What is the best mechanical keyboard between $100 and $150?

Keychron V5 Max at $109.99 leads this page: it is the cheapest of the 5 products that match, and latest tracked price ascending is the only ranking this dataset can justify. NuPhy Air75 V2 at $119.00 is the runner-up. The trade-off: NuPhy Air75 V2 costs $9.01 more but lists layout as "75% ANSI, 84-key" where Keychron V5 Max lists "96%".

Prices last checked 2026-09-06

Why this ranking

Keychron V5 Max is the cheapest match on this page at $109.99; NuPhy Air75 V2 asks $119.00, so the runner-up carries a $9.01 (8%) premium.

They part ways on layout: Keychron V5 Max lists "96%" where NuPhy Air75 V2 lists "75% ANSI, 84-key".

They part ways on hot swap: Keychron V5 Max lists "yes" where NuPhy Air75 V2 lists "yes, 3-pin low-profile socket".

Only Keychron V5 Max publishes a mount type figure ("Gasket mount"); NuPhy Air75 V2's listing states none, so treat it as unknown rather than absent.

Only Keychron V5 Max publishes a switch type figure ("Gateron Jupiter Red (this variant); also offered in Brown/Banana"); NuPhy Air75 V2's listing states none, so treat it as unknown rather than absent.

Head to head: Keychron V5 Max vs NuPhy Air75 V2

SpecKeychron V5 MaxNuPhy Air75 V2
latest price (USD)$109.99$119.00
layout96%75% ANSI, 84-key
hot swapyesyes, 3-pin low-profile socket
mount typeGasket mountnot stated
switch typeGateron Jupiter Red (this variant); also offered in Brown/Banananot stated
switchesnot statedGateron low-profile mechanical KS-33 (Red/Brown/Blue 2.0, Aloe, Cowberry, Wisteria, Moss)
battery4000mAh li-polymer; up to 190h backlight off, 100h RGB (lowest brightness); ~5h charge time4000mAh; 35-57h all lights on, up to 220h lights off (NuPhy lab test)
polling rate1000Hz (2.4GHz & wired) / 90Hz (Bluetooth)1000Hz (2.4GHz and wired), 125Hz (Bluetooth)
keycapsDouble-shot PBT, OSA profiledouble-shot PBT, low-profile
case materialABS plastic (body), PC platenot stated
firmwareQMK/VIAnot stated
backlightnot statedRGB, 40 modes plus dual side light bars
knobYes (rotary volume/media knob)not stated
weightnot stated598g (1.31 lb)
os supportWindows/macOS/LinuxWindows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS

Every product that matches

ProductLatest price (USD)layoutconnectivityStock last seenPrice observations
Keychron V5 Max$109.9996%2.4GHz wireless + Bluetooth 5.1 + USB-C wiredin stock at keychron.com (2026-09-06)2
NuPhy Air75 V2$119.0075% ANSI, 84-key2.4GHz / Bluetooth 5.1 / wired USB-Cout of stock at nuphy.com.au (2026-09-06)1
Glorious GMMK Pro$119.9975%; 82 keys + 1 pressable rotary encoder (barebones); Knob Support: Yeswired, USB-C 2.0 (6 ft / 2 m braided cable)out of stock at gloriousgaming.com (2026-09-06)1
NuPhy Halo75 V2$129.0075% ANSI, 83-key2.4GHz / Bluetooth 5.0 / wired USB-Cout of stock at nuphy.com.au (2026-09-06)1
Glorious GMMK 3$139.9965% (base config; product also ships in 75% and 100% layouts)wired only (manufacturer spec table: Connectivity "Wired", Battery Life "None"); 1x braided cable included in box. Connector type is not stated on either cited manufacturer source, so it is deliberately not asserted here.out of stock at gloriousgaming.com (2026-09-06)1

Price and value observations

Across these 5 products we hold 6 dated USD price observations, the earliest from 2026-08-26 and the most recent from 2026-09-06.

Keychron V5 Max has been unchanged at $109.99 since 2026-08-26.

Availability

Of the 5 products here: 1 in stock, 4 out of stock.

Out-of-stock and discontinued products stay in the ranking; we do not silently drop them, and the price shown for them is the last one we recorded, not a live quote.

Who this is not for

Who this is not for: skip this page if you can comfortably spend more than $150.00; or if your ceiling is below $100.00. We have not physically tested any of these — every ranking here comes from manufacturer-published specifications and prices we tracked ourselves, so if you want hands-on impressions this is the wrong page.

Related

Check price at Keychron for Keychron V5 Max

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Last updated: 2026-09-07

How this page was made: the question is hand-written, and everything below it — the ranking, the comparisons, the price and stock observations — is computed by deterministic code from the same corpus our product pages render from. No model writes the analysis, and no editor re-orders the result.