HyperX Alloy FPS Review

There’s currently a limited number of products in the HyperX portfolio, but it doesn’t mean that the company stops with what it currently has. Do take note, most, if not all of its products have been well received in the market, and we’ve given huge praises to three of the headsets we’ve reviewed that carry the HyperX banner. With that said, the company is taking careful steps to avoid tarnishing its current hold in the market, and now we’ve got a surprise that comes in the form of a mechanical keyboard – the HyperX Alloy FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard.

There’s currently a limited number of products in the HyperX portfolio, but it doesn’t mean that the company stops with what it currently has. Do take note, most, if not all of its products have been well received in the market, and we’ve given huge praises to three of the headsets we’ve reviewed that carry the HyperX banner. With that said, the company is taking careful steps to avoid tarnishing its current hold in the market, and now we’ve got a surprise that comes in the form of a mechanical keyboard – the HyperX Alloy FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard.

Technical Specifications:

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

Price: Php 5,990 SRP

PACKAGING

The HyperX Alloy FPS comes in standard HyperX design fashion straight from the packaging – the familiar red and black design dons the box, with the traditional HyperX branding stapled upfront. Those perusing can also checkout the specs and features printed around the box.

As far as the inclusion goes, HyperX also books the Alloy FPS with the standard fare and a couple of goodies, too. It comes with a detachable braided cable, 8 replacement keys for WASD and 1-4 numerical keys with red-metallic finish textured to cater to FPS gamers, a keycap removal tool (which you don’t really have to use since the keycaps are easily removable manually), and a high-quality mesh travel pouch that’s similar to what we’ve seen on the HyperX Cloud II. Of course, the standard paperwork for a HyperX’s warm welcome, as well as a quick start guide are also in the cards.

DESIGN

Design-wise, we’re very impressed with the construction of the Alloy FPS – the full-sized keyboard’s solid-steel frame feels very nice and sturdy to the touch, and its slim design is perfect for minimalist desks and spaces. Despite its full-sized layout, it’s pretty compact for what it is. The space between the Function lines and the numeric keys are kept at a bare minimum, and there are no thick bezels on each side of the frame to boot. There are no dedicated media keys, but you can easily access them using Fn combinations with the Function keys.

The spaces in between keys feel somewhat large at first brush, especially if you’ve been using laptop keyboards or the mini ones for your desktop. Despite that, it’s easy to get used to once you start using it, and there’s no steep learning curve to learn get the hang of it.

As for the lighting effects, the HyperX Alloy isn’t RGB. It’s a single color red backlight, but it comes with five brightness levels and dynamic lighting effects to keep you entertained/assisted when you’re using in the dark. Cycling through different modes is quite easy, all it takes is the Fn key and an arrow key to the left or right and you can check which one fits your mood. It’s the same process for the brightness levels, only with the up and down arrow keys for changing the levels.

While not exactly a dealbreaker, the Alloy FPS does not come with dedicated media keys. HyperX designed it to be a no-frills gaming keyboard, and it does a good job at it for what it is for. They are secondary keys shared with the Function keys, which you can access via Fn. They aren’t evenly lit though, but it’s well enough to see even in the dark.

HyperX also equipped the Alloy FPS with USB passthrough for charging your phones. It’s probably not what you’d look at first in a mechanical keyboard, but it adds a nice touch if you can’t be bothered to reach to your PC’s USB ports to juice up your device.

PERFORMANCE

 

The Alloy FPS, as its name suggests, is a mechanical keyboard designed for first person shooting games, but we’re not going to limit ourselves with the intended market. We’ve tried it out with several titles ranging games in the First Person genre to Action RPGs, and it has been our daily driver for the past couple of weeks.

The Alloy FPS’ Cherry MX Blue switches are quite responsive, although with high actuation that could work on your advantage or against you, but once you take it out for a spin, you’ll get used to how it actuates. This is vital especially to first person games like Overwatch where fast actuation of keys would mean life or death in certain scenarios. For other games such as RPGs and action adventure titles, it’s decent enough to fill you in with essential usage. As mentioned, it has a Game Mode that disables the Windows key. It even comes with Anti-Ghosting as well as full N-Key rollover instead of the usual 6.

Surviving Roadhog's hook combo by using Mei's Cryostasis helps a lot, especially in Competitive Mathces. 

When it comes to overall performance though, the buttons feel crisp and the actuation is quite quick. Response also feels great, the Cherry MX Blue Switches give awesome tactile response, although the switch noise would probably annoy people around you especially if you’re using this one in the office or if you have roommates with you. 

CONCLUSION

 

The HyperX Alloy FPS is the company’s first foray into mechanical keyboards, and it plays it safe by making it a no-frills offering for anyone in need of a reliable controls. Design cues are actually great, there’s no nonessential part here – HyperX sticks to the basics and does a great job at it. While, yes, certain additions like an wristrest or lighting in RGB fashion could play a big part in your options, you can adapt to the former, and the latter is just for bling. And hey, the inclusions can fill you in if you’re the type to move around. We’re also giving props to its build quality. Its solid steel construction gives it extreme durability, and its keycaps absolutely feel good to the touch.

HyperX has just brought the Alloy FPS in the country with a street price of Php5,990. Its strong core performance and straightforward features bring it to eSports glory, and it’s one we can easily recommend.