I just got the barebones version, I was shocked at how heavy it is. Really solid construction. Used the TTC frozen silent switches, with some random keycaps I had laying around. It feels great and unless I hammer keys pretty hard it is completely silent. I just wanted to dip my feet into the custom keyboard pool with hot swap switches. I'm really happy with this board though, it's very impressive for the price. Even with the cost of the switches it's still cheaper than my last Razer keyboard, by a little.
Finally a review of this board! I've missed out on a lot of gb for 1800keebs and was debating on getting this while I wait for one to come by. Appreciate the insights! 😊
I got the Q5 Max the white/grey version which looks a lot like this except the ESC and Enter keys are green rather than red. It is my first custom board as all my other boards are mainstream brands from Razer, Corsair, Asus etc. The solidity and heft of the Q5 Max truly puts it a cut above the rest of my other keyboards. Keychron has the most immaculate packaging and accessories which gave a truly unique unboxing experience prior to even touching and using the keyboard.
One area where the mainstream/gaming brands get a huge win is wireless security. Their 2.4 GHz connections use encryption (confirmed by Logitech, Corsair, Razer, SteelSeries, and put to the test in published scientific papers). These Chinese manufacturers, Keychron, Akko, Epomaker, etc. all send their keystrokes in plain text - the 2.4 GHz connections aren't secure.
@Ramesiel Oh I didn't know that. Nothing beats a solid and hefty metallic Keychron but for asthetics the usual jet black offerings from the mainstream brands certainly fits right in with our RGB laden PC cases with fishtank windows, on top of offering a mechanical typing experience.
Whatever you do, don't buy one of these. Many people are having issues with them and support is a total joke. Mine caught fire after charging and support will combine wasting your time, not responding, and requiring you to somehow sending a video of it not working and a burning smell. After way too many messages they refused a refund and sent me a new internal board. It's obnoxious that the onus is on the customer to spend the time taking everything apart and installing that (took me about 2.5 hours), but did it after weeks of waiting for them to do that. Wouldn't you know, three days later the new board has the same issue. This company isn't based in the US and has zero interest in standing behind their expensive products. But hey, I sprung for custom caps and enjoyed my $300 keyboard for the week that it worked. Never again.
I initially bought the K8 pro from keychron and absolutely loved it. When they finally did a full metal and wireless KB that was close to a full size board, I snapped it up. I'll admit. ive been disappointed in it on many levels. Like you, I don't like the KSA key caps and I don't think it sounds near as good as the K8 pro. Mine is very ping-y so i'm looking forward to finally swapping the switches, keycaps and trying my hand at some of the mods for this board. can't wait to see how it turns out. Thanks for the great video.
When I first read banana switches i thought, they gonna be amazing. but they sound very "light" and "metallic" not sure how to describe it, but it lacks the THOCK
It is absolutely fantastic to finally see someone reviewing this keyboard. I purchased one myself and am as delighted with it as you appear to be . I purchased a k4 v2 on the back of your original review, and I still have it. It makes a great travel keyboard for work, etc . Finally, and apologies if you have heard this before as I've been dying to ask, but you must know that you look like Andrew Garfield , the actor . Anyway, there I've said it, lol . Thanks for the fantastic review. Please keep doing them. Your videos are always a pleasure to watch.
Thanks for the kind words! Glad the videos have been both helpful and enjoyable to watch & that you're enjoying the keyboard. Also, I'll take that compliment for Andrew Garfield haha, he's a great looking dude.
Thank you for this review! I have a Q1 Pro and was thinking of getting this for my sister but couldn't find any reviews! I didn't like these caps either but my wife as the K8 Pro and loves them. Trying to decide between this an the K10 Pro. She likes clicky and I have some extra Glorious Raptors but would probably get the banana to use in a later build as I have the ones I pulled from my Q1 Pro, I'm using WS Morandi in it now.
Good review. However the statement that because it is 96% you can have your mouse within reach is so much bullshite I don't even know where to begin. This applies only to that guy from scary movie who was stuffing turkey with his funny hand. Rest of the world can have one hand on wsad and the other on the mouse without any issues whatsoever on 100% boards.
There's more to it to be fair. 100% ones have pgup/ home / group of keys taking 3 columns of keys. Comparing mine 96% vs 100% I would say it is...3 key columns shorter more or less. But in terms of reach improvement...It doesn't blow your mind and suddenly make you able to do stuff in game you could not do before lol@@novak_sm
I'm sorry if this sounds mean, but I will never understand why people use made-up words. If you don't feel comfortable using the word shit, then why not just say bull? It's the exact same meaning without using nonsensical words that you invented.
Great to see somebody finally checkign out this keyboard. Have you had any thoughts of upgrading it with Keychron's gold plated stabilizers, acoustic upgrade kit, or brass plate? Great video!
Thanks for watching! I haven't really thought about upgrading with stabs or new plates because I'm superbly satisfied with the quality right out of the gate. I don't think it needs further tweaking!
There's s MASSIVE FLAW of the keyboard. The Backlight is USELESSS. The characters don't lit because it's not transparent. Whoever thought of that DUMB idea? You won't see the characters in shaded or dark conditions. Funny no one talks about this.
i really love and have been looking for a layout like this, but this is kinda expensive for me. do you know any alternatives that features the same layout? i know there's keebmonkey 1800 with 2 less keys, but is there any more like this? thanks for the review, btw!
It was hard to tell from the video but did your keys have little jagged edges like it was a DIY cutout from a plastic mould (think: plastic model kits)? Got my Q5 Pro late July but most of the keycaps I received were like that and the Keychron team hasn't been able to provide a solution after almost 3 months here man... seeing what other UA-camr experiences are (also had black scuff marks on some keys and keyboard was missing a screw underside).
It does. For whatever reason, it comes stock with the Mac keys installed, but in the box are the windows keys. They keyboard has a switch on the top edge to switch from mac to windows.
after using this board now for over 3 months I have one issue with it. And it's quite big one considering the price point. Spacebar is getting uneven after a typing session. I use my left thumb to press it and it is sagging on the left side while right side is getting elevated. It got to the point where I can push on the left edge with not much of a force and make the space completly lift of the stabilizer on the right side. I made a complaint to Keychron over the weekend and waiting for their reply. After digging around the internet, this seems to be repeatable offence by Keychron. Apparently poor quality control of the keycaps.
I love how there keyboards can look retro but be totally in the future at the same time. Also, light without sacrificing that premium feeling.
I got the special edition purple, it’s so fresh!
Just placed an order on that. Hoping it looks as good in person as on the website lol
I just got the barebones version, I was shocked at how heavy it is. Really solid construction.
Used the TTC frozen silent switches, with some random keycaps I had laying around. It feels great and unless I hammer keys pretty hard it is completely silent.
I just wanted to dip my feet into the custom keyboard pool with hot swap switches. I'm really happy with this board though, it's very impressive for the price. Even with the cost of the switches it's still cheaper than my last Razer keyboard, by a little.
Finally a review of this board! I've missed out on a lot of gb for 1800keebs and was debating on getting this while I wait for one to come by. Appreciate the insights! 😊
Glad I could help! Thanks for stopping by!
I got the Q5 Max the white/grey version which looks a lot like this except the ESC and Enter keys are green rather than red. It is my first custom board as all my other boards are mainstream brands from Razer, Corsair, Asus etc. The solidity and heft of the Q5 Max truly puts it a cut above the rest of my other keyboards. Keychron has the most immaculate packaging and accessories which gave a truly unique unboxing experience prior to even touching and using the keyboard.
One area where the mainstream/gaming brands get a huge win is wireless security. Their 2.4 GHz connections use encryption (confirmed by Logitech, Corsair, Razer, SteelSeries, and put to the test in published scientific papers). These Chinese manufacturers, Keychron, Akko, Epomaker, etc. all send their keystrokes in plain text - the 2.4 GHz connections aren't secure.
@Ramesiel Oh I didn't know that. Nothing beats a solid and hefty metallic Keychron but for asthetics the usual jet black offerings from the mainstream brands certainly fits right in with our RGB laden PC cases with fishtank windows, on top of offering a mechanical typing experience.
Whatever you do, don't buy one of these. Many people are having issues with them and support is a total joke. Mine caught fire after charging and support will combine wasting your time, not responding, and requiring you to somehow sending a video of it not working and a burning smell. After way too many messages they refused a refund and sent me a new internal board. It's obnoxious that the onus is on the customer to spend the time taking everything apart and installing that (took me about 2.5 hours), but did it after weeks of waiting for them to do that. Wouldn't you know, three days later the new board has the same issue. This company isn't based in the US and has zero interest in standing behind their expensive products. But hey, I sprung for custom caps and enjoyed my $300 keyboard for the week that it worked. Never again.
Hi, I would like to know if there is any way to set the keyboard LEDs to white only, thanks guys! Nice video!
I initially bought the K8 pro from keychron and absolutely loved it. When they finally did a full metal and wireless KB that was close to a full size board, I snapped it up. I'll admit. ive been disappointed in it on many levels. Like you, I don't like the KSA key caps and I don't think it sounds near as good as the K8 pro. Mine is very ping-y so i'm looking forward to finally swapping the switches, keycaps and trying my hand at some of the mods for this board. can't wait to see how it turns out. Thanks for the great video.
When I first read banana switches i thought, they gonna be amazing. but they sound very "light" and "metallic" not sure how to describe it, but it lacks the THOCK
exactly, every keychron sounds same
It is absolutely fantastic to finally see someone reviewing this keyboard.
I purchased one myself and am as delighted with it as you appear to be .
I purchased a k4 v2 on the back of your original review, and I still have it. It makes a great travel keyboard for work, etc .
Finally, and apologies if you have heard this before as I've been dying to ask, but you must know that you look like Andrew Garfield , the actor .
Anyway, there I've said it, lol .
Thanks for the fantastic review. Please keep doing them. Your videos are always a pleasure to watch.
Thanks for the kind words! Glad the videos have been both helpful and enjoyable to watch & that you're enjoying the keyboard.
Also, I'll take that compliment for Andrew Garfield haha, he's a great looking dude.
Hi, great video. Ordered the Max version. Looking forward to it. Keep up the good work. BR Martin from Graz Austria
Great review 🙏🏼 looking to build a couple barebone ones of these up with my mom😮 excited👊🏼
I wonder why Q5 pro is more expensive than K10 Pro
I bought the Q6 Max 100% keyboard with oil king switch’s
Thank you for this review! I have a Q1 Pro and was thinking of getting this for my sister but couldn't find any reviews! I didn't like these caps either but my wife as the K8 Pro and loves them. Trying to decide between this an the K10 Pro. She likes clicky and I have some extra Glorious Raptors but would probably get the banana to use in a later build as I have the ones I pulled from my Q1 Pro, I'm using WS Morandi in it now.
When you say wireless, you mean blue tooth only or comes with a dongle ?
Great video - do you have any idea how the Q5 Pro compares to the Nuphy Halo 96?
Good review.
However the statement that because it is 96% you can have your mouse within reach is so much bullshite I don't even know where to begin.
This applies only to that guy from scary movie who was stuffing turkey with his funny hand.
Rest of the world can have one hand on wsad and the other on the mouse without any issues whatsoever on 100% boards.
Also, 96% keyboards in length only cut out the numpad's enter key and the period (.) column. I don't think it's significantly smaller.
There's more to it to be fair. 100% ones have pgup/ home / group of keys taking 3 columns of keys. Comparing mine 96% vs 100% I would say it is...3 key columns shorter more or less. But in terms of reach improvement...It doesn't blow your mind and suddenly make you able to do stuff in game you could not do before lol@@novak_sm
I'm sorry if this sounds mean, but I will never understand why people use made-up words. If you don't feel comfortable using the word shit, then why not just say bull? It's the exact same meaning without using nonsensical words that you invented.
Subscribed! Review was pretty neat! :)
What color switches are the quietest? TY!
Great to see somebody finally checkign out this keyboard. Have you had any thoughts of upgrading it with Keychron's gold plated stabilizers, acoustic upgrade kit, or brass plate? Great video!
Thanks for watching! I haven't really thought about upgrading with stabs or new plates because I'm superbly satisfied with the quality right out of the gate. I don't think it needs further tweaking!
What is the difference between pro and max?
If I am not wrong, the Pro only has Bluetooth while the Max has both Bluetooth and 2.5Ghz.
can you let me know what are those key caps??
Hi! In the video, I mentioned that they are the Osume Year of the Tiger caps!
There's s MASSIVE FLAW of the keyboard. The Backlight is USELESSS. The characters don't lit because it's not transparent. Whoever thought of that DUMB idea? You won't see the characters in shaded or dark conditions.
Funny no one talks about this.
how long is the cable that comes with the keyboard?
How do you change the switches on these? Soldering required??
Nope, they are hot swappable
Where can i get a mechanical keyboard with touch id?
i really love and have been looking for a layout like this, but this is kinda expensive for me. do you know any alternatives that features the same layout? i know there's keebmonkey 1800 with 2 less keys, but is there any more like this?
thanks for the review, btw!
Keychron make the K4 and K4 Pro which are a similar layout at a lower price point.
It was hard to tell from the video but did your keys have little jagged edges like it was a DIY cutout from a plastic mould (think: plastic model kits)? Got my Q5 Pro late July but most of the keycaps I received were like that and the Keychron team hasn't been able to provide a solution after almost 3 months here man... seeing what other UA-camr experiences are (also had black scuff marks on some keys and keyboard was missing a screw underside).
Mine did not, sorry you had manufacturing defects, hopefully they let you replace it.
does it not come with windows keys? (Alt & Windows key)?
It does. For whatever reason, it comes stock with the Mac keys installed, but in the box are the windows keys. They keyboard has a switch on the top edge to switch from mac to windows.
Tape Mod + Lubed Gateron Baby Kangaroos for more thock -> ua-cam.com/video/qKbFSGVlWZU/v-deo.html
大键全是钢丝音啊
after using this board now for over 3 months I have one issue with it. And it's quite big one considering the price point.
Spacebar is getting uneven after a typing session. I use my left thumb to press it and it is sagging on the left side while right side is getting elevated.
It got to the point where I can push on the left edge with not much of a force and make the space completly lift of the stabilizer on the right side.
I made a complaint to Keychron over the weekend and waiting for their reply.
After digging around the internet, this seems to be repeatable offence by Keychron. Apparently poor quality control of the keycaps.