My first keyboard was the Keychron Q1 Max and although a nice keyboard, even with all the mods, I never got it to sound the way I wanted. It's a solid board though. Works right out of the box, has never given me any issues, looks nice and fits your price range. And FYI, they have one on close out for $89 but it's blue. Not sure if he's in to blue but that's amazing price.
As far as my favorite, hands down anything by Qwerty or Neo. I have Meletrix boards too, in fact four of them, but QK or Neo, in this price range are my favorite.
If your budget expands any, the Mode Sonnet is slick. I have a coworker that has one and I'm very seriously thinking of selling a few boards to purchase one or the Mode Evo. I've kinda gotten to where I prefer 65% keyboards. I don't use F keys that much in the work I do but that could be important to others.
Good luck. Be sure to post pictures of what you get.
I have both the Keychron Q1 HE QMK Wireless (a little out of your budget but I got mine for over 50% off last year during the holidays so YMMV) and Wooting 60HE. You can get a stock Wooting for about $200 and should be good to go. Hall effect switches are great for gaming + both keyboards have RGB.
I have the Aula F75 and the Keychron Q1 HE, I personally bought a second Aula F75 after trying it and put away the HE for now. Out of all the keyboards I've used, I dunno I just love the Aula F75, especially for the price point on sale... The Keychron is built like a tank and very premium, but for mostly gaming and chatting on Discord I have to say the Aula F75 is peak.
While your point about Rapid Trigger is valid that doesn't change the fact that the Wooting, and even Keychron are objectively better than the other two options.
Build quality and software and features are all better than the logitech options.
We obviously have very different opinions on features that matter.
The things you mentioned are all things that most people are going to do themselves or flat out don't matter.
Wrist wrest? If you want one buy any of the fifty thousand out there that fit the style you like.
Shinethrough Keycaps? Ok? that is an extremely subjective thing on it being better or worse. But on the topic of keycaps, the ones on the Keychron and Wooting are going to be much better quality than the Logitech ones.
Layout is also subjective.
Most of us are more concerned with things like build quality, QC, long term durability, Being able to swap switches, etc. The things you mentioned are all extras that should only be considered when all the above and more are equal. And in this comparison they are not.
the New 8K HE board uses the same switch type as Wooting and most others. So you can use things like Gateron Jades, GeonWorks TTCs, UR Ice switches, etc.
Top Gaming Keyboards on Reddit
1
Wooting
80HE
80% positive of 230 users
Elite gaming performance, deep customization, but divisive typing feel.
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