The Best Keyboards of 2024, A Year End Review
The mechanical keyboard scene in 2024 has been a vibrant blend of innovation, functionality, and aesthetics, offering something for both seasoned enthusiasts and those just beginning their journey into the hobby. Before diving into this difficult decision-making process, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has made this hobby so enjoyable. Sure, there have been bumps in the road and moments that felt like setbacks, but for me, building keyboards has become about more than just the products. It’s the community that makes it truly special, and for that, I am deeply grateful.
Now, here’s how this is going to work: I’ll be following a few categories, and alongside my answers, I’ll include some community responses shared by my Discord community. This way, you’ll get two perspectives! It also goes without saying that these are all preference-based answers. You’re welcome to agree or disagree, but I kindly ask that you don’t take these things too seriously. My picks are based on my experience in the hobby and my personal preferences for what makes a great keyboard.
Before we begin
Let’s set some expectations, none of the decisions I am making here are sponsored and are of my own opinion based off of what I had fun with and what I felt was my favourite of the year. This is purely an opinion piece.
Full Disclosure and Affiliations
For clarity and transparency, this is not a paid article and none of these brands or companies have asked me to write this. However, there are some affiliate links included in this article to support content creation – your support is greatly appreciated.
Most innovative
For me, this category doesn’t have to be practical—it’s all about something wild and fun. Honestly, I was tempted to split this category into different pieces, but I won’t! The keyboard that absolutely nails this vibe is the Noland N1 by Nooir. It’s just so out there, with design elements that seem like they have no place in a keyboard—like their “Lucas Suspension System.” Yep, the entire board sits on a suspension system, and you can actually see it through two glass panels on the sides of the case. It’s such a bold, boundary-pushing design.
What’s even cooler is that this group has consistently delivered other crazy, fun concepts. Every project they release seems to take things a step further, and I’m here for it. I can’t wait to see what they dream up next!
Community pick
This aligned with my choice, and our vibrant community also chose the Noland N1 followed up by the Neo Ergo.
Most Influential
My criteria for this one was simple: What made waves in the keyboard trend? The answer? Copper. Well, sorry, I mean the Neo75 Cu. Copper was already gaining traction in the hobby—whether you love it or hate it—but once the Neo75 Cu dropped with that affordable copper bottom, the material’s popularity skyrocketed. Sure, there are different grades of copper that impact pricing, but let’s be real: people are all about that aesthetic now!
What makes it even more impressive is that the Neo75 Cu released alongside three other 75% boards, all at similar price points, and it outshined almost all of them. Since then, I’ve seen a few keyboards trying to not only replicate its success but also its design.
Little additional note here. The Lily by Gok did release first and the Neo does feel inspired by it, although not the same. However, due to the broader audience the the Neo75 Cu captured, among other choices they made with the board, I still personally feel it’s fair to nominate the Neo75 Cu as the winner for myself here. Not to mention the accessibility of the board is definitely something to commend them on.
Community pick
The community pick here was the Neo Ergo! I had a feeling this would be a pick here, and in second place here was the Mode Encore.
Best Designed
This was so tough to pick from, there were so many good keyboards and even more amazing designers. I know this is cliche, but I really wish I could pick more than one here. I have to give this one to the Encore Series 2 designed by Matthew Encina in collaboration with Mode Design. I personally just loved the blend of materials here and just how aesthetically pleasing this looked on my desk.
Matthew did an outstanding job integrating the internals from Mode’s Sixty Five project into a completely new chassis that, in my opinion, elevates the entire board. The way the wood was incorporated is also brilliant, and I don’t think it gets enough credit. It’s done in such a way that you can still appreciate the wooden accents, and it feels substantial. Plus, even if the wood shrinks or bends over time, it won’t affect the internals of the case. It’s just a smart design choice!
I’m really hoping to see the Encore again with some new color options. There’s so much potential with that board, and I’m eager to see what Matthew has in store for the future.
Community Pick
The Event Horizon was the pick here from the community, with the runner up was the Cloudnine!
Best Budget / Value Pick
My criteria for this category wasn’t just about the cheapest board, but how versatile it is and what you get in the box. I also considered how accessible the board and the parts needed to build it are.
My choice for this was one of the last keyboards I looked at in 2024, and it’s the Bridge 75. This was a board I had not taken too much interest in, and I’ll be honest here, I really should have. I made a terrible assumption that this would have many of the shortcomings that similar boards in that ~100 dollar range have like the ND75 and even the Rainy75. About a month ago, some community members convinced me to finally try it, so I reached out to Dangkeebs to see if they had one I could borrow, and wow, I was impressed. It’s not perfect, and there are a few things I’d personally tweak, but they pulled off a simple, gorgeous design, and used some reliable internals, doing everything right.
For the price you pay (starting at $85 USD) you also get very solid switches and some keycaps. All I have to say is well done.
Community Pick
This was a landslide winner of the Neo Ergo for a lot of people. In second place was the Rainy75 tied with the Neo75 cu.
Best New Brand / Designer
Admittidly, bias aside, this was very difficult. This one I have to give to Bowl, he’s a designer that has become fairly popular recently and although has been in the space for a while. Bowl does a lot of behind the scenes work for brands and has released some amazing boards of his own, like the Pangea and Compact Ergo. He even opened up his own store recently and has quickly become a community favourite.
Bowl continues to be a great designer with more amazing upcoming projects and we are even cooking up something fun for later this year.
However, this will be the only category in which I highlight another person, and that person is Oh.Type. I got to see his work from afar and always admired his product photography and design work. When his set came out, I was smitten, and so were a lot of people. GMK CYL Tribal was a hit and is still very much a beautiful set with a lot of passion that went into it. I had the pleasure of meeting Oh.Type in person at the NovelKeys meetup in August and we even had to wait for our flights back home together, and I got to know him. He’s a great guy, with a very clear passion for what he’s doing. For that reason, he’s my runner up for new designer.
Community Pick
So the community pick was Neo, but since it’s not really a new brand I’ll consider it more a side pick for their product line. The other pick was Matthew Encina aka ModMusings and it makes more sense as the products came out this year.
Best Keycap Set
To me there is one set that stands out here, and it’s GMK CYL Tribal. As mentioned already in the New Designer category, this was designed by Oratio West. He is also known in the keyboard community as @oh.type and is a Jamaican-born designer based in the United States. Oratio entered the mechanical keyboard hobby in late 2019, inspired by nostalgia for 1990s keyboards and workspace aesthetics, as a lot of us probably do. His exposure to influential designers in the space and other creators deepened his interest, leading him to want to participate himself in the mechanical keyboard hobby with his own design.
His debut keycap set, GMK CYL Tribal, launched for pre-order in August 2024, is a personal tribute to black creativity and culture. Drawing from his heritage and experiences, the set showcases his unique perspective while celebrating the origins of black culture. Made by GMK in Cherry profile, the set reflects Oratio’s dedication to creativity and inclusivity within the mechanical keyboard hobby. And I personally love everything about this.
Community Pick
The community choice here is GMK CYL Mars Cadet! An excellent choice followed up by GMK Rubrehose!
Images taken from NovelKeys
Best Keyboard Accessory
This can be anything outside of the core keyboard kit. In the past, I’ve picked the plate fork or other quality of life accessories. This year though, the TypePlus stabs stand out to me. They have a new design in which their wire hook aims to minimize contact of the wire and the stems. It’s neat and in practice works great. These have needed the least amount of modding or tuning to get right versus any other stabilizer I have ever tried.
Community Pick
And the winner for the community pick is… the plate fork! The real holy grail of all the accessories.
Best Overall Keyboard 2024
And finally, the best overall board. This one has to go to the Neo Ergo. I can’t stress this enough, this keyboard release was easily the best thing we had all year.
So what makes this the best? In my opinion, the Neo Ergo has a solid starting price point starting at $130 USD and gives people access to, what was, a rather uncommon tented-alice style design and put it in an extremely satisfying case to build it in. It also has solid build quality, a fun layout, and it was perfect for people who wanted an accessible entry into ergonomic boards. Seriously, it’s the best contender on the market for those looking to try a tented ergonomic keyboard without breaking the bank.
As I’ve said before in my written article for this board, for anyone keen on tinkering with their setup, the Ergo is a dream come true. I still can’t recommend this board enough, it’s amazing and one of their best designs. And I would have picked the Neo75 CU, but I just feel like this brought the tented alice layout to a lot of people’s attention, while the 75% was already a successful and popular layout in the hobby.
Community Pick
The community pick is the Mode Encore! Honestly, I for sure thought the community choice here would have been a Neo keyboard or a Geon board. In second place for the community, it was the Neo75 cu however!
Looking ahead to 2025.
2024 was a lot of fun, and I am so glad I was able to participate in the hobby. We saw a huge boost in solid budget boards as well as some projects that really put passion projects back into the rotation, which was much needed in my opinion. Overall though, I am content and full-filled with the hobby last year.
So, what am I looking forward to in 2025? Honestly, more of the same! I’m really hoping to see more of those passion projects make their way to the forefront, but hey, good things take time—you can’t rush the magic. I’m also looking forward to more time spent with the community, which is really important to me. The people in the hobby really are the icing on the cake, and sometimes it’s just nice to bond with others and get lost in conversation rather than just fixating on our favourite keyboards and personal preferences.