This mechanical keyboard can be easily used in a fight for self-defense or offense, as
Sensei Lawrence would preach, and it is also what the Sound Design team used to create
all Iron Man suit sound effects in the movies.
I absolutely love it, but it seems I am not the only one.
EXCERPTS Before we get all technical, let me tell you
what makes this keyboard special.
For starters, it is one of the best-valued keyboards in the world of mechanical choices.
I'll get into the pricing in a bit.
Built quality and, most of all, typing experience is on par with more expensive selections out
there.
Throwing in the fact that this is a 75% layout, which is ideal, we get to the special secret
sauce, which is the columniation and combination of all these ingredients into one product,
resulting in an affordable typing symphony.
TYPING TEST This Keychron Q1 QMK Custom Mechanical Keyboard
Knob Product costs less than most entry-level custom solutions out there come with pre-mapped
Mac function keys, double-gasket design, and lubed switches.
In a world where a custom keyboard might set you off anywhere between 200 and 600 dollars,
this fully assembled version at $179 is starting to look like a terrific bargain (no wonder
people love it).
As I said, it's a 75% layout which, for people like me, who don't like to push the mouse
too much to the side and know little about mechanical keyboards, is precisely what's
needed.
In fact, I'd go smaller, like 65%, but in my language, the sound Ч which is often used
when typing, sits where the wave dash key is, which means that a 65%-er will not allow
me to quickly type that particular letter, the wave dash symbol and escape easily.
Anyway, this 75%er makes me very happy because I adore the arrow keys with their slight separation
for easy access, plus I get to enjoy the Mac function buttons like Mission Control, LaunchPad,
brightness, and media controls.
Before I tell you why people drool over this keyboard, I want to point out my absolute
favorite addition to this particular model, which is a tactile rotary encoder control
knob.
You can, of course, purchase the Q1 without that knob and add an additional button or
perhaps a custom logo, but this knob is how it should be sold in the first place, in my
opinion.
This knob not only makes this keyboard even more versatile, but the implementation and
built quality are just as great as everything else in this package.
When plugged into the Mac, out of the box, it can be used to control the volume and even
re-mapped to serve other purposes.
It is not cheap plastic, it is tactile, and it is also a button (SHOW PRESS).
When I mentioned that this keyboard could be used for self-defense, I meant that because
it is made from aluminum, which is CNC polished, anodized, and sandblasted, creating a very
premium, heavy, and potentially dangerous product.
It weighs 3.5 pounds or almost 1.6 kilograms, and if you have a mic, you can record yourself
knocking on it and create your own Iron Man sounds.
What I am trying to say is that this thing is built like a tank, and it won't go anywhere.
That body combined with the Double-Gasket design and pre-lubed switches results in a
sound and experience that usually costs a lot more, and more often than not, it is reserved
for the PC world and not Mac.
Now, I'd like to go back to the custom keyboard pricing comparison from earlier.
$179 is not a low price, but if we are to look at some simple Mac alternatives out there
and ignore that this is a mechanical keyboard altogether, it turns out that this price is
indeed very competitive, especially for what you are getting.
The keyboard is RGB illuminated and cable-operated only.
No battery version is available, and I don't mind that because I tend to keep my keyboards
connected anyway to avoid having to charge them every two weeks.
More often than not, I keep the lights off with this keyboard because everything seems
ever so cleaner.
Here are the light combos that you should care about.
KEY COMBO DEMO There are two things that I don't like about
this keyboard.
Even though the body is at an angle, I'd still prefer to have the option to raise it even
more.
That, however, is not possible because there are no kick-stand legs.
Now, I can be reasonable and understand that this is all made from a solid aluminum block
and weighs a ton, but they could've included a second brick of aluminum to prop it from
the back manually.
JK.
Second, there's no available software for this keyboard.
If I want to make any adjustments, I have to use a configurator like VIA, which is hackier
than what the average consumer would dare to use.
Third, Keychron stopped shipping the keyboards with aviator coiled cables and comes with
a standard, still very high-quality braided one, but not an aviator nor coiled one.
Now, I know that such cables are all about looks, but I've never had one, and I had high
hopes to get one in the package, but NO....SO...I took matters into my own hands.
MAKING A CABLE Now...much better.
So, I went for the Space Grey version of the Q1 because I'm not too fond of Navy Blue,
and the Carbon Black version doesn't stand out as much.
I made some slight monochromatic adjustments to the color theme and replaced some keycaps
with grey versions from other keychron keyboards that I have lying around, and I love how everything
turned out.
Talking about other Keychrons, my very first mechanical keyboard is from Keychron, and
I've been using it for a long time, and it still holds and looks excellent, given the
fact that it was highly affordable.
That means that this Q1 should last a long time too.
Since demand for this keyboard is high, when available, you can order it fully assembled
or barebone, which comes at an even more affordable price.
As you can see, the fully assembled kit comes with all the bells and whistles, including
a screwdriver and hex key for when you decide to mod it.
The only thing I did was take Dave2D's advice from his video and add this additional layer
of foam below the PCB in the bottom case which got rid of the ever so slightly pinging leftover
on some keys resulting in a beautiful sound.
If you enjoyed this content, check out this video of another favorite mechanical keyboard
of mine and if you are still here, subscribe, because WHY NOT?
As always, it's been an absolute pleasure, This is E
Over and out