God help me, every new Epomaker keyboard I try becomes my new favourite keyboard. It’s become a running joke I have with myself. After spending a few weeks with the Epomaker HE108, the joke continues because, damn it, it’s my new favourite keyboard.
I’ve written multiple drafts of this review, and it’s taken a surprising amount of effort to stop it from reading like a drugstore romance about a guy in limerence with a keyboard. But I might be, so bear with me.
The HE108 is a high-performance gaming keyboard that also delivers a downright luxurious typing experience. It combines infinitely tunable Hall-Effect switches with a near-top-of-the-line 8K polling rate and Snap Key functionality to ensure fast, accurate jiggle peeks. But it’s not just a keyboard for gamers; it’s also a productivity powerhouse, and not only because it has a calculator hotkey. The satiny double-shot PBT keycaps ride on Epomaker Jade switches and are fitted to a sound-damped, gasket-mounted PCB. The combination results in keypresses that are soft yet crisp, accompanied by a muted but well-defined click.
If I had to describe what typing that last paragraph felt like, I’d say it was a bit like tapping calloused fingers against crispy campfire marshmallows. And once I settled into a rhythm, the sound was akin to a tiny wool-socked Irishman riverdancing in another room. It’s soothing as hell; the ASMR value of the HE108 is off the charts.
“The HE108 is a high-performance gaming keyboard that also delivers a downright luxurious typing experience.”
Which brings me to the most interesting thing about Epomaker more generally: their keyboards have character. Each new model feels less like a product designed to check off a list of marketing requirements and more like the vision of some keyboard fanatic chasing a feeling. A lot of that creative freedom comes from Epomaker’s unique position as both a manufacturer and a parts marketplace. They can make more interesting hardware because they have access to the world’s supply of interesting parts. That flexibility allows for smaller runs of more niche designs that aren’t hamstrung by corporate style guides.
ReDragon does this too, but not at the same level of quality and definitely without Epomaker’s restraint. Every ReDragon keyboard seems designed to have its gaming features visible in Amazon thumbnails. The specs are serviceable, and the price is reasonable, but the real value lies in what it signals. Non-gamers will walk past a ReDragon and think, “Wow, Timmy must be really good at Minecraft”.
An Epomaker, on the other hand, signals nothing; they’re just pretty. The HE108 could go head-to-head with gaming keyboards three times its price, but when the RGB is off, it looks like something you’d see in a bank. It’s just a white brick. The only accents are two blue-tinted keycaps. It doesn’t even have media keys; instead, there’s a calculator hotkey next to the volume controls.
In the car world, they would call this a sleeper. Epomaker has made a gaming keyboard so low-key that seeing it reminded me to do my taxes.
Once my taxes were done, I cut loose. I chose an RGB layout for my keys, enabled the side panel lighting, adjusted the switch actuation pressure, and booted up Escape from Tarkov. The HE108 couldn’t save me from rampaging cheaters and sweats, but boy howdy, running for my life has never felt so smooth.
Apparently, the firmware includes SOCD (Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions), which is a big deal for high-level gamers. It gives last-press priority when two opposing keys are held down. Without SOCD, holding A and D in an FPS would cause your avatar to stand still, but with it enabled, the last key pressed takes priority, allowing you to keep moving even while both keys are held down. This makes for incredibly agile strafe plays and jiggle peeks. For a bottom fragger like me, SOCD makes no difference, but for younger brains, it’s a powerful tool to have at your disposal.
“The Epomaker HE108 is the latest example of a Chinese brand changing the game. They’ve built a keyboard that runs circles around the biggest names in gaming while charging a fraction of the price.”
As I was sprinting around Tarkov, mashing the space bar in a desperate attempt to jump over death, I noticed something pretty interesting: the stabilizers on this keyboard are incredible. There’s no jiggle or rattle under the oversized keys. No matter how much violence you apply to them, they snap back with an even, responsive reset. They’re also perfectly balanced, requiring the same pressure to actuate no matter where your thumb lands. Spacebars and Shift keys are notoriously difficult to get right, but the HE108 nails them. The feel and sound are tuned so well that they’re almost indistinguishable from the rest of the keyboard.
That quality extends over the entire keyboard. Its plastic frame isn’t as impressive as the all-aluminum Epomaker Galaxy 70, but it’s close. The chassis is thick and reinforced enough to avoid the chintzy feel common to plastic keyboards while retaining just enough softness to make it more pleasant to use than a full-metal frame. It also includes a solid set of nested feet and a secure compartment for the wireless dongle beneath the left foot.
For wireless use, the keyboard can connect via Bluetooth or 2.4GHz wireless and can run for a whopping 500 hours on its 10,000mAh battery… without RGB, of course. Besides the wireless mode selector, there’s also a physical toggle for switching between Mac and Windows layouts.
High-performance keyboards are becoming more common, and so are customizable builds. Hot-swappable PCBs sound like a value-add lifted from the custom keyboard scene, but really, it’s a way to make mass production more cost-effective. It also opens the door to selling more switch sets. What makes Epomaker different, though, is that the savings actually get passed along. They don’t charge a premium for branding or for putting a marketing spin on manufacturing processes. This might be the most refreshing thing of all.
The Epomaker HE108 is the latest example of a Chinese brand changing the game. They’ve built a keyboard that outdoes the biggest names in gaming while charging a fraction of the price. I’ve been trying to find a nitpick to harp on so I sound more objective, but it eludes me. You’d be hard-pressed to find another Hall Effect keyboard of this quality for under 100 dollars. And if you get sick of the styling, you can essentially build a new keyboard on top of it with a $20 set of switches or keycaps.
This is one of the easiest keyboards to recommend. In fact, I’m afraid I have to insist that you try one.
- Rapid Triggering & 128K Scan Rate: Level up your gaming performance with more precise control, with the HE108 hall effect gaming keyboard. Experience near-instant input of keys with 8K polling rate, as the flick of your finger transform into on-screen action in mere 0.2 millisecond. Outmanoeuvre opponents with the high 128khz per-key scan rate as complex sequences are captured flawlessly in less than a second.
- 2.4Ghz/BT/Wired Gaming with 10000mAh Battery: Unlocking the realm of unfettered movement and sustained performance with this tri-mode wireless keyboard, for up to 500-hour (RGB Off) wire-free usage with the outstanding 10000mAh battery. Experience seamless transition between up to 5 paired devices under cable, 2.4Ghz and BT modes, with the on-board memory of HE108 custom keyboard that remember your personalized setting for every hall effect magnetic key.
