The All-New NuPhy Halo65 V2 Keyboard With Better Lights, Sound And Features

Keyboard brand NuPhy is rapidly establishing a reputation for making high-quality mechanical keyboards but always with a stylish twist. The latest model from the brand is the Halo65 V2. This is the second iteration of one of the company’s most popular and compact models offering high-speed wireless connectivity, six new acoustic modifications and a range of RGB backlighting effects.

Compared to the original version of the NuPhy Halo65, this latest version has undergone several upgrades and even the styling has had a complete makeover so that it shows off the keyboard’s RGB lighting to a much better effect.

The Industrial Design

The original Halo keyboard began life as a project to create a keyboard with bands of light and a solid aluminum unibody frame. For this latest version of the Halo65, NuPhy decided on a design brief that would improve the keyboard’s lighting, sound and the typing experience it offered. To improve the lighting effect, NuPhy decided on a semi-transparent bottom case constructed with double-shot moulding. This has enabled the entire surface of the case to show off the keyboard’s RGB lighting to much better effect.

The NuPhy Halo65 V2 has a physical switch for setting Windows or macOS layouts.

NUPHY

To improve the sound that the keys make, NuPhy switched to a gasket mount instead of the metal top mount that was used in the first iteration. The gasket mount uses silicone beans to create a more solid sound. However, there was a problem using beans. The silicone beans were placed in front of the LED backlights, which ended up blocking the lighting of the keys and legends.

The designers experimented by reverting to using a solid case and then moved the keys away from the edges of the keyboard and moved the LEDs backwards. However, no matter what they tried, nothing seemed to work. Finally, after months of trials using different numbers and types of LEDs in a range of layouts and with different light diffusers, the team had a breakthrough.

New Light Show

Eventually, the NuPhy team managed to create a homogenous light source by placing the LEDs at different angles to the beans and that eliminated the shadows. By using 80 wider-beam LEDs with crescent-shaped apertures, the desired lighting effect was finally perfected, turning the Halo65 V2 into a keyboard with a very bright light show.

The keycaps of the Halo65 V2 have a large and rounded profile with shine-through legends and double-shot PBT construction.

NUPHY

Now with the lighting isssues fixed, the team turned its attention to creating a selection of more exciting colorways for the Halo65 to complement the improved lighting. As a result, the Halo65 V2 is now available in three cocktail themes: Sakura Fizz, Mojito and Blue Lagoon, each one primarily augmenting its RGB lighting.

The Halo65 V2 is designed to catch the eye with its wavy side columns, solid unibody aluminum frame and lighting effects, which all enhance the keyboard’s overall appearance. By completely redesigning the keyboard’s semi-transparent bottom case, the Halo light bands now merge to create a truly effective light show.

mSA Key Profile

Other new features include an mSA key profile which is the high-profile sibling of NuPhy’s nSA low profile. Small tweaks have been made with an adjustment to the SA height for better ergonomics. The keycaps now have a larger and rounder surface with a symmetrical design. The standout feature is the light-emitting homing bars on the keys, illuminated by south-facing LEDs with adjustable brightness to help guide touch typists.

With its compact form, the Halo65 V2 takes up very little desk space.

NUPHY

For anyone who haven’t heard about NuPhy’s GhostBar, this is how the company’s designers stop the larger keys from rattling and sounding cheap and hollow. By using a series of small internal chambers in the larger keycaps—like the space bar, Shift and Enter keys— those keys now make the same almost inaudible sound as the rest of the Halo65 V2’s keys.

Thanks to south-facing LEDs, the legends on the keyboard’s Canopus shine-through keycaps are better illuminated and, when combined with the bold font used on the keycaps and the striking colorways, the legends are brighter and easier to see.

High-speed Wireless Capability

NuPhy has provided three ways of connecting the Halo65 V2 to a host device. There’s the usual wired connection using USB-C, which provides a polling rate of 1,000Hz. For those users who want a wireless connection but don’t want to take the hit of slower latency from a Bluetooth connection, there is a 2.4Ghz RF dongle that also has a polling rate of 1,000Hz, making it ideal for competition gamers.

The new Halo65 V2 keyboard comes with a USB-A 2.4GHz RF dongle for low latency connections without wires.

NUPHY

Alternatively, the keyboard has Bluetooth connectivity for linking with up to three separate devices. Users can switch quickly between them with just a keypress. Even with Bluetooth, the latency has a polling rate of 125Hz, more than fast enough for most of us who aren’t competitive gamers.

Finally, the Halo65 V2 uses QMK firmware and the keyboard can be programmed and customized using the NuPhy Launcher, a website that enables users to personalize each key without the need to install any software. Macros, key remapping and other changes can also be made easily using Launcher.