Qwertykeys is at the forefront of the budget custom keyboard market.
But the shortcomings of the QK80, namely in its acoustics, have given me high hopes that
the latest iteration in the QK budget lineup can further improve upon providing a good
stock sound.
This is the QK100 - the next iteration in the series that plays upon a less popular
but very useful layout and reflects the possibilities of the QK lineup.
First off, we’ve got our accessory sheath.
In here is Owlstabs and a coiled cable, keycap puller, switch puller, and mini screwdriver.
Now onto the included carrying case.
On top, we have an extra daughterboard and Bluetooth dongle,
Bottom feet, gaskets, and screws, A POM plate, FR4 plate, aluminum plate, and
carbon fiber plate.
Here is the Bluetooth hotswap flex cut PCB, with plate foam and PE foam included,
And a Bluetooth hotswap non-flex cut PCB, with the same foams.
At the bottom is our board, with some case foam installed.
QK100 is a semi-compact 1800 keyboard.
We have dual mounting systems - a top mount via tabs on the plate, or gasket mount with
variable stiffness via tabs on the PCB.
For PCBs, we have five - 4 hotswap, and 1 soldered.
For hotswap, we have wired ANSI, wireless ANSI, wireless flex cut ANSI, and wireless
ISO.
The soldered PCB has no flex cuts and supports both ANSI and ISO.
Hotswap ANSI PCBs support stepped caps and split backspace, hotswap ISO PCBs support
stepped caps, split left shift, and split backspace, and the soldered PCB supports stepped
caps, split left shift, ISO enter, split backspace, and an alternate backspace in the top right
corner.
All have daughterboards and support QMK and VIA.
For plates, we have POM, PC, FR4, and Aluminum, and also carbon fiber this time around.
Aluminum and FR4 have flex cuts.
For colors, the case, weight, and screen bezel are all individually configurable.
For case options, we have E yellow, green, blue, white, cream, lavender, and pink, and
anodized brown, navy, red, silver, and black.
For the weights, we have E white, anodized black or gold, and mirror dusk, chroma, silver,
black, and gold.
We also have two special versions, ice crystal and synth, which both include two unique options.
For the screen bezels, there are 3 different patterns, and the same possible color choices
for each one.
Lastly, the QK100 will run you between 150 and 250 dollars barebones.
In this PCB are the included owlstabs lubed with 205g0 and BDZ.
We’ll add on the carbon fiber plate, And in here go QK 01 switches.
These are factory-lubed linears with a POM stem, Nylon bottom, and POM/PTFE top housing.
Now we can install the gaskets.
You have the option to install these with the bigger bump or smaller bump facing downward,
and I’ll opt for the smaller bump, which should help increase the bounce a bit.
With the inner assembly done, we can open the case,
Install the inner assembly, remembering to connect the LED screen,
Inserting the top case, screwing it together, and installing qwertykeys own keycap set,
QK01.
So the liveliness is pretty impressive.
Although, this is probably mostly thanks to the cutless PCB, a pretty new implementation
this time around for Qwertykeys.
Another thing of note is that there’s no hollowness, even without case foam.
This is a pretty incredible feat considering the size of the board, and the amount of hollow
space.
You might have noticed during the unboxing that the case foam looks a different little
than usual, and this is because Qwertykeys has included a different kind of foam that’s
less porous and dense.
This is very similar to the material that’s included in Graystudio boards, like the Aero75,
and my assumption is that it’s not going to influence sound as much as regular case
foam would.
The sound profile overall is high-pitched and extremely sharp, almost to the point of
being plasticky.
This is due to the QK01 switches, which are loud and lean towards the high-pitched end.
Pairing these with the carbon fiber plate accentuates both the volume and pitch, so
if that’s not something you’re into, I would recommend using QK01s with something
quieter like POM.
I wish carbon fiber was an offering for all QK boards, as it really can help boost a lame
sound profile, and in this case, to the point of almost being annoying.
So the QK01 keycaps are PBT Doubleshot, which is probably why they have a lame-sounding
spacebar.
I tried this same configuration with GMK to see if it would maybe help with the plasticky
sound at the expense of making the pitch higher.
Weirdly enough, it actually made it sound ever so slightly worse, as well as making
the overall profile a bit quieter and higher pitched.
GMK does have a better spacebar, though, which almost goes without saying.
This configuration with no cuts and a carbon fiber plate is better for more muted switches
that already have a pretty lively sound to begin with.
I particularly liked Oak light tactiles and GMK, but this is obviously not going to be
everyone’s cup of tea.
Overall, the board just has a ton more acoustic headroom for you to make a great-sounding
config.
It still needs a reasonable amount of experimentation to get a satisfactory sound, but much less
than previous QK boards, like the 80.
The build actually has a decent amount of bounce, despite using the carbon fiber plate
and the absence of any PCB cuts.
The gaskets are doing a good job of providing this, and I have no doubt that the gaskets
will allow most configs to have a decent amount of bounce if that’s what you prefer.
Swapping to the harder gasket side didn’t really change the feel.
Although the pitch of the sound really didn’t change either, it actually accumulated a bit
of pingyness, which is weird.
It’s a little bit harder to push the inner assembly down, but really not by much, so
if you do prefer that harsher feel, I would stick with top mounting the board.
And of course, something like the polycarbonate plate and a flex-cut PCB will always be an
option.
As for the QK01 switches, they’re very consolidated and feel super solid.
To me, they end up feeling a little sluggish, and I think this is a combination of the factory
lubing, extra long spring, and early bottoming out.
Something interesting I noticed is that the switches I typed on for a while have lube
coming out of the stem hole, while the ones still in the box don’t.
So while the switches are mostly very nice and smooth, it might be a good idea to cut
back on the lube just a tiny bit.
Let’s take a look at the design, starting with the internals.
The QK100 has a included aluminum internal weight, with a nice but subtle engraving pattern.
Along the sides, we have an angled cut along the edge that helps add dimension, just like
with the Orbit that we just reviewed.
The top/bottom bezels and side bezels are uneven, but both remain pretty slim.
The side profile continues to improve, with some pretty complex machining this time around
that makes for a beautiful curve when looked at from behind.
Here is our centered USBC port.
The bottom has the weight piece with a pretty deep-running mountain engraving that pushes
this camping theme.
The ‘Synthetic’ weight I have is kinda like a Damascus with a very fine grain size,
but it’s a textured etching instead of a chemical pattern.
I really like the offering of these super unique weight patterns, as they reflect upon
Qwertykeys' ability to innovate and do something nobody else is really doing.
And overall, the layout isn’t a whole lot bigger than a TKL, meaning you can still work
with quite a bit of real estate for your mouse.
Something completely new to the QK lineup this round is the combined screen and LED.
this can display the time and date, Bluetooth status, and battery level.
QK config hasn’t been updated to configure this just yet, so there’s really not a whole
lot to do, and we’re stuck sometime in the future in 2163.
But hey, you have to admit this is a sick power on screen.
The anodization feels very high quality, with very smooth grainage and no imperfections.
And this has been the trend with all QK cases since the 60 - there’s never really been
a material quality issue, even with prototypes, which is extremely impressive.
And while it usually isn’t a big deal to the average eye, it reflects Qwertykeys' commitment
to detail and quality in their boards.
So while the latest iteration in the QK lineup isn’t perfect by any means, it's starting
to get scarily close.
The lineup has gotten to the point of covering pretty much every popular layout at this point,
and I think it would be a good idea to revisit and revise some of these to get them all up
to par.
But the quality of the QK100 in terms of design, sound, and feel indicates a very bright future
for Qwertykeys, and the budget custom keyboard space as a whole.