The Nuphy Field75 mechanical keyboard

2024-03-22 1268 words, 6 minutes
keyboard
nuphy
openbsd

After a whole lot of YouTubing, I decided to get a NuPhy Field75 . I went for the Electro (Green and Grey) edition. This is my kinda-review of the mechanical keyboard from the POV of a ThinkPad keyboard long-lover and French user of OpenBSD as a desktop.

This is a 75% layout keyboard. Which means it has no numpad. Still there is an extra column on the right of the <Enter> key where <Home>, <End>, <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys live. There is also a <Del> key ; more on this later on.

It comes with a USB dongle but can also be used either connected to the USB cable or via Bluetooth. When connected to the USB cable, it gets charged while you can still use it.

OpenBSD support

As you’d do on Windows, connect the USB dongle to the computer, switch the keyboard power button on and… it just works©. Here’s what you get from the 7.4 logs:

bsd: uhidev3 at uhub4 port 4 configuration 1 interface 0 "NuPhy NuPhy Field75" rev 2.00/2.02 addr 5
bsd: uhidev3: iclass 3/1
bsd: uhidev3 at uhub4 port 4 configuration 1 interface 0 "NuPhy NuPhy Field75" rev 2.00/2.02 addr 5
bsd: uhidev3: iclass 3/1
bsd: ukbd1 at uhidev3: 8 variable keys, 5 key codes
bsd: wskbd3 at ukbd1 mux 1
bsd: wskbd3: connecting to wsdisplay0
bsd: uhidev4 at uhub4 port 4 configuration 1 interface 1 "NuPhy NuPhy Field75" rev 2.00/2.02 addr 5
bsd: uhidev4: iclass 3/1, 5 report ids
bsd: ukbd2 at uhidev4 reportid 1: 128 variable keys, 0 key codes
bsd: wskbd4 at ukbd2 mux 1
bsd: wskbd4: connecting to wsdisplay0
bsd: uhid4 at uhidev4 reportid 2: input=1, output=0, feature=0
bsd: ucc1 at uhidev4 reportid 3: 8192 usages, 20 keys, array
bsd: wskbd5 at ucc1 mux 1
bsd: wskbd5: connecting to wsdisplay0
bsd: uhid5 at uhidev4 reportid 4: input=63, output=63, feature=0
bsd: ums1 at uhidev4 reportid 5: 5 buttons, Z and W dir
bsd: wsmouse4 at ums1 mux 0
bsd: uhidev5 at uhub4 port 4 configuration 1 interface 2 "NuPhy NuPhy Field75" rev 2.00/2.02 addr 5
bsd: uhidev5: iclass 3/1
bsd: ums2 at uhidev5: 5 buttons, Z and W dir
bsd: wsmouse5 at ums2 mux 0

It also works when connected with the USB cable. Here’s the log:

bsd: uhub6 at uhub1 port 9 configuration 1 interface 0 "Terminus Technology USB 2.0 Hub [MTT]" rev 2.00/1.00 addr 10

What happens here is that you gain access to the keyboard USB Hub. So if you plug an USB key to the keyboard, the OS gets access to it. The USB hub is not available when the keyboard is connected using the dongle.

The backlight effects do work as they are managed physically by the keyboard. Nothing pops up in sysctl(8) though.

The battery level is indicated on the keyboard using a dedicated LED. Unfortunately, nothing pops up in sysctl(8).

The volume control knob works out of the box and lowers / raises output.level from sndioctl(1).

The extra physical buttons also work out of the box.

G1 triggers <XF86AudioPrev> ;
G2 triggers <XF86AudioNext> ;
G3 triggers <XF86AudioStop> ;
G4 triggers <XF86AudioPlay> ;
G5 to G8 trigger <F5> to <F8>.

The keyboard layout is ANSI US. As a French user, I still want to be able to type accented characters. My ThinkPad has a French ISO keyboard. To be able to use both on the OpenBSD console, I did:

# vi /etc/wsconsctl.conf
(...)
keyboard.encoding=fr
keyboard3.encoding=us

When in X11, I couldn’t find a way to set both keyboard with a different layout. So I went for enabling both FR/US layout while being able to switch between those using both <Shift> keys simultaniously.

$ vi ~/.xsession
(...)
setxkbmap -layout "us,fr" -variant "altgr-intl," -option "grp:shifts_toggle"

Have a look at xkeyboard-config(7) for other options. For example, you may replicate Windows’ behaviour using the grp:win_space_toggle option ; this allows switching keyboard layouts using <Win> + <Space>. Another way to mimic Windows’ behaviour is to select the us(intl) variant ; this turns out dead keys which means you need to type <'> + <e> to get an “é” and <'> + <space> to get an “’”. It is really usefull when typing French words but it’s a pain when you’re talking to your $SHELL. Using altgr-intl, you issue <Right Alt> + <'> + <Shift> + <e> to get an “É”.

Field Console

Field Console is a Windows software that enables software customizations to the keyboard. You have to use this software, the Field75 is not compatible with VIA ; and shall never be, dixit NuPhy’ support team.

I used the software to set a dedicated backlight color that looks nice with the yellow caps. I also assign <Ins> to the <Prn> key ; that’s the green X key on the above photo. This way, I have an easy access to <Shift> + <Ins> to paste text in the terminal.

Feedback

The keyboard is quite heavy. Enough to not move or swing when you use it. Not sure it would be nice to travel with ; but I don’t.

Having the volume knot and other buttons on the left hand-side of the keyboard fits me well. This way, I can center the keyboard and the screen, and the mouse is not that far on the right. It is the main reason I stopped using the Logitech MX Keys with a Num Pad.

The overall sensation is great. The sound is great, mostly depending on the switches you use. Every keys sound the same. The space bar benefits from NuPhy silent technology which indeed have it not sound weird compared to the other keys.

I replaced the original keycaps set with the “Electro & Ethereal Shine-through PC Keycaps” . I like it better to have light through the letters. The only thing is that, as the LEDs are North-Facing, the keycaps writtings is moved side by side. It is just a changed compared to my ThinkPad keyboard.

I ordered my keyboard with the “Cherry Speed Silver” switches. I also ordered the “Night Breeze” switches. Both were really too noisy for me. I got some “Cherry MX RGB Silent Red” switches and those really fits me well ; well, 99%. They still have that known “Spring Noise”. This is a little metallic sound that seems due to their spring. Public recommandations are either to lube them or wait a bit for the sound to disappear with usage. It’s nearly a month and the sound hasn’t disappear yet. But it is not that much disturbing.

Long story short: it’s a great keyboard. The volume button is the only reason I didn’t get a Halo75 and I really use it a lot. Also its look is a reason I got this one rather than any other “classical” looking ones ; and guess what, it has a better partner acceptance level than the “boring” others.

BTW, I did buy this laptop, caps and switches. Ask my Credit Card, I was not payed by NuPhy to write that I’ m quite happy with this keyboard ;-)

Noise comparison

When looking at YouTube videos to choose a keyboard and a switch model, the problem I had is that there a not that many “face to face” comparison. This is why I recorded a bunch a small videos that aim at showing sound between keyboard and switches side by side. Hope they’ll be usefull to you.

Happy typing!