Ah 60% keyboards, this tiny form factor is fantastic for gaming. Its small size with leaves more room for gaming mice to move on your desk, which is especially important if you use low sensitivity for FPS games.
I’ve used a lot of compact keyboards over the last few years and a lot of other keyboards in general. The 60% size is a little more niche, there are only a handful of keyboards that I feel are suitable for recommendation, our top 6 60% keyboards covers most use cases and preferences someone might have.
Want arrow keys? Check out our best 65% keyboard picks.
| Category | Keyboard |
|---|---|
| Best Overall | Wooting 60HE |
| Runner Up | Steelseries Apex Pro Mini Wireless |
| Best Typing Experience | Keychron Q4 |
| Best Upper Mid-Range 60% | Razer Huntsman Mini Analog |
| Best Mid Range 60% | Anne Pro 2 |
| Best Budget 60% | Royal Kludge RK61 |
Best 60% Overall – Wooting 60HE
Pros
- Individual key actuation point setting
- Rapid trigger is useful
- Great small form factor for FPS
- Transferable PCB to third party keyboard cases
- Customizable through Wooting’s website (no download required)
Cons
- Feels pretty light, can slip when gaming
- Not enough keys for MMOs
- No height/angle adjustability
Connectivity: Wired | Switches: Gateron Lekker | Keycaps: PBT | Wrist Rest: No
The Wooting 60HE is just the dominant gaming keyboard right now, so it shouldn’t be any surprise that it’s our best 60% pick.
Super low latency, crazy fast switches and unique features like rapid trigger makes this keyboard stand apart.
If you’re looking for the max competitive edge, this is the 60% you look at.
Read our full Wooting 60HE review
See our fastest keyboard picks
Runner up 60% – Steelseries Apex Pro Mini Wireless
Pros
- Smooth linear switches
- Strong build quality
- Adjustable actuation is great
- OLED is getting more uses over time
Cons
- Cheaper ABS caps
- Hard wrist rest
Connectivity: Wireless | Switches: Hall Effect | Keycaps: PBT | Wrist Rest: No
If you want a more mainstream brand or a wireless gaming keyboard, the Steelseries Apex Pro Mini Wireless is our runner 60% pick.
While it doesn’t have quite the top speed that the Wooting has, it gets pretty close. The Apex Pro Mini even has its own version of rapid trigger.
Unless you’re really looking for wireless, the Wooting 60HE has this keyboard beat for a lower price. But the Apex Pro Mini is probably the best wireless gaming keyboard out right now.
Read our full Steelseries Apex Pro Review
Best Typing Experience – Keychron Q4
Pros
- Great build quality
- QMK software
- Lubed stabilizers
- Awesome typing experience
- Solid PBT keycaps
- Gasket mounted
Cons
- Not the fastest keyboard
- Tall in size without wrist rest
Connectivity: Wired Wired | Switches: Gateron G Pro | Keycaps: PBT | Wrist Rest: No
The Keychron Q4 is for gamers that still want a really good typing experience.
There are no real gaming specific features other than the 60% form factor. The Q4 is just a really great feeling keyboard with respectable latency.
It’s really well built, has hot swappable sockets and is infinitely customizable with QMK.
If you’re not in the sweatiest tier of gaming and want a more balanced approach, the Q4 might be your keyboard of choice.
Best Upper Mid-Range 60% – Razer Huntsman Mini Analog
Pros
- Optical switches
- Rapid trigger capable
- Set custom actuation point
- Great Full RGB
- Solid PBT keycaps
Cons
- Noisy
Size: 60% | Connectivity: Wired | Switches: Razer Optical | Keycaps: ABS | Wrist Rest: No
The Razer Huntsman Mini Analog is slightly more affordable than our top 2 picks, but still delivers adjustable optical switches.
The Mini Analog falls short by not being as flexible with their actuation system. The range for actuation and double trigger are smaller by quite a bit compared to the Wooting 60HE.
The Razer Huntsman Mini Analog also just sounds a little bit more hollow and cheap compared tot he top pic.
See our best Razer keyboard picks
Best Mid Range 60% – Anne Pro 2
Pros
- Fantastic software customization
- Good stabs
- Great switch options
- Doubleshot PBT keycaps
- Wireless connection option
Cons
- Forgets backlight settings on power down in wireless mode
- Weird one-sided USB-C cable
- Wireless connectivity can be unreliable
- RGB is dim and inconsistent
A Reddit favourite. The Anne Pro 2 is a solid 60% keyboard that offers a wireless option in case you want to rid yourself of messy cables on your desk. Unfortunately, the wireless mode isn’t input lag free like it is on gaming controllers, so I would avoid playing competitive games with it in wireless mode, luckily, the wired mode is low latency.
Connectivity aside, the Anne Pro 2 has solid build quality, good stabilizers and a generally good typing experience. The value is off the charts for the Anne Pro 2 at its price point.
The software for the Anne Pro 2 is far better than my expectation, allowing for deep key mapping and layers on the Anne Pro 2, making the 60% layout even more functional for your preferences.
Best Budget 60% – Royal Kludge RK61
Pros
- Multi-device connectivity
- Better than expected stabilizers
- 3 main switch options
- Doubleshot ABS keycaps
- Centered USB-C port
Cons
- No secondary layer programming
- Reported reliability issues
- Ugly legends
- Single colour backlit versions don’t have software
The RK61 is our super budget pick coming at under $50 USD. For this price, you get a wireless mechanical keyboard with multiple switch options in a 60% form factor. While this keyboard won’t blow any minds, it’s pretty incredible value for a budget gamer looking for a 60% keyboard.
The RK61 even offers bluetooth connectivity with multiple devices for extra flexibility. The keyboard itself is mediocre, the keyboard is built well enough, the feel of the switches and stabilizers is only okay, but you can’t ask much at this price point.
What is a 60 % keyboard?
A 60% keyboard does away with all function keys, arrow keys and numpad, leaving a much smaller footprint horizontally and vertically.
The keys that are not present physically on the 60% layout are usually accessible through a function layer. For example, most 60% keyboards have the F1 key under fn+1.
Check out our post on keyboard sizes to see how 60% keyboards compare.
The Pros and Cons of a 60% keyboard
Benefits of a 60% keyboard
The big benefit of 60% keyboards is its diminutive width, leaving more room for the mouse and generally creating a better ergonomic posture for gaming. Because of its narrower width, gamers are more easily able to position their keyboard in the most comfortable position for them.
60% keyboards are also great for people with limited desk space and are great for packing into a bag for travel.
I also think 60% keyboards look really good with its more symmetrical layout design.
Drawbacks of a 60% keyboard
Keys that are not immediately available on the surface can cause some decline in productivity, it’ll take some while to get used to not having function or arrow keys right there if you use them heavily.
This is the main drawbacks, no dedicated arrow keys, if you’re a heavy numpad user, or play games that use the F keys or arrow cluster heavily, it might be a very tough transition to hit those binds through a layer.
Fewer total keys means fewer options for key mapping as well.
How I picked the best 60% keyboards
60% keyboards sacrifice a lot of keys in the name of compactness. For gamers, that smaller size leaves more room for your mouse for low sensitivity FPS games. For productivity, a more compact keyboard allows for potential travel with the keyboard as well as smaller desk requirements.
If the 60% keyboard can’t make up for the lack of keys with great customization for shortcuts, I don’t think I could recommend that 60% keyboard. That’s the primary factor.
After that, all the other standard keyboard factors apply, it should feel great to type on, the software should be easy to use. For gaming, the latency should be super low and there should be fast switch options.
Upcoming keyboards to test
I’ve heard good things about Nuphy and need to get my hands on some of their 60% offerings.
7 Responses
The best possible 60% keyboard in my personal option would have to be the GK61 Keyboard, it comes with RGB lighting and mechanical switches. Best Gaming Beasts cost 60$
Agreed
In my opinion, the best 60% keyboard is a Tofu 60 with lubed novel keys creams or Banana split switches.
It is a costum keyboard, and we are talking about pre-builds. Btw the tofu 60% is very expensive. I like the sk61 and the gk61
there are prebuilt ones you can buy on their website. I love the tofu60 because they give you a lot of options for the build. Most keyboard sites only gives you cherry or gateron switch options and thats it.
hyperx alloy origins 60 is better than that razer huntsman mini
I love the melgeek 68