Digital Quick Sharing Part 40: Why is this piece of aluminum so popular with key rings｜Keychron Q1 experience sharing

Friends who like to pay attention to keyboards should know that the domestic key ring market cannot be described by the word "volume". Various mass-produced models and niche brands emerge in endlessly. There are many options for the color and material of the keycap, the structural layout of the keyboard, and even the feel of the shaft. Not too much.

The Keychron brand may be unfamiliar to domestic users, but in fact it is a genuine domestic keyboard brand. Since its debut, it has been aimed at overseas users. In comparison, most European and American users are accustomed to using MAC devices, so the peripherals also pay more attention to the compatibility with MAC devices. Keychron focuses on this level. The first K series membrane keyboard The first appearance directly detonated the overseas key ring, of course, this also has a lot to do with its own characteristics. After all, this brand claims to be the first manufacturer to take care of multiple systems, and is fully compatible with Mac systems. It seems to be the first manufacturer to provide option and command keycaps for replacement. It is also known as " The mechanical keyboard manufacturer with the highest cost performance and the best understanding of MAC users ”。

After Keychron achieved great success overseas, it also began to turn its attention to China. Its two most well-known series, the wireless K series and the metal customized Q series, have also begun to be sold domestically. I have been paying attention to this brand for a long time, especially the newly released Q1, whether it is the key layout or appearance performance, it is really in line with my aesthetics. Q1 evaluation experience.

▼The packaging box is a heaven and earth box with upper and lower covers, pure black main color, silver fonts, and simple line drawings outline the overall shape of the keyboard. The material of the outer box is relatively hard, and the keyboard inside has an obvious feeling of falling. However, there is no Chinese in the text description at all, and it seems to be the overseas version of the packaging that is directly used.

▼All accessories include the keyboard body, cables, keycaps of different systems X 4, spare Poron gasket screw feet, manual, key map, key puller, shaft puller, screwdriver X 2, and a shaft installation Orientation diagram. The number of accessories is relatively complete, but the included shaft puller is one of the most difficult to use, and it is not as good as the two-in-one type of key and shaft.

▼The connection cable is wrapped in thick nylon, and the quality is reliable. There is an English LOGO of "Keychron" on the connector. The details are well done, and the cable provides an adapter, which can be adapted to the USB-A / USB-C socket at the same time. But there is one thing to say, can provide an aviation plug-in line to experience the characteristics of customization.

▼The first impression of the keyboard body is that the quality is overweight. After all, it is an all-aluminum alloy shell, and the overall weight reaches 1966g, which is dozens of grams heavier than the notebook I have on hand (Xiaoxin Pro16 ~1915g). The advantage brought by its self-heavyness is its stability. It is as stable as a rock on the countertop. No matter how violent you are, the keyboard will not move easily.

▼Keychron Q1 adopts a 75% arrangement, with 81 keys, and the small number area and some function keys on the right are cut off. I personally like the non-compact layout of Q1. Firstly, there is a gap between the arrow key area and the main key area, so it is not easy to accidentally touch it. Secondly, two keys, pgup and pgdown, are reserved. Friends who often enter text should know these two keys. bit importance.

▼The circular knob in the upper right corner can adjust the volume, press it to trigger the mute effect. There are dense diamond-shaped anti-skid grooves on the surface of the knob, and the sense of scale is obvious when you turn it. This design is also a popular practice at present, and it is very practical. However, there is no decoration on the smooth top, which is too monotonous. Personally, I think that if this knob can be made into a knob of different colors, it should add a lot of color to the keyboard.

▼The aluminum alloy shell of the keyboard has been made with beautiful fine craftsmanship to improve the texture. CNC integrated engraving technology, multi-channel polishing highlights the sense of aluminum material, and the surface is anodized. The material's own characteristics are vividly expressed. To be honest, this keyboard is basically the most well-made aluminum texture I have ever touched. In fact, the workmanship of the aluminum keyboard cherry MX 8.2 TKL I bought is also very good, but because of the floating keycap and narrow frame, the visual effect is not as shocking as the Keychron Q1 that exposes a large area of ​​aluminum.

▼There is no decoration on the side of the keyboard. The special aesthetic feeling is completely matched by the luster of the aluminum itself and the simple and capable lines.

▼Dual system switching switch and type-c cable socket on the top. The aluminum opening is very precise, and the Type-C port does not shift. In fact, this kind of detailed workmanship can best reflect the process control of mass production and customization.

▼The back of the keyboard is also extremely simple, with only four feet and eight golden screws, and there are no labels that are common in mass-produced keyboards. This clean and thorough style is more common in the customization circle, and it is rarely seen in mass production. The keyboard will do this design. Of course, I personally like such an unmarked shape design.

▼The overall shape of the Keychron Q1 fully meets my aesthetics. The biggest shortcoming is that it does not provide multi-angle adjustment. Although the 5° tilt angle of the keyboard itself can meet the input habits of most users, it is not so interesting to me. If the key layout can be more humanized, and make a stepped protrusion to accommodate the fingers, the experience will be much better.

▼The color of the keycaps is dark gray and light gray, with yellow embellishments, and the overall color matching is relatively harmonious. The keycap is OSA height ball cap, PBT material, the process is two-color injection molding, and the surface is frosted. The overall touch is delicate, the spout is clean, and the details are handled well.

▼The advantages of PBT material should be understood by everyone. It has high hardness, high density, and strong wear resistance. The key point is that it has a good anti-greasing effect. After all, the keycaps and fingers are in frequent contact, and the PBT material is more durable for long-term use.

▼The large key position is designed with a satellite shaft, which is fixed on the PCB board by screws, which not only has excellent stability but also can be easily adjusted. The cyan satellite axis is really nice. The large key has been lubricated a little before leaving the factory, the pressing edge responds quickly, and the consistency is good.

▼Keychron’s keyboards are equipped with GPro series switches. There are green switches, red switches, and brown switches to choose from. The sound paragraph switches I choose for this keyboard~green switches are also the ones that best reflect the characteristics of mechanical keyboards. The switch body, clear key response, crisp key feedback sound, it is a very comfortable experience for typing. However, the green axis interferes more with the environment, and the button speed is slightly slower than that of the linear axis. For multi-player scenes or friends who specialize in playing games, it is more suitable to choose the linear axis.

▼ Pull out the keycap and you can see the positioning plate below. The alloy plate is made of precise holes. The shaft seat is a five-legged shaft seat that is compatible with three-legged / five-legged shafts. Through the hole in the shaft seat, you can see the noise reduction cotton below. The mainstream Gasket structure adopted by the Keychron Q series has been optimized a lot to improve the typing experience.

▼The biggest change is that Keychron adopts a costly circuit board suspension and fixed design. Gaskets are used around the circuit board to make the middle of the circuit board suspended, which can provide a better and more flexible typing experience for the keyboard. The official data is Q1 The maximum bounce can reach 2.5mm. The huge bounce space brings a more comfortable rebound effect to the keyboard, and the bottom layer of noise-proof cotton can avoid the cavity sound caused by the hollow keyboard.

Keychron has been facing the field of customization since the first day of the brand’s birth. Although the current size has nothing to do with the niche, it still retains that blood in the bones. The most obvious point is that the system kernel is based on QMK / VIA open source The system is rebuilt, each key position can be set by itself, and the multi-key trigger function can also be easily set. You can see that the keyboard model is fully supported on VIA's official website.

tips: What is VIA

via is a keyboard key editing software based on QMK, which can realize real-time key modification of the keyboard, saving the trouble of swiping the arrangement.

▼It should be noted that the keyboard has four layers of key settings. Layer 1 and Layer 2 correspond to the MAC system, and Layer 3 and Layer 4 correspond to the Windows system. When performing key mapping operations, you need to switch to the corresponding system in advance, otherwise the modification will not succeed. If you modify it many times It is also necessary to reset the keyboard to cause system confusion, which is also the most obvious difference from ordinary keyboards.

▼The lower light position design adopted by the keyboard is more suitable for opaque keycaps to create an atmosphere. It comes with 13 lighting effect modes, which can be switched through shortcut keys. Friends who value lighting effects are recommended to replace transparent keycaps to achieve better lighting effects .

▼The ball-shaped keycap fits your fingers, and the typing comfort is good. The green and crisp tapping experience of GPro is also very suitable for typing. Thanks to the excellent Gasket Design architecture, the cavity sound suppression during percussion is excellent. Personal experience, the small keys are basically perfect, and the space bar can still hear the cavity sound in a quiet environment. Friends who are more concerned about this can add gaskets to solve it. Anyway, several spare gaskets have been prepared in the accessories. .

▼Here is a video to share with you. Personally, I think Jiadalong GPro green switch is not as good as cherry MX green. Friends who are interested can refer to the cherry MX 8.2 input video I wrote before.

Although this is the first time I have come into contact with the keyboard of the Keychron brand, it still has a lot of special features.

The unique material performance of aluminum alloy and the level of fine craftsmanship, both texture and touch have reached the first-class level. The overall color matching is not fancy and very attractive. The support of GASKET architecture can provide a softer and warmer feel. The open source driver solution also brings more possibilities. Playability. In fact, many players buy this keyboard as a kit, freely adjust the internal structure to suit their own usage habits, and choose different keycap shafts to meet their aesthetic needs.

Although it is more playable as a kit, the finished keyboard is only 80 less expensive than the kit, which is equivalent to buying a set of keycap shafts for 80 yuan. It is more cost-effective to buy a finished product. Especially for friends who are new to the keyboard, they can do it in one step without any fuss, and they can change it freely if they have their own ideas later, so as to match the keyboard that suits them.

Of course, the Keychron Q1 still has some shortcomings

First of all, there is only one tilt angle, and the adaptability is still weak; secondly, it does not have a wireless connection, which is quite understandable. After all, in order to adapt to VIA, a wired connection must be used, but comparing the two, VIA can be played. , or wireless is more practical, I hope the official can take this into consideration, and the next version will add wireless functions.

In general, if you want to try the aluminum Tuotuo + Gasket structure, at the same price, Keychron is definitely a good choice.