Iqunix launches EZ80 TKL Hall-effect gaming keyboard with 8 kHz polling, 0.005 mm RT, and an eye-watering price
We recently reported on the imminent launch of the Iqunix EZ80, which purports to be a TKL competitor to the ultra-hyped Wooting 80HE. Now, Iqunix has revealed more details about the EZ80, confirming that the new TKL HE keyboard will be available in two separate colourways and with two different switch options. Most importantly, the EZ80 comes in at almost $100 more than the Iqunix EZ63 we reviewed earlier this year, making it potentially a tough sell for most gamers.
The Iqunix EZ80, as revealed in the previous teaser, features a standard TKL layout, a gasket mount, an aluminium plate, and a CNC-milled aluminium case. At launch, however, Iqunix revealed that the EZ80 will be available with both the X Magnetic Switch, which appears to be a switch customised by Iqunix, and the tried-and-true Gateron Magnetic Jade Pro switches, which we praised as the best Hall-effect switches in terms of sound and feel in our recent EZ63 review. The EZ80 is also available in the black, white, and blue colourway with non-shine-through double-shot PBT keycaps, similar to the aesthetic on the EZ63, but this time there is a second colourway at launch, too. The EZ80 Dark Side RS features a blacked-out case design with translucent black keycaps with side-printed legends.
Pricing for the EZ80 varies based on both switch and colour choice, with the cheapest variant, the black-and-blue colourway with Gateron Magnetic Jade Pro switches (curr. $57.99 on Amazon), coming in at $269. Opting for the X Magnetic switch increases the price by $20 to $289, and opting for the Dark Side RS colourway increases the price by $10.
- EZ80 black and blue, Jade Pro switches: $269
- EZ80 black and blue, X Magnetic switches: $289
- EZ80 Dark Side RS, Jade Pro switches: $279
- EZ80 Dark Side RS, X Magnetic switches: $299
The Iqunix X Magnetic switches feature a box stem design with similar key travel and actuation force characteristics to the Jade Pro switches, with 3.5 mm of total travel, 36 gf initial force, and 48 gf end force. The box stem should result in less stem wobble, although they can often feel somewhat scratchier than regular stem designs. Iqunix says it has optimised the X Magnetic switches and the sensors in the EZ80 so that it can achieve sensitivity figures as low as 0.005 mm.
Currently, the major player in the HE gaming keyboard space is Wooting, and the 80HE competes pretty squarely with the EZ80 when it comes to claimed latency figures. Wooting also leads the pack on software and gaming features, although, as we learned in our review of the K4 HE, Keychron very nearly matches Wooting when it comes to software, even delivering support for macros, which Wooting and Iqunix both currently lack. Keychron, however, limits all of its HE keyboards to 1,000 Hz polling, which results in a theoretical latency increase, although we have not noticed a perceivable difference in our HE keyboard testing.
Source(s)
