also has an onyx metal type logo, which catches light nicely.
I really like the white LEDs for game mode, num and caps lock which are right beside dedicated volume buttons, with a super easy to hit mute button. You can find it easily without looking, as it’s right at the top corner. This is really well thought out. At a couple millimeters high, the volume buttons are a little firmer to press than the rest.
The HyperX Alloy Core’s RGB is well implemented
Just below that and the light bar, we have the half-height dedicated media buttons, again, well planned out with the next button closest to the edge, making it easy to find without taking your eyes off the screen. These require a bit of a harder press than the other keys.
The back is a very simple affair with just height adjustment feet which are small, and one setting, either out, or in. Measuring from the rear corner of the keyboard, extending the feet raised the back of the keyboard by one centimeter. There’s a small difference in key angle with this, and the typing experience does change slightly.
And the RGB on this keyboard is well implemented with a 5-zone color customization option. The top left keys from left to right control brightness level 1, 2 or off, next is LED mode control button, switching from Color Cycle, Spectrum Wave, Breathing, Solid, 5 zones, and Aurora. The Game Mode key is a toggle disabling the windows key, so you don’t hit it by accident while hammering your bottom keys.
Just checking out the solid color presets, we get candy apple red, carrot orange, cyber yellow, emerald green, electric aqua, azure blue, a light violet, fuchsia pink, followed by a futuristic cool white. Function left or right changes color. These are all available on breathing mode as well, speed is controlled by Function up or down. The slowest speed is nice and slow, gentle and not distracting when you need to focus.
When in 5-Zone color mode, by default this rainbow scheme, Function F1 through F5 allows you to change the colors across the different zones. You are limited to the 9 basic colors though. 12And don’t forget your a number of factors can change the colors you’re seeing, especially your monitor color settings, windows night light, Limited vs Full range RGB, and more.
I noticed there was a Firmware Update to 2.1.1.2 which is a bug fix for Num Lock and Caps Lock LED indicators occasionally not showing the correct state. While we were using the HyperX Alloy Core we didn’t notice any issue with this, but grabbed the update anyways.
Now, HyperX has it’s own Ngenuity software in beta that works with a number of middle and higher end keyboards and mice, but I didn’t see the HyperX Alloy Core RGB on the list. I did see the Pulsefire Core listed, so we downloaded and installed it to see if it would interact with this entry level model. It’s a Microsoft Store download of 90 megs, which downloaded and installed quickly. I didn’t really expect it to, and no, the HyperX Alloy Core doesn’t have functionality with the Ngenuity software, however it did recognize the Pulsefire Core, so that’s good.
So we’re up to the typing test check the video for the sounds. And we compare it against a Sades Blademail, it’s a similar membrane keyboard. We don’t have a Cherry MX in the studio right now to test, but that would likely be louder and clicky-er, depending of course, on which Cherry style you go for.
What a great keyboard, sturdy, solid, with a good key feel and not too noisy. Plus you get very well backlit keys and surrounding area, and the top light bar is a nice touch. I’m super happy my keys are backlit as I type a lot at night, and this used to cost an arm and a leg. A few years back I remember shopping for something like this and the starting price was 120 dollars and up. Now you get a gaming grade keyboard with responsive typing with RGB backlit keys for a low price of just 50 bucks.
This HyperX Alloy Core is noticeably quieter than most
Right off the bat, this membrane keyboard is noticeably quieter than most other keyboards, with a responsive feel better than a typical keyboard and definitely qualifying as a gaming one.
So if you prefer the feel of a membrane type and don’t necessarily need Cherry MX, you can get a great looking gaming experience at around 50 bucks, and 65 if you decide to get the Pulsefire Core mouse bundle. I’ve been using the Pulsefire for a few months now and it’s really precise and fits well in hand. If you pick one up, shopping through our affiliate links will help us here with no extra cost to you. And follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at techspinreview.
Back to the HyperX Alloy Core RGB. We actually used it to write both the review for this keyboard as well as HyperX’s Pulsefire Core RGB gaming mouse, and it gives a really tactile feel without needing extra effort to press keys. The keys are full sized and feel responsive, and the height adjustment gives an option to fit your typing style. The media keys are really well thought out, great work by the design team for placement, as you can mute or go to the next song without taking your eyes off the action.
As I use a gel wrist rest for long typing sessions, I found having the keyboard flatter worked better for my typing and gaming, though you have the height option to suit your personal preference. With some other keyboards, I’ve had to extend the feet for the correct angle, this board I found lying flat felt like it worked the best.
As for things to be improved, well… this is a bit hard. Considering the build quality and preset lighting effects for the price, if there were no higher tiers from HyperX and not much competition in the market, I think most consumers would be perfectly happy. However, HyperX offers the Alloy FPS RGB and the Alloy Elite RGB at 90 and a hundred-20 bucks, both of which have software integration, with the ability to really customize the RGB effects and hopefully the media keys also.
So basically we’ve got two wave type effects and 9 solid color options to choose for the HyperX Alloy Core, and this will suit most color schemes, though if you really want to dial in a certain color to match your Aura/Mystic Light/Fusion/or RGB Sync from various motherboard manufacturers, you’ll need a tier higher.
As for the smooth wave effects, the two provided are pretty sweet, though we think that 3 to 5 more wave modes would have been a welcome addition, and given more choice to consumers. Overall a very small thing, considering all the features you get at this price range. Big points to HyperX for the solid build, feel and look of the HyperX Alloy Core RGB.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on the HyperX Alloy Core RGB, are you looking for something like this? Are you thinking of mechanical keyboards instead, or need more customization or buttons for your game? Join the discussion in the comments. Please take a second to hit Like, subscribe, the bell, and we often reply to your feedback so if you have a question, fire away. We really appreciate you watching this far, thanks for your time, and we’ll see you on the next. Bye for now.
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