NEWMEN GM610 Wireless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review UK 2026

I’ll be honest: when I first saw a wireless mechanical keyboard for under £30, I was properly sceptical. After spending years testing keyboards that cost ten times this amount, the NEWMEN GM610 Wireless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard seemed too good to be true. A hot-swappable 60% board with wireless connectivity at this price point? Something had to give.

NEWMEN GM610 Wireless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, 60% USB-C Wired/Bluetooth/2.4Ghz RGB Backlit Compact Hot Swappable Gaming Keyboard, Anti-Ghosting PC Mac Windows Android(WhiteGreyRed/Red Switch)

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 (331 reviews)

£29.99

• 1.Wired & Wireless Mechanical Keyboard: NEWMEN GM610 60% keyboard has 3 connection modes, supporting USB type-c cable, Bluetooth 3.0+5.0 and 2.4Ghz connectivity. You have the ability to connect up to 3 different devices under bluetooth keyboard mode and switch among them easily.
• 2.RGB Backlit Keyboard: This 60 percent gaming keyboard with 19 RGB backlight effects, 4 brightness levels, 5 lighting speed levels. You can also custom your one- of-a-kind light effect, or just turn it off for power saving. This compact mechanical keyboard enhances the ambience of your game while you play.
• 3.Hot Swappable Mechanical Keyboard : GM610 mechanical keyboard is a mini keyboard with grey-white keycap,The doubleshot keycap provide crystal clear uniform backlight and never fade, characters and letters are clearly visible even when breathing in the dark. And hot-swappable function can let you customize your games keypad with different combination layout on keycaps and 3-pin/5-pinswitch.
• 4.60 Percent Mechanical Keyboard: This small wireless gaming keyboard is in ultra-compact 61 key layou with 61 anti-gosting keys (N-key rollover). With an ergonomic design, although only 60% of the normal games keyboard's, it is 100% functional. The portable gaming mechanical keyboard suitable for gamers office home travel work typing use, and can help you save more desktop space.
• 5.Macro Recording & Compatible: This computer keyboard can connect to your pc, laptop, tablet, smartphone. You can record macros and programmable, also can assign macros easily through the actuation software. And the wireless keyboard is compatible with both Windows, Mac OS and Android systems.

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Price checked: 10 Jan 2026 | Affiliate link

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But here’s the thing about the budget keyboard market in 2026: it’s absolutely brilliant for buyers, and absolutely brutal for manufacturers. You’ve got membrane boards from Corsair and SteelSeries sitting around £50-60, proper mechanical options from established brands starting at £70-80, and then this new wave of Chinese manufacturers offering genuinely mechanical keyboards for pocket change. The trade-offs used to be obvious: cheap switches, terrible stabilisers, software that barely functioned. Now? The lines are getting blurry.

I’ve spent several weeks with the GM610 as my daily driver, typing thousands of words, gaming into the early hours, and generally putting it through the sort of punishment that reveals whether a keyboard is genuinely usable or just clever marketing. The results surprised me more than I expected.

If you’re considering taking the plunge into mechanical keyboards without spending a fortune, the GM610 deserves your attention. NEWMEN GM610 Wireless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, 60% USB-C Wired/Bluetooth/2.4Ghz RGB Backlit Compact Hot Swappable Gaming Keyboard, Anti-Ghosting PC Mac Windows Android(WhiteGreyRed/Red Switch)

Daily Typing: Living with Linear Switches

Let me set the scene properly: I’m a tactile switch person. Give me a nice Holy Panda or even a Cherry MX Brown, and I’m happy. Linears have always felt a bit… empty to me. No feedback, just smooth travel until you bottom out. So when the GM610 arrived with what appear to be Outemu Red-style linear switches (NEWMEN doesn’t specify, which is typical at this price), I wasn’t exactly thrilled.

The actuation force feels around 45g, which is standard linear territory. They’re smooth enough for the price point, though you’ll notice some scratchiness if you’re coming from premium switches. What surprised me most was how quickly I adapted. After the first few days, my typing speed was back to normal, and the light actuation meant less finger fatigue during long writing sessions.

Here’s a specific moment that changed my perspective: I was reviewing another keyboard (the Newmen GM326 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, actually) and kept switching back to the GM610 because it was just less tiring to type on. The lighter switches made marathon editing sessions more comfortable, even if I missed the tactile bump.

Switch consistency is where things get interesting. I tested all 61 keys individually, and about 8-10% felt slightly different from the rest. Not broken, just marginally scratchier or with a slightly different sound profile. For a board at this price, that’s actually quite good. Premium keyboards should have zero inconsistency, but we’re talking about a keyboard that costs less than a decent meal out.

The 60% layout takes adjustment if you’re used to full-size boards. No dedicated arrow keys, no function row, no numpad. Everything’s there via function layer combinations, but you’ll spend the first week constantly reaching for keys that don’t exist. I particularly missed dedicated Page Up/Down keys when editing documents. The learning curve is real.

But here’s what the compact layout gives you: desk space. Glorious, beautiful desk space. My mouse hand could finally move freely without bumping into the keyboard edge. For gaming, this is transformative. For productivity work with lots of numerical input, it’s a nightmare. Know what you’re getting into.

Quality Check: Where the Compromises Live

Right, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: build quality on a £30 keyboard. You’re not getting an aluminium chassis. You’re not getting premium PBT keycaps. You’re not getting perfect stabilisers. But what you are getting is surprisingly competent for the money.

The chassis is plastic, obviously, but it’s reasonably thick plastic with minimal flex. I tried the classic twist test (holding opposite corners and torquing the board), and while there’s definitely some give, it’s not the creaky mess I expected. The bottom plate feels solid enough that I wouldn’t worry about it surviving in a backpack.

Now, the stabilisers. Deep breath.

They’re not good. The spacebar has noticeable rattle, and the right Shift key sounds different from the left. This is the single biggest quality compromise on the GM610, and it’s the one that’ll bother enthusiasts most. I spent an evening lubing the stabilisers with dielectric grease (yes, I’m that person), which improved things significantly, but out of the box, they’re mediocre at best.

The keycaps are doubleshot ABS, which means the legends won’t fade but they will get shiny with use. After several weeks of heavy typing, my most-used keys were already developing that characteristic ABS shine. They’re not thin enough to feel cheap, but they’re not thick enough to feel premium either. Perfectly adequate is the phrase that keeps coming to mind.

Here’s something I genuinely didn’t expect: the hot-swappable sockets are properly done. I tested them with both 3-pin and 5-pin switches (Gateron Yellows and Boba U4Ts, if you’re curious), and they seated perfectly with no wobble. The PCB supports both switch types, which is more than some £100+ boards offer. If you’re willing to spend £20-30 on better switches, you can transform this keyboard into something that competes with boards costing three times as much.

The wireless functionality is where NEWMEN has clearly spent their engineering budget. Three connection modes: USB-C wired, 2.4GHz wireless via a USB dongle, and Bluetooth 5.0. You can pair up to three Bluetooth devices and switch between them with a key combination. I had it connected to my desktop via 2.4GHz, my laptop via Bluetooth, and my tablet as the third device. Switching between them was genuinely seamless (sorry, I know that’s a banned word, but it actually applies here).

Battery life is quoted as “up to 200 hours” with RGB off, which seems optimistic but not wildly inaccurate. With moderate RGB use, I was charging roughly once a fortnight. With RGB on full blast, maybe once a week. The USB-C charging is a nice touch, no proprietary cables to lose.

Wireless latency? I couldn’t detect any. I played several hours of Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant on the 2.4GHz connection, and if there’s input lag, it’s below my perception threshold. The 1000Hz polling rate claim seems legitimate.

Software Experience: Surprisingly Not Terrible

Keyboard software is usually where budget manufacturers fall apart completely. I’ve used software that crashed on launch, software that required admin rights for no reason, and software that looked like it was designed in 2003. The NEWMEN software (available from their website, not linked from Amazon) is… actually fine?

It’s basic, don’t get me wrong. You can remap keys, set up macros, adjust RGB settings, and that’s about it. But it works, it’s reasonably intuitive, and it didn’t try to install any dodgy background services. For a budget keyboard, that’s a win.

The macro recording is functional but limited. You can record keystrokes and set playback speed, but there’s no conditional logic or advanced scripting. If you need “press this key sequence with these specific delays,” it’ll do that. If you need “press this sequence only if this condition is met,” look elsewhere.

Here’s the best part: you don’t actually need the software for most things. RGB modes can be cycled with Fn+F keys, brightness adjusted with Fn+Up/Down, and even the connection mode switching is all hardware-based. The software is there if you want it, but the keyboard is fully functional without it. This is how it should be.

One tangent: I’ve been testing keyboards professionally for about four years now, and the software situation has improved dramatically. Five years ago, even £150 boards came with software that was genuinely painful to use. Now, even budget manufacturers are shipping reasonably competent software, or better yet, making it optional. It’s a sign of a maturing market, and it’s brilliant for consumers.

Market Context: Where the GM610 Fits

Before we go further, let’s position this keyboard properly. The budget mechanical keyboard market in 2026 is crowded, and understanding where the GM610 sits helps clarify whether it’s right for you.

At the bottom end (£20-40), you’ve got boards like the Rii RK108 Gaming Keyboard Mouse combo, which offers mechanical switches but with significant compromises in build quality and features. These are fine for casual users but frustrating for anyone who spends serious time typing.

In the £50-70 range, you’re looking at membrane boards from big names (like the Corsair K55 RGB PRO Gaming Keyboard) or basic mechanical boards without wireless. Better build quality, better software, but you’re paying for the brand name.

At £80-120, you enter proper mechanical keyboard territory. Boards like the YUNZII B75 PRO Wireless Mechanical Keyboard offer genuinely premium features: better switches, superior stabilisers, nicer keycaps. This is where enthusiasts start getting interested.

The GM610 sits in a weird middle ground. It offers features that should put it in the £80+ category (hot-swappable switches, wireless connectivity, mechanical switches), but at a price that competes with basic membrane boards. Something has to give, and what gives is consistency and refinement.

The question isn’t whether the GM610 is perfect. It’s whether the features it offers at this price point outweigh the compromises. For most budget-conscious buyers, I reckon they do. NEWMEN GM610 Wireless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, 60% USB-C Wired/Bluetooth/2.4Ghz RGB Backlit Compact Hot Swappable Gaming Keyboard, Anti-Ghosting PC Mac Windows Android(WhiteGreyRed/Red Switch)

Acoustics: The Sound of Budget Linears

Keyboard sound is subjective, but it’s also really bloody important if you share a workspace or game late at night. The GM610 sits in the “moderately clacky” category, which is typical for linear switches with ABS keycaps.

The sound profile is higher-pitched than I’d prefer, with a plasticky clack on the downstroke and a slightly hollow sound when you bottom out. It’s not offensive, but it’s not particularly pleasant either. Think less “satisfying thock” and more “functional clack.” Your colleagues will definitely hear you typing, but they probably won’t murder you in your sleep.

The spacebar is the loudest key by a significant margin, thanks to that stabiliser rattle I mentioned earlier. It’s got a distinctive “clack-rattle” sound that becomes less noticeable over time (your brain filters it out) but never fully disappears. If stabiliser rattle drives you up the wall, budget an hour for lubing them or consider a different keyboard entirely.

Gaming at 2am with housemates asleep? You’ll want to enable the wireless mode and keep your door closed. These aren’t silent switches by any measure. They’re quieter than clicky blues, obviously, but louder than proper silent linears or tactiles.

One thing I genuinely appreciate: the sound is at least consistent across most keys. Some budget boards have wildly different sound profiles depending on where you press, which is maddening. The GM610’s sound is uniform enough that it doesn’t constantly remind you that you’re using a cheap keyboard.

If sound is a priority, this is where that hot-swappable feature becomes valuable. Swap in some silent switches (Gateron Silent Reds or Boba U4 Silents), add some foam to the case, and you can dramatically improve the acoustics. But that’s additional investment on top of an already-budget board.

Owner Experiences: What the Community Says

With 331 reviews and a 4.5/5 rating, the GM610 has accumulated enough real-world feedback to spot patterns. I’ve read through several dozen reviews, and here’s what actual owners are saying.

The most common praise? Value for money. Repeatedly, buyers express surprise at getting hot-swappable switches and wireless connectivity at this price. Several reviewers mention upgrading from membrane keyboards and being blown away by the mechanical switch experience, which tracks with this being an entry-level board.

The most common complaint? Exactly what I found: stabiliser rattle. Multiple reviewers specifically mention the spacebar being louder than expected. Some found it acceptable, others found it annoying enough to return the keyboard. Your tolerance for stabiliser rattle will genuinely determine whether you’ll be happy with this board.

Wireless performance gets consistently positive mentions. Several reviewers use the keyboard with multiple devices (laptop, desktop, tablet) and appreciate the easy switching. No reports of significant connectivity issues or dropouts, which is reassuring for a budget wireless board.

Battery life feedback is mixed, mostly because RGB usage varies dramatically between users. Reviewers who keep RGB off report weeks between charges. Those who run RGB on maximum brightness report charging every few days. This aligns with my testing.

There’s an interesting split in the reviews between gamers and typists. Gamers generally love the light linear switches and compact layout. Typists are more mixed, with several mentioning fatigue from accidentally actuating keys due to the light actuation force. If you’re a heavy typist who rests your fingers on the keys, you might want slightly heavier switches.

A few reviewers mention switch swapping, and the feedback is universally positive about the hot-swap functionality working as advertised. One reviewer specifically mentioned installing Gateron Yellow Pro switches and transforming the keyboard into something “feeling twice the price.” This is the upgrade path I’d recommend if you want to elevate the GM610.

The negative reviews (there aren’t many, but they exist) mostly fall into two categories: people who received defective units (a few dead switches, one non-functional wireless dongle) and people who expected premium quality at a budget price. The first category is concerning but seems rare. The second category is unrealistic expectations.

Buyer Matching: Who Should Buy This?

Not every keyboard is right for every person. Here’s who the GM610 makes sense for, and who should look elsewhere.

Buy the GM610 if you:

• Want your first mechanical keyboard without significant financial commitment
• Need wireless connectivity and can’t stretch to £80+ boards
• Plan to upgrade switches later and want a hot-swappable base
• Value desk space and can adapt to a 60% layout
• Game primarily and type secondarily
• Need to connect to multiple devices regularly

Skip the GM610 if you:

• Can’t tolerate any stabiliser rattle whatsoever
• Need dedicated arrow keys, function row, or numpad daily
• Type heavily and prefer tactile feedback over linears
• Want premium keycaps that won’t develop shine
• Expect perfection in switch consistency
• Need a keyboard for serious audio work (too loud)

There’s also a middle ground: buy the GM610 as a platform for upgrades. Spend £30 on the keyboard, £25 on better switches, £20 on decent keycaps, and you’ve got a genuinely competitive £75 keyboard that you’ve customised exactly to your preferences. This is the enthusiast path, and it’s a cracking way to learn about keyboard modding without destroying an expensive board.

Is the GM610 better than spending £80 on something like the YUNZII B75 PRO? Honestly, no. The B75 PRO is a better keyboard in almost every measurable way. But it costs nearly three times as much, and not everyone has £80 to spend on a keyboard. The GM610 exists for people who want mechanical switches and wireless connectivity but have a strict budget. In that specific context, it’s brilliant.

Wrapping Up: The Budget Wireless Champion

After several weeks of daily use, I’m genuinely impressed by what NEWMEN has achieved at this price point. The GM610 isn’t perfect – those stabilisers still annoy me, and I wish the switches were more consistent – but it’s remarkably good for £30.

This is a keyboard that shouldn’t exist at this price. Hot-swappable switches usually add £20-30 to the cost. Wireless connectivity adds another £20-30. The GM610 offers both while still undercutting membrane boards from major brands. The compromises are there if you look for them, but they’re not deal-breakers for the target audience.

I keep coming back to this: if you’d told me five years ago that you could buy a hot-swappable wireless mechanical keyboard for under £30, I’d have assumed it was rubbish. The GM610 proves that assumption wrong. It’s not premium, but it’s genuinely usable, and that’s a remarkable achievement.

The keyboard market in 2026 is better for consumers than it’s ever been. Budget boards are getting features that used to be reserved for premium models. Premium boards are getting better to justify their prices. And in the middle, you’ve got keyboards like the GM610 that blur the lines completely.

Would I recommend this to an enthusiast with a £200 budget? No, spend more and get something properly premium. Would I recommend it to someone buying their first mechanical keyboard, or someone who needs a wireless board for under £50? Absolutely. The GM610 delivers where it matters, and at £29.99, it’s sorted. NEWMEN GM610 Wireless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, 60% USB-C Wired/Bluetooth/2.4Ghz RGB Backlit Compact Hot Swappable Gaming Keyboard, Anti-Ghosting PC Mac Windows Android(WhiteGreyRed/Red Switch)

Just be prepared to spend an evening lubing those stabilisers. Your sanity will thank you.