Wooting’s 80HE makes the best gaming keyboard even better

Wooting created the champion gaming keyboard connected the marketplace 2 years agone with the 60HE. It popularized the usage of Hall effect switches and a Rapid Trigger strategy that speeds up however rapidly you tin activate a key, making it perfect for PC gaming. Now, Wooting has created the 80HE — an 80 percent keyboard that makes the champion gaming keyboard adjacent better.

While I’m a instrumentality of 60 percent keyboards for gaming, I miss having a delete key, a people surface button, and adjacent dedicated arrow keys and an F-row. The 80HE adds each of these keys wrong a bundle that truly doesn’t consciousness that much larger than the 60HE. It’s fundamentally 2 keys wider and an F-row of keys taller. The other keys surely marque it much comfy for regular typing and a batch much convenient than having to mod keys oregon usage relation cardinal shortcuts.

Wooting has besides switched up the lodging for its 80HE, moving to a gasket equine alternatively of the tray equine connected the 60HE. The silicone gasket equine holds unneurotic the committee and the power plate. It does a large occupation of reducing the noise, making the typing acquisition a small softer than connected the 60HE. You tin besides set the lawsuit space to 2.8 degrees, 7.5 degrees, oregon 10 degrees acknowledgment to a assortment of silicone feet included successful the box.

I’ve been trying retired some the $109.99 zinc alloy lawsuit and the $34.99 PCR ABS integrative lawsuit for the 80HE implicit the past week, and I personally similar the zinc material. It’s the pricier enactment of the two, but you get a hefty lawsuit that helps nutrient the benignant of thock dependable I bask connected keyboards.

I recovered the integrative lawsuit a small fiddly to unfastened erstwhile I was gathering a bare-bones module mentation of the 80HE acknowledgment to the clips holding it successful place. The zinc enactment slid isolated a batch much easily, though. You’ll person to beryllium cautious if you bash instrumentality the 80HE isolated oregon physique 1 yourself, arsenic determination is simply a JST cablegram that needs to beryllium disconnected erstwhile you region the committee from the case.

The dependable connected the 80HE is besides improved implicit the 60HE acknowledgment to updated Hall effect switches. Wooting’s Lekker V2 switches present wobble little and dependable amended than the archetypal V1 switches. The differences are subtle, but I ever disliked the cardinal wobble connected the 60HE default switches, truthful I’m blessed to spot that improved.

The Lekker switches are hot-swappable, truthful you tin swap them retired if they interruption oregon regenerate them with immoderate Hall effect switches. Wooting lets you prime betwixt the Lekker L45 and L60, with some feeling similar linear switches and the L60s having a small much cardinal commencement and extremity force. Wooting besides uses screw-in stabilizers to destruct rattle connected the 80HE, and these are besides replaceable with astir different third-party screw-in and clip-in stabilizers.

The existent magic of Wooting’s keyboards is made imaginable by these Hall effect switches, which usage a magnet truthful the committee tin way however acold a power has been pressed. Most Cherry MX-style switches that are commonly utilized connected mechanical keyboards usage a copper mechanics to registry a property with a committee astatine a acceptable actuation constituent of astir 2mm. On the 80HE, you tin set the actuation constituent connected idiosyncratic keys each the mode down to 0.1mm.

The improved Wootility bundle allows you to alteration adjustable actuation points, Rapid Trigger, and much precocious cardinal functionality. Rapid Trigger changes the actuation and reset constituent of keys connected the alert truthful that keys volition activate the infinitesimal you property down and deactivate instantly erstwhile you merchandise them. You tin past repetition a cardinal property successful the mediate of a motion, without needing to surpass the actuation point.

Rapid Trigger is perfect for PC gaming due to the fact that of the accelerated deactivation that lets you determination astir rapidly and repetition cardinal presses faster. Keyboard manufacturers similar SteelSeries, Keychron, and others person copied the Rapid Trigger diagnostic aft adopting Hall effect switches, and it has go a fashionable diagnostic among Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, Overwatch 2, and Apex Legends players.

The different large summation to the 80HE is simply a caller LED barroom that sits supra the arrow keys. Wooting says it’s designed to pass with you and tin archer you which illustration you person progressive connected the committee oregon however overmuch RAM oregon CPU your strategy is using. You tin besides conscionable usage it for amusive RGB effects to lucifer your keys oregon the remainder of your setup. You tin configure the LED barroom successful Wooting’s updated Wootility software.

One large diagnostic of Wooting keyboards is that they store your illustration connected the committee itself. You configure it successful the Wootility web app, and there’s nary request to instal an app oregon person thing moving successful the inheritance connected your PC. Wooting is breaking from that contented somewhat with the 80HE, though.

If you privation RAM oregon CPU monitoring connected the LED bar, you’ll request a caller inheritance app, which is coming soon. I haven’t been capable to trial this yet, but Wooting says it volition lone beryllium required for the much precocious LED barroom functionality. I’ve been utilizing the LED barroom arsenic a illustration indicator, which is ace utile for swapping betwixt gaming and typing profiles.

If you update the firmware connected the 80HE, the LED barroom fills up to amusement the progress, a neat small interaction that hints astatine what volition beryllium imaginable with this caller addition. Right now, you tin get it to bespeak the illustration you’re using, erstwhile keys are pressed, oregon to fto you cognize erstwhile the CAPS fastener cardinal is enabled. It volition besides beryllium capable to amusement your strategy measurement erstwhile the inheritance work is available.

The 80HE besides supports up to 8kHz USB polling, but nary wireless connectivity. While galore keyboards committedness 8kHz polling, the 80HE besides scans each analog cardinal presumption astatine that aforesaid rate. This faster polling complaint besides lowers the 80HE latency to conscionable 0.125ms.

While I admit the improvements connected the 80HE, the layout means the lone options for cases close present are from Wooting directly. I’d expect to spot third-party options implicit time, but until then, you’re stuck with black, ghost, and frost options for the integrative lawsuit oregon black, white, and earthy options for the zinc case.

The 80HE — arsenic a implicit keyboard with a integrative case, switches, and keycaps — starts astatine $199.99. If you upgrade to the zinc alloy case, prices commencement astatine $289.99. You tin besides bargain the standalone 80HE module without switches and keycaps for $154.99, but you’ll request a $34.99 integrative lawsuit oregon a $109.99 zinc alloy one.

Keychron, Corsair, SteelSeries, and galore others connection akin boards with Hall effect switches, but nary rather connection the operation of hardware and bundle that Wooting delivers. If you’ve ever been tempted by the 60HE but wanted much keys, the 80HE delivers that and overmuch more.