wo recessed metal wheels crown the chassis, each shaped like a massive screw you can't resist trying to turn with a coin. This strange console sits on the right side of the Neos 75 keyboard from AULA, a brand whose Chinese name translates to tarantula. AULA used to be known for cheap gaming keyboards with chaotic backlighting that cost less than a trip to a pizzeria, but now the company has decided to break into the premium segment with an all-aluminum body, metal keys, and a color screen. Pre-orders for the Neos 75 opened in China on October 23 at 1,299.1 yuan (about $180), though the base price is listed at 1,599.1 yuan (roughly $225). A global release is promised soon.
Budget gaming brand AULA is trying its hand at the luxury segment, crossbreeding a mechanical keyboard with the design of vintage audio gear. The Neos 75 was created by AULA.New Renaissance, an internal team of designers, engineers, and keyboard enthusiasts. It's a low-profile, 75% mechanical keyboard with 84 keys, featuring a milled aluminum body and custom Kailh switches. The main focus hides on the right: a color screen, two slotted metal wheels, and massive round media control buttons form a panel that looks straight off a Teenage Engineering synthesizer.
The retro panel on the right
This block nods to 1950s and 1960s Braun radios and record players designed by Dieter Rams, with their round buttons and clean layout. The slotted top wheel is removable and features a smooth travel, handling volume and mute functions. The lower wheel flips through screen pages and brings up the built-in calculator. Below them sit three round metal buttons for rewinding, pausing, and fast-forwarding, alongside an oval NEOS button and a small round key. All of them can be remapped in AULA's proprietary software.
The Neos 75 borrows this visual language and adds a 2.3-inch color display with a 480 × 360 pixel resolution next to the controls, showing the time, battery charge, and track album art.
That whole corner looks like someone bolted a portable music player onto a regular keyboard. Some users on Chinese forums called this block an awkward growth and doubted whether such bulk belongs on a standard desk. The unibody frame comes in one of four god-themed colors: Venus (anodized silver), Hades (anodized black), Selene (anodized gray), and Athena (white coating). The metal keys themselves have flat edges and slightly concave centers, making the keyboard look like it belongs on a walnut desk in a museum gift shop.
Internals and the harsh reality
Inside the case, a gasket mount softens the circuit board, backed by layers of PORON sound-absorbing foam, an IXPE noise-isolation pad, and a polyethylene sheet for a refined typing sound. The keyboard connects via wire, 2.4 GHz wireless, and Bluetooth, while a 4,200 mAh battery tucked into its own compartment handles autonomy. The device measures roughly 372.8 × 122.3 × 29.65 mm, including the protruding panel. Customization for Windows and macOS relies on VIA compatibility and the AULA A HUB 3.0 software.
Official international pricing hasn't been announced yet, and the global launch is marked as coming soon. This is the brand's first attempt to break the psychological thousand-yuan barrier, pitting the newcomer head-to-head with popular low-profile models like the NuPhy Air75 and Lofree Flow. Except none of those rivals bothered to cram a screen, metal dials, and aluminum keycaps into a single body. If you buy a device in this class, you get heavy metal and physical media buttons, but along with them comes a bulky right-side module that some will write off as useless ballast.
For you, this means one thing: if you're used to cheap plastic gaming keyboards that cost next to nothing, the Neos 75 demands unfamiliar money and takes up more desk space. The official global price is still under wraps, and the Chinese pre-order tag equivalent to $180 is bound to creep up once it hits the world market.
Why it matters
Why would a maker of ultra-cheap gaming gear assemble a mechanical keyboard inspired by mid-century audio equipment? The team at AULA is clearly targeting desk-setup enthusiasts by ditching hollow plastic for a milled aluminum chassis and custom Kailh switches. That distinct control deck with its screen and slotted thumbwheels turns a standard typing tool into a retro audio console, even if forum skeptics already dismiss the side module as an awkward growth. The board demands at least 1,299.1 yuan at preorder against the budget prices the brand was built on.