Glorious has stepped away from membrane and Hall effect experiments for the GMMK Eternal, a wired 96% board that landed this week at $99.99 and brings the num pad back.
Quick specs:
- 96% (1800 compact) layout with a num pad, wired only
- Hot-swap sockets for both 3-pin and 5-pin MX-style switches
- GMMK Fox linear switches stock, rated 50 million actuations, 50 to 60 gf
- Aluminium integrated top plate, ABS bottom case, two-stage flip-out feet
- Double-shot shine-through ABS keycaps in OEM profile
- Three layers of damping: a silicone pad and two layers of PU foam
- Detachable USB Type-A to Type-C cable
- Glorious Core software (Windows only) for macros, remapping and per-key RGB
Why this matters
Glorious spent the past year on membrane and Hall effect detours, and the Eternal walks that back to a plain hot-swap board on standard switches. The price is the interesting part. Hot-swap plus three layers of damping is usually kit territory, and at $99.99 the enthusiast plumbing is already in place. The 96% layout keeps the num pad in roughly the desk space of a tenkeyless board, which is the compromise most people actually want. Note the framing in the announcement: 96% is compact next to a full-size board, not next to a 60%.
The catch:
The 50 million actuation figure and the 50 to 60 gf force are Glorious’s own numbers for the Fox switches, not independent measurements. The case bottom is ABS, the keycaps are ABS where enthusiasts expect PBT, and they are probably the first thing anyone here swaps. There is no wireless option and no Hall effect version, and the software is Windows only. Nothing here is a surprise at this price, but it is a mainstream board with enthusiast features bolted on, not an enthusiast board at a mainstream price.
Pricing:
$99.99 in the US, €99.99 in Europe, $119.99 in Asia-Pacific. Wired, detachable cable, and no wireless model has been announced.
Anyone running a 96% board as a daily driver? Does the num pad column earn its desk space over a TKL for you?