Keychron Q5 Pro and Q6 Pro Review: Well-Built Full-Size Keyboards Leave a comment
I’ve spent the previous couple of weeks with the Keychron Q5 Professional and Q6 Professional mechanical keyboards, and I feel they’re among the finest bang-for-your-buck full-size keyboards you will get at present. The Q6 Professional is a standard full-size keyboard structure with a NumPad and navigation keys, whereas the Q5 Professional is a barely extra compact 1800-style structure.
Each of them are gasket-mounted, with thick aluminum instances and a knob within the prime proper nook. You should buy both mannequin with Keychron’s crimson linear switches, brown tactile switches, or banana tactile switches, they usually embrace hot-swap sockets, RGB lighting, and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity by default. In case you do not thoughts a wire, it’s also possible to join them by way of USB-C. (Learn my information, How to Shop for a Mechanical Keyboard, if you wish to be taught extra about a few of these phrases!)
Why a Full-Measurement Structure?
Anybody who needs a full-size keyboard structure already is aware of they need it. In my expertise, it’s one thing you’re already acclimated to, not one thing you’re going to modify to on a whim. These items are enormous and may have a devoted key for every little thing, particularly for those who reap the benefits of the flexibility to reprogram keys.
Sure, all the keyboard is totally reprogrammable. Keychron’s Q Professional line helps QMK/VIA, an open supply third-party software program that allows you to reprogram each key. QMK is a system for keyboards that permits customers to flash new firmware and keymaps, and VIA is a system that makes this reprogramming fast and seamless inside an online browser. These keymaps persist throughout units and have almost limitless potential when you’ve discovered the software program.
Due to the utility of QMK and VIA, I discovered the quantity pads helpful although I hardly use them to enter numbers. They will simply be reprogrammed and used as a dedicated macro pad, or for another variety of makes use of. (It is price noting that with each QMK and VIA, it’s important to plug within the keyboard to reprogram it.) The position of the reset button beneath the spacebar on the highest of the printed circuit board (PCB) makes reprogramming simple, because you don’t must take all the keyboard aside (in contrast to fairly a number of different keyboards that place the button in a hard-to-reach spot).
Even for those who don’t plan to reprogram any keys, the quantity pad is nice for shortly typing lengthy strings of numbers or if you wish to make the most of Alt Codes in order that you do not have to continuously Google “Em sprint” and duplicate and paste the image on Home windows. (Sizzling tip: The Alt code for an em sprint is Alt + 0151.)
The Typing Really feel
Each the Q5 Professional and Q6 Professional use a gasket mount, which means the primary keyboard meeting (plate, switches, PCB) is suspended contained in the case utilizing two compressed layers of froth as an alternative of being instantly connected to the case. This creates a bouncier typing really feel and isolates the inner meeting to create a softer, extra crisp typing sound.
Keychron’s gasket-mount system is pretty bouncy, which means the important thing presses really feel comfortable and relaxed. This meshes with the switches offered, which have pretty mild springs, to create an general typing expertise that’s crisp and bouncy with out feeling low-cost or flimsy.
The 2 boards I obtained have the Purple and Banana switches from Keychron’s Ok Professional swap line. The Reds are easy, efficient linear switches that sound poppy and really feel pretty clean. The Banana switches are tactile with a medium-strength bump and quantity of journey after the bump. I’d suggest both one since each are high-quality examples of their respective swap varieties that might be acceptable to a lot of customers.
