The Meletrix BOOG75 HE is the first designer Hall Effect keyboard that looks gorgeous and holds up incredibly well under pressure thanks to its solid design and switches. It’s the easiest recommendation I can make for a PC player who wants a prebuilt endgame keyboard that will hold up, look premium, and feel silky smooth when playing high-intensity games.
When I think of the Meletrix lineup of mechanical keyboards, I think of premium and artsy custom keyboards that I have to put together on my dining room table, stabilizer by stabilizer, plate by plate, and switch by switch. I often expect the Meletrix ownership experience of one where build a keyboard to my liking with the features, switches, and keycaps I want (and often based on what I have on hand in my mechanical keyboard cupboard). Imagine my surprise when I was sent an entirely prebuilt keyboard that not only worked right out of the box, but looked and sounded like no other Hall Effect keyboard I have tested thus far.
You read right, folks – Meletrix makes some gorgeous prebuilt keyboards. Today, my review is on their BOOG75 – one of Meletrix’s few prebuilt keyboards featuring Hall Effect switches!
Check out the BOOG75 HE on Meletrix’s website. (Non-affiliated URL)
Meletrix’s BOOG75 is a Hall Effect variant of their popular ZOOM75 mechanical keyboard – the same ZOOM75 I reviewed a few months ago. Unlike the ZOOM75 that has to be built from the ground up, the default option of the BOOG75 is that it comes prebuilt – no tools or building required. While existing ZOOM75 owners can purchase a module to swap out their PCB with a Hall Effect PCB, new owners can just opt to get a BOOG75 and not have to worry about swapping or building anything. It’s a smart way to get players to try out Meletrix’s offerings and expose them to the joy of owning a designer mechanical Hall Effect Keyboard.
The BOOG75 is clearly made for gamers in mind thanks to its CyberPunk-esque futuristic aesthetic. It comes in two variants, Induction Coil and Shockwave. The Induction Coil model is their lighter model, while their Shockwave model is their black and green model. Regardless of model, the keyboard’s case is comprised entirely of 6063 aluminum, it comes with an aluminum plate inside, and its backplate is made of anodized aluminum.
Like all of Meletrix’s aluminum keyboards I have reviewed, the BOOG75 is a massive hunk of aluminum that does not budge once it was placed on my desk. It weighs 6lbs, folks – it’s massive! Pressing firmly down on keys yields no give whatsoever, indicating a solid and even stability across the entire keyboard. Its 75% layout is partially compact, leaving just enough space on the bottom right for a little emblem.
When I took the BOOG75 out of the box, I was astounded by the BOOG75’s design. The black and teal color scheme was implemented well, involving contrasting legends on the keycaps and a cute little bear on the Esc key. The bottom plate of the BOOG75 is gorgeous, too. I’ve become jaded by the overrepresentation of CyberPunk designs in tech as of late, but Meletrix’s implementation of the glyphs and utilitarian stripes look professional instead of overly flashy. The BOOG75 is a keyboard I would love to show off just as much as I use – it’s that pretty.
The doubleshot PBT keycaps feel thick and durable, excellent for longer gaming sessions. I especially appreciate the contrasting color scheme of the keycaps. On a designer keyboard, having complementary keycap color schemes is pleasant on the eyes and breaks up the uniformity of a keyboard’s utilitarian design.
This keyboard is a Hall Effect keyboard, meaning that it uses magnetic switches instead of traditional mechanical switches. This also means that your existing mechanical switches will not work with the keyboard. Instead, you’ll have to stick with the switches that come with the keyboard or other magnetic switches, such as the Gateron KS37, Gateron Magnetic FOX switches, or the GATERON Dual-Rail Magnetic Jade Mini E-Switches.
There are several unique features of Hall Effect switches. They’re incredibly durable – far more durable than traditional mechanical switches – rated for well over 100million pressed. They also have customized actuation points, meaning that you can choose to make them hyper-sensitive or requiring a near-complete press. Here, this means that the switches can be customized to activate anywhere from 0.1mm-4.0mm. Hall Effect switches also allow for unique inputs, like Rapid Trigger (easy consecutive presses without fully releasing the switch). Some Hall Effect switches have things like Mod Tap (where you can have two separate inputs assigned to the same switch but activate depending on how far the switch is pressed), SOCD, and TGL.
The Gateron KS37B switches that come pre-installed on the BOOG75 are the same type of magnetic switches that are used on Keychron’s HE sub-line of keyboards, albeit lacking Keychron’s specific customizations on the Nebula, Saturn, and Aurora switches. These switches are relatively quiet thanks to their thermoplastic construction. Typing on the KS37Bs is a dream because they are very stable – the dual rail structure comes in clutch in reducing wobble and improving stability across the board. Some of this stability and sound profile can also be explained by the keyboard’s light sound-dampening poron foams, but the switches are stable enough for both gaming and long-term office use.
I love the KS37B’s construction, durability, and stability. The springs in the switches are slightly sensitive, only requiring around 30gf of force and glide down smoothly when pressed. The switches’ sound profile is a light and hollow clickiness, in part because of the aluminum plate. I haven’t yet come across a thocky switch in the traditional sense, but I’m willing to look past the more delicate sound profile seeing as they are so smooth.
To take advantage of the BOOG75’s Hall Effect features, Meletrix had me use their web driver for easy customization. Meletrix’s driver looks and functions similar to the Hall Effect web drivers I’ve used from Chilkey, Epomaker, and Melgeek. This time around, the sensitivity slider that determines the switches’ actuation points is oversimplified. This presentation of the simplified sensitivity slider is definitely an easier way to configure actuation points, but the “Advanced Settings” remain confusing for newer users. I was able to configure these features just fine (given my prior experience reviewing, testing, and using Hall Effect keyboards), but I hope that the UI for customizing Hall Effect features is made easier in the future.
I’m glad that Meletrix is using a web driver, though – less bloatware installed on my keyboard.
Hall Effect keyboards like the BOOG75 are marketed towards gamers given that we use (and abuse) our keyboards far more than the average office worker. Playing games like VALORANT, Counter-Strike 2, and Rainbow 6 which involve micro-inputs to peek, strafe, and use in-game abilities requires greater precision. Thus, using a Hall Effect keyboard’s unique functions like Rapid Trigger and customizing actuation on a per-key basis is arguably better.
That said, I don’t think I am a better player when using a Hall Effect keyboard. In-game actions are slightly easier, sure, but the BOOG75 did not suddenly cause me to level up just from plugging it into my computer. I’m still the same halfway-decent FPS player as I am when using a controller or regular ol’ mechanical keyboard.
The biggest benefits of using a Hall Effect keyboard like the BOOG75 are the switches’ durability and their adjustable actuation points. Knowing that the switches last twice as long as other mechanical switches gives me reprieve after playing several hours of VALORANT in one sitting. I didn’t have to play a FPS game to enjoy the BOOG75, though – it held up excellently when playing MOBAs, platformers, and roguelikes!
My only real critique of the BOOG75 is that it is a wired-only keyboard. Personally, I don’t mind as I rarely use a wireless keyboard unless I’m testing it as part of a review process. Wired keyboards almost-always support high polling rates for instantaneous inputs, so I would rather lean on that instead of worrying about a 2.4GHz dongle and needing to charge the keyboard every few days. But, for over $200, I would like to have the option of a wireless keyboard in case I want to use the keyboard for regular office work.
Hall Effect keyboards are becoming increasingly present in the market as manufacturers are wanting to appeal to gamers who want a keyboard that holds up for a hot minute and is customized toward their needs. Don’t fall for the hype of a Hall Effect keyboard – it won’t make you an amazing player. Instead, it will make some inputs easier and give you peace of mind that your keyboard will last.
The Meletrix BOOG75 HE is the first designer Hall Effect keyboard that looks gorgeous and holds up incredibly well under pressure thanks to its solid design and switches. It’s the easiest recommendation I can make for a PC player who wants a prebuilt endgame keyboard that will hold up, look premium, and feel silky smooth when playing high-intensity games.
A Meletrix BOOG75 HE was provided by Meletrix for the sole purpose of this DigitalChumps review.
