Wooting's 80HE Feels Like the Pinnacle of Hall Effect Keyboards

WIRED

2 days ago

Wooting was one of the first analog keyboard brands to break into the mainstream. When the original Wooting One TKL launched, it was a big deal—optical switch technology was still new to most people, and the idea of a keyboard with hyper-fast, adjustable key actuations was both novel and revolutionary at the time.
Later, when it debuted its Lekker Hall effect switch in the Wooting Two, it was one of the first companies to utilize the technology for gaming. Things ramped up in 2020 with the release of the Wooting 60HE: Wooting was taking preorders months in advance, the keyboard was reselling with massive markups, and Hall effect completely overshadowed optical switches as the next big thing.
Now, Hall effect keyboards are a dime a dozen. It kicked off an arms race, and Wooting's 60HE fell behind. But with the new Wooting 80HE, the company returned to the tenkeyless (TKL) layout of its first keyboard and made a keyboard that's not only competitive but impressive. The 80HE has every feature I want in a Hall effect keyboard, without any of the mistakes I commonly see. It's robust, reliable, and easy to repair.
The 80HE has two versions, one with a plastic case and the other with a zinc alloy. The plastic version retails for $200 and comes in opaque black or transparent gray. The zinc alloy model costs $290 and includes a carrying case. It comes in black or white. You can also get the keyboard in ANSI, ISO, and JIS layouts. I tested the zinc alloy case in black with a standard ANSI layout. Fantastic Functionality
Photograph: Henri Robbins
For nearly every Hall effect keyboard I've reviewed, software has been a sore spot. They've been buggy, awkward, poorly designed, filled with advertisements, or just plain unintuitive. Even the best software I've tested, from Keychron, has minor issues with connectivity and setting functions.
This is where Wooting stands out. Its in-house app, Wootility, is great. It's a simple, lightweight utility that provides extensive adjustments and customizations. It's available both in-browser and as a downloadable executable, meaning you can access it anywhere and use it offline. More than that, every part of its design makes sense: The application is organized, easy to use, intuitive, and explains every setting. Plus, during my entire time using the browser version, I never ran into connectivity issues—the minute I hit 'enter' for the URL, it recognized the keyboard. This isn't the case for most in-browser keyboard utilities, which don't always want to connect.
Even niche features like gamepad emulation worked flawlessly. I replicated the analog inputs of an Xbox controller's stick and triggers without any hiccups or confusion, adjusting the settings on the fly and still maintaining keyboard inputs for unmapped keys. I even put down a half-decent lap time in Art of Rally after a bit of practice (and a few crashes).