Hey everyone, today I’ve got a new keyboard from keychron.
This is the rgb, aluminum frame K8 with gateron brown switches. What makes this
board unique is that it’s keychron’s first standard profile ten keyless board.
Keychron’s K1 does have a ten keyless layout, but it only comes with gateron low profile switches.
The K1 also currently sold out on the keychron website. For those of you that don’t know,
a ten keyless board is essentially a full sized board, but without the numpad on the right.
The standard K8 comes with only white backlight and an all plastic body.
You can also upgrade the backlight to have rgb support and add an aluminum frame around the
edge of the board for a more premium look, which is the configuration that I have here. In terms
of switches, you can get keychron’s own optical switches in linear, clicks, or tactile or gateron
switches in the same variants. This board has the gateron browns, which are the “tactile” version.
Additionally, you also have the option to make the board hot-swappable, meaning you can just
pop the switches on and off without having to worry about soldering or desoldering.
They just clip in to the board and willhave a little bit of a friction fit.
This is really convenient if you plan on swapping out your switches in the future.
In terms of functionality, this board is extremely versatile. On the side, you have
switches that let you choose whether you want to use a wired connection or a bluetooth connection
for a much cleaner look, which is a really rare feature for mechanical keyboards these days.
There is also support for windows and Mac along with their associated mobile operating systems,
which means you won’t have to worry about remapping your function keys. However,
since Keycrhon wanted to have everything all in one spot, that means the USB port is also on the
side of the board, which is really inconvenient if you want to use this in wired mode.
One gripe that I have about this board is that is has this really hollow sound because of how
much empty space there is on the inside, so I decided to add in some foam to try and
remove the hollowness and give it a more solid sound, as well as going and lubing the switches.
This empty space also really contributes to how crazily tall this board is. My recommendation
is to use this board without the feet because it just becomes too uncomfortable to type on.
You can see how much taller it is than my Drop CTRL High-profile here.
To open up the board, you have to first remove the keycaps and switches, then unscrew the 11
Philips head screws holding the metal plate on as well as the 4 hex screws holding the aluminum
side frames to the body. The top and bottom frames just slide off once the 2 sides have been removed.
After opening the case, disconnecting the battery, and removing the PCB, you can see there is a ton
of empty space. The PCB itself rests on the little wings on the side of the screw posts,
meaning there’s about an entire half inch of unused height on this board.
The small ridges along the bottom are 1/8” tall, so I’m going to cut up some neoprene
foam to fit into all those boxes. For the remaining 3/8” of space, the packing foam
that came in the box is actually the perfect thickness, so I’m just going to cut that up,
making sure to leave a cutout for the wire that connects the battery to the PCB.
When putting the PCB back in place, there will be a small amount of bowing,
but that will be fixed once the plate gets screwed on. Also, be sure the small control
switches on the side line up with the switches on the outside of the case.
After fully reassembling the board, let’s hear what the
board sounded like before adding foam and lubing the switches versus after.
Overall, I think this board offers tremendous value and is a great entry into the world of
mechanical keyboards. The version I have here cost $100, but if you don’t care about rgb,
hot swap functionality, or an aluminum frame, the board gets as low as $70. One really nice
touch is that they factory lubed the stabilizers, so you won’t get the rattle that you normally get
in a lot of stock keyboards. The only downsides of this board, in my opinion, are the large amounts
of empty space on the inside of the board, the overall height of the board, and having the USB
port on the side. However, these are all just small details that have easy solutions, such as
adding some foam, using a wrist rest, or only using it in bluetooth mode. I would definitely
recommend this board to anyone who is just getting into mechanical keyboards and is on a budget.