2025 may have been the year the Hall effect keyboard went mainstream, but 2026 will be the year it flourishes

Wooting is the brand most often credited with bringing magnetic Hall effect keyboards to the market for the first time, but it took until 2025 for mainstream gaming brands to finally get a foot on the bandwagon.

This year Asus, Corsair, Keychron, and Logitech all debuted their Hall effect gaming keyboards, and as the year progressed I started noticing something. They were getting much better, much faster.

The first magnetic keyboard I used was the Endgame Gear KB65HE early last year. It's heavy, stiff, and stuffy, but at the time it was one of the best gaming keyboards I had had my hands on. Those adjustable switches opened up a whole new world of personalization and speed-focused features, and I was happy to forgive the tough typing experience to keep them on my desk.

Skip forward to the Asus ROG Falcata released mid way through 2025, and the difference is night and day. The Falcata is an almost ludicrously expensive gaming keyboard, clocking in at $419.99, but it solved the biggest issue in HE decks for me. That typing experience.

Magnetic switches naturally have a higher level of resistance behind them compared to more clacky mechanical options, and I felt it in the fingers throughout most of the year. Going back to some of 2025's earlier releases, and it's clear how far we've come in just a few months.

The SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 TKL feels cumbersome in comparison to the Falcata, and the Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid is actively fighting back against my hands when I use them side by side.

That's the price of a Hall effect keyboard that feels like it uses mechanical clickers, I thought. Then the $229.99 Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 landed on my desk. I haven't finished reviewing this bad boy just yet, but it's already clear that some leaps have been made in HE tech even in the last year. The Corsair K70 Pro TKL I tested back in April used the brand's original MGX Hyperdrive switches, whereas we have the V2 under the hood of the Vanguard. The difference is night and day, and that's just with a few months between them.

Whereas the K70 feels soft and mushy, there's a definite clack to these clickers, and a more mechanical sound profile overall. There's still a small increase in resistance compared to a smoother traditional option, but that fatigue isn't setting in - it's far closer to a luxury mech deck than it is the Endgame Gear I started this journey with.

2025 feels like a learning curve for Hall effect gaming keyboards. Most gaming brands launched their first magnetic decks this year, and most of them learned from the experience. Considering the improvement I'm seeing from more recent releases, I'm excited to see how 2026 pans out.

After all, there are still drawbacks that technology needs to catch up to, outside of the core feel. Hall effect switches are far more power hungry, so you'll find very few of the best wireless gaming keyboards employing them (and the ones that do exist are far more expensive).

The software to make those adjustments is also hit and miss. Logitech's G Hub is the best I've used so far, but with finer controls comes the threat of a software mess that runs with a serious learning curve. Hot-swappability remains an issue as well. Many claim their support for switch-swaps, but only among a small number of clackers. If next year throws us cheaper wireless options with a smoother feel and better software support, I'll be a very happy camper. If those prices start to trend closer to $150 I'll start the campfire myself.

• See all gaming keyboards at Amazon

After something a little more traditional? You'll find all the best hot-swappable keyboards I've tested so far, but I'm also rounding up all the best membrane keyboards for something a little cheaper as well.