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Note: All of these were tested on my new XPG Summoner MX red keyboard.

That's big companies, especially gaming companies for you. The only thing they care about is a bottom line.

What's the exact timeframe when they went downhill? Before or after the HP acquisition?

After.

I bought the first generation in Feb 2020 and the second generation in Nov 2022.

Their quality was much better before the HP acquisition. After that quality of everything went downhill specially the headphones and keyboards.

Of course. The suits would have just reduced everything to the point where things will outlive their warranty, and then that's it. Anything else would be seen as a waste of money, and something that reduces profit. This is why most gaming boards are utter dog shit.

Good to know, was there any announcement around the changes or are these things you noticed between purchases? Curious to see if I can pass specific feedback up the line

No announcements as such. They changed the fonts and added HX logo on spacebar.
Noticed quality difference between the purchases.

Took some macro shots and have uploaded them in the post. You can see that they are much smoother like ABS.

Oh, sad.

I got a wired HyperX headset in like 2014 for use with my PS4. It was awesome, affordable, daily driver for years before it stopped working.

Not unlike Alienware going downhill post Dell acquisition. The meme of Dells sucking is true, let me tell you, the issues with my Dell-Alienware laptop drive me nuts.

I guess it just goes to show that grassroots is the way to go when shopping for quality. Internet ftw. Thanks for posting, now I know an option to stay away from.

I have had my eye on pudding caps from Glorious for a while because of this convincing review. $30 is a nice price. And my Glorious mouse is pretty alright, leagues better than my ol Razers anyway.

Sadly yes, my friend bought a Cloud Stinger in 2017 and the quality of that headset is far better than the one I bought in 2022. Mine creaks and volume slider crackles when sliding up and down.