What you need to know
- Keychron's latest offering in the Q series uses Gateron's hall effect magnetic switches with customizable actuation point.
- The keyboard has an all-metal chassis, and uses a gasket-mounted design.
- It uses a 75% layout, and connects to three devices at once.
- The barebones Q1 HE is $194 right now, with the fully assembled model debuting at $214.
Keychron makes some of the best mechanical keyboards money can buy today, and I noted in my Q1 Pro review that it is the only high-end keyboard worth considering. That's about to change with the introduction of the Q1 HE. As the name suggests, the keyboard uses the Q1 Pro as the foundation, so you get the same 75% layout and aluminum chassis with a gasket-mounted design to decrease sound resonance.
What's different is that you get 2.4GHz connectivity with 1000Hz polling in addition to Bluetooth, making it that much more versatile. The keyboard connects to up to three devices at once, and it works with the VIA software, making it straightforward to change settings and configure macros.
But the biggest differentiator is the switch; the Q1 HE uses Gateron's 2.0 Hall Effect Magnetic Switch, and it lets you customize the actuation point. It is a linear switch with an actuation force of 40gf that bottoms out at 60gf, and it is pre-lubed. The unique nature of the switch lets you create actuation points between 0.1mm to 4.0mm, and that allows you to set up keys that trigger instantly — like the WASD cluster — while using a higher actuation point with the rest of the keys.
You can also set up multiple actions with the same key, giving you that much better customizability while setting up in-game actions. You'll need to use Keychron's web app to change the actuation point as that isn't available in VIA.
Keychron uses double-shot PBT keycaps, and while they don't have shine-through legends, they have excellent durability. On that note, you get OSA profile keys, and they're a good middle ground between OEM and MT3. Like the rest of the Q series, the Q1 HE has vibrant RGB lighting effects.
The Q1 HE is now being crowdfunded on Kickstarter, and it has already exceeded its $50,000 goal in just over an hour. The barebones kit is available for $194, and the fully assembled variant is selling at just $214. The retail prices will obviously be higher, so if you like the look of the Q1 HE, best act now. General sale is slated to kick off sometime in Q1 2024.
