Project Optimum keyboard: Wooting's first collaboration results in chunky, minimalist, all-metal 'dream keyboard'

Wooting recently released the Wooting 80HE, which we found to be a rather pleasant all-rounder Hall-effect keyboard in our in-depth hands-on testing. It appears the  gaming keyboard brand isn't resting on its laurels, either, today announcing Project Optimum, which is a spin on its ever-popular 60HE 60% gaming keyboard. 

Project Optimum is a collaboration between Wooting and YouTube creator Optimum, who is known for his high-quality content and reviews featuring custom gaming peripherals, with the goal of designing what Optimum calls his "dream keyboard." The result of the project, which is Wooting's first collaboration with an outside designer or influencer, resulted in a substantial change in the Wooting 60HE's case. The biggest change from the regular 60HE is the switch from an ABS case and black aesthetic to a gunmetal grey CNC milled and anodised aluminium case and matching grey keycaps with no legend at all. 

The new case offers chunky bezels and sizeable fillets for the vertical edges on the corners, achieving a minimalist aesthetic without looking harsh. There are more subtle design elements, too, like a mirror-finish weight that wraps around the centre of the back and the bottom of the case. The kit comes with both the regular tray mount option, although with some silicone pads for added cushion, and a friction-fit mount that uses a silicone pad between the plate and PCB, which is meant to provide a slightly more damped feel and sound than a regular gasket mount. 

In Optimum's video, embedded below, he details that the alternative friction-fit mounting system was entirely Wooting's idea, illustrating that this appears to have been a pretty balanced collaboration, as opposed to a marketing ploy. 

Project Optimum, as Wooting calls it, is available as a $135.40 keycap and case set directly from Wooting's site, and it can be purchased as an accessory for the Wooting 60HE+ Module.