Keyboard Review: NEO60 Core - The Keyboard That Made Me Understand NEO

There are already plenty of reviews of the NEO60 Core out there.

Proper reviews. Sound tests. Build streams. Close-up shots. Config comparisons. Videos from people who know exactly what they are doing. This is not really that.

This is more about where the NEO60 Core sits in my own mechanical keyboard journey. Because for me, this keyboard was not just another 60% custom board. It was a marker. A checkpoint. A little aluminium signpost that said - “You have now entered a different part of the hobby.”

And, annoyingly, I loved it.

NEO60 Core keyboard with GMK Mictlan Rebirth keycaps

My First NEO Board

The NEO60 Core was my first NEO board. That still feels quite funny to say, because when I first started getting into mechanical keyboards, the NEO / EVO series was one of those things I looked at from a distance.

I remember thinking the EVO boards looked amazing. I wanted one. Of course I wanted one. But at the same time, I also told myself:

“I don’t think I’ll ever buy a NEO board. The EVO series are obviously better boards. They THOCK.”

Famous last words.

Because there I was not long after, ordering a NEO60 Core from ProtoTypist.

This hobby has a very strange way of moving the goalposts. At the beginning, you think you have hard limits. You tell yourself there are certain prices you will never cross, certain brands you will only admire from afar, and certain layouts you will probably never use.

Then you spend a little more time in the hobby.

Then you watch a few more videos.

Then you start understanding why people care about mounting styles, plate materials, and layout options.

Then, suddenly, the thing you said you would never buy is sitting in your basket.

My First Big Purchase

The NEO60 Core was also my first “big purchase” in the hobby.

At the time, it felt like a serious step up. I remember thinking that this was probably the most I would ever spend on a keyboard.

Which is very funny now. Oh boy, was I wrong.

At that point in my journey, though, this genuinely felt like crossing a line. I had already bought a few mechanical keyboards, and I was already deep enough to know that this hobby was not going away anytime soon. But the NEO60 Core felt different. It was not just another pre-built keyboard. It was not something I could easily explain away as a simple upgrade.

It felt like my first proper custom keyboard purchase.

And because I was still wary of the whole Group Buy model, I bought it as an in-stock item from ProtoTypist. That was important to me. I was still, and to be honest still am, apprehensive about Group Buys.

I understand why they exist. I understand why the keyboard hobby has used them for so long. But coming from a normal consumer background, where you buy a thing and then receive the thing fairly quickly, Group Buys still feel unusual.

So buying the NEO60 Core in stock felt like a safer way of dipping my toes into this part of the hobby without jumping straight into the deep end wearing brass weights for shoes.

The NEO60 Core comes with a complete set of accessories to help you get started. Please be advised that it doesn't come with switches or keycaps, which is par for the course of a barebones kit.

The All-Black Configuration

When I bought the NEO60 Core, there were several configurations available on the ProtoTypist website.

I went for the all-black configuration:

• black case

• black PVD mirror weight

• black carbon fibre plate

It looked clean, serious, and understated. No bright colours. No playful accents. Just black on black on black.

There is something very appealing about that, especially when you are still learning what your own taste actually is. At the time, I wanted something that looked premium and safe. Something that could work with lots of different keycap sets. Something that felt like it belonged on a desk rather than shouted across it.

The all-black NEO60 Core did exactly that.

It had that “quietly expensive” look, even though in the world of custom mechanical keyboards, this is considered more of a budget board.

That is one of the funny things about this hobby. What enthusiasts call “budget” can still feel completely premium to someone coming in from mainstream keyboards. And this is a feeling that I am still experiencing, most especially with a recent meet-up that I attended (I'll write about it some time in the future).

The PVD black mirror finish is an exquisite piece

Small Keyboard, Heavy Keyboard

My first impression when I received the NEO60 Core was simple - this thing is heavy.

At the time, it was the heaviest keyboard I owned.

That was amusing because it was also the smallest keyboard I owned. The NEO60 Core is a 60% keyboard, so in terms of layout, it is tiny compared with a full-size board, TKL, or even a 75%.

And yet, it felt dense.

There is something very satisfying about that density. It is hard to explain until you experience it. A keyboard can be small and still feel substantial. It can take up less room on the desk but still feel like a proper object.

That was a bit of a revelation for me.

Even though the NEO60 Core is considered a budget custom board by mechanical keyboard enthusiast standards, to me at the time, it felt like a huge jump.

It reminded me of changing class in a video game.

You might have evolved into a stronger class compared with your previous one, but you are still starting from level one in that new class. You are stronger, yes, but now there is a whole new skill tree to understand.

That is what the NEO60 Core felt like.                                            

A level-up.

But also a reminder that I still had a lot to learn.

The NEO60 Core compared to my Weikav MAX102. Look at that size difference!

My First 60% Keyboard

The NEO60 Core was also my first 60% keyboard. At first, I really enjoyed it.

There is something lovely about the compactness of a 60% board. It gives you more desk space. It makes your setup feel cleaner. It encourages your hands to stay closer together. It has that minimal, focused feeling that makes you understand why so many people love the layout.

I started making mistakes, and at the time, it was still novel. It's a new keyboard, with a new layout, mistakes were bound to happen. And the more I used it, the novelty quickly wore off.

Then my muscle memory hit the wall. Hard.

The missing arrow keys were the first thing I properly noticed. I knew they were not there, of course. This was not a surprise. But knowing something logically and experiencing it during normal use are two different things.

My hand kept reaching for arrow keys that did not exist.

It was like walking confidently into an invisible door.

But that frustration actually led me to one of the things I love most about this hobby: the research.

I started looking into why people love 60% keyboards. Then I started looking into how people compensate for the missing keys. That led me straight into the rabbit hole of layers.

And I loved it.

This hobby is not one rabbit hole. It is a whole network of them. A rabbit warren with aluminium cases, switch films, mounting styles, stabiliser tuning, keycap profiles, plate materials, firmware, and people arguing very passionately about foam.

But the nice thing is that you are rarely truly lost. There is so much information out there. So many posts. So many videos. So many people sharing what works for them.

For arrow keys on a 60% board, I found that people tend to use three main layer approaches:

• WASD

• [ ; ' /

• right Shift, right Alt, right Win, right Ctrl

I ended up setting up all three on the second layer, just to see what made the most sense to me.

Count how many arrow clusters are set up here.
This is the secret sauce to using smaller layouts: LAYERS!

This is where the NEO60 Core became more than just a keyboard for me. It became a learning tool.

It forced me to think about how I actually use a keyboard. It made me question what keys I really need, what keys I only think I need, and how much of my typing behaviour is just muscle memory fossilised over time.

That is the kind of thing I was not prepared for as I continue on my journey in keyboards.

I thought this hobby was going to be about sound and feel.

It is. But it is also about habits.

The Layout Rabbit Hole

The NEO60 Core was the first keyboard where I properly experienced the variety of layout options available in a custom board.

ISO.

Split left shift.

Split right shift.

Split backspace.

6u spacebar.

7u spacebar.

Stepped Caps Lock.

On paper, those sound like small changes. In practice, for a beginner, they are an entire evening vanishing into the keyboard fog. And I spent many evening doing so, and continue to this day.

It took me many hours to change layouts, swap stabiliser wires, remove switches, reinstall switches, realise something was wrong, take things apart again, and repeat the process. That moment when you present your finished product and someone says "it would have been nice if you used a 7u spacebar" was a learning moment for me.

This is the part of the hobby that can be both satisfying and mildly maddening.

You start with a simple idea: “I’ll just try a different layout.”

Then suddenly you are hunched over a desk, surrounded by switches, stabiliser wires, keycaps, and small plastic parts, wondering why you voluntarily chose this life. I often find myself pondering if I truly enjoyed what I was doing, and each and every time, I answer a confident "Yes."

But that is also where the learning happens.

Every time I made a mistake, I understood the board more. Every time I changed a layout, I understood the relationship between the PCB, plate, stabilisers, and keycaps a little better.

The NEO60 Core gave me that experience properly for the first time.

It was not just something I typed on. It was something I had to understand.

One of the best things about the NEO60 Core is how easy it is to customise.

My First Carbon Fibre Plate

This was also my first keyboard with a carbon fibre plate.

Before this, I was very enamoured with the idea of carbon fibre.

In my head, carbon fibre meant bright, crisp, sharp clack. It felt like the plate material you picked when you wanted the board to sound lively and exciting.

And to be fair, it did sound brighter. But I also found the sound thinner than I expected.

That was a big learning moment for me.

Because brighter does not automatically mean better.

I know that sounds obvious, but when you are still new to the hobby, it is easy to chase descriptions. You read words like “clacky”, “bright”, “poppy”, “deep”, “marbly”, and “thocky”, and you start building little imaginary sound profiles in your head.

Then you actually try the thing. And sometimes the thing is not quite what you thought you wanted.

That was carbon fibre for me.

The CF plate gave the NEO60 Core a higher-pitched sound, but I did not enjoy the thinning effect as much as I thought I would. It helped me solidify my preference. I can appreciate carbon fibre, and I can understand why people like it, but I do not think I am a big fan.

At least not yet.

That is another important part of the hobby: learning what you do not like.

It is not wasted experience. It is taste being built one mistake, one switch, and one plate at a time.

There are times when I do appreciate the CF feel, but more often I find it too thin for my liking.

The Keycap Lesson

Around this time, I also fully realised the difference between clone keycaps and original ones.

On the NEO60 Core, I installed a set of clone Mictlan-style keycaps called “Underworld”.

At the time, I did not fully appreciate the difference. I knew clones existed. I knew original sets were more expensive. But I had not yet properly internalised the whole picture: design, quality, ethics, colour accuracy, legend quality, and how these things fit into the wider keyboard hobby.

Since then, I have bought the original GMK Mictlan set and swapped out the clones.

I really should have known better.

But I also think it was a valuable learning experience.

Sometimes the hobby teaches you through comparison. You can read about the difference between clone and original keycaps all day long, but there is something very direct about having both in hand and seeing the differences yourself.

I will probably do a proper comparison between the clone set and the original GMK Mictlan at some point in the future.

Not as a lecture.

More as a “this is what I learned” piece.

Because I think that is useful, especially for people who are new to the hobby and trying to understand why original keycap sets cost what they cost.

What the NEO60 Core Taught Me

The NEO60 Core taught me several things.

It taught me that 60% keyboards are more usable than I expected, but only if you are willing to embrace layers.

It taught me that layout options are wonderful, but they can also swallow an evening whole.

It taught me that carbon fibre plates are not automatically my thing.

It taught me that keycaps are not just for decoration. It goes so much deeper than that.

It taught me that “budget” in the custom keyboard world can still feel incredibly premium.

Most importantly, it made me believe in NEO products. I'm a believer. I love NEO products and I'm excited to see where they go.

That is the biggest thing this keyboard did.

Before owning the NEO60 Core, NEO boards were just something I saw other people talk about. After owning it, I understood the appeal. The quality, the design, the density, the flexibility, and the overall experience all made sense.

It felt like a step up from where I had been.

And that feeling is addictive.

Not in a reckless way, hopefully. But in the sense that once you experience a better version of something, you start wondering what else is out there.

If this is what a good 60% custom board feels like, what happens when I try other layouts? I assure you, this is not the last NEO board that I've purchased.

What happens when I try different plates?

What happens when I try a higher-end NEO?

What happens when I go even further?

That is the dangerous and brilliant thing about this hobby.

Every keyboard answers one question and asks five more.

Final Thoughts

The NEO60 Core was not just my first NEO board. It was my first big keyboard purchase.

My first 60%. My first carbon fibre plate. My first proper dive into layout options. My first real lesson in layers. My first proper keycap clone wake-up call.

It was a lot of firsts packed into one small, heavy keyboard.

And that is why I remember it so clearly.

This purchase definitely changed something for me. It made me a believer in NEO products. It made me feel like I had levelled up. My taste in mechanical keyboards changed after this board, and I think it changed for the better.

The NEO60 Core may be considered a budget custom keyboard by enthusiasts, but for me at the time, it felt like stepping into a new tier.

A denser, heavier, more complicated, more rewarding tier.

And honestly?

I loved that feeling.

I still do.