K-Pro shaft blessing, can be deeply customized: Keychron V3 keyboard out of the box experience

Hello everyone, I am Nanbei Taoyuan~

Keychron, as a well-known mechanical keyboard brand overseas, is gradually becoming known in China. I also deliberately went to learn about this brand. The main features are high appearance, sufficient materials and very high compatibility with Mac systems.

This time I started with the recently released Keychron V3 customized keyboard. The main features are RGB backlight, TKL layout (TenKeyLess, 80% layout), support for QMK/VIA key change, and all parts can be assembled by yourself, so let’s see together Let's see how this keyboard performs.

The product packaging is relatively small, and the printing on the front of the packaging is very interesting. Different colors can be seen under different light angles, and the overall is very delicate.

Just look at the family portrait in the package, including the keyboard body, instructions, dual Type-C cables with adapters, 4 replacement keycaps for Windows systems, key pullers, shaft pullers, and related accessories for disassembly and assembly, etc. .

Let’s take a look at the front of the keyboard. At first glance, it looks like a standard 80% keyboard. The shape is square and the color of the keycaps is relatively simple and the divisions are clear. But if you look closely, you can find that the keycaps are originally equipped with MacOS keys. Secondly, The F1-F12 function keys are basically the same as the MacOS keys, which may be one of the reasons why it has a good reputation among Apple computer users.

The foot pad part adopts two-level height settings, and the keyboard itself has a certain ergonomic curvature, which can meet the needs of different users for the height of the keyboard.

Keychron V3 uses a dual Type-C interface cable with a length of about 2 meters. In order to meet the needs of more users using desktop computers, it is also equipped with a Type-A interface.

At the top of the upper left corner of the keyboard is the Type-C interface of the keyboard and the Windows/MacOS switch button.

Keychron V3 adopts OSA-height keycaps, the PBT material is oil-resistant and the two-color molding process is wear-resistant, and has very good durability.

The self-developed K-Pro switch used by Keychron V3 has three options: red switch, green switch and brown switch. Although it is a self-developed axis, the consistency of all the keys on the entire keyboard is very good.

I bought the K-Pro red switch this time. In the actual experience, it feels close to the mainstream cherry and Jiadalong red switch on the market. There is basically no problem in choosing the name.

Keychron V3 adopts a hot-swappable structure and RGB design of the lower light position, supports 3-pin and 5-pin shafts, and can be well adapted to mainstream shafts on the market, just use the shaft changer that comes with it Replace with your favorite shaft body.

The design of the lower light position, although the keycaps are opaque, the light stolen from the gap is also very beautiful.

On the large key, the satellite shaft that can be installed with screws is used, which has better stability and consistency in the touch of different positions of the key. When pulling out the key, I also found a reset button hidden under the space bar.

system compatibility

In terms of MacOS compatibility, the keychron keyboard has always been in everyone's impression, and the V3 has also inherited this tradition. This keyboard has also done a lot of MacOS system adaptations, such as keys and function keys. However, there is also a set of Windows keys for replacement in the package, after all, there are many users of Windows systems.

In addition, through the system switching button on the top, you can quickly switch to different system button layouts. Under the MacOS system, F1-F12 are function buttons by default, while under the Windows system, they are standard function buttons. In addition, the functions of these buttons can be Modify and adjust through VIA software.

As the best partner of MacOS system, it is really comfortable to use with MacBook. The basically consistent button layout can bring a very comfortable experience when used with a Mac system. However, this keyboard is not a wireless three-mode keyboard. For the MacBook Air's stretched interface, it is not very comfortable to use it with a long cable.

Secondly, the OSA height of this keyboard, the rounded button shape, and the K-Pro red switch body make the overall tapping feel very smooth.

The backlight of this keyboard belongs to the kind of faint light. Usually, the keyboard can be seen clearly when used in a dark environment, but it will not overwhelm the guest.

After using it for a period of time, the first impression is that although it is a self-developed K-Pro switch body, it feels very good in the hand. Thanks to the addition of the noise-reducing cotton interlayer, the cavity sound is well suppressed. The red switch’s Lightweight feel is very comfortable on code words. Secondly, as a customized keyboard, there are many things that can be customized. Needless to say, the shaft body and keycaps, the satellite shaft and even the positioning board of this keyboard can be replaced by yourself, and QMK/VIA is open source The system can also carry out button programming, shortcut keys, backlight, etc. can be defined by yourself. For some entry-level users who want to try a customized keyboard, this keyboard is worth considering.

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