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Head to head · Prices checked Nov 7, 2026

Royal Kludge C98 HE vs Newmen GM1000

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.

Get the

Newmen GM1000

Build quality in the bottom 5% of 96% boards under $100.

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

Newmen GM1000

  • 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

  • Max polling rate

    8,000 Hz

    1,000 Hz

    Higher polling helps competitive FPS and does nothing for typing

  • Switch options

    Magnetic

    Clicky, Linear

KeebFinder scores

How we score
  • Royal Kludge C98 HE
  • Newmen GM1000
Performance
95
49
Build quality
52
39
Productivity
84
54
Customizability
67
54
Portability
45
51

What they share

  • Layout size: 96%
  • Hot-swappable
  • Keycaps: PBT
See every spec side by side

Full specs

Royal Kludge C98 HE vs Newmen GM1000 specs

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

12 of 21 specs differ

Royal Kludge C98 HE

Newmen GM1000

Typing & switches

Switch options

Magnetic
Clicky, Linear

Hall effect (magnetic)

Yes
No

Rapid trigger

Yes
No

Hot-swappable

Yes
Yes

Sound dampening

Yes
No

Layout

Layout size

96%
96%

Layout standard

ANSI
ANSI

Ergonomics

Standard
Standard

Knob

Yes
No

Display

None
None

Connectivity & battery

Connection

Wired
Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz, Wired

Max polling rate

8,000 HzBetter
1,000 Hz

Battery

Wired only
3,000 mAh

USB-C

Yes
Yes

Build & materials

Case material

—
ABS

Keycaps

PBT
PBT

Weight

1,200 g
857 g

Dimensions

41 x 409 x 140 mm
39 x 120 x 368 mm

Backlight

RGB, south-facing
RGB

Firmware & software

Mac & Windows

Yes
No

Extras

Released

2025
2022

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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