Unboxing Keychron Q6 and Q1 Pro keyboards!
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- I'm preparing for another big project that's coming up, hopefully this month, so in the meantime, here's another unboxing video; a double one this time! specifically, a Keychron Q6, and the new Q1 Pro! Highly requested by viewers, and chosen by Twitter poll!
Intro by Kyle Carter
Outro by Facundo Cabanne
My keyboard reviews: bit.ly/1TbOtft
My switch teardowns: bit.ly/2C1QGHz
My TOP X videos: bit.ly/2FmpZfd
My XL typing demos: bit.ly/2OoAW3w
My tutorials and featurettes: bit.ly/2OrkLUh
My unboxing videos: bit.ly/2TSrr0m
I'm Thomas and I do videos and reviews on mechanical keyboards ranging from the most sickening modern RGB gaming keyboards to vintage hardware relics, or sometimes keycaps or keyswitches ranging from Cherry MX to Alps SKCM to IBM buckling springs and anything in between.
Follow me on Twitter for updates on my keyboard videos! / chyrosran22
Heads-up there is actually a switch puller and screwdriver and stuff in the Q6 box, it's just hidden under the cardboard in the bottom. I got mine (knobless) recently to replace a defective Ducky One 3 (the same key chatter issue everyone seems to have with it), nice to see stuff finally ticking the boxes I want of 100%, USB-C detachable cable, ISO, hot-swap, and am very happy with the Q6. Extremely solid, works well. The Q6 does have RGB actually (that I just turn off), but I imagine that'll be obvious as soon as you plug it in.
Man I just got my q4 today and totally missed the tools at the bottom. Thanks
I always love to see more premium 108 keyboards. . As someone who does a lot of work that makes function shortcuts a hinderence, Q6 looks very tempting.
Same. I refuse to go lower than 1800 for much the same reason. The custom community's obsession with toy keyboard sizes (65%, 60%, and especially 40%) makes no sense to me.
@@jesuszamora6949 the toy keyboard size thing is just groupthink.
@@lt1caprice57l Oh no doubt. That and the anti-clicky bias. And the obsession with barely-different MX varients. And the gaskets thing. I don't need my keyboard to be a trampoline, I need it to be a keyboard.
@@jesuszamora6949man honestly, all these hate-bandwagon actually came from a more reasonable place, like the anti-clicky bias, we don't hate clickies, we just hate Cherry's blues, other clickies that came after it was absolutely gorgeous sonically
@@jesuszamora6949 stop thinking the custom scene is a monolith LOL, its all about personal preference man. Theres tons of options to build the keyboard that YOU like.
Everyone on this channel just whines about modern keyboards and the things other people like
I've had a Q6 for several months that I had someone heavily modify to be as silent as possible. It's been the daily driver with my gaming desktop, and I wouldn't change it for anything. For the new home office space I set up, which is in a different part of the house, I went with the Q1 Pro with red switches that Keychron sells through their Amazon storefront. At first I had purchased one of the pre-assembled $350 GMMK Pro kits, but the stabilized keys had so much lube that several would be extremely slow to rebound, with the left shift feeling like it wouldn't come up at all sometimes. The Q1 Pro is built better, sound amazing, has zero stab rattle or case ping, and was $130 cheaper. The only problem with it was that it came with two control keys instead of one control and one option, but after contacting the company, they said they would send a proper replacement, so I can't fault the customer service either.
A Jakobs man! But of course, a man of culture. Very on-brand.
If it took more than one shot.... 8)
Picked up a K8 from keychron recently, very pleasantly surprised at how well built they are, the fact they have hotswaps and optical switches for less than $150 AUD at the time of when i bought it.
I love the keycap style and wish more boards would come with such profiles without having to spend $40 for an aftermarket set. I find them more ergonomic to type on than modern day slightly arched keycaps.
But it's super thin and have a shitty amount of double shot layer
finally, a youtuber who likes full size.
I recently got a Q3 and Q6 and they are absolute beasts. I love them. Added dark blue/yellow cherry profile keycaps, which looks stunning with the silver metal case. Really impressed with Keychron there. If you decide between the Q and V series, definitely go with the Q.
Do you mind shooting a link to what you got? I am looking for some good recommendations on this color!
@@mattemge31 UA-cam won't let me post links. I got the silver Q6 and the Cherry "Royal" keycaps from keychron.
They keycaps on the K1 Pro are KSA profile, doubleshot PBT. I think they're excellent but they could really stand out from the competition by making them super thick
The plaque in the back is so that the wireless signal can pass through. It can't pass through aluminum, so they have to add a cutout for the antenna.
BTW, love my Keychron K3 with reds - it's by far the best keyboard I've used. It's like typing on clouds!
Been daily driving an ISO Q6 w/ knob for a couple of months now (with the lovely clicky chosfox arctic fox switches) and I am super happy with the purchase. The board is built like an absolute tank, the surface finish on the metal feels very robust, typing feel is superb and the board brings out the sound of the switches really nicely, the knob is sturdy and feels good to use, the stock stabs are smooth..
The lack of angle adjustment is not really bothering me, but I realize for some people it's gonna be an issue. I'm using a full-size wrist rest.
The silver gray colorway is a lot more subtle in person than in some of the pics I googled before ordering. Paired it up with the Glorious black ash keycaps and it looks pretty damn good to my eyes.
I bought a few of there wired keyboards last year. My first real experience with non-membrane keyboards.
I got 3. One with each of the Gaterons they offered at the time. I liked the reds and blues, had high hopes for the browns but didn’t care for them as much. Gave that one to my Father who was having issues with a flaky keyboard that came with his Dell.
Pretty happy considering how little they cost at the time.
Now this is what I've been waiting for.
I got a q6 and I love it. I got a bearbone model without the knob and put akko vintage whites and a DSA profile keycap set and it is hands down my favorite keyboard I have used daily. I did just get my hands on an IBM model M2 but my pc doesn't have a ps2 port so I haven't tested it out yet. I just ordered the adapter.
The caps on the Q Pro almost look similar to MT3 profile... at least in terms of the row heights and the scooped surfaces. Keychron is definitely at the top of the "budget" custom market right now. And they just keep on pumping out new products! Glad to see it.
They're shorter, Betty (Switch and Click) physically confirmed this.
they're OSA profile, which is essentially SA profile at OEM height. I've been using an OSA set on both of my keyboards for quite a while now. MT3 is much closer to normal SA in height, and the scoop is way more extreme.
Edit: I misremembered their keyboard models. See responses below.
@@voidstar.studio Nope. Q1 pro comes with Keychron's new KSA profile. They're a bit shorter than MT3 but similar.
@@lt1caprice57l oh, I got screwed up between Q1 Version 2 moving to their version of OSA and Q1 Pro. I just remembered seeing it on their marketing when they switched to OSA and got the timeline wrong there. Also of note, the OSA that I have is actually spherical, unlike the Keychron version. Theirs are basically a chunkier OEM with a different angle, where mine are actually SA at OEM height.
digging through their website, it does appear that the scoop is very similar to the more extreme MT3 scoop. like looking at the F-key row, their surface is much smaller than SA profile, and that's how my MT3s were. so perhaps they are closer to an OEM height MT3, which I guess is interesting, but the thing I hated most about MT3 was how small their tops were and I felt like I was hitting the edge of the keys half the time, which would be the same problem here.
I lost it when you laughed at the baby kangaroo switches hahaha
Can't wait for you to dive into the world of modern custom keyboard.
While you were unboxing those keyboards, my attention is more on that keyboard underneath your monitor. Is that the SteelSeries Apex Pro or something? Or another keyboard in the collection for a future review.
It is another keyboard you'll be seeing further down the line :) .
"Everything a keyboard can offer"?
I Am Excited 🙃
0:21 now this is pure fiction. How are we supposed to believe that THAT much brandy is going to last Thomas all the way through an entire video?
one thing with the VIA compatibility: all you should need to do is download VIA and the Q6 (not sure about Q1 Pro) should be quickly recognised, no QMK fiddling required.
There are a few layers: 0 and 1 are MacOS, 2 and 3 are windows, so make you sure you select the right layers to edit for the operating system used. You can set a key bind to tap or hold to change layers, i think they are M(0), M(1) etc... This catches quite a few people (including me) with the Q series and VIA
There's no need to "fiddle" with qmk for most keyboards you can use the configurator or just flash the VIA hex file. But learning QMK unlocks a lot of customizations that are not possible with VIA or the QMK configurator. Every keyboard enthusiast would benefit from learning qmk, you can make your keyboard a lot better.
downloading isn't even necessary anymore since the software can now be accessed through a webpage. makes it even easier.
You're laughing, there's baby kangaroos trapped inside tubes and you're laughing!
cheers on the drink! i did test that better with glass
Hey Thomas, can you review the Strawberry Parfait Orange Peel Dango Shiba Inu switch? They're the best linears I've tried by far and nothing sounds quite like them.
You joke, but I would NOT be surprised if there was a switch with that name.
7:46 UK man sees 'Knob', has a good chuckle.
ive just gotten the baby kangaroos a few weeks ago. I gotta say that I really love them. I hope I get to see you try them out before this video is over.
Oh, I see a lot of people actually like full-size keyboards. Just curious, if the numpad is actually extensively used by these people and what kind of job is this?
As for me TKL is the optimal format, as I can imagine numpad to be useful only if you work with filling tons of numbers into tables or maybe you do accounting, which I don't. But other keys, such as ins/del/home/end/pgup/pgdn are seldomly, but still used and it's better to have them without any modifiers. Maybe with a huge table size is not a big deal, but having the pointing device a little bit closer makes a big difference for me, and that's where the TKL is at it's best.
I'm up to three Keychrons; a V6 with gat cap v2 milky yellows, a C2 with box pinks, and a K10 with box crystal jades.
Oh and I also just scored a NOS bigfoot!
Wait, what, a NOS IBM bigfoot? That's quite fortunate. How? I don't think I've ever even seen one for sale. Did it cost a fortune? I bought a New Model F, so there goes my keyboard budget for the foreseeable future ... well, probably not, but that SHOULD be the case. 😂
@@bsadewitz Dell Bigfoot. AT101W.
Very curious to see what you think of them. Probably wouldn't get a Q series board myself, but they recently introduced the V series, which seems to be a more budget version of this, with a plastic case. Thinking of a 75% board myself. Though please, Thomas, rant all you want about the fact that there are 3 keys on the left side. Which means you will have to miss out on one of the Home/End and PgUp/PgDn keys. I mean, what were they thinking?
It's actually a reason why I might want to get the knob-less version. Then you get an extra key in place of the knob. Besides, if I'm using my computer, there's already a knob present. I don't need another one. ;)
Awesome! Looking forward to this.
I have the Q6 myself (the black version). It is gloooorious. I bought it when my Das Keyboard broke and let out the magic smoke. The build quality is miiiiiiles better than my old Das Keyboard.
I feel like my writing speed increased immensely! The switches are sooo much better, not to mention the keycaps!
My one has RGB lighting, but I hate RGB lighting. Thankfully you can turn it off, which was the first i did.
The only negative thing is the USB-C-port in my keyboard is flopping around a bit, so either it is about to break, or it is just that flimsy. It works right now though, so I am going to be very careful with it. I won't be moving it a lot anyway. It is to heavy to throw around 🙂
In my box there were a few more bits under the keyboard matrix in the bottom of the box. A keycap puller and some other stuff.
I prefer a full-size (or near full-size) board for studying and working but a smaller one for gaming (for the additional mouse space). I've got a Keychron Q1 plus a separate Q0 numpad which is perfect - I can move the numpad out of the way for gaming.
baby kangaroo? why not joey 💀
ah yes, you’re finally reviewing my first keyboard
quite pleased with my K8 Pro beside the assumption from Keychron that I'm a Mac user, the rubber feets that don't like to be moved with the keyboard very much, and the non light shone through keycaps.
I have the Q6 with Clickiez switches, and PBTfans Neon keycaps. The knob made a funny noise when I pressed it out of the box so I stuffed the keyboard a bit, and now everything sounds good.
I found out about these boards recently and I'm happy to finally have a QMK hotswap board that's actually fullsize after not having any options for many years. I've pretty much avoided custom boards since I got into the hobby since there's been no proper sized options so most of my boards are cheaper fullsize boards that I just desolder and replace the switches and keycaps on.
Anyway looking forward to your review! I hope it's a board worth getting. :)
The keycaps on the Q6 remind me (distantly) of those on HP's old desktop computers like the legendary HP 85.
It’s probably the switches contributing to the quietness of the full size.
Gateron browns are super quiet
Damn, that Q6 is looking really nice for my GMMK 1 replacement!
I just hope that one doesnt have a plastic backside, like this....
The "plaque" on the back of the Q1 Pro is, as you kind of suspected, a window for the wireless signal to pass through.
The Keychron Q6 Pro is so heavy. It's definitely not a keyboard I would want to travel with. Probably keep my V6 for use when traveling.
I have a V1 which is excellent and very reasonably priced. From the sound demos I've heard I think it actually sounds a bit nicer than the metal chassis Q versions due to a lower pitch and a bit more reverberation.
my drink of choice is coke and vodka
Wireless keyboard that's QMK capable is amazing, never heard of wireless keyboards that use QMK, only ZMk.
EPIC JAKOBS SHIRT
Hey Tom. I was wondering what your opinions are about the somewhat recent trend of flex cut PCBs and backplates. Apologies if you've already talked about it in an another video.
I personally can't help but think it's incredibly silly and defeats the purpose of having a backplate in the first place as the purpose of a backplate is to add rigidity to the PCB.
It kind of blows my mind how its seen as so desirable and almost like a necessary feature to basically everyone these days.
He actually talked about the whole flexing thing when he reviewed the GMMK pro with Glorious Panda switches, and he echoed that sentiment. Then again, he's the polar opposite of the "custom keyboard community," so that's no surprise.
Gateron should get a thesaurus, a baby kangaroo is a joey.
Doesn't keychron have optical switches as well? A sound dampened QMK keyboard with optical switches (a la razer huntsman v2 red) would be the last keyboard I buy.
The Q6 look amazing. I'm not a fan of the knob - nothing against it, of course but I prefer a standard F row. Or if the knob would be on the right hahah but looks like an amazing board. VIA nowadays is pretty good, you can even use it in the browser and pretty easy to assign macros IMO :)
I also don't like the keycap profile but that's easy to change.
Good stabs.
I'd buy this board in a heartbeat hahah
Well I would also assume that most non-apple keyboards sold are bought to replace default terrible apple keyboards.
Well, if something being ill fit for purpose bothered Apple users, why would they be Apple users? 🤣
Seriously though, that Magic keyboard is absolute trash, so i can see that being replaced easily.
Baby kangaroos have a funny name but theyre my favorite tactile switch!
chyros borderlands player?
Absolutely! I own a second shirt of it as well 8) .
When you review fully can you give the thickness, I.e. the height of the spacebar row from the desk?
I'm selling my Keychron K8 as I type this as its too thick to be comfortable and I dont like the lack of cable routing.
Also I don't use the Bluetooth because I got sick of having to convince it to connect to my PC every time I booted up.
The Q1 was my first QMK keyboard and I really like it. It's heavy as fuck and needed a lot of modding to make it sound decent (I've got the very first version where the case sounded as hollow as a cathedral) but I personally love the layout, the knob and the way it's customizable. I'm a bit confused why they make a wireless version now because it's just way to heavy to carry or move around a lot, which almost defeats the purpose of a wireless keyboard.
People wanted a clutter free desk. Also QMK recently received long awaited support for Bluetooth.
Been thinking of getting an aluminium full size, but the selection is quite narrow for ISO + volume dial
why on earth does your camera have a recording time limit
I am only mildly interested in keyboards. I subscribed to improve my English vocabulary since English is my second language. I am certain that it will help improve my conversational skills!
What is this, the drunken keyboard reviews?
I like the pro. I could get into that one in a full size.
Another keyboard that uses QMK as well, hopefully we'll get another QMK rant.
Along with hopefully another Razer Synapse mini-rant!
It uses Via though, which actually looks good!
@@sideshowfrost go watch the Model F77 repro video to see what his experiences with Via have been like.
@@daemonspudguy Oh no, that doesn't bode well :/
QMK and ZMK are awesome, VIA is way too limited. The learning curve for QMK and ZMk is steep but the amount of customizability you get is amazing, it's well worth learning if you're into using tiny keyboard and/or straying away from qwerty.
I’m mostly curious about the height of their new keyboards because most of them are way too tall to be usable for me. (And too much of a angle I can barely type on)
Probably to make room for the foam.
"oh oh, look at that, it's TEEEUUUBES"
Chube viewer here
nice Q6 pro grey
I admit it I forwarded to where you had the keyboard out of that fking bag
"Had a lot of dim sum for dinner"
vias pretty good what's wrong with it
I think he just had a bad time with it trying to get the IBM Model F77 reproduction keyboard working with it. I got it working with that and other keyboards and Via is excellent.
Why are you drinking out of PVC?
It's not, it's PTFE! It's a failed reactor liner. A keepsake of sorts from my PhD days.
if a fake weight only adds weight what does a real weight do???
I think his point is that the weights are a placebo to make people THINK something is better, owing to the belief some people have that weight = quality. For TOUGHNESS, you need a full metal frame, like the Class 80 or GMMK Pro. Still, it's usually immaterial for keyboards. Gimmie a light plastic build if the keys feel good and the thing isn't flexing all over the place, idgaf.
@@jesuszamora6949 i know what he meant i just couldn't stop my self from pointing it out....and i do agree that the brass weights in keyboards are kind of a waste of material if only all those were used to make screw inserts in plastic housings =(
@PentaBram Haha, fair. And yeah, making screws out of that brass would be nicer than the clips Razer et al use.
So what’s your beef with QMK/VIA?
It's confusing, unnecessarily complicated, and worse, shouldn't be necessary in the first place.
@@Chyrosran22 I would agree with QMK, but with VIA it's laughably easier to configure the keys itself compared to the old QMK flashing and what not. You only need to visit VIA's website to change the key bindings on the fly. No need for any software (there's a VIA standalone software that's non-obstrusive but the browser-based configurator serves the same purpose).
@@Chyrosran22 That is all true. But I don't know of another way to to get hardware programmability out of a USB keyboard. if you have a vintage PS/2 board, then the Soarer's Converter is light years better than QMK is. VIA makes QMK more tolerable. VIAL makes it even better.
next inbox with hennessy when?
Really looking forward to your review of the Q1 Pro, as I'm considering getting the KSA (Keychron SA profile) keycaps it comes with. (While Keychron describes them as their own take on SA, I've heard others describing them as closer to MT3.)
The OSA keycaps that came with my q3 has many very bad legends, off center, letters of different size on the same key, crooked, swigggly etc. I complained to keychron and they responded it was normal variation. No it’s not. It’s by far the worst legending I have EVER seen. The legends are unacceptable on a $15 set and have no business on a $200+ board. These keycap sets are only $20-30 plus shipping separately and keychron is obviously economizing on the key caps. Which is nothing new; their key caps are usually the weakest link on their boards whatever the product line from the slim line to the custom aluminum ones.
I love my w4 otherwise but I recommend doing yourself a favor and buy keychrons barebones, unless you need the switches. In which case budget 20-50 for decent pbt keycaps bought from someplace else.
Baby kangaroo?
Okay, the cute MX hackjob names are getting out of hand.
on the upside, it is no worse than colour scheme which also provides no context nor relation to key feel.
MX brown shall be named MX flurry of mushy shit and MX red to MX one-grit linear.
maybe switches should have a specifying name such as L204060, and a two word name that describes sound and feel for marketing (as imo sound is overemphasized by many) i.e. MX ploppy diarrhoea
@@eggcopter Honestly, I don't mind Cherry themselves having used colors back when it was just them and Alps and maybe a couple others, in the time before the clone market. They had a relatively few offerings, and denoting them by color made as much sense as anything else. The problem comes from the rise of so many hobbyist switches that are SO alike that the colors and cute nomenclature are really the only way to identify them. It's easy to tell a buckling spring from a hall effect switch from a Cherry MX white from a Kailh box royal, but if you put two keyboards in front of these hobbyist types, one with Drop Holy Pandas and one with these baby kangaroos in, and asked them which is which, would they be able to without pulling a keycap?
@@jesuszamora6949 when the times was simple and there were only the few primary colours and their clones on the market.
must be a marketing thing to have so many similar switches differentiated only by naming...
I dont mind cherry that much either, just jokes. I do find brown and the like positively pointless and often quality-plagued tho.
@@eggcopter Well, browns are famous for being the least tactile "tactile" ever. Makes a safe enough bet if you're gifting a keyboard to someone only used to rubber domes, but only just. However, that's a separate issue from all the companies trying to make a better brown instead of actually doing something different the way Kaihua did with Box Royals and their clickbar series. Even Kaihua is being a bit stupid too, what with burnt orange and silent pink and noble yellow and further minor adjustments.
You ask me, a company would be best served starting out with three variants each of linear, clicky and tactile switches (light, medium, heavy) and only introduce new switches when they actually can offer something different from those baselines. The way it stands now, it's nearly impenetrable for anyone on the outside looking in.
Can someone @the, gime for sound, test
put brandy in the keyboard
I wish i was rich enough to buy these stuff
Please notice and apply appropriate swearwords in unboxing videos; pro version has light effects!!!???
RGB is unfortunately mandatory nowadays. A silly expense, I feel.
I get that the Mac centric snobbery is supposed to be humorous and is hipsterish, but it’s hard to be snobbish unless your running Linux.
keychron has got to be applauded as one of the very few companies making mechanical boards that work with all things apple seamlessly out of the box. Especially as apples keyboards are now craptastic. Sure one can remap etc but many don’t want that hassle. And all the Mac multimedia function keys work out of the box on keychrons. And the Glorious Pro would not work at all (not even alphas) with Macs when it first came out unless you reprogrammed it on a windows machine first. For reasons only glorious knows since pretty much any keyboard will at least function fine except windows and alt keys are not in the right place for mac users.
So yeah, the switch is set to a Mac by default. All those Microsoft drones have to flip it and I know thats annoying cause they would rather install drivers etc.
I have a dual boot Windows and Linux rig, and while I don't really bounce around communities, my pokes through help threads and the occasional tech thread shows Linux users to be more possessing a persecution complex than Mac snobbery.
Can't say I'm a big fan of this trend of using slowly decaying rubber or foam as an integral part of a board's assembly.
for a hotswappable it is probably fine and I do think that most (and I) like the keyboard chassis silenced to a sensible degree.
Anyone who cares enough will probably be able to de solder switches to separate the plate and the PCB.
cheaper mechs that rots away will be forgotten, expensive mechs that rots away will be replace by another expensive mech. I dont see much change for 99% of consumers, as they have not stopped habit of consumption that would neccesitate more durable products beyond marketing.
I imagine you can take the foam out and the keyboard would function. I gotta get off my ass and de-foam my GMMK1...
Ah, good old Keychron. I wish they would release an ISO keyboard full size (or even TKL, just give me my arrows and nav cluster and no missing main keys), but no, that's only for ANSI privileges. (also wtf is that 3 key nav cluster keyboard makers do to their compact keyboards these days, it's hhhhhhhhideous)
(I have the same gripes about laptop keyboards - ANSI everywhere for absolutely no reason other than being stupidly americacentric)
I don't know about their pre-assembled boards, but their barebones kits do have ISO options. I picked up the ISO version of the Q5 a while back (which I'm using to type this reply on).
@@ohsupervinchan That one's also kinda cramped and weird :(
@@ohsupervinchan I just looked at their website again and it looks like they *finally* do have Q3 and Q6 in ISO, it was exclusively only their weird% keyboards that had ISO or JIS last year... And K4 which is entirely a "why would you do that to yourself if you're already buying a full keyset" keyboard :D
muc
@13:09 - Took the words right out of my mouth.
I love some modern heft. Too bad they all use mx garbage.
At least there's hotswap, so you can chuck the stock switches and put some Box Navies or Box Royals or something.
@@jesuszamora6949 that's true, closet I've found to an Alps feel though would be some clickiez but it's still quite not there. The leaf helps though
Never experienced Alps myself, and given what Chyrosran22 has mentioned about their sensitivity to dust, I'll admit I'm not eager to find one. My reference point is the Model M when it comes to click and tactility. The navies aren't quite that, but close enough for baseball compared to having to deal with Unicomp's quirks or the secondhand market.