KeyChron V6 mass-produced customized mechanical keyboard experience, combining ease of use and playability

I believe that friends who are familiar with peripherals should not be unfamiliar with customized mechanical keyboards. If you add the word "mass production" in front of customization, then the hard core will immediately think of a new brand that has emerged in the past two or three years—— —KeyChron (Qichuang, headquartered in Shenzhen), entered the market from the perspective of mechanical keyboards originally adapted to MacOS. Unknowingly, it now has multiple product lines such as K, Q, and V series, and covers a very rich variety of products. , which is especially popular among foreign digital bloggers, this article will share with you the experience of using the KeyChron V6 keyboard.

The packaging of KeyChron still adopts the family-style low-key design as always—on a pure black background, lines and characters with laser effects are used to draw out the shape, name and introduction of KeyChron V6. When the V6 model is selected, it has Red switch tea switch, normal version or knob version, Knob or Non Knob, and black or black transparent case are a variety of customization options. The hard core chooses Knob (with switch and keycap) + black + knob + red switch version.

On the back of the package is the introduction of some selling points of KeyChron V6, such as full-size configuration, MacOS and WinOS dual compatibility, QMK/VIA open source system, hot-swappable shaft, etc. The package design is marked in English before and after, and the overseas version of the package should still be used .

Open the package, there is no fancy design, and the transportation shock absorption measures are in place. You can see a schematic diagram of the shaft installation, a quick guide and an instruction manual. The hard core of the instruction manual has also checked it, and it has a Chinese page. Praise!

Some related accessories provided by KeyChron V6 are quite rich as a mass-produced customized product, including key puller, shaft puller, Phillips screwdriver, hexagon socket screw, four WinOS keycaps, spare screws, Type-C to Type -C braided cable with shielding treatment and Type-A to Type-C adapter.

The appearance of the KeyChron V6 black knob version is a full-size keyboard with a narrow frame. The overall size is 140.55mm wide + 447.85mm high. The design is compact but the measured weight exceeds 1.3KG, which is comparable to the 15.6-inch ultra-thin laptop on hand. , It is stable enough to use on the desktop, and the materials feel much more solid. The color of the keycaps is also unique, among which the esc and enter keys are watermelon pink, the main function keys and numeric and alphabetic keys are black, and the control keypad and some function keys are cement gray.

Even under the compact layout, KeyChron V6 also has a lot of extra function key designs. Above the control key area is a screenshot key, a voice key (WinOS defaults to Teams software) and a separate light mode switching key, while above the numeric keypad area is Four customizable buttons, do the patterns seem similar? Just look at your PS5 gamepad.

There is an infinite knob in the right area above the keyboard, which is slightly higher than ordinary keycaps. There are patterns on it to increase friction. The scale sense is obvious. There is moderate damping for each turn, which is convenient for precise operation. The default is to adjust the volume. Press it down to mute the sound, and support VIA and QMK programming to change the key. For example, this knob can be changed to a zoom operation.

在键盘顶侧区域有MacOS & WinOS切换键和Type-C接口，使用什么系统一定得切换成对应的，这样才可最大程度最全面的功能（比如MacOS设置下，WinOS的Win键就不能使用了），接口在左上角而不是中间好评！

The bottom shell of the keyboard is made of ABS material, which can be lightened to a certain extent. There are also silicone anti-skid pads in each area. It should be noted that the fixing screws are hexagonal type.

KeyChron V6 has a two-stage foot support design. There is a thin layer of silicone non-slip pad on the contact surface. It is measured that there will be no shaking when the desktop is shaken. The two-stage foot support and the square of the keyboard can achieve three height postures. Meet different usage scenarios and groups of people.

To remove the hexagonal socket head screw on the back, you first need to pull out the knob cover, then the top cover of the keyboard can be removed, and the next disassembly step is to pull out the shaft body. After pulling out the shaft body, there are still screws to be unscrewed. If Just want to change the shaft body and play so far.

Of course, KeyChron V6 is positioned as a mass-produced customized mechanical keyboard. The official dismantled explosion diagram is also convincing enough. The structure under the upper cover also includes positioning board, noise-reducing cotton interlayer, PCB, silicone pad and bottom case. , Keyboard feel and noise reduction tuning are indispensable for this part of the participation. Players can adjust or replace parts by themselves, which is very flexible and easy to use. Even the official maintenance policy is to replace any parts with problems, which is enough to show the high degree of customization.

KeyChron V6 uses the self-developed K-pro switch body, whether it is a red switch, green switch or brown switch, compared with the Cherry MX switch body, the trigger key travel is a little shorter, and this K-pro red switch has a pressure in grams It is very light, only 45±10gf, the key is very easy, and the rebound is faster to follow the hand. It can be described as "Cherry MX brown switch with no sense of paragraph and shorter trigger key travel". Personally, I feel that the codeword demand in a comfortable environment is very suitable.

The keyboard supports hot-swapping, and supports the replacement of three-legged and five-legged shaft seats. If you get tired of using it, you can find a new set of shafts by yourself, which is equivalent to using a new keyboard. This kind of gameplay feels very cost-effective, and the threshold for customization is also low. The large keys such as the Enter key and the space bar are designed with satellite shafts, which are filled with lubricating oil. The CAPS, SHIFT keys and balance bar design can fully ensure the stability and fluency of typing.

If the programming key is changed or there is any fault in the firmware, you can press the RESET button below the space bar to restore the factory mode. The specific steps can be found in the manual, so I won’t go into details here.

The keycap is made of two-color injection molding + PBT material, which is not easy to oil and wear after long-term use. The surface of the keycap is designed with a certain curvature to fit better, so that it is not easy for fingers to deviate during the code word operation.

Each keycap has a ribbed design to further improve stability while typing, while the white coating makes the lighting softer and more even.

In terms of lighting effects, the KeyChron V6 is designed with an RGB lower light position. Users can use it in a normal sitting position and can see the side RGB axis effect. The keycap is relatively softer when used in a dark environment with opaque light. The RGB lighting effect of the keyboard supports There are more than ten kinds, and it is very convenient to use the lighting effect button to switch with one key.

KeyChron V6 fully supports VIA and QMK key change, no need to install third-party software, the implementation method is very simple, just enter via official website: https://www.caniusevia.com/, you can set it on the page and connect to the keyboard , the interface is all in English, pay attention to select the layer LAYER 0 1 2 3 when setting, MacOS and WinOS are 0, 1 and 2, 3 respectively, modifying the key can be done intuitively through the keymap menu, macro editing is the MACROS menu, enter The code can directly replace the button, and the lighting effect can also be switched in VIA, which is very powerful.

After experience, KeyChron V6 can be said to be an all-round hexagonal warrior mechanical keyboard. Under the highly customized structure, it is very playable for keyboard players, and the infinite knob, QMK/VIA open source system, hot-swappable switch These can also fully reflect its ease of use, and the workmanship and texture of the keyboard itself are very good. The key is that the price/performance ratio is also high. Currently, the KeyChron V6 (Knob+knob) version is only 478 yuan in the Tmall flagship store. If you are interested Friends hurry to see it.