We all know our standard mechanical keyboards, and even though low profile mechs have been
around for a while now, we still haven’t seen much of them.
So today we check out the Keychron K1 slim low profile mechanical keyboard.
Initially this was the Keytron K1, but because of name registration issues and stuff, they
changed it to Keychron, and you’ll notice that in some parts of the video, such as smacking
on a new sticker on the box.
This comes in a white backlit version, and an RGB version.
And you can either have it with Windows or Mac keycaps.
The one I have is the white backlit Mac version, but they all should fundamentally be very
similar.
In the hands it actually feels awesome, as it is mainly made from aluminium.
So there’s no flex to it, and it feels very sturdy, and comes in at about 630g, which
is actually surprisingly hefty for what we have.
And yep, this only comes in black alumunium, but it looks fantastic with a nice even and
smooth anodised finish, which is on the top, and the bottom.
But the left and right sides are closed off with black plastic, which you know, still
fits in nice enough.`
But what it’s all about is that slimness.
So it’s not like a super slim keyboard like an actual Mac keyboard, but it does of course
still have these mechanical keyswitches with still quite a lot of travel which should be
around 3mm, which is only 1mm less than a typical MX style switch.
So we’re looking at about 22mm at its highest point, which includes the keycap.
And about 18.5mm at its lowest.
But the enclosure itself is very thin, as it also does have a floating key design, so
the switches are exposed from the sides.
But yeh, it looks great, and is super clean especially with these flat laptop style or
I guess we can say Mac style keycaps.
And they are very Mac like in shape and with the super clean font or typeface as well.
And being the Mac version, we do have the appropriate keycaps.
So if you have a Mac, then you’d already know all of these keys, like the command keys,
option, and all the secondary functions on the top row, which by the way, also work with
Windows.
As we do have just the white backlit version, which I think it’s perfectly fine, and compliments
the whole aesthetic of the keyboard, there’s not a heap that we can do with the lights,
but there are a bunch of patterns and effects available.
On the rear we have our USB type C port, which is in a kind of weird position, pretty much
just because this is where there’s actual space on the PCB.
Looks a bit weird but, it’s fine by me.
And then we have some switches on the back.
We can choose between bluetooth or cabled mode.
And despite having the Mac version, we can still switch between Apple, and Windows slash
Android.
So on the 1 to 3 keys we can pair our bluetooth devices.
So to pair, make sure that you have the switch on bluetooth mode, and then we hold Fn and
one of those numbers, and you’ll find the keyboard on your device.
And that’s it.
It’s using Bluetooth 3.0, and the performance was absolutely fine.
And finally I got Bluetooth working on my laptop by updating the BIOS, so yeh, I was
finally able to use it more in wireless mode.
For casual use, such as typing this script, and yeh just a whole lot of typing, it felt
great, there wasn’t any noticeable lag or latency.
I didn’t use it for gaming, but perhaps hardcore gamers may feel something there,
but yeh, I didn’t get to test it like that, as my poor laptop can’t take that on.
‘ As for battery life, they state that it can
go up to 15 hours with the backlighting on.
In my experience, I’ve used it for i’d say 2 hours a day or so, and after a week
it’s still going.
But it does turn off the LEDs after a minute of inactivity, so I guess that played a part
as well.
For the keyswitches, we have these blue low profile ones that I don’t know who makes
them, because they look pretty different to the Kailh Choc ones.
And these are pretty light clicky switches.
I’ve used low profile clickies before, and while at first they may seem pretty similar,
they’re actually not.
They still do use a click mechanism, but these are actually quite damp.
So when typing, the bottom out feels quite soft, instead of sharp.
Almost giving it this really weird pillowy and mushy effect, while still being clicky.
But the click is also not very sharp, and actually relatively quiet.
I desoldered a keyswitch to compare to a Kailh Choc White, which is the equivalent, and you
can really feel and hear the difference.
I think as someone who has experienced proper low pro clickies, these switches just feel
underwhelming, and just not satisfying to type on.
It’s always difficult to say, as everyone is different, and there may be people who
prefer this.
And even though it doesn’t make sense, it’s like a dampened clicky.
And here’s why.
The actuation mechanisim is a bit different, but it’s essentially the same.
That extra bit in the stem houses this purple piece that goes up and down, and has a spring
action.
And that’s what depresses the metal contact.
However, because it has that spring action, it’s like a secondary spring that you’re
pushing, on top of main spring, which by the way, looks a bit weird as well.
And I believe that’s why it gives it that cushiony effect.
But to add to that, the click mechanism is different.
In the Kailh Choc switch, it’s quite large and spans the switch, and we refer to this
as a click bar.
But in these, it’s much smaller, with just this piece of metal, creating a dull kind
of click.
And it results in this.
To take the keyboard apart, there’s a bunch of Phillips head screws under some keycaps.
There’s no header connection here, so the battery is directly wired to the PCB.
Alright, so here’s the bottom piece, and it’s a nice solid piece of aluminium, being
decently thick, and has some ribbing on the bottom.
There’s actually quite a lot of space here for a slim keyboard, especially towards the
back, as it does have that natural incline.
The battery has a piece of plastic to protect it from being punctured, and if we remove
it, it does confirm that it is indeed a 2000mAh lithium ion battery.
They did route about .9mm from the case to give it a bit more clearance, but you may
perhaps be able to chuck a larger one in there.
The mounting plate is made from about 1.1mm aluminium, so it’s actually pretty thin,
maybe because of the low-pro switches, so it’s very light.
The PCB look pretty normal and all.
The big difference that actual matters, is that the pins aren’t in the same spots.
Therefore, you can’t put in the other Kailh low profile variants, as they aren’t compatible
with the PCB.
I mean, there’s probably only a handful of people that would do that, but I just found
it interesting how different they are.
So overall, this is a keyboard that I find kind of difficult to understand.
Aesthetically, I know that it will be very appealing to many.
When people think of mechanical keyboards, they may think gaming, or they’ll think
like chunky typists keyboards.
So when you bring slimness, clean design, Mac compatibility, and even bluetooth into
the picture, you start to reach another side of the market.
And I think that’s great that you’re bringing the mechanical goodness to a wider audience.
And it really is a great keyboard for the most part.
But when I think of mechanical keyboards, I think about the typing experience.
And I’m a fan of Low profile clicky switches, and honestly, I think they’re by far the
best type for low profile, I don’t really rate linears and tactiles for this.
But these switches.
Honestly I don’t know.
If you’re gonna have clickies, they gotta be clicky.
I don’t want some dampened switch, because it just feels weird to me.
Especially after experiencing the Kailh Choc clickies, they are just so much better.
And yeh, I know, it’s a matter of opinion, but, I feel pretty strongly about this.
So as a device and its functionality, I love it.
But I just don’t like the switches, which is what mechanical keyboards are all about
for me.
They’re not like bad, they’re still better than say a laptop keyboard in my opinion.
And I guess it’s pretty harsh, and I know that many people will love this anyway.
But it’s well done for their first keyboard on the market, and hopefully they can improve
on what is already a wonderful start with this beautiful low profile board.