Keychron - K1 Max QMK/VIA Wireless Custom Mechanical Keyboard

I think I'll go the easy way and settle with a keychron K1 max (hotswap) with brown low profile gateron switches fors starters. I really like how it looks. Thx for your input.

If you want something low profile, something from the K Max line, specifically the odd-numbered ones.

If you want low profile, get an odd-numbered K Max line board. Make sure it's hot swap. Otherwise, get V or Q (although I would avoid Q cuz it's heavy, as you said, and you plan to travel with it). I would avoid the Razer because it's membrane and loud. Since you're traveling with this board, I doubt the people around you would like to hear the board, too.

V Max > K Max, but again, if you want low profile, you don't really have a choice and can only get a K Max. But if you don't really mind, V Max.

Looking at the history of this sub over the past year you'll see a heck of a lot more failures from the Q and V boards relative to the K boards. Of course, that *could* just mean Keychron is selling a lot more Q and V boards than K boards. Otherwise, the biggest difference you'll feel/hear will be coming from the difference between steel plate + tray mount and PC plate + gasket mount.

V and Q are flexible/gasket, K is rigid/tray. Hall Effect switches are another can of worms. They are peak hype right now. Eventually people will realize they are actually *cheaper* to implement than contact-based switches.

The K1 Max is available in both soldered and hot-swap variants. I would strongly suggest going with the hot-swap variant here. But more than that, make sure you understand all of the issues involved with low profile switches. There is a reason why you see so many people using boards with full-height switches and a wrist rest.

I tried out Keychron K1V5. Love it. I paired it with a cheap A4tech numeric keypad

I have few from keychron and nuphy - all low-profile. I use them everyday home/office/livingroom and I do not even prefer one over the other, all of those are in ANSI layout and this is my preference, got the red switches for, like how tactile those are. I also have Logi MX keys but in local layot and just because of it I do not like it, other than that it is also fine. As for connection - I have the dedicated adapter, BT and cable, depending on the setup - I see no difference in response times while typing or gaming. As for RGB - I apriciate it only in livingroom while watching movies. Oter than that I do not care, I do not look on the keyboard while typing. From wow side - nuphy is much more eye-catching, I got many positive comments about it while using in the office. If you configure something - make sure to have the shine-through key caps, the "behing keys" backlight is rubbish. For config, VIA software - whatever - I never cared about it, function lock was always there, never needed anything more. Except for nuphy v2 - I had to set it,as was F keys by default, but easily done with browser plugin and VIA software, I think it is unified. If you need macros etc - all is linux compatible (except logi - this I have no idea), As for your question: "The best Gaming Keyboard to buy for Gamers now?" I nmy opinion there is nothing like "gaming keyboard". Keyboards can be good or bad. Good keyboard is good for gaming and typing, bad is bad for everything xD

I love my low profile keyboard! Keychron K7. It’s the best. (Could be biased haha)

I'm typing on a Drop keeb right now, but wouldn't buy one today. I'm moving over to Keychron low profile. Has wireless, low profile switches and cost a lot less. Also has QMK/VIA support.

I adoooore my low profile keychron lots and lots. It's gotten me through work and games without a hitch in the 4 years I've owned it. Plowed through Elden Ring on release (1k hours in that game all on this board) + extremely high demand comics schedules where crtl+z has been spammed at maximum. Unreal value. K7.

Get a keyboard you like with swappable switches & put in the switches you like. I just got a k10 max as my first & out in ouremu peach v3 silent switches I found different sound tests on YouTube eg https://youtu.be/IvxGnt47JFE?si=YdZ84SHk0OckFXsW https://youtu.be/yMyFXpRABF0?si=-HDvqVlp4axkppO- https://youtube.com/shorts/uaYYXcfsDxM?si=Hi28YYVL8uPnHXEl https://youtu.be/lnpyVnuh8tE?si=-EDWV1Dmt3grvpvT

Never get an off the shelf Keyboard if you care about keyboards at all. You need to understand why off the shelf keyboards are not worth it compared to custom keyboards. How I got into custom keyboards was because my friend was showing me his Glorious GMMK Pro. Compared to my Corsair K100, it was night and day. The moment I touched my friend's keyboard I was in awe of how silent it was and smooth the feel was. I paid $300aud for my Corsair and I fully regret it. All the components are really made from cheap materials and materials that make the experience of the keyboard worse. Especially when they advertise "military grade metal". Metal actually makes a pinging sound as if you're tapping on a bare piece of sheet metal. You also can't change the switches and Cherry MX switches are notorious for being the worst sounding and feeling switches in the market. If you want a cheap and easy entry into custom keyboards, "Keychron Q1 Max" is always in stock and you can change the switches. If you want and idea of why non-custom keyboards are bad, take Cherry MX for example. The stem is rattly, the plastics rub against each other and no modding (adding lube) will make those problems go away. If you want to jump straight into the deep end read below. 65% is the most popular size rn. \- Bauer Lite is the budget king and Space65 is the high end king. Most enthusiasts consider Space65 an endgame keyboard.

I own 2 keychron keyboards, a K5 for work and a Q1 max for gaming at home. The build quality and feel is what sold me on them

Excellent keyboard! Grab a wrist rest, though. It's a bit high for me, and my wrists start aching after a while without one.

I have the Q1 Max, so same body but mechanical swtiches rather than HE switches I'm a big fan, the sound quality is nice (it's more clacky than thocky out of the box) and I do appreciate how easily adjustable the case is, but a few things to note 1. This is a CHUNKY keyboard, and if you aren't used to full metal builds, it's noticeably heavy 2. It isn't height adjustable, so you might need to play around with getting a good typing angle for it

Are you happy with how your current keyboard looks and sounds/feels to type on, or are you looking for a change? How much are you trying to spend? Something like a Monsgeek M1 V5 VIA is a really nice entry to mechanical keyboards, but so is something like the Keychron Q1 Max or V1 Max, or even a Lemokey P1 HE if you want fancy analogue gaming features. There are others, though, so if you give us an idea of what you want from a new board, we can offer better guidance.

I agree with the general idea that people shouldn't really be dicking around with stabilisers and lubing switches in 2025, but recommending a Logitech keyboard is a little silly, especially with their history of shitty keycaps and software that requires installation. You're better off with something like a Monsgeek M1 V5 VIA or Keychron Q or V Max or HE board. At least they don't clog up your PC with software that needs to run in the background, and they sound and feel a whole lot better.

It's complicated, the Q1 HE is a premium keyboard for gaming, but the typing feel and sounds are not very good compared to normal mechanical keyboards for not even half the price... Besides, these are hardly hot swappable and are limited to a strict selection of linear switches that are sold by Keychron... I'd rather buy the Q1 Max IMO. it's cheaper, sounds better, feels better, has more customizability, and although it's not anything special for gaming, a Hall Effect keyboard won't make you any better than a mechanical one... It's just more of a "convenience" rather than a necessity.

I literally just bought a new one after 10 years. I watched a ton of YouTube videos, rated a bunch at a Microcenter, and settled on the Keychron Q1 Max. Whereas I prefer a full keyboard I was sold on the idea of more desk/wrist space for my mouse. If you need a full sized one the Q6 Max was the other model I looked at. My previous model was a Razor Chroma Black Widow that was very clicky. The board is very heavy and solidly made. To my untrained self, the keys feel nice to press. It has wired, blue tooth and Wi-Fi; the latter of which I plan to use when switching to my work computer. LED lighting is nice but flawed. The colors are pretty but it doesn't light the whole key which means if you buy see through letter keys, the light won't shine through the lettering. The key shapes I'm not used and I can only describe it as feeling a bit tall and too close together. I'm not used to no number pad and the delete key being in a completely new location but I'm giving it a chance. I spent over an hour typing a short story last night, and it went pretty quick. I had more typos than usual but that's due to getting used to a new keyboard.

Keychron Q1 Max with gateron milky yellow pro switches, really pleased with that thing so far.

If you’re gonna buy «off the shelf», get yourself a Keychron. At least you’ll get something good. I got the Q1 Max myself, though they have cheaper options as well.

I guess it depends on the switches. I have a 60HE with the stock switches; they don't sound good at all and are a bit wobbly, but the performance is great for playing. In my opinion, it does not feel good to type or work on compared to my Keychron with banana switches and OSA keycaps. Same for playing. My Keychron is not comfortable to play with. But maybe some less wobbly switches on the Wooting would help. The sound of the HE switches is pretty annoying, in my opinion, like in a plastic way (if that even makes sense). I've heard a lot of the Owlabs being like a jack of all trades. I guess it depends on tastes, but to me, Wooting excels in gaming only.

I see an issue here. While any of the Max keyboards have the low-latency 2.4 GHz wireless, it's single receiver only. For connecting to multiple devices seamlessly, you'd have to use Bluetooth which does have added latency and a much-reduced polling rate (90 Hz over BT versus 1000 Hz over USB or 2.4 GHz) A solution to this is using a wired connection in your office and at any computer, and keep the 2.4 GHz dongle plugged into your console or whatever computer you absolutely need wireless with

One of the keychron full metal ones, good luck folding that one in half little bro.

As you are saying, the reason why you need to replace your keyboard is because you are buying cheaper keyboards. It's probably worth spending 150£ on one that will last you 5 years and that you will change because you want to rather than because you need to! I'd check into keychron UK and look at their mechanical keyboards. They are great quality and if you get a hotswapable keyboard you will not only be able to change the keycaps but also the switches themselves.