Our Verdict
Sometimes, you CAN judge a book by its cover. In the case of IQUNIX Magi96, this impenetrably named but invitingly designed keyboard arrives beautifully packaged and functions gloriously once up and running. Apart from some connectivity fiddliness, this mechanical keyboard is as smooth on the inside as it is on the outside.
For
- Beautifully designed
- Quality build
- Quiet mechanical keys
Against
- I'm sorry for a second there I thought you said it costs £200- oh, it does? Oh.
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We've been inundated with Apple-centric tech releases recently, including the very nice, very Magic Keyboardy Slim EX3 from Satechi covered by yours truly, but what about us Windows fanatics, I hear you howl in agony at the screen. Are we not going to get a quality keyboard peripheral with a surprising brand name too?
Don’t worry. I've got you fam. Let me introduce you to: the Iqunix Magi96.
At CES 2026, I encountered a frankly dizzying number of keyboard makers (or maybe I just needed to drink more water), but the one that caught my eye the most was a brand I'd never come across before: IQUNIX. Presented with an array of beautifully designed mechanical keyboards at its expo stand, I decided to get one of those in for testing. And after using and living with the Magi96 for over a month now, I’m happy to report that sometimes, you CAN judge a book by its cover.
Video review of the IQUNIX Magi96
So it's pretty. But is it GOOD?
The IQUNIX Magi96 is, as the name ever-so-gently suggests, a 96% layout mechanical keyboard, meaning it keeps the all-important number pad and function keys while shrinking the overall footprint compared to a full-sized board. If you need full functionality but want to claw a teeny bit of your desk space back, this compact full-size layout is brilliant.
It did take me a little while to get used to the arrow keys being squished up against other keys, but within a few days, and after only a couple of hundred annoying hits of UP instead of ENTER, my fingers had acclimatised to their new circumstances.
On the outside, the Magi96 is a stunner, sporting a gorgeous CNC aluminium chassis that gives it a beautiful, refined look. Inside, you get Gold Red switches, which is a great choice for creatives who want a tactile response without the super-loud clickiness. Of course, it’s also hot-swappable, and it ships with additional keycaps to spice up the visual presentation even further, if you wish.
For connectivity, it offers the ultimate keyboard trifecta: wired USB-C, 2.4GHz wireless, and Bluetooth 5.1, letting you connect seamlessly to up to three devices at once. The keycaps are made of durable PBT material, and the battery life in my experience is fantastic, rounding out a truly premium package.
The only user-experience niggle I encountered was that powering the keyboard on/off and controlling the Bluetooth connections requires specific key-combo commands (all laid out in the manual, don't worry), and sometimes it felt quite confusing to figure out whether it was set to the correct input and thus connected to the machine I wanted it to. I can be incredibly thick sometimes, though, so I'm never entirely sure things like that are not just a me problem, but my wife, who is a veteran PC gamer, encountered similar issues when she used the keyboard.
In short, the IQUNIX Magi96 manages to be both a workhorse and a piece of art. The typing experience is smooth and satisfying right out of the box, and that smaller form factor is addictive once you get used to it.
Price
Now, a premium keyboard usually comes with a premium price tag attached. The Magi96 will set you back a substantial $159 in the US and £199 in the UK, although you can score a 5% discount on any order at IQUNIX by using the code 'CREATIVEBLOQ' on their website.
Should I buy it?
Even with the discount above, the IQUNIX Magi96 is a hefty investment, but when it looks this nice and works this delightfully, it earns a definite recommendation from me.
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out of 10
Sometimes, you CAN judge a book by its cover. In the case of IQUNIX Magi96, this impenetrably named but invitingly designed keyboard arrives beautifully packaged and functions gloriously once up and running. Apart from some connectivity fiddliness, this mechanical keyboard is as smooth on the inside as it is on the outside.
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