Does a “hybrid keyboard” that supports both magnetic and mechanical switches actually have any value?

Lately, in the gaming keyboard market, keyboards using magnetic switches are gaining traction alongside traditional mechanical switches.

More recently, so-called “hybrid keyboards” that can use both magnetic and mechanical switches have been released one after another by major brands.

The main hybrid keyboards announced and rolled out in 2026 are the three models below.

• Logicool G512 X 75 (June 11, 2026)
• Lofree Hyzen (Crowdfunding started April 23, 2026)
• Keychron V6 Ultra HE (Crowdfunding started August 18, 2026)

In fact, supporting both magnetic and mechanical switches isn’t a new idea that first appeared in 2026.

This time it’s getting attention because major brands have entered the category, but before that, Glorious, MonsGeek, Akko, and others had already been offering compatible products.

Personally, if we judge purely by gaming performance, I’m a bit skeptical about the hybrid approach.

Magnetic switches support features that are hard to achieve with mechanical switches, such as Rapid Trigger and adjustable actuation.

If you’re after “performance to win games,” do you really need the option to swap to mechanical switches?

In this article, we’ll unpack why each brand is releasing hybrid keyboards right now, from both the user perspective and the brand perspective.

What is a hybrid keyboard?

First, in this article, we define a “hybrid keyboard” as “a product that can use both magnetic switches and standard contact-based mechanical switches on the same keyboard.”

I’m defining it this way because I don’t think there’s an industry-wide, strict definition for the term “hybrid keyboard.”

Even if you say “hybrid approach,” how it’s implemented varies a lot by brand.

If we organize the representative products, it looks like this:

Product	Key features of the hybrid approach	Product direction
Logicool G512 X 75	Only specific keys are hybrid. On 41 keys equipped with TMR sensors, you can choose between magnetic and 3/5-pin mechanical switches.	Use different switch types mainly for keys that matter in games.
Keychron V6 Ultra HE	All keys are hybrid. Integrates both approaches via Nova Socket and a TMR-compatible PCB.	Combine work and gaming into one board.
Lofree Hyzen	All keys are hybrid. The TMR PCB supports both magnetic and standard mechanical switches.	Unify typing feel, design, and magnetic-switch features.
Glorious GMMK 3 HE	All keys are hybrid. Supports Glorious HE magnetic switches and 3/5-pin MX switches.	Treat the switch type itself as a customization element.
MonsGeek FUN60 Ultra TMR	All keys are hybrid. You can mix magnetic and 3/5-pin mechanical switches.	Make only the necessary keys (like WASD) magnetic.
MonsGeek M1 V5 TMR	All keys are hybrid. You can mix magnetic and 3/5-pin mechanical switches.	Balance custom keyboard appeal with gaming performance.

What matters here is that each company’s messaging is different.

Magnetic switches have the edge in gaming performance

First, as a basic premise, if you look at “gaming performance only,” it’s an unshakable fact that magnetic switches have the advantage.

Magnetic switches use a method that continuously detects key travel based on the distance between the magnet inside the switch and the sensor on the PCB.

This enables features like the following that can’t be replicated on keyboards using mechanical key switches.

• Changing the actuation point
• Rapid Trigger
• DKS
• SOCD
• Analog input
• Multiple actions based on how far you press

Especially in FPS games, Rapid Trigger—which instantly cancels input while the key is returning and lets you re-input from there—is said to be a big deal.

With mechanical key switches, the point where the switch goes from OFF to ON is fixed by the switch—no more, no less.

It’s a simple ON/OFF choice.

With magnetic switches, on the other hand, you can detect press depth continuously, so you can switch input in sync with key travel.

As long as you evaluate based on these gaming features, I think there are very few reasons for traditional mechanical switches to outperform magnetic switches.

If your only goal is to win games, wouldn’t it be more reasonable to make all keys magnetic and focus on detection accuracy and stability?

If you’re looking for “pure gaming performance only,” I don’t feel that supporting mechanical switches as well is essential.

Hybrid keyboards from the user perspective | What’s the point of being able to choose mechanical switches?

As you can see, it’s obvious that magnetic switches have the edge in gaming performance.

So why make it possible to use mechanical switches too?

Here, we’ll think about the “reason to choose mechanical” from the user’s point of view.

1. You don’t necessarily need Rapid Trigger on every key

First, because “you don’t necessarily need Rapid Trigger on every key,” it’s fine for the other keys to be mechanical.

The keys where magnetic-switch performance differences tend to show up most are probably these:

• WASD
• Shift
• Ctrl
• space

On the other hand, it’s also true that for other keys, it’s harder to take advantage of the benefits of magnetic key switches.

If every key had an actuation point that reacts just from a light touch, I don’t think typing text would feel very comfortable.

Of course, even with magnetic switches, you can set a deeper actuation point only for the keys you use for typing.

So you don’t need to swap to mechanical switches just to prevent misinputs.

Where choosing mechanical starts to make sense is when you want physical feedback—like tactile or clicky—that magnetic switches still offer fewer options for.

In other words, one argument for the value of the hybrid approach is this:

Use magnetic switches only on the keys that need magnetic performance, and give the other keys a different kind of value.

MonsGeek’s “MagMech” makes this idea especially easy to understand.

About MagMech | MonsGeek Official

MonsGeek introduces a setup where WASD and the arrow keys are magnetic, and everything else is mechanical.

Logicool G512 X 75 is also close to this idea.

On the G512 X 75, only “41 keys” can be set to the hybrid approach, and it’s said that you can’t use mechanical key switches on every key.

Logicool G512 X 75 Official Page

Rather than making every key dual-compatible, narrowing it to the range you’re most likely to use in games is a very rational approach.

2. Mechanical switches have value beyond performance

Compared to magnetic switches, there are actually still many areas where mechanical switches retain an advantage.

What mechanical still clearly wins at isn’t whether the typing feel or sound is “better,” but the breadth of options.

There are more magnetic switch options now, and I feel we’re getting close to a point where you can’t really say magnetic switches have bad feel or sound just because they’re magnetic.

In the end, typing feel and sound aren’t determined by the switch alone.

• Switch plate material
• mount(ing) system
• PCB thickness
• Amount/thickness/material of sound-dampening foam
• Case type
• Keycap type and shape
• Stabilizers, etc.

These multiple factors determine the overall typing experience of the keyboard.

Meanwhile, where mechanical still has an advantage today includes “the sheer number of switch options,” “more choices beyond linear switches,” and “variety in actuation force and tactile feedback,” among others.

Magnetic switches are mainly linear.

Tactile-feeling magnetic switches have appeared, but in terms of switch variety and physical feedback diversity, mechanical still offers more.

So when it comes to physical feedback, mechanical is still advantageous.

3. You can combine work and gaming into one board

Another value of the hybrid approach is being able to combine work and gaming into a single keyboard.

In Keychron V6 Ultra HE’s description, it says it’s “designed to let you naturally switch between focused work and competitive gameplay, using a familiar full-size layout.”

Keychron V6 Ultra HE Official Page

The expected use is to make only the keys that matter in games magnetic, and populate the rest with your preferred mechanical switches.

Even if you use all keys as magnetic, you can switch actuation settings between gaming and typing.

However, since the latter can be done with magnetic-only as well, it isn’t a benefit unique to the hybrid approach.

What about the hybrid approaches from Glorious and MonsGeek, which came before the major brands?

In 2026, Logicool, Lofree, and Keychron entered the hybrid approach one after another, but the idea itself has existed for some time.

The release timing isn’t clear, but the two brands that adopted this hybrid approach earlier were Glorious and MonsGeek.

Glorious GMMK 3 HE

The Glorious GMMK 3 HE series supports both Glorious HE magnetic switches and MX mechanical switches.

Glorious GMMK 3 HE Official Page

Glorious positions “a keyboard you can customize” as one of its selling points, and it seems to present key switches—like plates—as something you can choose from many options.

A key feature is that the coexistence of magnetic and mechanical is treated as “expanding options as a custom keyboard.”

MonsGeek FUN60 Ultra TMR / M1 V5 TMR

MonsGeek is developed as a sub-brand of Akko.

As mentioned earlier, their proposal was to use magnetic switches only for “WASD” and use mechanical switches for the rest—an early suggestion for combining a normal typing experience with a gaming experience.

With that in mind, it’s fair to say there were leading brands, and that led to this round of releases from major brands.

Unpacking the “hybrid approach” sales talk from the three major brands

Glorious sees the coexistence of magnetic and mechanical as “an extension of customization,” while MonsGeek proposes an approach of “making only the necessary keys magnetic” to let gaming and typing coexist.

Let’s look at how the three products that appeared in 2026 are positioning the “hybrid approach.”

Logicool G512 X 75: Make only the necessary keys magnetic

Logicool G512 X 75 lets you choose between magnetic and mechanical on 41 keys equipped with TMR sensors.

This is the idea of separating the range where you need magnetic performance for gaming from the range where standard mechanical is sufficient, and it seems very close to MonsGeek’s approach.

Personally, this is one of the reasons for a hybrid approach that makes the most sense to me.

Keychron V6 Ultra HE: Integrate work and gaming onto a single platform

Keychron V6 Ultra HE proposes supporting both work and gaming with a full-size layout.

On the other hand, since it’s before release, it hasn’t clearly stated how it will do that.

My guess is it will be something like “switch presets to change actuation points too, and make it feel natural even if you install mechanical key switches.”

Also, for this release, it seems they’re introducing a new technology called “Nova Socket.”

I discuss Nova Socket in detail in a separate article.

What is Keychron’s new technology “Nova Socket”?

V6 Ultra HE is a product in its own right, but it may also become a platform for Keychron to standardize product design between mechanical and magnetic models going forward.

Lofree Hyzen: Create value through the overall typing experience

Lofree Hyzen is a hybrid keyboard whose TMR PCB supports both magnetic switches and standard mechanical switches.

Lofree Hyzen Official Page

It uses the “Nexus switch,” co-developed by Lofree and Kailh, and aims to combine magnetic adjustability with the physical feedback you’d expect from a mechanical keyboard.

While this approach looks innovative, I’m skeptical about whether it actually improves typing feel.

That’s because, as mentioned earlier, it’s hard to say magnetic switches have bad typing feel in the first place.

In the diagram above, it looks like a magnetic key switch has metal contacts for mechanical built in.

Even if mechanical contacts are added to the Nexus switch, switching modes doesn’t change the switch’s physical structure or its behavior on bottom-out.

So it’s hard to believe that switching to mechanical mode itself would improve typing feel or sound.

Typing feel and sound are determined by the combination of stem and housing materials/shapes, springs, plate, mount structure, case, and more. It likely won’t, in other words.

On the other hand, just like the two models above, it’s structurally very possible to mix “magnetic” and “mechanical” and choose magnetic only where needed.

So while focusing on the “Nexus switch” makes the product position feel a bit blurry, Hyzen’s value lies elsewhere.

• High overall design quality, including a CNC aluminum case
• A well-designed rotary encoder
• Gasket mount structure
• Input tuning via TMR

In this way, unlike the two brands above, Hyzen can be described as an experience-first hybrid keyboard you choose for its strong design.

Hybrid keyboards from the manufacturer perspective | Potential design advantages

From here, we’ll think about the hybrid approach from the “manufacturer perspective.”

If magnetic and mechanical can be standardized on a single PCB, it could reduce the effort of designing and managing them separately.

Let’s look at the benefits of the hybrid approach from the manufacturer’s point of view.

1. You can standardize the design for the same layout

One benefit of the hybrid approach is that it can standardize PCB design.

Until now, even with the same layout, mechanical and magnetic required different PCBs.

With mechanical, the metal contacts on the bottom of the switch are connected to hot-swap sockets or soldered directly to the PCB.

With magnetic, Hall sensors or TMR sensors are placed on the PCB to read the distance to the magnet inside the switch.

With a hybrid PCB, you can place both the sockets for mechanical switches and the sensors that detect magnetic switches on the same board, allowing two input methods to coexist on a single PCB.

This not only expands user options, but also seems to allow standardizing the following manufacturing and management costs.

• PCB
• Case
• plate (often as in “tectonic plate”)
• form
• Internal fastening parts
• firmware
• Manufacturing processes
• Replacement parts

That said, looking at the PCB alone, it’s entirely possible costs will increase.

2. You can reduce duplicated development costs

Compared to designing magnetic and mechanical models as completely separate designs, it may reduce duplicated development work.

If you offer magnetic and mechanical models separately, the manufacturer needs to design both.

If a hybrid platform can be established, it reduces the burden of developing the same layout in two separate tracks (magnetic and mechanical).

However, development costs won’t simply be cut in half.

With a hybrid PCB, you need to validate both approaches, calibration, firmware work, and compatibility checks for supported switches.

Also, because it includes both mechanical sockets and magnetic sensors, the manufacturing cost per unit may be higher than a standard mechanical PCB.

3. You can reduce inventory and the number of items to manage

For manufacturers, the inventory-management benefit may be even bigger than the development-cost benefit.

If magnetic and mechanical are sold as separate products, the manufacturer must forecast demand for each and manufacture and manage inventory separately.

If they can use a shared hybrid platform, a single unit could potentially cover demand for both.

Contradictions the hybrid approach carries

Looking at the examples so far, the biggest benefit of the hybrid approach seems to be that you can “replace only the necessary parts with high-spec magnetic switches,” letting gaming and typing use cases run on a shared platform.

At the same time, it’s also true that there are contradictions.

For pure gaming performance, an all-magnetic setup is more rational

If you’re only after competitive performance, I think there’s little need to mix in mechanical.

If all keys are magnetic, it’s easier to unify actuation settings, calibration, and typing feel.

If you can afford to have two keyboards—one for gaming and one for typing—you could also choose not to go hybrid and instead buy products optimized for each use.

For pure typing feel, a mechanical-only setup may still be more advantageous

With magnetic switches, you need to measure the distance between the magnet inside the switch and the sensor on the PCB stably.

I believe that’s because if the relative position of the plate and PCB changes, it could also affect the magnetic force the sensor reads.

So rather than flexible switch plates or thin, flexible PCBs, a structure that keeps the positional relationship between the switch and sensor stable is better suited.

In other words, adopting magnetic switches may narrow the structural options that determine typing feel and sound, because you need to stabilize the positional relationship between the sensor and magnet.

So if you want a wide variety of typing experiences, mechanical-only may be better.

The PCB and firmware become more complex

A hybrid PCB makes two elements—“magnetic” and “mechanical”—coexist on a single board.

Even if development can be streamlined across a manufacturer’s overall product line, as a single keyboard, the structure becomes more complex.

And if the cost of a single PCB goes up, there’s also the concern that adopting a hybrid approach will raise the retail price.

Manufacturer rationality doesn’t necessarily become a reason to buy

Being able to standardize design, manufacturing, and inventory management is a major benefit for manufacturers.

But if that benefit isn’t returned to users as a better experience, it won’t become a reason to buy.

As mentioned earlier, choosing magnetic may mean you can no longer choose mounting methods that were possible with mechanical.

Supporting a hybrid approach is a technical feature, but it doesn’t necessarily become an easy-to-understand purchase reason on its own.

In particular, typists who prioritize the typing experience may not accept it.

Conclusion | Hybrid keyboards come down to preference

Above, I’ve introduced hybrid keyboards from both the user perspective and the manufacturer perspective.

Based on all of that, my own conclusion about hybrid keyboards is as follows.

Magnetic switches have a clear advantage over typical mechanical switches in gaming features like Rapid Trigger and adjustable actuation.

So if your only goal is to win games, there’s little need to support mechanical switches on purpose.

On the other hand, not every key necessarily needs the same performance.

By using magnetic for the keys that matter in games and placing your preferred mechanical switches for typing and everyday actions, you can combine work and gaming into one keyboard.

Also, the value of the hybrid approach can’t be explained from the user side alone.

For manufacturers, it may allow them to standardize the design platform for mechanical and magnetic, reducing duplication across development, manufacturing, and inventory management.

However, what’s rational for manufacturers and what’s necessary for users are separate issues.

Also, choosing a hybrid approach may mean you can’t choose as many mounting methods and other options as with mechanical.

So for people who have strong preferences for certain mount styles or case structures that affect typing feel, I don’t think a hybrid keyboard will become the first choice.

These days, it feels like more people are calling this a “transition period from mechanical to magnetic,” but personally, I don’t think mechanical is going away.

That’s because hybrid and magnetic keyboards narrow the available design options for the case compared to keyboards that use purely mechanical key switches.

In particular, for typists who like the typing feel and sound of switch-plate gasket mount structures—where the distance between the PCB and switch plate is harder to keep consistent—keyboards with mechanical key switches will likely remain the first choice.

What do you think about hybrid keyboards?

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