Well I fell down the custom keyboard world.

LiE · 2 Jul 2025 at 19:05

LiE said:
Anyone looking at the NuPhy Air75 V3? I was surprised to see pre-orders for ISO UK layout start 30th June, shipping end of July. This was one of the issues I had with my previous Nuphy, I didn't like ANSI so much.

UK ISO, Brown Nano in white is what I'll be pre-ordering.

NuPhy Air75 V3

1.The Air75 V3 is available in three layout versions: ANSI, JlS and ISO ANSI - US EnglishShipping NowJlS and ISO (German,French,British)[Only available in Nova White]Shipping Now 2.The default configuration features one key, a high-profile knob, and a low-profile knob, enabling the low-profile...

nuphy.com

It was pushed back, but looks like you can now register to be notified.

GregI · 4 Jul 2025 at 14:13

Still looking at Keychron but I honestly don't think I can spend over £200 on a keyboard. Atleast with a GPU I can somewhat understand the prices it's super specialised chips but keyboard... mmm. Is it really that good?

Raymond Lin · 4 Jul 2025 at 14:26

GregI said:
Still looking at Keychron but I honestly don't think I can spend over £200 on a keyboard. Atleast with a GPU I can somewhat understand the prices it's super specialised chips but keyboard... mmm. Is it really that good?

Well, no, the rules of diminishing returns kicks in hard at around £100 mark especially these days, like the Rainy 75.

The reason Keychron gets recommended a lot is because they make ISO boards and they are actually in stock.

I mean there are ISO boards from people like Corsair but those are not the same kind of boards as what I want in terms of colour choice, material, internal gaskets etc.

There are not that many full metal (or acrylic or interesting) boards in ISO that you can just buy today. I’d say most of the custom boards are ANSI only.

marinersfan · 4 Jul 2025 at 15:19

GregI said:
Still looking at Keychron but I honestly don't think I can spend over £200 on a keyboard. Atleast with a GPU I can somewhat understand the prices it's super specialised chips but keyboard... mmm. Is it really that good?

I have a limit too. Both of mine, which are still working perfectly fine were sub £100.

Jenz · 4 Jul 2025 at 15:39

I actually think it’s hard to find Keychron ISO barebones in stock! I’ve had several on “Notify Me When Available” for months.

cyber69 · 5 Jul 2025 at 11:31

GregI said:
Still looking at Keychron but I honestly don't think I can spend over £200 on a keyboard. Atleast with a GPU I can somewhat understand the prices it's super specialised chips but keyboard... mmm. Is it really that good?

I just got a Keychron, it was not cheap but I can swap out the keys and customise it how I want. Reminded me of when I used to use IBM keyboards back in the early 90’s and they were not cheap.

Raymond Lin · 5 Jul 2025 at 11:45

Jenz said:
I actually think it’s hard to find Keychron ISO barebones in stock! I’ve had several on “Notify Me When Available” for months.

Amazingly, or annoyingly, the Q2 Pro ISO in Shell White Barebone is not only instock but £30 off at the moment! lol

BuffetSlayer · 5 Jul 2025 at 12:37

So now I have the Q6 Max for home, I'm thinking I might need (or more accurately want

) to invest in a smaller form factor keyboard for use on those days when I need to pack up my laptop and go to an office or client site.

Why don't you just use the laptop keyboard I hear you ask? Well, it's sensible questions like this that stop me spending money on cool tech and in turn stops the collective discussion of like minded people on this forum and degrades our community.

(tenuous I know, but that is my justification and I'm sticking to it!)

So I'm thinking maybe a 60(ish)% board with super quiet keys so it's OK in an open office environment or in a meeting room.

Relatively cheap. I'm aiming for sub £100 ish as it's only going to be used infrequently. Although tri-mode and VIA would be lovely I'm not sure it's needed (or justifiable) for this use case. Same wiih RGB etc although if it's available at the price point I can always turn it off

I would like it to be hot swappable / moddable.

I would be grateful for your suggestions.

Raymond Lin · 5 Jul 2025 at 16:27

BuffetSlayer said:
So now I have the Q6 Max for home, I'm thinking I might need (or more accurately want ) to invest in a smaller form factor keyboard for use on those days when I need to pack up my laptop and go to an office or client site.

Why don't you just use the laptop keyboard I hear you ask? Well, it's sensible questions like this that stop me spending money on cool tech and in turn stops the collective discussion of like minded people on this forum and degrades our community.

(tenuous I know, but that is my justification and I'm sticking to it!)

So I'm thinking maybe a 60(ish)% board with super quiet keys so it's OK in an open office environment or in a meeting room.

Relatively cheap. I'm aiming for sub £100 ish as it's only going to be used infrequently. Although tri-mode and VIA would be lovely I'm not sure it's needed (or justifiable) for this use case. Same wiih RGB etc although if it's available at the price point I can always turn it off

I would like it to be hot swappable / moddable.

I would be grateful for your suggestions.

I am waiting for the Nuphy Air75 V3 in ISO, which is currently not out yet. It is a low profile keyboard though.

Select the Blush Nano for silent switches.

It is Tri-mode, you can swap keys but obviously only low profile but it isn't very moddable. Nuphy Keyboards generally are not moddable but then it is a low profile board so there isn't much space inside to add anything.

If you don't mind ANSI, the Magi 65 is great, but it is NOT silent, it comes with linear switches and it sounds like you are playing with a bowl of marbles. It is also full milled out aluminium so it is heavy and IMO, not that travel friendly as a result. I have the Pro one with the side panel which I leave in the office.

IQUNIX Magi65 Aluminum Low Profile Mechanical Keyboard

The IQUNIX Magi65 is the best-sounding low-profile aluminum keyboard on the market, with VIA support, customizable buttons, volume knob, and ultra-long battery life. Ready to challenge any low-profile keyboard on the market!

iqunix.com

LiE · 5 Jul 2025 at 16:28

Raymond Lin said:
I am waiting for the Nuphy Air V3 in ISO, which is currently not out yet. It is a low profile keyboard though.

Keyboard friends. Black or white?

Raymond Lin · 5 Jul 2025 at 16:31

LiE said:
Keyboard friends. Black or white?

The ISO only comes in white, ideally I want it in black beacause my MBA is in Midnight but unfortunately, ISO is only in White.

LiE · 5 Jul 2025 at 16:33

Raymond Lin said:
The ISO only comes in white, ideally I want it in black beacause my MBA is in Midnight but unfortunately, ISO is only in White.

So it does, I never checked because white is my default preference.

Raymond Lin · 5 Jul 2025 at 16:34

LiE said:
So it does, I never checked because white is my default preference.

I have signed up for notifications when it drops. Will probably get one with Silent Switches so it matches the laptop keys.

BuffetSlayer · 5 Jul 2025 at 18:24

Ive had a look at the air 75 V3. Looks OK but I prefer the look / layout of the Kick 75 for some reason!

Sadly it isn't available with UK layout.

I'm seeing conflicting information about Nuphy UK layout boards on general though.

Apparently the air 75 V2, air 96 V2, and Halo series are all available with UK layout.according to Google. Doesn't seem to be the case though, or at least not that I can find.

Shame as they look really nice.

LiE · 5 Jul 2025 at 18:45

BuffetSlayer said:
Ive had a look at the air 75 V3. Looks OK but I prefer the look / layout of the Kick 75 for some reason!

Sadly it isn't available with UK layout.

I'm seeing conflicting information about Nuphy UK layout boards on general though.

Apparently the air 75 V2, air 96 V2, and Halo series are all available with UK layout.according to Google. Doesn't seem to be the case though, or at least not that I can find.

Shame as they look really nice.

Pretty sure this is Nuphys first ISO keyboard.

BuffetSlayer · 5 Jul 2025 at 18:56

LiE said:
Pretty sure this is Nuphys first ISO keyboard.

That explains why I can't find any others then. But it doesn't explain why Google is lying to me!

As a general newbie question - could I buy an ANSI Kick 75 and just fit a UK layout key cap set? Or is it not that simple?

Raymond Lin · 5 Jul 2025 at 19:26

BuffetSlayer said:
That explains why I can't find any others then. But it doesn't explain why Google is lying to me!

As a general newbie question - could I buy an ANSI Kick 75 and just fit a UK layout key cap set? Or is it not that simple?

You can use an ANSI board on a UK machine but some keys will not be where you are used to, there might not even be a £ sign keycap entirely in the set so you just have to remember it's Shift+ 3.

BuffetSlayer · 5 Jul 2025 at 19:39

If said keyboard allows remapping of key functions using VIA or similar - can the layout just be altered accordingly?

Raymond Lin · 5 Jul 2025 at 19:53

BuffetSlayer said:
If said keyboard allows remapping of key functions using VIA or similar - can the layout just be altered accordingly?

You can remap it to whatever you want, Nuphy uses their own software I think.

With Nuphy, at default it is what the keycap shows, so if you remap it to something else, then it won’t match.

For a custom board, you can do the same, just put the right keycap on, just make sure you use the correct row height for that row and you’ll be fine.

BuffetSlayer · 5 Jul 2025 at 20:05

Raymond Lin said:
You can remap it to whatever you want, Nuphy uses their own software I think.

With Nuphy, at default it is what the keycap shows, so if you remap it to something else, then it won’t match.

For a custom board, you can do the same, just put the right keycap on, just make sure you use the correct row height for that row and you’ll be fine.

My query is if you put a UK key cap set on and remap the board to match the UK layout - then it is happy days?

Or not? Lol.