Elegant, inclusive, extreme, my new favorite Keychron K2Pro, experience geek romance

I have not been in the mechanical keyboard circle for a long time, it all depends on my personal preference, and I think it is still superficial. Today, let’s talk about this opportunity to trigger self-criticism-the 84-key Keychron K2Pro.

I started with the 104 full keyboard, and later fell in love with the 87-key product that cut off the independent number keypad, which is beautiful and portable. So, when I first heard about 84 keys, I didn’t catch a cold. I thought to myself, “It’s only 3 keys less than 87 keys. There is wood in the circle!

Since it is going to go to the next level in the keyboard pit, it is natural to make a high profile. I have long paid attention to Keychron, a well-known domestic brand in the world. After some comparison and selection, this time I started with Keychron K2Pro (Kpro tea shaft, plastic frame).

It’s really amazing to get started. Besides playing with the small size of 84 keys, I was also a fan of Keychron’s details. For a moment, I seemed to realize the romance of geeks.

Keychron's K series and Q series are not low among foreign programmers, and have been recommended by many YouTubers, as can be seen from the English-based packaging, guide cards and manuals. Keychron K2Pro comes with Type-C to A cable x 1, Win system keycap x 3, key puller x 1, shaft puller x 1, Phillips screwdriver x 1.

K2Pro uses Keychron's classic black, gray, and red color combination, the color saturation is not high, and the red is also very restrained as the finishing touch. With the smooth keycap ridges, it creates a calm texture of great wisdom. Following this tone, I will talk about the "geek romance" I have experienced.

Geek - Tolerance

Today’s Keychron has attracted much attention both at home and abroad. Back when the brand was founded, it was one of its original intentions to support macOS users with tolerance and friendliness. Keychron still adheres to the factory default assembly of two Apple keys, Command and option, while the Win window and alt keys are installed in the parts package as replaceable accessories.

The inclusiveness of Keychron K2Pro is also reflected in the hot-swappable socket. The hot-swappable shaft seat used in the entire keyboard supports 3-pin or 5-pin shaft body at the same time, and the subtle feel is customized. The light source of the keyboard axis base adopts the lower light position, and the light position close to the user makes the effect better.

The K2Pro is equipped with Keychron's self-developed K-Pro mechanical shaft. The total stroke is 4.0±0.4mm. I chose the K-Pro brown switch for this model, the trigger pressure is 50±10g, and the starting stroke is 2.0±0.4mm. The official claims that this brown switch is a “micro-step switch”.

The biggest feeling that this switch gives me is 1. It has a sense of paragraph, but you need to slow down the tapping speed to have a clear experience; 2. The horizontal swing of the keycap is abnormally small, which is matched with the heavy trigger pressure of the tea switch. , the overall impression is tight following the hand.

Geek - the ultimate

The shaft seat and shaft body reflect performance, and the handling of "big keys" such as carriage return and space reflects the attitude and training skills. K2Pro uses the satellite axis scheme, and the "big key" with a length of more than 2 key positions will add a pair of satellite axes, and this satellite axis is also very unusual.

Each satellite shaft is installed and fixed by brass screws to minimize shaking and abnormal noise. A large amount of white lubricating paste is dripped on the metal feeling connected to each pair of satellite shafts to ensure a smooth and smooth feel.

The keycaps of K2Pro are also unambiguous, with no burrs, neat spouts, and reinforcing ribs inside the keycaps, making the overall feel thicker. After a special search, Keychron uses keycaps with a PBT content of more than 40%. The PBT content affects the texture and durability of long-term use.

Geek - Elegance

In addition to the small shaking of the K-Pro axis and the satellite axis mentioned above, another surprise this K2Pro gave me is that it is quiet enough. I chose the brown switch, although it is a K-Pro switch body, I also made a good prediction of the noisy typing, but the actual feeling is that it is quieter than my other brands of red switches.

After dismantling and searching, the secret of silence comes more from the multi-layer material under the key shaft. It can be seen that there is a layer of foam interlayer on the shaft seat PCB, and a layer of white silicone pad under the shaft seat PCB, which together eliminate most of the noise during the up and down process of the keys.

In addition to being quiet, the elegance from geeks also comes from the calmness of battery life. The Type-C data port of Keychron K2Pro is also a charging port. The body has a built-in 4000mAh, which can be used for 80 hours after charging for 6 hours.

other details

Keychron K2Pro supports Bluetooth 5.1, which can connect to 3 devices at the same time and switch with one key. There are as many as 22 preset RGB lighting effect schemes for the keyboard itself, and it also fully supports two open source drivers, QMK and VIA, to edit and define your own shortcut keys, macros and personalized lighting effects. It continues the highly open playability of Keychron.

This K2Pro is the first time I tried 84 keys. The 75% layout made me realize the "extreme pull" between the portability and functionality of the keyboard. K2Pro also clearly embodies the tuning skills of Keychron, K-pro shaft, satellite shaft, foam layer, silicone layer... the details of each work together to create the ultimate, inclusive, elegant tonality worth playing. In general, Keychron K2Pro is an unconventional 84-key hot-swappable RGB mechanical keyboard. It adheres to the fully customizable geek attitude of using Keychron software and hardware, and has a unique taste of tolerance and elegance.