Mechanical keyboard evaluation Part 13: The first aluminum gasket structure mechanical keyboard in life——Keychron Q3 unboxing evaluation

Hello everyone, I’m Tank, and the keyboard I’m sharing with you today is the first aluminum keyboard I got on my 25th birthday—the Q3 from Keychron, which is a relatively rare 87 with knob design. It is very novel, and the color I bought is blue, which I personally like very much. You can see in the picture that my handle and aviation plug are blue.

I have shared two mechanical keyboards with Gasket structure with you before, namely Mojo68 from MelGeek and Q75 from Fuling, but the two mechanical keyboards with Gasket structure are transparent plastic shells. The difference of this Keychron Q3 is that it It is a handful of aluminum lumps, and the weight is very large.

Let's take a look at the experience of using this Keychron Q3~

1. Single-mode hot-swappable mechanical keyboard, 87 keys with volume knob design, all keys support RGB;

2. PBT two-color injection molding keycaps, available in three colors: black, gray and blue;

3. The switch body is Jiadalong G Pro switch body, which can be selected from red, tea, and green. Previously, Q1 and Q2 used Jiadalong phantom switch. In fact, the configuration parameters of Jiadalong G Pro and phantom switch are the same. It's just a color change.

The good thing about the Q1 axis body is that there is a choice of Jiadalong silver axis. I personally like linear axes, so the Q3 in my hand is Jiadalong G Red Pro.

I reviewed Keychron’s K8 last year, but that K8 was bought in Jingdong. Many friends should know that Jingdong’s manufacturing is Keychron’s OEM and OEM, so there is no difference in the workmanship of the two keyboards. The gap is too big. This Q3 is currently only sold in Keychron’s official store. At present, it is only sold in the Tmall flagship store, and it will be sold in the store made in Tokyo and Tokyo. If you want to buy it now, you need to go to the Tmall store to buy it.

This article was typed by Keychron Q3 Blue Edition + Jiadalong G Red Pro

The keyboard model Keychron Q3 is printed on the top of Keychron's keyboard box, and the keyboard thumbnail below is colorful and reflective, full of design sense!

After opening the box, you can see that it is covered with a thick sponge, which has a good protective effect on the keyboard during transportation.

After opening the sponge, you can see the keyboard*1, supplementary keycap*4, type-c data cable*1, inserting and unplugging the shaft body instruction card*1, warranty card and manual*1, poron gasket and screws, and the After the specific manual is opened, there are four things hidden under the keyboard, namely a screwdriver, an internal hexagon, a key puller, and a shaft puller.

There are several gaskets that are not installed, so Keychron provides corresponding tools that need to be installed by the user to disassemble and install the patch.

Let me talk about the data cable here. Before Q1, there was an aviation plug-in cable. This time, Q3 did not give a free aviation plug-in cable. The gift is a nylon cable, but this is a double-headed type-c data cable. There is a type-c switch on the front. The USB adapter, this praise!

1. Basic introduction of the keyboard

The one in my hand is the 87-key + knob version. The knob is designed between F12 and the right function key, which causes the overall F area of ​​the keyboard to move to the left. The design is similar to that of the 100-key. Above, if you are not used to this design and do not need knobs, it is recommended to buy the version without knobs.

When the three function keys on the right side of the knob are adapted to the Mac system, they are the screenshot key, call Siri, and RGB switch key. The previous K8 evaluation article described this in more detail, so I won’t say much here.

The keyboard has three colors of black, gray, and blue. The one in my hand is blue. The keycaps are composed of three colors: light blue, sea blue and dark blue. The overall color style of the keyboard is relatively consistent, and the color of the keycaps is not very abrupt. The blue color of the aluminum paint gives me a feeling of blue and purple.

The type-c connection port is in the upper left corner, next to it is the toggle switch for Mac and Win systems.

Flip to the back, there are four non-slip pads and eight screw holes, there is no foot support design

We weighed the whole thing, and the whole keyboard is about 2KG, which is very heavy, suitable for people who practice martial arts to lift iron hahaha

The knob in the upper right corner can be pulled out directly. The left and right sides of the knob are used to control the volume, and pressing down is the mute switch. Press and hold the FN+ knob to change the brightness of RGB. In the video below, I show the effect of RGB and the use of the knob.

2. Keycaps, large keys, and shafts

The factory keycaps are the keys that are adapted to the Mac system. After all, one of the main selling points of Keychron is the perfect adaptation to the Mac system. Put it on, but generally speaking, you can't make a mistake...

The Keychron K series, including the Q1, all use ABS keycaps, which have been complained by players. This time, the Q3 is made of PBT ball caps. Rotten chrysanthemum problem.

The large key position uses the satellite shaft of Jiadalong, and the screw installation is relatively stable. I feel that the handle is still very stable during the trial period, but after you disassemble it, you will find that the oil on the bottom of the fake shaft is very thick.

emmmmm, to a certain extent, it is a bit lazy to apply so thickly, but it is better than not applying at all.

3. Shaft body

The switch body is Jiadalong G Pro switch body, which can be selected from red, tea, and green. Previously, Q1 and Q2 used Jiadalong phantom switch. In fact, the configuration parameters of Jiadalong G Pro and phantom switch are the same, except that It's just a color change.

I personally recommend choosing between G Red Pro or G Tea Pro~

I guess why I switched back to the G pro axis with the same parameters before using the phantom axis. Maybe it is because the color of the phantom axis is too dark, which will affect the RGB effect?

As for the oil leakage problem of the Jiadalong shaft encountered when using the K8 before, it has not been found on this Q3 after using it for more than a week.

4. Replace the keycap and dismantle the keyboard

I recently bought a set of Effie's SA monsters, I like it very much, so I changed it to this set of Q3. By the way, I disassembled the Q3 and added the remaining gaskets. However, because I haven't found a suitable studio to buy an upgrade package, follow-up If you find a suitable one, you will post the corresponding video.

Monster keycap map tour

Summarize:

Overall, it’s an entry-level customized Altuotuo Gasket. If you don’t mind the sound resonance, you can buy one and start playing. Of course, the initial price is more than 800 yuan, and now it’s around 950 yuan. My personal suggestion is to wait for a discount. buy again.

If you feel that the Jiadalong G Pro axis is average, you can only buy a kit if you want a better axis~

Finally, let’s briefly talk about the advantages and disadvantages of this Keychron Q3.

advantage:

Aluminum Tuo Tuo has a very good appearance, and the design of 87 keys + knob is relatively novel

Gasket structure is more suitable for typing

The ball cap made of PBT material feels good, the full-key RGB effect supports multiple effect switching

The Mac/Win key support is very good, and it is perfectly adapted to the F-zone function keys of the Mac

Support QMK open source key change

shortcoming:

Aluminum Tuo Tuo is heavy and not particularly convenient to carry

There is only a wired single-mode version, wireless is currently not supported due to signal interference issues, Keychron may support wireless in the future

The factory oil is a bit too thick -_-||

There is still a slight resonance problem overall, and you need to buy an upgrade package to improve it yourself, but friends who have little remaining requirements can use it immediately

The evaluation of Q3 is over here. If you feel that it is helpful to you, you may wish to like it, follow it and support it. Thank you very much~

I am Tank, a product manager who loves to toss mechanical keyboards, and I will bring you more keyboard reviews in the future. See you next time!