Kingston announces HyperX Aqua keyboard switches

Kingston Technology's gaming-focused HyperX division has announced it is expanding its reach into the mechanical keyboard switch market, launching its own-brand range of switches dubbed the HyperX Aqua.

Unveiled by the company during the opening hours of Gamescom in Cologne, Germany this week, the Kingston Technology HyperX Aqua switches are largely unsurprising: Designed to be drop-in replacements for the popular Cherry MX design, the switches build on the HyperX Red linear-style switches announced by the company at Computex earlier in the year. This time around, the HyperX Aqua switches offer a tactile 'clicky' experience similar to a Cherry MX Blue with a 45g actuation point, reduced travel time compared to the Red variant, and a rating that claims an 80-million-click lifespan.

As with the company's HyperX Red switches, though, they're not parts you'll find on the open market. Instead, HyperX is keeping them exclusive features of its Alloy Origins mechanical gaming keyboard, which uses the Red or Aqua switches along with per-key RGB LED lighting with three custom profiles controllable via the HyperX NGenuity software.

Interestingly, the Aqua-filled model is going to be running a little late: Kingston has confirmed that the HyperX Alloy Origins with HyperX Red switches will launch this October with a US recommended retail price of $109.99 (around £91 excluding taxes); the Aqua variant, meanwhile, won't be available until some time in the first quarter of 2020, and will retail for the same price.

At the same unveiling, Kingston also offered a look at a range of additional HyperX-branded accessories in the pipeline including the HyperX ChargePlay Base dual-device Qi wireless charger, Pulsefire Dart wireless gaming mouse, and Cloud Flight S wireless gaming headset. The former two are set to launch this September; the headset, meanwhile, joins the Alloy Origins Aqua switch variant in having a somewhat vague first-quarter-2020 release date.