Over the past couple of years, I’ve tried many different gaming keyboards and always ended up voting for the 60. Voting changed PC gaming with the 60 HE, popularizing the use of Hall effect switches and a high-speed trigger system that controlled how quickly you could activate the keys. Now it’s back with a V2 that upgrades the best gaming keyboard to improve its sound and feel.
I’ve been testing the $239.99 Voting 60HE V2 for the past week, and I’m impressed with my initial hands-on, but I don’t know if I’d rush to upgrade from an original modded 60HE.
The Voting 60HE V2 has 60 percent of the layout as the original, so there are no dedicated function keys or F rows. There are also no arrow keys, but Voting has a clever “mode tap” system that lets you activate the arrow keys in the right shift section of the board.
$240
Voting’s 60he V2 is an upgrade to the popular 60K. It features 8K poling, a new closed-down switch, and an aluminum case that combine to improve sound and feel.
The big changes with the 60HE V2 are about what now comes as standard. Voting really focused on improving the sound and feel of the V2 so it’s almost a modified 60 with custom switches, dampening and more.
Voting has pulled the plug for the V2, opting for a pressure fit instead. I’m testing an aluminum case that looks and feels a lot like the aluminum cases sold as optional extras for the 60 vote. The case includes a new option of silicone dampening, or regular EDPM foam.
I felt like the silicon option dampened the sound of the switches too much, so I preferred the EDPM instead. You can also use no damping at all if you prefer that kind of sound. Voting is also using PET film to prevent contact with the PCB, and a factory tape mod on the rear of the board. Both of these help improve the overall sound.
The switches on the 60 HEV2 have also been upgraded to Watting’s new “Leaker Tikken” switch, a closed-down Hall effect switch with a 4.0 mm actuation range. Hall effect switches use a magnet so the board can detect how far the switch is pressed, but the acoustic profile is generally worse than Cherry MX style switches.
Voting’s new switches have definitely improved the sound profile, but they use a longer 22mm spring which makes the switches feel a little heavier than the Jiveon raws I’ve been using for months. I can usually adapt to the different switches after a few hours of use, but I found myself quickly switching back to the Geo Raw because I preferred the sound profile and feel. The Voting switches are still a great default switch though, and the stem wobble of the original switches has been greatly improved here.
The upgraded 60 HEV2 is even faster than the original model, thanks to true 8 kHz polling and a low input latency of just 0.125ms. This is the same latency as the 8kHz USB polling at 80% polling I reviewed last year. I don’t think you’ll really notice the delay improvement unless you measure it, but it felt good either way.
I chose to test the Split Spacebar 60HV2, and I’m still a bit undecided as to whether I like it or not. This allows you to have three keys where you normally only have one space bar. I like the idea in principle, but I found myself constantly hitting the button in the middle of the split spacebar.
I found it best to assign it to a function key that must be paired with another key to activate, but if you can get used to the layout, having that extra button right next to the spacebar can be useful in competitive games. It felt a little too far to the right of the split to make it useful in a pinch, though.
The biggest issue with the split spacebar for me is simply the lack of capsets that support it, but if you’re happy with the double shot PBT ones that vote stuff, that’s less of an issue.
Overall, the 60 HEV2 actually feels like a solid upgrade, but it’s not a revelation like the first voting Hall effect keyboards were. What I like most about the 60 HEV2 is that it feels like a fully modded keyboard out of the box, so you don’t have to play around with different switch options until you want to, and it’s easy to change the sound damping options thanks to the friction fit.
At $239.99, it’s a premium PC gaming keyboard, especially now that the voting competition has finally caught up. Logitech, Razer, Stellaris, and many Chinese brands now have more affordable hall effect boards that aim to match Voting in terms of hardware and software. None are good enough to knock off the 60 HEV 2, but if you’re on a tight budget there are now plenty of affordable options.
Since I have a pair of fully modded 60K keyboards, I’m not upgrading to the 60HE V2 just yet, but if you’ve given up on doing mods yourself and want the best gaming keyboard available today, the 60HE V2 will be worth the investment.
Photography by Tom Warren/The Verge
