Dual-mode connection, support QMK/VIA open source key change-keychron K5 pro dual-mode mechanical keyboard is not too good!

Do you know the low-axis mechanical keyboard?

Compared with our common mechanical keyboards, low-axis mechanical keyboards are niche products, so many manufacturers do not like to launch such products. Another important thing is that the price of low-axis keyboards is not cheap, but there are still users who have a soft spot for low-axis keyboards. What I want to share today is a low-axis product--keychron K5 pro dual-mode mechanical keyboard. This keyboard is perfectly compatible with macOS and Windows dual systems. It supports customization, not only can replace the axis body by itself, but also supports QMK/VIA open source Remodeled, isn't it excellent. Next, let us take a look at this low-axis keyboard, I hope you will like it.

Next, let’s learn about the Keychron brand information. The Chinese name Kechuang Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., referred to as Kechuang Technology (Keychron), is a private enterprise focusing on production, design and sales of high-end peripheral products. It was established in In 2020, headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, the consumers are Mac and windows system users and programmers, as well as e-sports and office workers.

【Appearance value】

The packaging of the keychron K5 pro dual-mode mechanical keyboard looks very textured. The overall use of laser fonts (different colors at different angles) outlines the panorama of the keyboard and the brand logo.

Family portrait of keychron K5 pro dual-mode mechanical keyboard: keychron K5 pro keyboard body, key puller and cap puller, data cable, manual and switch body introduction card, and 6 win buttons, yes, you did not dismantle it wrong, install it on the keyboard What is the mac layout keycaps.

Let’s first take a look at the appearance of the keychron K5 pro dual-mode mechanical keyboard. I have to say that the designer’s aesthetics are getting better and better now. The visual impact of gray with black and red keycap embellishment is very good. The 108-key layout can be said to be very comprehensive in use scenarios. Of course, if the 98-key design is launched, I think it will be even better.

The size of the keyboard is 420×120×23mm, and the weight is 720g±20g. The keyboard is not heavy, but it is still very heavy in the hand. The battery capacity of the keyboard is 1550 mAh, and the battery life is more than 35 hours after being fully charged, so don't worry about the battery life.

The keychron K5 pro dual-mode mechanical keyboard adopts the same Dell layout as the Mac keyboard, and the original keycap of the keyboard is the MAC chart keycap, and also independently sets the screen capture function button, which can capture the screen with one key, greatly improving office efficiency.

The keyboard uses Bluetooth 5.1 wireless connection and supports type C wired connection. The official information is that it supports both Mac and Win systems. If you are not used to Apple's original keyboard, this one is definitely suitable for you. After all, the original Apple keyboard feels hard to describe.

The two shortcut switches of the keyboard can switch between dual systems, and can also change the connection mode (Bluetooth and wired). In the middle is the Type-C interface, the function is charging and wired connection.

The design on the back is relatively simple, not much different from common keyboards. In the middle is the nameplate of the keyboard, on which some basic information of the keyboard is marked. It is designed with 6 non-slip foot pads and 2 sections of support feet, which are convenient for users to adjust daily.

The keyboard is ergonomically designed, and the height of the keyboard stand can also be adjusted. There are three heights of 6~9°. The biggest advantage of starting with this keyboard is that the palm rest is discarded. After all, everyone knows that mechanical keyboards do not match the palm rest. Really tired.

【Shaft body and keycap】

The keycaps are made of PBT material two-color injection molding process keycaps, LSA height, the color of each keycap is very uniform, and the touch is delicate. PBT material keycaps are more wear-resistant and durable than ABS. Everyone knows that ABS is easy to "grease", but PBT material has no such problem. If you are an editor or a serious game enthusiast, it is recommended to choose PBT material.

The keychron K5 pro dual-mode mechanical keyboard has a total of 3 types of Keychron switches. As shown in the figure, which switch to choose depends on your usage habits. In addition, the keyboard supports hot-swapping, and is compatible with three-legged and five-legged switches on the market. If you have a switch you like more, you can buy it and replace it yourself. However, there are not many short switches on the market. After all, this is also a niche. shaft.

Gateron short red switch 2.0, the stroke of the short red switch is about 3/4 of the normal red switch, and the thin and light design provides a reliable fingertip feel, and the switch body can provide excellent smoothness in every press.

Keychron’s newly designed steel plate satellite shaft can keep it at the same level as the shaft body, reducing the swing of large keys such as the space bar, left Shift, backspace key, and Enter key. This can only be felt after experiencing it. Excellent, really doesn't wobble left and right.

【Lighting effect】

At present, this keyboard provides two backlight versions, namely RGB version and white light version. As the name suggests, the former is better in terms of lighting effects.

RGB version: 22 kinds of lighting effect modes are gorgeous and bright

White light version: 14 lighting effect modes can be switched at will

The lighting of the keyboard can be switched directly through the button (lighting chart) in the upper right corner, the brightness can also be adjusted, and the color transition of the lighting is also very smooth.

[Playability; QMK/VIA unlimited possibilities]

Nowadays, the keyboard is developing towards real customization. In the past, it was mostly changing the shaft, changing the keycap, or even changing the shell, but this is only on the hardware, and K5 pro supports QMK/VIA open source modification, which means that customization has already stepped forward. At the software level, we can easily and simply program each function key combination on the keyboard, and can use any key (including the knob) to create macros on any operating system (macOS, Windows or Linux), currently available on the details page According to the operation prompts, users can change the key on the web page, allowing users to truly create their own keyboard.

【Contrast effect】

This is the charm of the short axis. Compared with the standard mechanical keyboard, the gap is obvious. In fact, the low-axis mechanical keyboard is similar to the membrane keyboard we used before, but it feels much better.

【My Host】

CPU: 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700K

Motherboard: MSI MAG B760M MORTAR DDR5 Mortar

Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (Zotac)

Memory: Kingston DDR5 5200MHz 32GB

Hard disk: KIOXIA-EXCERIA PLUS SSD (1 TB / solid state drive)

Monitor: MSI G274QRFW

Cooling: MSI Ice 360R water cooling radiator

Power supply: MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 power supply

Chassis: MSI Blade 100R White

1. MSI G274QRFW Gaming King Kong

This MSI G274QRFW Gaming King Kong is currently the hottest product under MSI. It is characterized by all-white design, high refresh rate (170Hz refresh rate), 1ms response speed, 10bit high color display, and G-SYNC tear-proof technology. And this monitor uses AUO FAST IPS panel with 2K resolution. This resolution does not put a lot of pressure on the graphics card, so there is no need to invest too much in the graphics card. In addition, as an e-sports monitor, it also adds dark part brightness enhancement technology and auxiliary front sight design, which is even more powerful for players who like to play FPS games. Don’t forget to protect your eyes after playing games for a long time, so MSI also specially added Rheinland-certified hardware anti-blue light technology to improve eye protection. Of course, what I like the most is its price, which is very cost-effective at 1799 yuan.

The gaming screen is really comfortable with the keychron K5 pro dual-mode mechanical keyboard, but I found that the Bluetooth connection is still not as stable as the wired connection. Could it be a problem with my computer. Personally, I suggest adding a 2.4G connection, although the power consumption is still more stable than Bluetooth.

2. MSI MAG B760M MORTAR DDR5 Mortar

MSI MAG MORTAR mortar series, as the mid-end mainstream series of MSI, the series products are durable and solid materials, continuing the consistent military style design of MSI MAG series, and the price is relatively affordable, which can be said to be the quality of cheap DIY installation choice. MAG B760M MORTAR DDR5 mortar adopts M-ATX form factor, CPU power supply module, chipset and M.2 hard disk are all covered with silver cooling frost armor, LGA 1700 CPU interface, providing 12+1+1 intelligent power supply , At the same time, the CPU power supply also uses a dual 8pin interface.

In terms of interfaces, the motherboard is equipped with multiple 4Pin PWM/DC fan interfaces, which can monitor the temperature of the motherboard in real time and provide comprehensive fan control. In terms of external expansion, this motherboard provides a wealth of USB ports, 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 5Gbps ports, 1 HDMI 2.1 port, 1 DP 1.4 port, 3 USB 3.2 Gen2 10Gbps ports, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20Gbps Type- C interface, equipped with 2.5G wired network card, WiFi antenna end and audio interface, it is worth mentioning that it supports the front USB Type-C interface, the wireless network card has also been upgraded to WiFi 6E, the maximum transmission speed can reach 2400Mbps, and Bluetooth 5.2 is supported. The MSI CENTER intelligent control center provides users with functions such as hardware monitoring, system diagnosis, and driver update. Through the MysticLight dazzle system, it is linked with other ARGB devices to create a personalized installation that belongs to the user.

3. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The graphics card is Zotac RTX 4080 AMP EXTREME AIRO. Zotac’s new generation of graphics card has a higher positioning than Apocalypse. It adopts AD102-300 GPU with 4nm TSMC technology, has 16384 CUDA cores, CPU frequency up to 2580MHz, and adopts 24GB 21Gbps GDDR6X video memory with a memory interface width of 384 bits. And the performance of RTX 4080 with DLSS 3 can be improved by up to 4 times. As for power consumption, it is the same as other brands at 450W.

ZOTAC RTX 4080 AMP EXTREME AIRO is equipped with SPECTRA 2.0 5-zone ARGB lighting effects. After the actual lighting, the effect is very good. The aerodynamic and aesthetic design of the body makes this graphics card look unparalleled. It can be said that it is the most beautiful graphics card of Zotac in recent years. The metal backplane, a standard configuration of high-end graphics cards, not only improves the strength of the graphics card, but also increases the cooling capacity of the graphics card. Compared with the previous generation, the fan page area of ​​this graphics card has increased by 50%, the height of the fan has increased by 60%, and the height of the fins has increased by 30%, which achieves the ultimate in heat dissipation in a limited space.

4. MSI Ice 360R integrated water cooling radiator

The MSI Ice 360R all-in-one water cooling radiator is made of high-quality materials, which can maintain durability and provide powerful cooling performance even under stress-tested conditions. The rotatable cold head is embedded with a dragon pattern with ARGB light effect. Installing the cold row at any position can keep the dragon pattern upright.

The double ball bearing fan design used by You can maintain stable operation within a service life of 70,000 hours. In addition to powerful performance, MAGCORE QUID series water cooling also has a wide range of compatibility. The attached installation clip supports multiple platforms of Intel and AMD.

5. MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 power supply

MPG A1000G PCIE5 power supply supports new generation PCIE5.0 and ATX3.0 specifications, MPG A750G PCIE5 adopts native 16PIN (12VHPWR) PCIe connector, which can be used for all future high-performance graphics cards. MPG A750G PCIE5 adopts a full module design, which can install cables according to user needs, reducing unnecessary cables and avoiding clutter.

Equipped with a native PCIE5.0 output interface and supports the Intel PSDG (Power Supply Design Guidelines) ATX3.0 standard, the MPG A1000G PCIE5 power supply can withstand peak power up to twice the power consumption of the whole machine and three times the power consumption of the graphics card. Equipped with zero-motion space intelligent start-stop technology, all Japanese 105°C capacitors, 80PLUS gold certification.

6. Blade 100R Chassis

The MSI Blade 100R chassis optimizes the heat dissipation design, providing sufficient and effective airflow for system cooling through the built-in vents throughout the system. The chassis is equipped with 4 fans, and up to 7 can be installed. The side vents of the blade series can effectively increase the air intake and increase the heat dissipation efficiency. Create your own ARGB display space with MPG VELOX100 series fully supported by MSI Mystic Light. Comes with 3 white RGB fans, you can switch the lighting effect through the MSI control software or the LED lighting control button on the top. To achieve uniform lighting, the effect is better and better. As a mid-tower chassis, you don’t have to worry about the internal space, as shown in the picture, even an RTX4090-level graphics card is more than enough.

Overall performance test:

Here's a simple donut baker, tested this time in performance mode, and the results are obvious. The frequency of the GPU is stable at 2475MHz, and the temperature is only 72°C, but this is when the side panel is not installed, and I think the temperature will not increase much even if it is installed. The power consumption of 318W has also reached the upper limit.

"Shadow of the Tomb Raider" is still full of picture quality. At 2K resolution, the graphics card is Zotac NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, and the game frame rate is 227 frames.

"Assassin's Creed: Odyssey" has the highest level of brainlessness. Use the built-in test scene to test the performance. Let's first test the performance without the black technology of the memory. The 2K resolution is 173 frames. The game is really hard, and the graphics card is killer.

Summary at the end of the article

Generally speaking, the keychron K5 pro dual-mode mechanical keyboard is worthy of recognition in terms of appearance design and materials. It supports dual-mode use and is convenient and fast. In Bluetooth mode, the information of 3 connected devices can be stored, and it can also be switched quickly. Support for shaft replacement and QMK/VIA key customization has been improved to another level.

So is there anything wrong with this keyboard? Yes, that is, there is no 2.4G module. In fact, in some usage scenarios, 2.4G is more stable than Bluetooth. It is also hoped that subsequent upgrades can be added.

Ok, that’s all for this sharing, I hope it can help everyone, goodbye!

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