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Head to head · Prices checked Nov 10, 2026

Royal Kludge C98 HE vs Leopold Alchemie

Get the Royal Kludge C98 HE for hall effect and rapid trigger.

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Quick verdict

Which one should you get?

Get the

Royal Kludge C98 HE

Hall effect

Build quality in the bottom 25% of 96% boards under $100.

Rules this board out

  • Magnetic switches only. Standard MX switches will not fit.
  • South-facing LEDs. Shine-through legends stay dark, and some sculpted keycaps can clip the LED.
  • Compact full-size layout. The numpad is present, the gaps of a full-size board are not.

Get the

Leopold Alchemie

Build quality in the top 10% of 100% boards under $200.

Rules this board out

  • North-facing LEDs. Cherry-profile keycaps can hit the switch housing.

What actually differs

The differences that matter

Skip the 40-row spec sheet. These are the specs that change how each board feels, sounds, and fits your desk.

Royal Kludge C98 HE

Leopold Alchemie

  • Layout size

    96%

    100%

  • Hall effect (magnetic)

    Yes

    No

    Adjustable actuation helps in games and not in normal typing

  • Rapid trigger

    Yes

    No

    Faster resets help in games and not in normal typing

  • Connection

    Wired

    Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz, Wired

    Wireless for several devices and wired for lower latency

  • Switch options

    Magnetic

    Clicky, Silent

KeebFinder scores

How we score
  • Royal Kludge C98 HE
  • Leopold Alchemie
Performance
95
80
Build quality
52
79
Productivity
84
76
Customizability
67
86
Portability
45
52

What they share

  • Hot-swappable
  • Sound dampening
  • Keycaps: PBT
See every spec side by side

Full specs

Royal Kludge C98 HE vs Leopold Alchemie specs

Every tracked spec, side by side. Rows marked with a dot differ between the boards.

13 of 27 specs differ

Royal Kludge C98 HE

Leopold Alchemie

Typing & switches

Switch options

Magnetic
Clicky, Silent

Hall effect (magnetic)

Yes
No

Rapid trigger

Yes
No

Hot-swappable

Yes
Yes

Mount style

—
Top Mount

Sound dampening

Yes
Yes

Layout

Layout size

96%
100%

Layout standard

ANSI
ANSI

Ergonomics

Standard
Standard

Knob

Yes
No

Display

None
None

Media keys

No
Yes

Connectivity & battery

Connection

Wired
Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz, Wired

Max polling rate

8,000 Hz
—

Battery

Wired only
4,000 mAh

USB-C

Yes
Yes

Build & materials

Case material

—
Aluminum

Plate material

—
Aluminum

Keycaps

PBT
PBT

Weight

1,200 g
—

Dimensions

41 x 409 x 140 mm
—

Backlight

RGB, south-facing
RGB, north-facing

Firmware & software

QMK

No
Yes

VIA

No
Yes

N-key rollover

No
Yes

Mac & Windows

Yes
No

Extras

Released

2025
2026

Where to buy

Compare prices

Live prices from the stores we track, cheapest in-stock offer first.

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Lowest price across stores, Amazon excluded.

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