Gamakay x NaughShark NS68 review

The Gamakay x NaughShark NS68 seems to be marketed similarly to a lot of those ooky, dropshipped watches from brands that claim to be able to give you all the perks, craftsmanship, and features that the more premium brands give you for a significantly cut-price. Now, in reality, a lot of those brands are taking cheap fodder you can find on AliExpress, and putting their own brand name on it, and selling it for a huge markup against its cost price.

'Why are you going on about cheap watches?', I hear you ask. Well, at first glance, the Gamakay x NaughShark NS68 seemed too good to be true. A real rapid trigger gaming keyboard with 8000 Hz polling rate for $40/£31 with side-printed, patterned PBT keycaps, configurable RGB and software control. Dear reader, I almost fell off my chair when I read the email.

When the keyboard arrived, it's safe to say I went into this review with mixed feelings, given the associated marketing copy:

'Picture this: You, surviving the "Taxmageddon" with a magnetic Hall Effect keyboard that costs less than your weekly avocado toast addiction. Meanwhile, normies are paying $300 for mushy membrane boards. LOL. NOPE.'

I understand what Gamakay is going for here, but that really isn't it, chief.

Anyway, the NS68 itself, is it a piece of plastic fantastic? Well, I've not really got any cause for concern over its build quality, being a slab of plastic with no real flex or bending at the corners. For such a cheap keyboard, it's verging on impressive. Yes, at just 762 grams, it is light, and that is the kind of lightness you attribute to a cheap product, but the NS68 doesn't feel too cheap, as some of the brand's other offerings tend to, such as the bendy TK101.

For a more affordable keyboard, it is also quite well-appointed with pleasant PBT keycaps under finger on my sample, with a little bit of added flair thanks to side-mounted legends and a wavy line pattern across the keycaps. It seems as if Gamakay has taken a leaf from the much more premium Keychron Q3 Max with the NS68 in some regards, as well as from Wooting in a lot of others, given you also get a Gamakay-themed strap to go around the hook in the top left corner of the chassis.

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The 68 percent layout (hence the NS68 name) gives you a little more functionality than traditional smaller form factor 60 per cent keyboards, adding arrow keys and a single column nav cluster in a configuration that bears as much similarity with the larger 75 per cent layout. You just miss out on a dedicated function row.

Connectivity is nice and simple, with a USB-C wired cable included in the box. There is also a wireless option that looks to be coming if you want to cut the cord and have a little more versatility with both Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz channels available.

And now for what you're really here for: the rapid trigger experience. It's a feature that has exploded into virtually all peripheral brands' product catalogues in search of optimum speed and gaming potency. It traditionally has involved Hall effect switches that offer instant resets and configurable actuation points so you can have keys that basically work like hair triggers do, if you set the actuation point as high as possible in software.

The NS68 features Outemu's Peach magnetic switches inside, which feature adjustable actuation points on a per 0.1 mm basis from 0.1 mm to 3.7 mm. Apart from this, there isn't too much information around on these switches, although they feel light and responsive in my experience with a smooth, linear travel under finger.

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For added potency, the NS68 also supports clever features in software such as dynamic keystroke, where different inputs can be set depending on how far down the key travel you are on both the upstroke and downstroke for up to four potential inputs on one key. It also has a toggle feature, similar to the NuPhy Air60 HE, as well as the controversial Snap Tap style action we've seen on a lot of Hall effect keyboards that has seen Valve wield the ban hammer online in Counter-Strike 2. You also get the benefit of an 8000 Hz wired polling rate for less latency and arguably even faster inputs, thanks to the keyboard reporting those inputs and the position of switches at a much higher rate than more 'standard' keyboards that only come with 1000 Hz rates. For most folks, it may not be that tangible, but if you're a pro player, then I suspect you'd notice.

The additional software either comes in the form of a downloadable option for Windows, or a web-based driver accessible at the QMK.top web address. They both provide similar methods of giving you a decent means of controlling everything from actuation points to extensive rapid trigger and other keystroke options, as well as configuring the RGB lighting. As much as the UI is a little clunky, it's a much easier suite to use than some of Gamakay's otherwise software tools that felt quite half-baked by comparison, and within a few clicks, I had a keyboard with a blanket 0.5 mm actuation and reset point, ready for some high-speed inputs.

And high-speed they were. I was pleasantly surprised by how snappy and responsive the NS68 felt in Counter-Strike 2, with virtually instant keypresses that go a long way to rival keyboards that are a lot more expensive than this one is. I didn't notice any latency or funny business here, either.

It seems as if the NS68 has made me eat my words from the beginning of this article, and falling off my chair seems the only logical method of finishing this review because what's in front of me largely lives up to the manufacturer's claims. It's a powerful Hall effect gaming keyboard that's fast and responsive when needed, offering good configuration from its software and feeling quite well-appointed, too.

It may only be little things, such as the lighter plastic chassis and the UI of the software being a little clunky, that let this keyboard down, but I would stop and ask you to find me a keyboard that can do what this one does for as cheap as Gamakay has managed to do so with the NS68.

The sad thing about it, though, is that it may not be this cheap after all, what with those tariffs and all. According to Gamakay, this is one of their last cheap keyboards—Godspeed to US consumers.