Epomaker HE75 V2 Hall Effect Keyboard
design
I’ve been testing the black version of the Epomaker HE75 V2, which pairs a matte case with smoke-tinted, Cherry-profile PC keycaps, though there’s a white version with frosted keycaps available too. Those semi-transparent caps are a nice change of pace, they let the per-key RGB show through with a soft glow that lights up the whole board, rather than a harsher direct underlight. The Epomaker HE75 V2 has an 80-key 75% layout, and despite being built entirely from ABS plastic, it doesn’t feel like it. There’s a reassuring heft to the V2, and the build feels a good deal more solid than the Logitech G316 X 98, despite costing rather less. Give the case a deliberate twist and you’ll find a small amount of flex, but you’d need to go looking for it. Under normal use, it stays put.
The keycap labels are clear, the font’s bold and easy on the eye, and Epomaker has remembered to include Mac-specific labelling on the relevant keys under the standard print, which is a nice touch given how many boards insist on treating Mac support as an afterthought.
Where the design lets itself down a little is the tri-side light strip that’s supposed to bathe your desk in ambient colour. The diffuser is cut with a faceted, diamond pattern rather than a smooth one, and in practice it doesn’t throw much light onto the desk at all. You mostly only notice it looking at the keyboard from the side, rather than getting the atmospheric glow the marketing suggests. It’s not ugly, though I’m not a fan of the gaudy diamond effect and would have preferred a plain diffused strip. There’s also a small status LED bar above the right arrow key that looks stuck and as if the team had run out of time for that bit of the design. It’s a strange, slightly cheap-looking outlier on an otherwise tidy board.
Elsewhere, the Epomaker HE75 V2‘s build follows a familiar HE playbook. Gasket-mounted FR4 plate, 5-layer dampening stack, no flex cuts in either the plate or PCB, and a 2-stage kickstand giving three typing angles. The swappable knob module in the top-right corner is one of the neater ideas Epomaker keeps returning to across its range. Pull it out and you gain two extra keys in its place, and the box includes Insert and Print-labelled replacements along with a set of spare switches. It’s an easy bit of customisation, no extra tools needed, just a firm yank.
performance
The Creamy Jade HE switches earn the name, feeling smooth and marshmallowy underfoot. Though if you’ve tried a few of Epomaker’s other magnetic switches you’ll notice this isn’t the creamiest of the bunch. It’s pleasant and well rounded off, if a little short on character in comparison. Neutral is probably the best word for it. It’s not a low-profile switch, but it types lighter than you’d expect and I had no problems adapting to it for general productivity work, and writing this review.
The beauty of Hall Effect boards is their deep level of customisation and if you’re so inclined then you’ll have a lot of fun here. Actuation is adjustable in 0.005mm increments from 0.1mm all the way up to 3.5mm, and when it’s dialled right down, inputs get properly sharp and twitchy. Some will love that, even if the pointy end was a bit keen for my blood. This is a reliable performer though and across a mixture of gaming titles I had a great time.
The EPOMAKER 3.0 software is nice enough. There’s plenty to get stuck into if actuation curves and macros are your thing, and just as easy to ignore if they’re not. Battery life has lived up to the claims in my testing so far, and since it mostly lives on my desk within cable’s length, charging it isn’t much of a chore even when it does run low. I didn’t notice a meaningful difference in feel between the wired, 2.4GHz and Bluetooth modes during testing, either. You do lose the higher polling rates if you opt to go Bluetooth, though realistically I’m not sure too many casual gamers will notice the difference between 1,000 and 8,000Hz anyway.
summed up
The Epomaker HE75 V2 is a nice keyboard that gets the important stuff right. It types well, games well, and feels sturdier than its price and all-plastic construction might suggest. The swappable knob module remains one of the more thoughtful ideas in Epomaker’s back catalogue and the glowing semi-translucent keycaps are lovely.
The light strip and status bar aren’t to my taste, though when that’s my largest complaint on a keyboard then it’s clearly in a decent spot. The Epomaker HE75 V2 is a smart way into hot-swap Hall Effect switches with plenty of change under $100 and a strong all-round experience in the meantime.
