Keychron Q1 Pro Review | Trusted Reviews

Verdict

The Keychron Q1 Professional is a elegant mechanical keyboard. The addition of wi-fi connectivity ensures it affords some of the full packages accessible with a sturdy development, clean and tactile switches, and intensive software-based customisation. It could be costly, however the Q1 Professional is a unbelievable keyboard for its asking value.

Introduction

The Keychron Q1 Professional marks out a significant improve to one in every of my favorite keyboards of 2022.

It provides the powers of Bluetooth connectivity to the Keychron Q1 that has had delight of place on my desk and that has been utilized in anger for the final yr.

Alongside this, it options the identical sturdy body, considerate design and options that fans can respect, leading to among the finest mechanical keyboards cash should buy right now.

Design

• Ridiculously hefty development
• Infinite customisation
• Handy wired/wi-fi mode switching

Inserting the Keychron Q1 Professional subsequent to my trusty Keychron Q1 V2 reveals how little has modified when it comes to the keyboard’s design. It offers a ridiculously sturdy CNC’d aluminium case that gives no flex in any respect, in addition to an particularly reassuring heft, with a complete mass of 1.8kg. That’s loads for a mechanical keyboard, not to mention one with a smaller 75% structure just like the Q1 Professional has.

That smaller kind issue is definitely my favorite structure to make use of, with it offering many of the performance afforded by a extra conventional TKL structure, though with a barely squished up  nav cluster within the title of saving house. The Q1 Professional additionally brings with it the enjoyable of a knob within the top-right nook for media playback. It’s a handy addition, and feels tactile to make use of.

Not like my trusty Q1 V2 nonetheless, this explicit Keychron Q1 Professional isn’t customised in any manner nonetheless – it’s the pre-built variant. As a lot as having the model’s personal keycaps could at first appear slightly underwhelming, these are PBT keycaps. They’re comprised of upper high quality plastics in comparison with the extra conventional ABS keycaps which are seen on a myriad of different keyboards, reinforcing that the Q1 Professional is a top quality product.

The keycaps themselves are two-tone gray, with a small blue accent for the Esc key, and provide a extra spherical profile than your commonplace ones. This helps the Q1 Professional to supply a bit extra of a retro aesthetic, whereas nonetheless being a totally fashionable keyboard.

Keychron affords a myriad of various appropriate keycap units with the Q1 Professional, or, if you wish to go additional afield, then just about any MX-stem keycaps will match the keyboard. All of it will depend on what profile of keycaps it’s you need, which in flip can change the appear and feel of all of it.

It’s across the again the place the Q1 Professional has skilled a significant change, with the addition of a pair of switches to will let you select between each Wired and Bluetooth modes, in addition to whether or not you’re utilizing the keyboard on Home windows or Mac. Alongside this comes a USB-C port for charging, which is at all times good to see.

Efficiency

• Clean and tactile typing expertise
• Handy connectivity with Bluetooth
• First rate battery life

The place my earlier Keychron endeavour got here with cherry-picked switches (in case you’ll pardon the pun) within the type of some CHERRY MX Clears that I chosen when configuring the board, the Keychron Q1 Professional I’ve obtained right here comes with the model’s personal Okay Professional Brown switches. These are more than likely rebranded Gateron G Professional switches, which is what shipped with the wired Q1.

It’s usually at this level the place I’d go on a little bit of a tangent about my points with Gateron switches, as their Browns particularly haven’t offered essentially the most constant efficiency on this planet. Nevertheless, these Okay Professional Browns are a few of the higher MX Brown clones I’ve skilled in years.

They provide a constant and snappy keypress, full with a rounded bump midway down the important thing journey. Oftentimes clones could be particularly scratchy and inconsistent, however with the Okay Professional Browns being pre-lubed, it permits them to supply a clean and but tactile keypress that makes them a pleasure to sort on.

Nevertheless, in case you’re not a fan of the bundled switches within the Q1 Professional for no matter purpose, then it’s helpful to know that it’s a hot-swappable keyboard. This implies you’ll be able to chuck in any switches you want, whether or not they’re tactile, linear or clicky, and likewise conform to the MX commonplace of three or 5 pin mounting.

To check this, I took a few of the MX Black Clear Tops I had laying round, put them in after taking the Okay Professional Browns out, and so they felt unbelievable. Swapping the switches is particularly simple as you merely seize a swap puller from contained in the field, pull gently to get the swap out, after which exchange it by ensuring the pins line up with the socket, after which push down till it clicks into place.

The typing expertise afforded by the Okay Professional Browns is a cushty one, given the sunshine, lubed switches. Intriguingly, the Q1 Professional can be a gasket mounted keyboard, so the typing expertise is by design, slightly bouncy. This makes issues maybe a tad extra responsive and cozy than extra of a inflexible keyboard with a steel plate operating by it.

Connectivity is taken care of by way of both Bluetooth or a USB-C wired connection, which retains issues handy. You’ll be able to pair the Q1 Professional with as much as three gadgets without delay, and switching between them is as simple as choosing the related channel utilizing the Fn key and the related quantity. 

On the entrance of battery life, Keychron charges the Q1 Professional to final for as much as 300 hours with the backlighting off, and as much as 100 hours with it on. This falls brief by comparability to the Asus ROG Azoth for example, however nonetheless affords you the prospect to make use of the Q1 Professional for just a few weeks between prices. The very fact I solely needed to cost the Q1 Professional as soon as in my testing is testomony to its stable endurance.

Software program and lighting

• Brilliant RGB lighting
• Highly effective software program suite

The dialogue of backlighting leads me properly into this subsequent part. The Keychron Q1 Professional comes with RGB lighting that’s vibrant and vibrant, and works nicely so long as you’ve obtained switches with clear housings contained in the board to permit the lighting to shine by. In the event you’re utilizing switches with black plastic housings, then these will severely mute the lighting to the purpose the place it’s exhausting to note.

On the entrance of software program, the Q1 Professional utilises VIA, which is a severely highly effective piece of equipment. There’s the choice to program 4 separate operate layers, in addition to remapping capabilities instantly onto keys, providing you with loads of potential for customisation.

You may also program macros and fiddle with a set of presets for lighting too. It’s a really useful little bit of equipment and does all of what most individuals will want. Despite the fact that it may not look as big-budget as suites from extra mainstream producers, VIA will get the job accomplished.

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