The 4 Best 60% Keyboards - Black Friday 2024

The best 60% keyboard we've tested is the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless. It's a compact version of the enduringly popular SteelSeries Apex Pro. Like its full-size cousin, this keyboard also has an adjustable pre-travel distance feature, which means you can customize the sensitivity of your keypresses. Whether you want a nearly instant 0.2mm actuation point for competitive gaming or a longer pre-travel of up to 3.8 mm for general typing, you can fine-tune your preferences for each key, making this a versatile unit that's great for both work and play.

This keyboard also connects using a USB receiver or Bluetooth, so you don't have to worry about cable management. Depending on what sort of connectivity you rely on, its battery supplies enough power for 30 to 40 hours of use, which is on the lower end of the scale, but that's not too surprising given its fully customizable RGB backlighting lighting. If you're concerned about the battery life, there's a wired version of this board, the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini. The wired version offers the same high-end performance and features, and it's typically cheaper, especially when it goes on sale.

Around a mid-range price point, we recommend the Razer Huntsman Mini Analog. While its price fluctuates quite a bit, it's at its best value when it's around the $100 USD mark, but more recently, it's gone on sale at some online retailers and may be much closer or even a bit cheaper than our best mid-range pick below. Like our top pick, this keyboard has an adjustable pre-travel distance feature. However, its optical switches are somewhat less consistent and accurate than the magnetic switches on the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless. Plus, the range isn't as wide as the lowest and most sensitive setting you can set, which is 1.5 mm. It performs similarly to the SteelSeries model, with equally low latency and excellent RGB backlighting. However, the Razer has a few more interesting features that the SteelSeries lacks.

One such feature is the 'Analog Mode.' When enabled, the switches register how far down you've pressed a key to respond in-game, like a gamepad controller, instead of registering it as a binary on/off input. This feature is beneficial if you're a fan of racing games or flight simulators, as it gives you much finer movement control than you'd typically get with your average WASD keys. It's worth noting that this is a wired-only unit, unlike our top pick above, so you'll have to do some cable management. Thankfully, the cable is a detachable USB-A to USB-C cable, so if you find it too stiff or bulky, you can easily change it for something more flexible.

While the Razer and SteelSeries models above offer in-depth customization, the Corsair K65 RGB MINI is a straightforward budget pick focused on raw gaming performance. Instead of non-standard switches with adjustable pre-travel distances, the Corsair comes with typical Cherry MX switches. You can get your choice of switch type, including Cherry MX Speeds, a classic gaming switch with a feather-light actuation force and a short pre-travel distance for a sensitive and smooth keypress throughout—though beware, these switches can make you more prone to making more mistakes while typing as even light touches can register a keystroke.

The high-quality PBT keycaps have a bit of texture, so your fingers won't slip off of them, even during tense, competitive games. They also have clear legends that allow the RGB lighting to shine through them, making them easy to read in darker rooms. Overall, this keyboard's gaming performance is unparalleled at this price point, with its higher-than-average maximum polling rate and split-millisecond latency for a highly consistent and responsive in-game experience. It's also compatible with Corsair's iCUE software, meaning you can sync up your lighting effects with other Corsair products, like your mouse or PC components, for a unified theme in your setup.

Although it has higher latency than all our other recommendations and feels less well-built than the Corsair K65 RGB MINI, the ROYAL KLUDGE RK61 is your best bet for a cheap compact board. It's well-suited for casual gamers or on-the-go professionals looking for a smaller home and office board. Surprisingly, for the price, it has a hot-swappable printed circuit board, so you can swap out the stock switches with other mechanical switches of your choice for a typing experience tailored to your needs.

It's a great choice if you're just getting into keyboards since it's a cheap way to test out what switches you like without spending a small fortune. Plus, it comes in several variants that offer wireless connectivity options, different backlighting configurations, and a range of sizes, so you'll surely find the best version for you.