I've just finished up our new guide to the best Hall effect keyboards, and in writing that, I had a look around at the current price tags for a few of the keyboards included. What a surprise it was, then, to see that Amazon has knocked 50% off the price tag of the NZXT Function Elite MiniTKL. That's a seriously tempting offer.
The NZXT Function Elite MiniTKL is on sale for $100. That's half price. It's also historically the lowest price it's been on Amazon to date, and by a huge margin. Not bad for a gaming keyboard that we only looked at for review in January of this year.
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As a Hall effect keyboard, it uses magnetic switches to offer a range of abilities that are totally out of reach for your average mechanical keyboard. Features such as rapid trigger, which resets the key press dynamically for quicker reactions; adjustable actuation, allowing you to set up the keyboard's sensitivity to your liking; and multiple actions per key stroke.
It also has a polling rate of 8000 Hz, which is faster than your average keyboard at 1000 Hz, though I have to admit, I can never tell the difference. It's tough to blame your tools for your recent game loss when they're promising this sort of feature set, anyways.
Though what we ranked it highly for in our review, and in our subsequent guide, is its smashing good looks. It has vibrant per-key RGB backlighting on each of its keys, which shine through the keycap legends for easy night time gaming. It also includes a 45-LED lighting strip around the keyboard perimeter to further accentuate the colorful look. It really does look great, providing you're into all this RGB lighting malarky.
I've tried the Function Elite myself when testing all the Hall effect keyboards for the guide and came away impressed. It's lovely to type on, and it makes a satisfying sound as you hit each key. Part of that is thanks to the dual-rail switches and double-shot PBT keycaps, though the gasket-mounted plate and PCB design loaded into the CNC aluminum case makes a big difference. It feels premium as heck.
It's a small size at just 75% of a standard keyboard, and it misses out on a numpad for that reason. NZXT has crammed on some more keys into the case, however, and it keeps the function row, which is a plus.
I have some historical misgivings with the NZXT CAM application, used here to customize the keyboard, though I found what I needed to easy enough in the software.
Altogether, it's a good-looking, competitive gaming keyboard, and I thought it was worth a spot on our guide (and in our hearts) even before I saw it going half off at Amazon. At this sort of price, it's pretty irresistible.
1. Best overall: Wooting 80HE
2. Best budget: Gamakay X NaughShark NS68
3. Best wireless: Keychron K2 HE
4. Best low profile: NuPhy Air60 HE
5. Best looking: NZXT Function Elite MiniTKL
6. Best with a numpad: Keychron Q5 HE
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