NuPhy Field75 HE Keyboard Review

The NuPhy Field75 HE has a compact (75%) layout. Compared to a standard full-size model, it lacks a numpad and has fewer keys from the navigation cluster, but it retains dedicated arrow keys and provides more space on your desk for mouse movements.

This keyboard has excellent build quality. The chassis is plastic but is very stiff with no deck flex. Several hardware pieces are made of metal, including the volume control knob and the handle on the left side. There aren't any rattling noises while typing and only minimal switch and keycap wobble. The switches and stabilizers are also pre-lubed from the factory, and the keycaps are high-quality doubleshot PBT.

Thick rubber pads on the bottom do a great job of keeping the keyboard in place on your desk, and a set of rubber-capped flip-out feet provides an incline option.

This keyboard uses a tray mount with silicone padding. The interior plate is made of aluminum and sandwiched by two layers of poron foam. While this mounting system is quite stiff, NuPhy emphasizes that it helps ensure switch travel accuracy, which can otherwise be compromised by softer gasket mounting systems. The spacebar also incorporates what NuPhy calls a 'GhostBar,' design, which is a sound-suppressing keycap filled with a silicone dampener to help minimize the hollow sound many other spacebars make.

The NuPhy Field75 HE has a fairly standard, high-profile design and a set of flip-out feet, offering an incline setting.

NuPhy has two-tone acrylic wrist rests available for separate purchase on their website, but we didn't buy one for our review.

This keyboard offers fairly good hardware customizability overall, but the chassis lacks visible screws and isn't designed to be easily disassembled.

This keyboard has a hot-swappable PCB but is only compatible with magnetic Hall-effect switches.

Unlike the previous NuPhy Field75, the LEDs on this keyboard are south-facing which provides better overall compatibility with aftermarket keycap sets.

The NuPhy Field75 HE has fully addressable per-key RGB backlighting. You can cycle between effects using a dedicated RGB lighting dial in the top left of the keyboard or using the configuration software.

This keyboard's keycaps lack shine-through legends, so you can't read keys in darker rooms. Bear in mind that this keyboard has south-facing LEDs, so aftermarket keycaps with standard shine-through keycaps won't' provide much visibility. See an image we took with several stock keycaps replaced with standard shine-through keycaps for reference.

NuPhy sells a set of 'Canopus' shine-through keycaps with legends designed for south-facing LEDs on their website.

When set to white-only backlighting, there's a fairly noticeable blue tint. This may, in part, be due to the bluish-green bottom housing of the Gateron Magnetic Jade switches.

The included cable is made of rubber and has orange accent colors that match the keyboard's colorway. Unfortunately, this cable retains fairly significant kinks from its packaging.

This keyboard doesn't currently support macros.

This keyboard has eight customizable buttons (labeled G1–G4 and G5–G8). These keys are bound to media keys out of the box. The previous generation NuPhy Field75 allowed you to record and bind custom macros to these buttons using VIA configuration software.

NuPhy has indicated on their website that they plan on releasing macro support for this keyboard.
 

The NuPhy Field75 HE has an extensive set of extra features, including media hotkeys, a volume knob, separate control dials for RGB lighting, a mode toggle with a game mode, and compatibility modes for Windows and macOS.

There's also a metal handle on the left side of the case and a set of customization G-key buttons along the left side and directly under the spacebar.

A set of three LED bars in the top right of the keyboard indicates when Caps Lock is enabled, which mode the keyboard is currently set to, and when a switch is actuated/released.

For a list of shortcuts and other information regarding extra features, see an online version of the user manual.

For all extra features related to analog key control, see the Configuration Software section.

• USB-A to USB-C cable
• Keycap/switch puller
• 4x extra keycaps (three Mac-specific and one delete key)
• User documentation

The NuPhy Field75 HE provides excellent typing quality. The switches and stabilizers are pre-lubed from the factory and very smooth without any noticeable scratchiness or rattle. The switches are also quite stable in their housing with minimal wobble, and the keycaps are made of high-quality PBT plastic with a slightly textured finish.

We bought this keyboard with Gateron Magnetic Jade switches, but you can also buy this keyboard with Gateron Magnetic White switches. Both are similarly lightweight linear options, but the Magnetic Jade switches have a shorter total travel distance, so they may feel a bit more abrupt for everyday typing.

Overall, the typing experience is quite stiff, as the keyboard uses a tray mount design to ensure actuation distances are as accurate as possible. The experience isn't unpleasant but may feel a bit abrupt for regular everyday typing, especially if you're used to softer gasket mount designs.

This keyboard's typing noise is reasonably quiet but may bother those around you, especially in noise-sensitive settings.

We bought and tested this keyboard with Magnetic Jade switches, but we expect the Magnetic White switches to produce similar typing noise. The switches themselves are linear and not particularly noisy, and both the switches and stabilizers are pre-lubed from the factory. There's a silicone insert inside the spacebar that does a fairly good job of rounding out its sound signature and limiting hollowness. However, the overall typing noise still leans on the louder side, as the keyboard is quite resonant with an aluminum plate and only two layers of poron case foam. 

NuPhy's YouTube channel has a typing noise video comparing the Magnetic Jade and Magnetic White switches. 

This keyboard uses linear Gateron Magnetic switches, available for purchase with either Magnetic White or Magnetic Jade options.

We bought and tested this keyboard with Magnetic Jade switches, which have a customizable actuation range between 0.1 mm and 3.3 mm.

These switches have a shorter total travel distance compared to the Magnetic White switch option, which are advertised to use a dual rail design intended to provide better switch stability and limit wobble. For more details, NuPhy has a comparison image between these two switch types on their product page. 

We took measurements of various actuation point settings and confirmed actuation is regularly within 0.1 mm of the advertised range, which compares very favorably with current flagship analog keyboards from other manufacturers. 

• Setting 0.1 mm: actuation 0.22 mm
• Setting 0.2 mm: actuation 0.27 mm
• Setting 0.5 mm: actuation 0.56 mm
• Setting 1.0 mm: actuation 1.06 mm
• Setting 1.5 mm: actuation 1.55 mm
• Setting 2.0 mm: actuation 2.05 mm
• Setting 2.5 mm: actuation 2.53 mm
• Setting 3.0 mm: actuation 3.04 mm
• Setting 3.3 mm: actuation 3.22 mm

Note that the G1–G4 and G5–G8 keys are buttons. They don't have analog switches, so you can't customize their actuation distance.

The NuPhy Field75 HE maintains exceptionally low single-key latency and delivers an extremely responsive and consistent in-game experience.

We conducted this test with the keyboard's maximum polling rate setting at 8000Hz, the lowest (most sensitive) actuation point setting at 0.1 mm, and Rapid Trigger enabled and set to its lowest (most sensitive) settings of 0.2 mm (activate) and 0.2 mm (release).

The NuPhy Field75 HE provides superb and exceptionally consistent multi-key latency performance. It's extremely well-suited for playing any game that requires additional keystrokes while multiple keys are pressed and maintained.

We conducted this test with the keyboard's maximum polling rate setting at 8000Hz, the lowest (most sensitive) actuation point setting at 0.1 mm, and Rapid Trigger enabled and set to its lowest (most sensitive) settings of 0.2 mm (activate) and 0.2 mm (release).

This keyboard exhibits excellent data transmission performance. It can send multiple keys per USB report and supports full N-key rollover by default, out of the box.

It also has an effective update rate of 8000Hz, so it doesn't suffer from a performance bottleneck and is capable of taking advantage of the maximum 8000Hz polling rate.

This keyboard has excellent chord split performance, with very low 4-chord and 8-chord split delay, making it an outstanding option for playing rhythm titles or other games requiring many simultaneous inputs.

This keyboard uses a web-based utility for configuration that you can access on Nuphy's website.

It's fairly complex and in-depth but relatively easy to navigate. It allows you to customize RGB lighting and effects, rebind keys, set custom profiles, and customize switch actuation and rapid trigger settings. 

This keyboard supports several additional features related to analog key settings, detailed below. Please note that many of these features seem to be in active development, and their exact behavior may change with future updates.

• Dynamic Keystroke
  Allows you to map up to four different actions to a single key based on actuation distance.
• Mod Tap
  Allows you to map two actions to a single key based on actuation distance: a held key for the first action and a tap for the second.
• Toggle Key
  Toggle a command between on/off states by tapping a key. Holding the key activates the normal key behavior.
• Rapid Shift
  Actively monitors two keys, prioritizing input for whichever is pressed further downwards at any time.
• SOCD 
  Specifies a pair of two keys with custom trigger behavior along three optional parameters: 1) Last input priority where the last pressed key overrides the first if both exceed the actuation point. 2) No priority, where neither key triggers if both exceed the actuation point. 3) Absolute priority, where one key always overrides the other if both exceed the actuation point.
  Disclaimer: Using this setting may be disallowed in some competitive online games, such as CS:2.
• Hyper Tap 
  Automatically triggers another key the moment a specific key stops registering.

Additional software notes follow:
Some elements, such as the volume knob, mode toggle, and lighting dial aren't customizable.

We noted during testing that the software initially assumed our keyboard was using White Magnetic switches, which have a different actuation range. Using the key calibration setting corrected this.

Currently, the software doesn't support macro recording on any key, including the customizable buttons labeled G1–G8. These buttons are bound to media controls by default. However, you can rebind them to RGB controls or basic/standard characters.

This is a wired-only keyboard that isn't compatible with mobile devices.