Nuphy is slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite brands when it comes to keyboards. The company began its journey relatively modestly with low-profile wireless keyboards, but today they offer a wide range of stylish keyboards that will appeal to everyone. As is often the case, their latest product, the Gem80 keyboard, might be their best yet, representing the culmination of everything that came before and somewhat venturing into the territory of much more expensive enthusiast keyboards.
The Nuphy Gem80 is available for purchase on Nuphy’s website, with an Amazon link coming soon.
DESIGN
The Gem80 is primarily sold as a barebones TKL kit in either a wired or tri-mode wireless version. Depending on the color of the case, the Nuphy website offers the option to purchase various types of switches and a thematically appropriate sets of keycaps. We naturally decided to go for both of these options to get the full Nuphy experience, but there’s nothing stopping you from using your existing switches or keycaps.
When it comes to the barebones kit, Nuphy has struck the ideal balance with the Gem80, offering a highly customizable keyboard that comes fully assembled, except for the switches and keycaps. There’s no need for meticulous placement of the PCB, foaming, screwing in stabilizers, and the like. You practically just snap in the switches, add the keycaps, and you have a fully assembled keyboard.
The minimalistic yet classy premium look
However, it’s important to note that Nuphy has left room for those who enjoy additional customization options. By opening the case, you can choose between top mount or one of the three levels of gasket mount, and Nuphy even provides all the tools needed for this in the package. You can also experiment with multiple levels of padding to achieve a different sound profile if the out-of-the-box sound doesn’t suit your preference.
The build quality is almost second to none, best demonstrated by the fact that the wireless version of the Gem80 weighs 1120 grams. While this is partly due to the battery, it also owes it to the combination of aluminum on the top and polycarbonate on the bottom, which are exceptionally well-integrated into a single unit. Forget about any sort of creaking, bending, or anything of the sort; this is a really heavy-duty, high-quality assembly.
The excellent build quality is betrayed by the weight
In terms of colors, Nuphy offers five different variants: Cosmic Mocha (beige), Obsidian Black, Airy Lilac (purple), Inca Rose (pink), and the one we have for review, Mystic Indigo blue. Whichever one you choose, the colors are absolutely vibrant with the aluminum shine of the top plate nicely contrasting with the frosted polycarbonate on the bottom, creating a truly unique look.
The chassis overall gives off a classy minimalism vibe with very few details. On the top, there is simply a small magnetic GEM logo surrounded by an RGB border while the bottom features rubber feet and some stylish branding. Since the feet are not adjustable, the keyboard is naturally set at an angle, which helps make typing more comfortable and almost eliminates the need for any wrist rest. At the back, there is a centrally placed USB-C port, and for the tri-mode wireless variant, you have switches for wireless modes or switching between Windows and Mac layouts. These are placed on the bottom part of the aluminum top plate, so they are practically hidden from view, which helps with the whole minimalistic look.
The wireless controls are hidden underneath
If you decide to go for the matching Nuphy keycaps and pair them with the keyboard, you boost the appeal by over 9000! The keycaps are absolutely great and make the fully assembled keyboard look even better. They are made in Nuphy’s own mSA profile with rounded edges and a texture that’s very smooth to the touch. The legends are centrally placed on each keycap and feature a crisp, thick font that fits the keyboard really well.
Although they are not shine-through, Nuphy decided to allow light to pass through the ridges on the F and J keys which helps properly position your fingers on the keyboard if you happen to be typing in complete darkness, which is a great little detail. Additionally, like most Nuphy keyboards, the Gem80 features Nuphy’s GhostBar spacebar, which uses silicone strips and polycarbonate connectors to eliminate the awful hollow sound of regular spacebar keys.
Nuphy Mint switches pair beautifully with Gem80
As for switches, Nuphy offers several options, but we decided to go for the linear Mint switches. These are 5-pin switches with a POM stem, featuring a 2 mm actuation point and 3.6 mm total travel distance. They have fairly light springs, so you don’t have to go all in on the presses, making them feel and perform great for both typing and gaming. Sure, it’s fully hotswappable so you can pair it up with something more to your liking, but what’s on offer at Nuphy covers just about anything you might want out of your keyboard experience.
When it comes to sound profile, you can obviously experiment with the various layers of padding inside the chassis. By default, you have a layer of Poron foam under the switch plate, PE foam and PET plastic on top of the PCB, an additional layer of Poron foam under the PCB, and a thick layer of silicone. That’s definitely a lot of padding and while each layer plays its role, you can freely remove certain parts to alter the sound profile. However, if you leave everything as it is, you’ll undoubtedly have an excellent experience.
The details underneath
In fact, the out-of-the-box Gem80 paired with Nuphy keycaps and Mint switches might have one of the best sound profiles I’ve experienced besides super niche, much more expensive custom keyboards. The sound is quite distinctive, falling somewhere between what keyboard enthusiasts would describe as thocky and creamy. The sound is super satisfying, with each press giving a slight popping sound that provides a little dopamine rush every time you sit down to type. Definite props to Nuphy in that regard.
PERFORMANCE
The Gem80 doesn’t lag behind when it comes to performance, either. Our review unit offers three connection modes: wired via USB-C and wireless through Bluetooth 5.0 or a 2.4GHz receiver. In addition to a 1000Hz polling rate and 1ms input latency, Nuphy utilizes a special chip that optimizes the input scan rate.
As a result, the wireless modes are almost as reliable as the wired mode in terms of responsiveness and input registration, especially the 2.4 GHz mode. Ultimately, the Gem80 is extremely comfortable for typing but is also an excellent choice for playing even competitive games, whether wired or wireless.
Looks great on any desk
The 4000 mAh battery isn’t the largest we’ve seen in wireless keyboards, but it provides solid autonomy for those who want to keep their desks cable-free. Battery life largely depends on the wireless mode and your use of RGB lighting. With all lights on, you can expect around 40 hours of use, which means you’ll likely need to charge it once or twice a week, depending on your usage.
While the RGB lighting is beautiful and offers many options, the keyboard looks so good that you might not need it. If you decide to turn off the lights, you can expect a robust 300 hours of use before needing to bring in the charging cable.
The font is minimal yet bold and crisp
For further customization, the Gem80, like many custom keyboards, uses the open-source VIA software. Since this software supports a wide range of keyboards, there is an additional step before you can customize your own, but it ultimately offers an exceptionally robust software experience. VIA makes it easy to create profiles, set up multiple key layers, create macros, remap keys, and much more. Currently, it doesn’t support creating custom per-key RGB presets, but that might come in a future update. As I mentioned, the Gem80 has enough presets and is beautiful enough even without all the lights.
CONCLUSION
The barebones version of the keyboard ranges from $150 for the wired version to $170 for the tri-mode wireless version. If you opt for the full package with switches and keycaps, the total price goes up to $200. While this might seem like a lot, trust me, it’s well worth it. The Gem80 offers a unique package because you get a keyboard that is tinker-friendly like a custom keyboard, while also being a beautiful, complete piece of hardware that is truly a pleasure to use. In this regard, Nuphy has another winner on its hands and perhaps one of the best TKL keyboards on the market right now.
