A uncustomary custom keyboard

A custom keyboard, and much more than one. Gem80 packs the wireless performance of a gaming keyboard, a refined thocky sound signature, and an abundance of part choices into its splendidly polished aluminum chassis, with lots of fun.

Design

The premiere cuts

It is named Gem, and it is cut, faceted, polished like one. Each Gem80 comes with a high precision CNC-machined 6063 aluminum chassis, treated with 0.090mm zircon sands to produce the refined feel to the touch expected on a custom product. The back of Gem80 meanwhile, is made from thick PC material that makes strong wireless reception possible, and the theme matching color of the inside visible through its polished ridges and satin like grooves, inspired by the crystal order and symmetry of gems.

Gem80 colors & choices. More solid than ethereal color ways this time, and more accentuation on the sheen to reflect the gem theme. There is something for the romantics (Inca Rose & Airy Lilac), and the old schoolers too (Cosmic Mocha, which is a bit like peppered beige).

Customization

Yes, but your keyboard doesn't sound like this.

The word ‘custom’ acquires whole new meanings when applied to Gem80’s sound experience and the process created it. From the density and elasticity of the three poron hollow sound absorbers, to the expansion ratio of the IXPE dampener, from the molecular structure of the sound purifying transparent elastomer , to the anechoic pattern on the silicone sheet, almost every aspect of Gem80’s six sound mods is customized and fine tuned to produce sound concentration and purity never before heard on a mass-produced keyboard. It would be more fun though we think, if you can beat us in our own game, and this is why we also build a maximum amount of user customizability into the keyboard.

Omni-Mojo. Top mount, gasket mount, or bottom mount? With the pioneering omni-mount technology, take all the time in the world to find the mount style that suits your sound and feel preference on Gem80, with the complementary gasket & mount kit.

Thock or Clack or Crickets. A plethora of sound mods for you to experiment or explore, if you get tired of the epic thockiness or for any other reason.

Still a bit off, but not sure how?
 Maybe try a plate made from a different material. Other than the default Fr4 plate, we also offer PC, POM, and aluminum alloy constructed switch plates available for order separately.

Keycaps

More than 2 years after the release of our nSA low-profile keycaps, and its many imitations have became a thing in the low profile keyboard circle, NuPhy’s first high-profile double-shot PBT keycap set based on similar design rationales is finally ready, and small tweaks are many: a little adjustment to the SA height for more ergonomics, the larger round surface and symmetric design are a nod to the nSA. What is difficult to miss however, even in darkness, are the light emitting homing bars, illuminated by south-facing LEDs they are designed to be just bright enough to help with the guidance without being distractive.

Finding your way home with the lights. Debuted on Gem80 and built with a triple shot injection process, the world’s first light-emitting homing bars exploits the south-facing nature of the switches for the illumination, which helps you finding them at much extended ranges. The built-in power saving feature ensures that you will not see in the battery life the immediate difference in the way you interact with the keyboard.

The GhostBar goes. Sorry we almost forgot it, it is usually too quiet, you know. For those of you who have not heard about the GhostBar, it is our hollow sound suppression spacebar keycap that utilizes a series of small internal chambers to make a sound so similar to other keys that it becomes almost inaudible. We have upgraded it to the mSA profile so it is in even better harmony with the other keys.

Backlit bling-blings. Want more brilliance for the Gem? Better vibe for a survival game? How about some transparent keycaps in the mSA profile and your keyboard's theme color, shining in the darkness like stars dotting the night sky.

Wireless Performance

Custom keyboards are not exactly known for great wireless performance, or any kind of wireless support at all, which is why we shove a 1000Hz polling rate Nordic wireless chip into the tri-mode version of Gem80, so you can start to use it as a gaming keyboard as well. Is that over the top? Now we are talking about it, there was indeed a bit of work, optimization, needed to have a thick PC bottom that both is conducive to EM propagation and doesn’t compromise on sound. But at the end of the day they are all worth it if our users don’t have to make trade-offs, however they may be dictated by conventions.

The bottom line of top performance. The EM characteristics of the PC case and our years spent researching and creating them further adds to the wireless advantage of Gem80, no matter where your chassis is relative to your keyboard, you can get guaranteed excellent reception.

Success in circuit lies. A 1000Hz polling rate may be eye-catching, yet actual latency depends on factors including MCU’s matrix scan rate, processing and debounce time, the wireless cache size etc. Never content with half measures, we support Nordic's state of the art NRF52832 SoC with STM32F072 MCU's high performance, and use an elaborate testing procedure to ensure minimized total trip delay.

Truth by numbers told. We did some benchmarks on the new Gem80’s latency performance, against its predecessor and another QMK-based keyboard. Suffice to say, the numbers speak louder and clearer than ever.

* The latency tests are conducted with a CMSIS-DAP compliant hardware debug unit, by measuring the time difference between when the Enter key switch is closed, and the key press event is registered on the PC, and subtracting the instrument 's intrinsic delay(provided by the producer) from the measurement. The test results do not account for the pre-travel delays of the key switches, which varies for different types of switches, as the swtich circuits are closed electronically during the tests.

Firmware

It only makes sense to extend the great customizability achieved on Gem80’s hardware to its firmware as well. With the open-source QMK/VIA firmware, its endless key mapping, light customization, and other creative possibilities, our hardware’s potential can be truly realized.

Mac, Windows, Linux...you name it. VIA's key remapping and macro work seamlessly on all major desktop platforms, or any that supports a browser, make it even easier to customize Gem80 to your heart's content.

Mac-ization at the toggle of a switch. When it comes to creating a authentic Mac experience, we have always empathized a hardware/software synthetic approach. This is why we have implemented the F3-F6 special feature keys under the Mac mode with VIA, which can be enabled at the toggle of the completely redesigned system switch, now neatly tucked away at the bottom case yet can still be easily reached. We will continue to find more ways to bring values to our Mac users on both the hardware and software.

Switches

Unprecedentedly built with NuPhy-branded housings, the Herb series of switches represents a joint-effort by NuPhy and Gateron to bring technologies and designs from ‘frontier’ switches, such as Gateron’s Baby Kangaroo/Raccoon to the regular switches users, while retaining the quintessence of the original ‘division of labor': a 37gf linear switch, Mint for the heavy typists, a 45 gf early actuation linear switch, Raspberry to best serve the gamers, and a 55gf tactile switch Lemon for all those who desire tactility and great sound feedback. All the switches come with a POM stem, 21mm length spring, and the new generation of Gateron factory lubing. Nothing too spicy, but certainly the right amount of flavor for a satisfying typing experience.

Switches

Smooth, precise, silent…are we talking about ninja moves or what a silent switch should have been? The new Cherry Silent Red Clear-Top switch, launching on NuPhy, have finally gotten rid of that ‘should’ part. The first silent switch that does not feel like all the clicky grating noises have only became scratchiness under your fingers, the Cherry SRCT relies on its completely redesigned mold, next generation factory lubing developed in cooperation with NuPhy, to achieve smoothness, total absence of noise and scratchiness, solid bottoming out in one elegant, legendary durable Cherry construction.

Wrist Rest

Acrylic fans get to enjoy the sandbalsted matte finishes, which better complement Gem80's solid feel and look than UV coatings. Throw in some nice walnut, beech and even black-dyed white oak for those desiring a bit extra fancy and style, our most comprehensive selection of Twotone wrist rests has been made available for Gem80.

Twotone wrist rest colors & choices. Acrylic Twotones share the same theme colors as Gem80, for the hardwoods, there are Umber and Burning Gold to match with walnut and beech's chic appearances.

Deskmat

Focus on the screen or the keyboard, the Bokeh deskmat creates a nice out of fcous ambience in a color pattern matching your keyboard.

Bokeh deskmats colors & choices. So familiar, yet so distant that only blurry circles, blending into the background can be made out. The themed color variations of the Bokeh deskmats do not aim to disrupt, nor to detach, but to breath some warm fuzzies on the desktops beneath them.

IN THE BOX

SWITCH SET
90 x Switches

KEYCAP SET
137 x Keycaps

VIDEO GUIDE

BUILD GUIDE (COMING SOON)

MOUNT REPLACEMENT GUIDE (COMING SOON)

TECH SPECS

SPECIFICATION

Layout: ANSI 80%/TKL
Number of Keys: 88
Switch Type: Normal-profile
Stabilizer Type: Plate Mounted
Mount Type: Gasket & Top
Typing Angle: 6º
Front Height: 21.5mm (0.85 inch)
Hot-swappable Support: Yes (3/5 pin MX-style)
N-key Rollover Support: Yes
Backlight: South-facing RGB-LED
Backlight Modes: 40+Compatible System: macOS/Windows/Linux/Android/iOS
Operating Environment: -10 to 50℃
MCU: ARM STM32F072
RF: NRF52810 (tri-mode)

CONNECTION

Wired Polling Rate: 1000Hz
2.4GHz Polling Rate: 1000Hz (tri-mode)
Bluetooth 5.0 Polling Rate: 125Hz (tri-mode)

MATERIALS

Top Case: Aluminum
Bottom Case: PC
Plate Material: Fr4

SIZE AND WEIGHT

358.1 mm x 141.3 mm x 36.7 mm
(14.10 inches x 5.56 inches x 1.44 inches)
1120 grams
(2.47 pound)

POWER AND BATTERY (TRI-MODE)

Battery Capacity: 4000mAh
Working Time (all lights on): 24~45 hours (lab test result)
Working Time (homing bars only): 34~70 hours (lab test result)
Working Time (all lights off): Up to 330 hours (lab test result)