It’s been a good while since I’ve checked in with NuPhy, or with keyboards as a whole in terms of reviews. Since my last review looking at the Gem80 back in May, I’ve picked up Keychron’s K2 HE, and continue to happily rotate between every keyboard in my arsenal as one typing experience becomes stale. It’s great fun for me, and I’m excited to be back on topic with a cool keyboard hiding a unique gimmick.
So it’s a low profile keyboard?
On the surface the Kick75 is a low profile keyboard not unlike NuPhy’s Air series. The design is a bit more spaced out, utilising a larger all-plastic body to add separation between the function keys, as well as a few others. If you haven’t come across it before, a 75% layout is a slightly more compact “tenkeyless” design, dropping a few extra keys like Insert and End. For the majority of people these few missing keys won’t be an issue, with the lack of a numpad usually being the larger point of contention. For me though, this is probably close to the minimum I could work with, and a good middle ground for an everyday user wanting something both compact and feature rich.
Out of the box this keyboard is setup and good to go, again impressing me with both the typing sound and feel. I feel like I say this with every keyboard I cover, but pre-builts from companies like NuPhy just continue to improve. The slightly larger case here, paired with a neat gasket mount, allows for a much fuller and deep-sounding keypress. Going back to the Air75, while still enjoyable, those similar-looking keys come across hollow and almost a little rattly. If you’re curious just how different the two similar keyboards can sound, you can check out a brief sound test below.
There is more to the Kick75 though. The volume knob in the top-right is new to NuPhy’s low profile boards, and the lighting behind the keys is about as good as it’s ever been. Since picking up Keychron’s K2 HE I’ve really started to enjoy reactive lighting, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it here too. When not typing the keyboard’s lights stay off, with the area you type glowing from blue, to green, to yellow, to red in intensity as you continue to press keys. I do feel the lighting is a little smoother on the Keychron board for this particular mode, but it’s perfectly serviceable here. As somebody who usually leaves RGBs off on a keyboard, it’s good enough for me to keep using them.
I’m really fond of the full-plastic body, especially in the choice to replace the metal bottom plate with a plastic one too. The whole aesthetic feels a little DIY and toy-like, but not in a way that cheapens the end product. I’ll also always appreciate seeing a place to store the 2.4G dongle on a keyboard, this being something the Air75 was notably lacking. With the keyboard supporting three Bluetooth connections alongside the dongle and a wired connection, you won’t necessarily be left with nothing if you do happen to lose it, but having a place for such an easy to lose USB to live isn’t something to be overlooked.
There’s more to it though right?
If this were just another low profile keyboard I feel like I’d be happy with it. It looks good, and feels great out of the box. It isn’t just another low profile keyboard though. What NuPhy have here is a keyboard that can work with both low profile and normal switches, and that is a more notable feature than it may first appear.
A low profile switch from this keyboard on the left, and a normal switch on the right.
You see supporting both low profile and normal switches isn’t usually as simple as just swapping out a switch. The vast majority of low profile keyboards use a different pin layout for their switches, giving a fundamental incompatibility; beyond that though, you’re likely to run into issues with the case just not being designed to accommodate the different style of keycaps. The Kick75’s approach here is to use a low profile switch with an MX-style pin layout for compatibility with your more regular switches. You can also grab a separate top plate to swap out, alongside some additional foam and a slightly redesigned knob to account for the taller case.
The process of swapping between the low and high profiles is a relatively simple one, with the top place coming with the screwdriver you need to open up the keyboard. While simple, it does take some time to remove the keycaps and switches, before obviously going ahead with the actual disassembly. The instruction booklet is clear, showing simple images and snippets of text where something may be ambiguous. As somebody not overly enthusiastic about opening up keyboards, despite loving using them afterwards, I didn’t find the process too daunting. You have to look out for a couple of cables as you’re going through the layers, but outside of that it’s really just a few screws. I took some pictures of the process below, though it should be noted that I didn’t fully rebuild the keyboard with the normal switches due to me lacking suitable stabilisers.
NuPhy’s design here is smart, simplifying the process of switching between profiles to no more effort than you’d expect of applying a tape mod or similar. If you’re the type of person who would be opening up a pre-built keyboard as soon as it leaves the box to tinker and optimise, you’ll be right at home here. I don’t know if I’m necessarily that person myself, but I do see the appeal.
But wait, there’s software!?
Now something that I believe is new to this keyboard is NuPhy releasing multiple variants that use different software for remapping keys. The last keyboard I used from NuPhy featured QMK compatibility. This is to many something of a gold standard, allowing the use of common remapping software like VIA that can be done straight from your browser, as well as more in depth reprogramming for those with the knowledge and time. Since then though, NuPhy have re-released a number of their popular designs with Hall effect switches, these keyboards only working with their proprietary NuPhyIO software. With the Kick75, you get the choice. As long as you’re happy paying a touch more for QMK anyway.
To NuPhy’s credit here, NuPhyIO seems like reasonably good software. It’s browser-based, meaning you can make changes from any PC without installing anything and have the changes stay directly on your keyboard. This mirrors a lot of the positives of QMK-compatible keyboards and supported apps like VIA. I will make a point that I unfortunately haven’t been able to test remapping using VIA or NuPhyIO in my time with the Kick75 due to the software not being ready yet. This is something that should be around when the keyboard launches, with NuPhy generally being quite on top of issues that do come up around release.
A keyboard worth considering?
The Kick75 is yet another step forwards in fantastic pre-built keyboards, and one I could recommend on its out of the box merits alone. The keyboard is available in both a pre-configured low and high profile configuration, with the price varying depending on what you go with. For the low profile you’re looking at $89 with the high profile $10 more at $99. Of course that’s just for the versions that support NuPhyIO, QMK support is $20 on top of either of those prices. Though I’m a little disappointed it’s not included as a part of a standard package, it is nice to see the kit to switch the keyboard between profile configurations is only an extra $19 too; with the extra keycaps also going for between $12 and $32, I struggle to find much to complain about on the pricing front.
Looking at the package I have here, which consists of a base low profile configuration, a high profile swap kit, and a wrist rest, I’d be looking at $127. That’s assuming I have a keyboard that’s only compatible with NuPhyIO anyway. I’m not entirely sure how to check which I have without having the software on hand to try. Regardless, it is to me pretty reasonable price, and while I do think the swapping of form factors is something only a niche few will be truly excited for, it’s an innovation I really do enjoy seeing.
Verdict
What We Liked …
- Fantastic low profile keyboard out of the box
- Fun and sturdy all-plastic design
- Keyboard body includes a place to store the USB dongle
- Able to connect to four devices via Bluetooth or USB
- Easy to open up and tinker with
- Unique ability to move between low profile and normal switches (via an additional $20 kit)
- Well priced starting at $89
What We Didn’t Like …
- QMK/VIA compatibility comes at an additional fee
- Not able to test key remapping during the review period
8 out of 10
Overall
The Kick75 would be a great keyboard without any gimmicks. Out of the box it sounds and feels fantastic, and only gets better for those wanting to tinker in the future. It’s stylish, unique, and a keyboard I can wholeheartedly recommend.
