Keychron - K10 HE

keychron k10 QMK v2 and pick the hotswappable model. not a ton of fullsized boards in general, much less with north facing shinethrough

This is a fine answer - depending on budget... QMK/VIA more than doubles my price though, sadly. The AJazz Ak820_max_plus_retro is a 75% keyboard. I wish I had bought a TKL layout because it doesn't drop standard keys - can easily add a numpad but you can't add a direct key for ScrollLock/Printscreen etc which I used extensively for shortcuts. If you have to press Fn key to access ScrollLock, then any kind of Meta_ shortcut is disabled, because that just 'locks WIN' - for gamers and annoying for anyone else. However, the abovementioned switches make it instantly office friendly with a familiar tactile bump, similar to many laptop and membrane keyboards. The keyboard cost me ฿1499, whilst the cheapest available QMK keyboards around here... I was tempted by the Keychron K10 - full sized, silent keys, but ฿4,400 is just too much over the price of ฿1,490 which can type REALLY nicely already... The silent tactile ('feels like an upgraded version of a Logitech K270 or similar OEM profile with tactility offered by silicone domes) switches cost me $11 US so the total price (฿1,490 plus ฿365) was still under $50 US. So you do pay a fair bit extra for software.

V6 wired / V6 Max if you want wireless (also comes with the problem of built-in battery that will eventually degrade / fail). K10 Pro is a good basic board, but... it's basic. No gasket - it is much harsher with less dampening than the V6 / Q6. I use mine as a backup / testbed board for new switches and keycaps. Also, no knob.

Keychron V6 Max or Q6 with Outemu Silent Ice Snow (linear) or Silent Tom (tactile) switches. K10 (I have a Pro) is decent but very basic, no gasket and no knob, a simple tray mounted board. I have Outemu Silent Peach V2s in that. Edit: the quietest silent switches I tried are Outemu Ice Snow and TTC Frozen V2. Both are 40-45g linears, I replaced the springs with 60g ones. Haimu Heartbeat is incredibly loud (for a silent), so is Kailh Whale TTC Bluish and anything that uses those weird plastic bits on the stem instead of silicone pad inserts.

I have two Keychron Q6s, a Q9, a K10 Pro and an Akko 3098B Plus. One for every mood :) Also about 1000 unused switches of all sorts (linear, tactile, silent and non-silent) and 15 keycap sets in the drawer. The K10 Pro for $100 is just as good for work / game as the more expensive ones, the difference is just how they sound and how luxurious they feel (metal case, gasket mount).

Keychron K10 Pro. It has regular reds, silent reds, and browns. I own the silent reds version and I love mine for work. Bought mine for $80 on Prime Day sale, I bet you could get a similar deal on Black Friday.

I just built a new pc a couple weeks ago and decided to replace my 10yo keyboard. Tried a bunch of keyboards at microcenter, and the keychron k10 was by far the nicest feeling and the colors/style were perfect for me. this thing is a dream

For gaming, really anything with an HE on the end. Q HE are high-end, K HE are less fancy, but still very nice imo. There's almost no reason to buy a non-HE Keychron keyboard for gaming. Cost is about the same, HE features are super useful in games, and the switches sound pretty good now.

Keychron K10 HE? Otherwise wait for Lemokey to launch a full size HE board. It's Keychron's gaming brand lol. The L1 HE I have sounds a whole lot better than the other Keychron K series HE boards I have. Unfortunately, even Keychron's Q HE boards all have south facing RGBs...it's slim pickings for you 100% stans already, adding north-facing backlighting adds a whole new level of complexity lol. Otherwise, grab something like a Lemokey L1 HE and a separate NUM pad?

Oh yeah, the base K10 does have north-facing LEDs. So does the K10 V2 QMK (the better option because customisation). If you want the wireless features of the Max series, go for the K10 HE (hall-effect). Limits your switch options to Gateron double-rail HE switches, but they're good switches, and you obviously get all the benefits of HE, which is great if you like to tinker.

Oh yeah, the base K10 does have north-facing LEDs. So does the K10 V2 QMK (the better option because customisation). If you want the wireless features of the Max series, go for the K10 HE (hall-effect). Limits your switch options to Gateron double-rail HE switches, but they're good switches, and you obviously get all the benefits of HE, which is great if you like to tinker.

I've had a good experience with my K4 HE, and that's been great. I'd much rather use a Q HE series or a Lemokey L or P HE keyboard, because the aluminium chassis sounds and feels a decent bit better, but the K HE series is great nonetheless. The K10 HE is a solid affordable option for full-size HE.

I've had a good experience with my K4 HE, and that's been great. I'd much rather use a Q HE series or a Lemokey L or P HE keyboard, because the aluminium chassis sounds and feels a decent bit better, but the K HE series is great nonetheless. The K10 HE is a solid affordable option for full-size HE.

You can avoid a lot of the nonsense by going with something like the K10 HE. HE sensors are less prone to failure in the first place, and the issues were mostly related to the PC plates on the Q Max series. Keychron's support should be a lot better than it is. I've spoken to the PR people about support policy, and it seems like their ideology is to take care of customers, but I think they just don't have enough capable people to deal with a high volume of support requests.

Just bought the K10 HE (same switches as the Q6 HE) and it's quiet, with a nice thock. The keystrokes are smooth - currently, K10 HE is my favorite keyboard (previously, I've had red (Filco) and topre (hhkb).

Not paid at all, I genuinely loved it and got it from a friend to review for my little channel

I wish it was free 🤪😭

I have a keychron k10 pro and my better half had an epomaker brick80, I honestly like hers better, the sound is absolutely perfect.

The keyboard rabbit hole is one that I had no idea was infinitely deep when I was looking for a new keyboard. After literal weeks of watching reviews and reading about all the different types of switches, I settled on the Keychron Q5HE. That one is out of your budget, but they have the K10 HE on amazon right now for 135. Keychron make great keyboards