Keychron - V5 Max QMK/VIA Wireless Custom Mechanical Keyboard

I’ve got the v5 max and have no complaints at all. Love it. Everything works well. VIA is great. I wasn’t a massive fan of the look of the keycaps but I actually prefer the feel to anything I’ve used before and now can’t bring myself to change them. I have just had a play about with changing the Jupiter browns to milky yellows as decided I want a linear quieter board for work. Plus the milky yellows lubed up are providing a nice thocky noise. But don’t get me wrong it sounded creamy as heck with the Jupiter browns

Anything from the V Max series. Idk what you mean by "low trigger point" (this can mean either physically low or a low measurement for actuation distance) but if you mean an earlier actuation point than 2.0 mm, swap out the switches.

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.

You can get a V Max on Amazon and return it if you don't like it.

I really wouldn't recommend either of those boards. Keychron V/Q6 Max, Monsgeek M5, QK101. All available in ISO except the M5, if you needed that.

Keychron V5 Max. SRGB has custom firmware available for it to flash.

Keychron V/Q6 Max, Monsgeek M5, QK100 (wired-only PCB). You would have to get separate switches for all of these options.

Keychron V/Q6 Max, QK100/101

Keychron Q/V6 Max, QK100/101, Monsgeek M2 V5 VIA. For the QK100, only the wired-only hotswap PCB has RGB.

I bought a Q3 Max with red switches and it was very silent. Be aware, Keychron HE keeb is compatible only with its own HE switches. For me it was a no-go.

Get a Keychron V5 or Q5 if you can stretch the budget. Barebones V5 is $60 right now so plenty left over for your preferred set of keycaps and switches.

keychron v5/6 max (96/100%) are what you should aim for.

Really hard to go wrong with Keychron. Their V-series is a reliably excellent choice, and right at the correct price point. I prefer the [96%](https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-v5-max-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard) but they have everything from 60-100%. As for 'nice' build, sound, and aesthetic, that's unfortunately down to user prefence, haha. To get recommendations regarding those you'd have to know a little more what you're looking for—do you want minimalist or RGB bonanza? Tactile or linear switches? Quiet or loud? Clicky or thocky? It's definitely a rabbit hole for almost every aspect of the board, lol.

I started with the jupiter browns on my Q5 max, and I've swapped to akko cs lavender purples, I haven't personally tried the bananas but they seem to have a higher pitched sound profile compared to the browns I started with. I prefer the Lavender purples I'm using because they have a softer lower pitched sound and lower actuation force than both the brown and bananas that feels nicer for my ears and fingers personally but ultimately its up to your preference.

Keychron Q6 HE (linear Gateron HE only) or normal Q6 / Max if you want better switch compatibility. The normal (non-HE) Keychrons also have ISO layout and localized keycaps for most EU languages believe.

Keychrons with the Gateron Jupiter Banana are awesome. You can theoretically get the Bananas separately from Gateron, whenever it's on stock.

I think most of the ones catering specifically to gamers are overpriced for what you get, but you can get a really good customizable keyboard with RGB and low latency from keychron and rest easy knowing it’ll last and sound good. In that price range you can easily get a V Series (v max if you want wireless) or K series for low profile and he will be happy with it. With the money you save you can even get him a gift card to a quality keycap site if he wants shine through or similar. I would recommend silent switches if he hates noise. Gateron makes a great silent switch.

You must be looking at the low-profile boards. There are plenty of full-height boards from Keychron... Check the V Max series, you'll get the best bang for buck there.

Also recc'ing the V Max series for Keychron. You may also want to check out 96% since those are mostly full size but more condensed. Only issue is some less used keys get removed (typically scroll lock, pause, home, end, pg up, pg down). If you really need those buttons as well, then 96% won't work as well (unless you're cool with fn layers)

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.

The case/housing/frame of the Q series is rigid, only the *keybed* is flexible here. On the V series, both the case and keybed are flexible. HE is a very interesting concept. There *was* a time when it was very expensive to implement, but those days have long since passed. These days, it is more expensive to build a decent physical connector (hot swap socket) than it is to build a hall effect sensor. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see HE boards take over the budget sector in a few years. But at the moment, you are really only paying for the hype. There *is* an advantage to HE switches when it comes to gaming. But here, what you are paying for is the software, not the hardware.

Definitely take your pick of the keychron V series. If you want / need wireless, then the V max series.

Years back, I decided I wanted a mechanical board, and did what everyone at the time did, bought a cherry mx red board. It was good, but eventually I wanted more tactile feedback, but I hated blue switches, so I got a cherry mx brown board. I used that for a long while before deciding to look into new boards. I saw some reviews for Keychron and decided to try out their Q-Max series with Gateron Jupiter brown switches. Ho-ly sheet, the difference is amazing. Without a doubt, it's the best typing experience I've ever had. My most recent purchase was an Asus board with their own lubed linear switches, and while it's not as good as the Keychron, it absolutely puts cherry to shame. tl;dr, cherry is low-end trash now. Get anything else, even the big, mass produced brands are out doing cherry now.

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

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.