I've tested dozens of mechanical keyboards — here are my favorite October Prime Day deals from just $20

If you need a solid gaming keyboard on a very, very strict budget, the Lemokey X1 is an ideal solution. We awarded this keyboard 4 stars in our review, thanks to its great gaming and typing performance, and its solid build quality (which is even more impressive given the low price). This is one of the best budget keyboards you can buy when it isn't on offer, so it's even better value for money now.

The Gamakay LK75 earned a well-deserved 4.5 stars in our review. Although I didn't review this one (my colleague Nikita did), I also own this keyboard. It's a beautiful, soft and utterly silent keyboard to type on when specced with the silent switches. It also features a customizable display which you can load your favorite GIF onto.

This is one of the my favorite keyboards from all those I've reviewed. I gave the NuPhy Kick75 4.5 stars in my review. It's charming to behold, beautiful to type on, offers plenty of modding potential and can be swapped between either high- or low-profile setups, giving you plenty of customization options.

I awarded the NuPhy Halo75 V2 four stars in my review. It's perhaps my favorite sounding and favorite looking keyboard of the 40-or-so that I own. This thing has the a refined thocky sound profile and beautiful NuPhy mSA keycaps that make typing a total dream. It's a little pricey usually, but that's solved with this deal that knocks $30 off.

I'm currently testing the Lofree Flow Lite 84, so no review or score yet (spoiler alert: I'm gonna give it a 4!). Believe me, though, this is a gorgeous keyboard to type on thanks to its satisfying Kailh switches, boasts an effortlessly sleek design plus an ultra-lightweight build.

The Epomaker TH99 surprised us with its productivity and gaming performance, especially given its mid-range $82 MSRP. As such, we gave it a 4-star score! It features beautiful creamy switches, plus doubleshot PBT keycaps, making it wonderful to type on. Its 96% layout is also a boon for productivity.

The Wobkey Rainy75 is arguably the best sounding keyboard we've ever had into the Tom's Guide testing lab (except maybe the McHose GX87). The Rainy75 sounds, as you might expect, like falling rain thanks to its construction and Kailh switches. It also offers web-based companion software for firmware customization, and very strong battery life.

Another Epo! The Epomaker Ajazz AK820 Pro earned itself 4.5 stars in our review, thanks to its stunning design, strong build quality, lovely type feel and strong companion software — all for just $68. Well, now you can have all that for just $48!

The Gravastar Mercury K1 Pro might not look conventional, but variety is the spice of life. This keyboard certainly stands out, but it garnered a 4.5-star score in our review thanks to its buttery smooth typing and strong gaming performance. Believe me, this keyboard sounds unreal... which kind of figures given its looks.

The Corsair K65 Plus earned a solid 4 stars in our review, primarily because of its refined sound, smooth switches and programmable RGB. As you'd expect from a Corsair board, it's also a joy to game on, too. It's a little pricey usually, but with this deal it comes down to a more reasonable price point.

Probably the finest elite mechanical gaming keyboard still on the market (as most elite decks are now magnetic), the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro earned 4 stars. We loved its keycap profile and the feel of its snappy yet comfortable mechanical switches — these are about as fast as mechanical switches get. Despite being a mechanical board, it still boasts features more commonly seen on magnetic boards, like Snap Tap!

If you want top-tier gaming features, but also a keyboard that excels for productivity, the Keychron K2 HE is the easiest recommendation I can make. In fact, I awarded it 4.5 stars. It offers a ferocious roster of magnetic features thanks to its Hall Effect switches, while features like a gasket-mounted PCB, Keychron's comfy OSA-profile keycaps and macOS legends as default are boons for productivity, too. If you work as hard as you play, this is the deck for you.

NuPhy's Air HE line are the hardcore gaming variants of the standard Air line, and are tailored much more towards elite gaming. I tested the 60% variant of this board, the NuPhy Air60 HE, which is the same other than its smaller layout — and I awarded 4.5 stars. It features lightning-fast low-profile magnetic switches, an impressive roster of gaming features and a top-mounted PCB for highly responsive performance (at the sake of type feel).

NuPhy's only standard-profile Hall Effect keyboard, the NuPhy Field75 HE earned 4 stars from me. It polls at 8K, features incredibly snappy magnetic switches, has physical bindable shortcut keys and runs QMK open source firmware. Its Cherry profile keycaps suit gaming, but it's a pretty competent board for productivity too and is at home on macOS as it is on Windows.

The SteelSeries Apex Pro is, if I'm being honest, overpriced at MSRP. We gave this board 4 stars and loved its premium construction, fantastic gaming and typing performance and OLED display. It wasn't doing anything that much cheaper keyboards couldn't do, though. Thankfully, with this deal, the board is much easier to justify.