Best mechanical keyboards in 2025

The keyboard you use with your computer is one of the most important peripherals to get right. That's why it pains me when so many people are content with the mushy membrane keyboards that are bundled with computers because they're not experiencing the joy of using a mechanical keyboard.

There's a lot to love whether you choose a budget option, prefer a low-profile keyboard, or want the wondrous feel of mechanical keyboard switches clacking away. However, the market is huge, with different switch types, form factors, and other features. To get you started on your mechanical keyboard journey, we've rounded up some of our favorites from the better-known brands as a jumping-off point. Who knows, you might be building your first custom mechanical keyboard in no time after that.

Our favorite mechanical keyboards in 2024

Keychron has a reputation for solidly built mechanical keyboards with deep customizability, and the Q1 Pro is no exception. This 75% typing beast is CNC'ed from solid slabs of aluminum, so it's got some real heft to stay put no matter how hard your typing style is. It can be purchased as a pre-assembled, ready-to-go keyboard with a wide choice of switches or as a bare-bone base kit to add your own switches, keycaps, and other components. The pre-assembled kit can also be customized, as all variants come with hot-swap sockets for putting your choice of switches in.

It's also wireless, with Bluetooth 5.1 for pairing with up to three devices, plus a USB-C connection as a fallback and to charge the internal battery. In wired mode, it has a 1,000Hz polling rate for quick responsiveness, and it's compatible with Macs and PCs. Keychron also made it support VIA and QMK, the two most popular open-source firmware packages for mechanical keyboards. Those who are looking for something slightly cheaper than the Q1 Pro should also consider Keychron's V1 Max keyboard that we recently reviewed.

Corsair is another brand that makes some excellent keyboards, and the Corsair K70 RGB TKL Champion Series is the best tenkeyless (TKL) option. Along with the attractive aesthetic, the K70 RGB TKL Champion Series offers a tournament mode switch, so you know you're looking at a gaming machine. A detachable USB-C cable is a nice addition that allows you to use your own cable and replace it down the road should it become damaged.

Being a Champion Series product, this keyboard was designed for and tested by esports gamers. There's a premium 8,000Hz polling rate, far faster than many other mechanical keyboards. Based on a durable aluminum frame, you'll be able to carry this K70 with you to LAN gaming events without issue. The RGB-illuminated keys also create one killer light show once you're ready to start your session. Other highlights include precision-molded PBT double-shot keycaps, making this one of the better TKL options.

It's possible to enjoy decent typing and gaming experiences with a budget-friendly mechanical keyboard, so long as you know which ones to avoid. The Royal Kludge RK61 is one you shouldn't miss, though. It's a 60% mechanical keyboard that can be purchased with a few different switches pre-installed.

And yes, I said pre-installed. This keyboard may be affordable, but you can hot-swap the switches for aftermarket options. You've got all the RGB lighting you'll ever need, and there's even a wireless option if you'd rather not be tethered to your PC. It does only have 13 hours of battery life when on the lowest backlight setting, but that's okay, as it will charge up when you plug in the USB-C cable to continue using it. Interestingly, this keyboard supports five-pin switches, something that even more expensive mod-friendly keyboards fail to have.

There's not much to dislike about the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed. It's an incredible piece of kit and a close contender for our best mechanical keyboard. Razer has been making keyboards for a good many years now, so the company knows a thing or two about them.

The BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed is a super-compact 65% keyboard. Razer offers either its in-house Green or Yellow switches for the BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed, depending on whether you're after silent typing or gaming with some tactile feedback. Since this is a HyperSpeed keyboard, you can make full use of it without wires, charging the internal battery using the USB-C port, which doubles up as a tether for using the keyboard without wireless capabilities.

And since this is a Razer keyboard, plenty of RGB lighting exists. The company's software package, Razer Synapse, can also be used to customize the BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed, including macros, key mapping, and profiles.

When you want to save surface space or fancy something a little different, a 60% mechanical keyboard may be what you need. This kind of keyboard typically removes the numpad, navigational cluster, and F-keys to create a more compact keyboard, and the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 is the best option available.

This is an amazing gaming keyboard for the price. Switching from a full-size keyboard may take some time to grow accustomed to the smaller size. The Alloy Origins 60 also doesn't have all the high-end premium features we've seen in other keyboards in this collection. Still, it uses an aluminum body well and has all the flashy RGB lighting options you'll ever need. Should you be on the hunt for a keyboard that strikes a good balance between performance, value, and esthetics, you could do much worse than the HyperX Alloy Origins 60.

Sometimes, you need more keys and functionality than a basic keyboard can provide, especially when playing video games. That's where the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro comes in, with a full 104/105 key setup and more extras than you can shake a glow stick at. It has eight dedicated macro keys for easily chaining in-game commands, dedicated media keys that can double as macros, and the Razer Command Dial, a customizable rotary encoder for even more functionality.

We loved how customizable it was, with the Command Dial powering through gaming actions and doing double duty in productivity programs like Photoshop. It's got 38 customizable glow zones because it wouldn't be a Razer keyboard without lots of tweakable RGB lighting. You can choose tactile, clicky Green switches or smooth, silent Yellow switches, both created by Razer. Both are great for typing or gaming, so it's up to your preferences on noise level and physical feedback.

The Logitech G915 is our favorite wireless mechanical keyboard. It's full-sized, including the numpad and all function key rows, and packed with features. You'll get macro keys, multi-device pairing for easy switching, RGB lighting, and LIGHTSPEED wireless capabilities. Because of the low-profile key switches, you can use this keyboard without a wrist rest, if preferred.

Because of the low-latency wireless connection, the Logitech G915 is also great for gaming. You can choose from three Logitech low-profile switches when purchasing the keyboard: GL Tactile, GL Linear, or GL Clicky. The internal battery pack can last up to 30 hours and only takes a few minutes to charge fully.

Thanks to its split form factor, the Kinesis Freestyle2 USB-C ergonomic keyboard is unlike any other keyboard on this list, with half of the keys on each part. This has several benefits for ergonomics, including having your arms and elbows at a more natural angle and reducing the amount of strain put on the muscles and tendons in your forearms. The keyboard also comes with a tenting kit, which lets you increase the height of one edge. This stops your forearms from rotating, leaving them in a more natural feeling position for typing.

Of course, no amount of customizable ergonomics would make a difference if the typing experience wasn’t up to grade. The Freestyle Pro uses Cherry MX Brown tactile switches or Cherry MX Silent Red linear switches. Those are both favorites of typists and perfect for the office. The keyboard also has a handy double row of macros on the left side, with pre-programmed common keyboard shortcuts like copy, cut, and paste.

The Asus ROG Azoth is a stellar mechanical keyboard that's very easy to recommend to both casual gamers and enthusiasts. One of the highlights of this particular keyboard is that it comes with a complete DIY kit, which includes a keycap/switch puller, a lubing station, brush, Krytox GPL-205-GD0 lube, stabilizer mat, and more. All the in-box accessories truly make a great option for those who want to experiment and try something new with their keyboard.

The overall fit and finish of the keyboard is quite nice, and it also comes with a good set of features. Another highlight of this board, as you can tell, is the inclusion of the display on the top. It's a thin monochrome OLED that sits next to a spring-loaded control dial that's coupled with a button. The typing experience on the ROG Azoth is pretty great out of the box, but you can easily swap out things like the switches and keycaps on it, or even mod it pretty easily to try different configurations.

The MX Mechanical from Logitech is a low-profile, high-quality mechanical keyboard with shorter switches that feel closer to the scissor switches used in notebook keyboards than full-height mechanical switches. That might be a bonus if you already like the typing experience on your laptop. It comes in 104-key full-size or 75% mini-size (losing the numpad in the process). It has white LED backlighting, which has power-saving sensors that only enable the lighting when it detects your hands are close enough to start typing.

It comes with a Logi Bolt receiver for 2.4GHz wireless connectivity, and it also has Bluetooth. USB-C is also used to recharge the internal battery. Logitech says it can run for 15 days on one charge with the backlight on and a staggering 10 months without the LED glow. You can customize some of the keys with the Logi Options software, but there is no way to save these customizations to the keyboard, so you must keep the software installed.

The best mechanical keyboard to buy is a matter of preference

The mechanical keyboard market is buzzing right now, with smaller companies innovating and pushing the established players to adjust and improve. With all the options available today, you'll be able to find one to your liking easily. And if you can't find one single keyboard configuration to your taste, getting a keyboard with hot-swap sockets means you'll be able to choose your favorite type of key switch from the thousands on the market.

The Keychron Q1 Pro is a great option to consider mainly because it's an absolute joy to use and can be modded. It also has wireless connectivity options for multi-device usage or to banish unsightly cables. It also has hot-swap sockets, so you can choose your favorite switches.

Those leaning towards a small keyboard can check out the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed, which I think is one of the best 60% keyboards out there. For a quality mechanical keyboard typing experience without spending too much cash, the Royal Kludge RK61 is my recommendation. It has premium features like hot-swap sockets and wireless connectivity for a price that's hard to believe.

The good thing about many of these keyboards is that you can customize them while purchasing before checkout or manually by yourself after you get them. You can truly fine-tune your experience by adding different types of switches and styles of keycaps. We recommend checking out our beginner's guide to mechanical keyboards to learn more.