Alrighty, we’ve done a few pricey boards as of late, so back to the budget side, with
probably one of the most popular retail mechanical keyboards out there at the moment, the Keychron
K6.
And as always, I just want to remind everyone how important budget mechs are, and that I’ll
always have time to cover some of them, because the reality is, mechanical keyboards can be
super expensive, and budget mechs make the mechanical experience accessible for more
people, and they’re getting better.
Although the one I have here isn’t super cheap, as I have the aluminium hotswap version,
which is $99, but the plastic versions start at $69.
Ok, so first impressions, feels pretty solid in the hands.
No major flex or anything.
Just under 700g which is to be expected, so not overly heavy, quite light.
But straight away, this is pretty aesthetically pleasing in my opinion.
Definitely the best looking Keychron keyboard I’ve played with so far.
We of course have the aluminium version, which just means this outer frame, is made of alu.
And it straight up is just like a picture frame, with 4 individual pieces going around
the board.
So not full alu, but it does have potential for modding, which we’ll do later.
But yeh, exactly the same design aesthetic as the K2, K4, K8, K whatever else.
But a major change that they have adopted and updated with their other boards since,
is that the plastic bottom is angled.
With the previous boards maybe a year ago and further back, their keyboards were completely
flat without the flip up feet out.
And that meant that the front of the board was quite high, which wasn’t very ergonomic
at all for the wrists, and back then I called it out pretty harshly as being just a lazy
design, but that’s all fixed now which is sweet.
So the front is lower, it’s more comfortable to type on, and it just doesn’t look so
weird anymore.
Another thing that contributes to how it looks are the caps.
The colours are very sleek.
I especially like the orange and blue sublegends and symbols for the secondary functions.
These caps are different to before though.
So the legends are aligned to the top right, which is a little unusual.
And the top surface area of the caps is a little larger than normal.
Still the same height as the typical OEM profile cap, but just more square.
They are however the same cheap 1mm thin ABS caps.
And just laser etched legends.
So these will shine overtime, and potentially fade, that’s just how it is.
But what it does allow them to do is to have this very clean, thin typeface which I like
for backlit caps.
Right now, we have the Mac keycaps on here.
And we do have that functionality etched on the number row.
However we do get the Windows keys in the box as well.
So yes, it is compatible with both Mac and Windows.
And Linux.
The K6 is their 65% keyboard.
So that’s kinda relative to a full size 100%.
So we have our dedicated arrow keys, which I personally love.
And a few nav keys on the right hand side.
If you require the dedicated function row, there’s the K2.
Numpad, you have the K4.
And don’t forget, all these keys are still accessible via the function keys and the secondary
functions that are labelled on the keyboard.
Furthermore, there is a mention of upcoming software to further customise the board, however
that is not available at this time.
If we look to the left of the board, first off, we have our USB C port.
So yeh, still to the side, but most of the time you’d be using it in wireless mode
anyway.
So we have our Windows/Android and Mac/iOS switch.
And next to that, our wireless switch.
I love wireless keyboards.
Honestly.
I’ve said this a bunch of times to people, but you know, everyone is different.
Everyone has different environments and use cases.
And for me, I actually use this stock pre-built iQunix F96, no mods.
Just stock Cherry MX Reds.
Because it has a numpad.
I like the function row.
And it’s wireless.
It’s just what suits my needs, and I just love the freedom.
Performance was absolutely fine.
I’m not a huge serious gamer, so I’m not the best judge of this.
But I found it fine for whatever game I played, and in this reaction test the results were
negligible, so that was all cool.
It has a 4000mAh battery, which apparently can last up to 240 hours without backlighting.
I wasn’t able to drain the battery, because no time for that.
Now to the switches.
There’s a few versions.
So I have the mechanical hotswap version.
There’s the classic soldered mechanical version.
And there’s an optical version, which would be hotswap between themselves.
So optical only.
These come with Gateron switches.
I have Gateron Reds, which are a linear.
And let’s have a quick listen to it in its stock form.
Okay, so quite a thin feel and sound.
And a bit pingy too.
It is a tray mount board, non-modded switches, but the thin keycaps definitely contribute
to that.
And while feel and sound is personal preference, it doesn’t feel amazing.
So what we can do is take out the switches and mod them, because this is a hotswap keyboard.
So we get our keycap puller to take the keycap off.
Sometimes the switch will come out too.
But then we get our keyswitch puller.
By the way.
What is this??
What kind of cost cutting piece of metal is this?
Honestly I found this kinda funny.
Like the usual cheap ones are like this, which is way easier to hold.
But most people into mechs use something like this.
But anyway, there’s a clip on the bottom and top of the switch, and just press inwards
and carefully pull up.
At this point, you can put another switch in.
But I’ll mod these.
So I lubed them with Krytox 205g0, because that’s what I had.
And put in switch films, which make it tighter, and can affect the feel and sound too.
I’ll include links for information on that stuff, because I didn’t record any of that,
and there’s so much choice and variation.
What’s really really important with hotswap boards is being careful when putting the switches
back in.You need to have the pins straight, otherwise you can damage the switch, damage
the hotswap socket.
And if you mess up the socket, then you’re gonna need to do some soldering work.
So yeh, just be gentle.
No sound test yet.
Let’s open it up first.
Starting with the alu pieces.
There’s just 4 HEX screws, and these just slide right off.
And we’re left with the plastic version of the board.
And honestly if you can afford the aluminium version, get it.
Because in its plastic form, it just looks unfinished, unrefined, and weird honestly.
The cool thing about having this sort of design though is that these pieces are super easy
to mod.
And by modding, I mainly mean painting.
And you don’t need to really take the keyboard apart like usual.
But we’re gonna take it apart even more just to show the insides.
Here’s the actual keyboard.
It has a standard 1.5mm aluminium plate.
And looking at the PCB, we have Gateron hotswap sockets, which are pretty much the same as
Kailh hotswap sockets.
But it looks like each socket has glue or something for more reinforcement.
Because again, these sockets are very prone to damage.
And in the bottom case we have our 4000mAh battery.
It’s a tray mount design of course.
And since the case is angled, there’s not sooo much empty space in there.
But there was some thin foam in the packaging, so why not just chuck it in there, and see
what happens.
Uh, it might need a little more cutting, because it is pretty tight, maybe too tight with a
bit of warping.
So maybe skip that, that’s up to you.
Back to the alu pieces.
To be honest, I think it looks perfectly good as it is.
But purely for the sake of this video, let’s paint.
And for that, we need to pick up some spray paint.
I don’t want to be spending too much, so we’re gonna stick to the normal hardware
store spray paint.
In Australia, and Bunnings in particular, there isn’t the biggest range.
But if you want like more metallic paints, you can go to an automotive sort of store.
Most of these are like all purpose sort of enamel paints, and a lot of them will say
like paint + primer.
So those should be fine.
I won’t go in depth.
But we’re gonna do the quick and lazy spray painting.
Usually for the best job possible, I would sand, use etch primer for aluminium to get
the best adhesion.
And paint carefully.
It’s also best to do it in let's say high teens to 30+ degrees celsius.
I know most of my viewers right now will be in winter, which makes it a little more difficult.
But yeh, we’re spraying straight on, no prep.
I chose a dark blue, to kinda match the blue sublegends on the function row.
Matte and satin will be easier than glossy.
If you want a glossy finish, everything will take longer, and it’s just more difficult.
Especially if it’s cold.
But the number one key with painting is patience.
I’d advise with putting a thin first coat just to get it to grab.
Then go harder, and do like 3 or more coats until you cover it.
With painting, it just depends.
All cans, paints, colours, and conditions are different.
You know what, let’s paint the escape and enter key just because.
Then slap on some clear coat.
I’m using matte clear, nice and easy.
And even if you do have a glossy paint, you can change it to matte or satin just with
the clear coat.
And again, like 2, 3, or 4 coats should be sweet.
Let all that dry for a good amount of time before you put it back together.
But honestly I did this all super late at night, but it is summer here.
Super super easy with this board.
I do have a dedicated video on spray painting, although that is a little outdated now.
But yeh, these pieces are so easy to clean up if you make a mistake anyway.
Just wet sand it back, and try again.
And just don’t paint on the inside, so it all fits well.
I went with quite a safe and subdued look.
And I got rid of the stripes at the front, since it kinda accentuates that it is painted.
But I like how it looks hey.
I did go back and wet sanded it with like 3000 grit.
I’m not sure actually, it was just a ripped off piece.
And the finish looks and feels pretty good.
Honestly even with cheap spray paint, you can really get beautiful finishes, it just
depends on you, your paint, and the time you have.
This one was a rush job though, but I’ve done this so many times, so it turned out
fine.
Makes it look a little plasticky I think with this finish, so not great, but not bad.
I also painted the escape and enter key.
I chucked on the Red Velvet logo on the escape, because I had leftovers from the Wendy macropad
build.
And I’m relatively happy.
Now let’s see how this sounds after the mods.
As expected.
Not as harsh and sharp anymore in both feel and sound.
It’s more dense, there’s a deeper sound.
I did try this without the foam before, and the ping disappears when you lube the switches
and springs, so that’s cool now.
Honestly it’s just the caps that kinda take away from the typing experience a bit.
But changing caps would be adding to the cost.
So it do be like that sometimes.
So definitely, if you can, lubing and filming does change the experience quite a lot, and
it’s not crazy expensive.
Again, I’ll link that stuff, because there’s different things you do with different sorts
of switches.
And that’s it.
My somewhat spiced up Keychron K6.
I think as an all rounder, it’s a pretty solid choice for a beginner, a casual.
It’s that nice 65% form factor, RGB backlighting that people like.
Wireless, which I personally love.
And hotswap, so you can try out different switches without desoldering or buying a new
board, all in a pretty decent package.
So not bad at all.
If you wanna make it your own, I do recommend the aluminium version, and it’s so easy
to paint or whatever because you don’t need to take the board apart, with the alu pieces
just sliding off.
If you do, tag me on Instagram or something!
All links in the description.