Hyte Keeb TKL review – One of the most striking keyboards we’ve used

You probably haven’t used a keyboard quite as striking as the Kyte Keeb. Its unusual and quirky name goes hand-in-hand with its unusual and quirky design: curvaceous and chunky, it is quite the feature of any desktop. And more importantly, it’s a pleasure to use.

I’ve got to admit, though, the marketing of the Keeb made me roll my eyes. With a tagline of “modern human interface”, Hyte describes its keyboard as being designed to “serve as a liaison, connecting your emotional self to the digital through the physical”. Nonsense. But PR fluff aside, this is a gorgeous keyboard that somehow makes sitting at your PC a more pleasant experience. It exudes joy from every element of its design, which is something that can’t often be said about something as ordinary as a keyboard.

Let’s talk technical details first. The Keeb’s PCB has 5-pin hot-swap functionality, which means you can easily experiment with different switches if you like to get technical with your keyboards. There’s four layers of sound damping, which means your key strokes never sound too loud, and a gasket mounted design helps that too.

The included switches here are Hyte’s own Fluffy Lavender Linear Switches, which offer a 1.5mm actuation distance and 36 grams of actuation force. They’ve been “factory lubed” to offer a smooth typing experience, and they’re rated for 60 million actuations, which is a lot of typing.

The case of the keyboard is made of polycarbonate, making it resilient yet attractive, and its crystal transparency means that the qRGB lighting can transfer through as brightly as possible. Speaking of qRGB, it promises “superior fidelity, spectrum, latency and luminosity”, and thanks to the 155-pixel array, it adds a sharp blast of colour to any desktop. If you choose to turn it on, of course.

It all sounds as fancy as it looks, then, and if you value quality just as much as innovation, the Keeb isn’t likely to disappoint. A key function here is the built-in media controls, taking the form of a set of paddles at the top left hand side of the keyboard. Turn one and it controls your PC’s volume, and turn the other to control the brightness of the keyboard’s RGB lighting. A button in the middle of the two paddles will cycle between available colour patterns.

That’s by default, anyway. You can download the free Hyte Nexus software for full customisation, allowing you to program in your own controls for not only the paddles but any key combination on the Keeb. If you’ve got other Hyte hardware, such as THICC Q60 cooling, you’ll control everything from the same application, which is handy – particularly if you want to create a system that’s entirely in tune.

But even if you don’t want to bother with all that and simply want to use the Hyte Keeb TKL straight out of the box, you’re going to have a pleasant experience. This is a wonderful keyboard to type on, with keys that have a satisfying click without being too loud. It’s perfectly responsive with a good amount of key travel – and if you do want to experiment with different keys and switches, it’s good to know that the PCB here can support it. Personally, I don’t want to change a thing: I love it just as it is.

One thing to consider, though, is that the Keeb is a pretty large keyboard given it’s a TKL (tenkeyless, meaning it doesn’t have a number pad). Because of the plastic surround and its media controls, its footprint is fairly large, so if you have limited desk space or like your keyboard to be as small as possible, you might want to consider something else.

But if size doesn’t matter and you want a keyboard that makes a statement from your desktop, it’s hard not to love the Keeb. With fully customisable RGB lighting you can make it look as garish or as classy as you like, and even with no lights on at all, this is a stylish, well-made keyboard that’s a pleasure to use. It’s not the cheapest, retailing at $199.99/£160, but providing you have the budget to support it, you won’t get another keyboard quite like it. It’s earned a permanent place on my desk, that’s for sure.

Thanks to Hyte for providing us with a Keeb for the purposes of this review.