A full-size board that does not take a full-size desk

The NOVA98 keeps everything a full-size keyboard gives you, number pad included, and squeezes it into a 98% footprint by closing the gaps between the key blocks. You lose nothing you use and gain a few centimetres of mouse room. Then AULA adds the things a plain full-size board never had: a small colour screen in the top corner, a metal rotary knob beside it, an ambient light strip around the case and forged carbon trim on the back.

It is a keyboard for someone who wants one board for spreadsheets by day and games by night, and wants it to look like it cost more than it did.

Six layers between you and the desk

Under the keys is a gasket mount with a PC plate and a six-layer dampening stack: gasket shims, PO sandwich foam, a PO switch pad, PET shims, switch pad foam, a PET bottom pad and bottom foam, on a PCB with individual switch slots. In plain terms, the plate floats rather than being bolted down, and every cavity that could echo has something soft in it. The result is a deep, muted sound and a soft landing on every key, with pre-lubed stabilisers so the spacebar and Enter do not rattle.

Hot-swap, with Lingxi switches to start

This version ships with AULA's Lingxi switches, a light linear with a smooth press, factory lubed. Every socket is hot-swap, so if you prefer something heavier or tactile you can change the whole board in an evening without soldering. The keycaps are metal-coated with heat-transferred legends, so the silver finish and the lettering both hold up.