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The $ 79 K2 has long been one of Keychron ’s bestselling mechanical keyboards . As with all of the society ’s K - line display board , it volunteer a relatively no - frill experience but supply all of the reward of a mechanical keyboard in an low-cost software package with a 75 % layout ( which think of you get arrow key and a dustup of procedure keys , but no numpad ) .
Now Keychron is going a minute upmarket with the K2 by establish a new reading , the wireless K2 HE with Gaterondouble - railmagnetic switchesand , optionally , a bod that combines woodwind , aluminum and plastic into a parcel that starts at $ 130 ( or $ 125 during the Kickstarter ) . But unless all you care about is the extra gambling features that a hall force magnetized switch can extend you , you ’ll probably desire to spring for the extra $ 10 to get either of the special editions with their light- or glum - colored wooden side gore .
Like with most of its unexampled designs , Keychron is establish the task onKickstarter . Typically , crowdfunding would arrive with a few caveats , but at this point , this is more of a merchandising mechanism for Keychron than a way to fund a new project . This is still a pre - sale , though , and the first boards are schedule to ship in October .
If you ’re in the mart for one of these , the main choice to make is whether you want the standard version , with its aluminum underframe and plastic dead body , or the bloodless or opprobrious extra edition with the Ellen Price Wood and aluminium frame and plastic body . The dark rosewood on the black special edition give way it a vintage synthesizer vibe , while the easy colour feel more minimalist .
There have been other keyboards out there with wooden accents — and sometimes wooden shape — but very few are usable from mainstream firebrand like Keychron .
I ’ve been test the black version with Gateron ’s Nebula replacement . I have quite a few more keyboard sitting beneath my desk at the moment , but even though the K2 HE is n’t the most premium board I could be using right now , I have n’t feel the penury to switch it out .
There are a couple of thing that really help — on top of the versatility of the magnetised switches . The first thing you ’ll notice is that while it ’s comparatively light , the board does n’t feel crummy . The aluminum frames and wooden idiom lend a more exchange premium aesthetical , even though the rest of the circuit board is made from credit card .
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That jazz band also result in a pleasant speech sound . It ’s a bit on the subdued side but still pleasantly thocky — though perhaps not quite as marbly or poppy as some would wish .
There is also no board ping to be found . Keychron achieves that audio by using a combining of a silicone diggings and acoustic froth .
The switches also make a difference here , of class . This is my first time trying out Gateron ’s pre - lubed magnetized switches and they work quite well . There ’s not a lot of wobble and they operate well in combination with the rest of the board ’s fabric to shape the sound . There is also zero rale from the screw - in stabilizers .
Keychron also did a nice Book of Job with the web - based computer software for tweaking the software side of the keyboard . There ’s no indigence to put in any additional package . That means you ca n’t useVIA / QMKto make adjustments either , but I did n’t miss that in day - to - twenty-four hours consumption .
It just works .
This is also where the reward of the magnetised switches descend into play . By now , there is a exercise set of features you ’d have a bun in the oven from a keyboard like this . At its most basic , that have in mind coiffe the propulsion distance from how far down you need to iron before the keyboard registers a key stroke . you’re able to set that with 0.1 mm preciseness from 0.2 mm , which pretty much triggers it the instant your finger touches the keycap , all the way of life down to 3.8 mm , just before the switch bottom out .
That ’s fun for typists and can help foreclose the occasional typo , but magnetic switches really take up to glow when it come to gaming . Here , you may utilise rapid trigger , for example , which resets the key much faster than a traditional substitution and hence allows you to spam keypresses much quicker .
Magnetic replacement also allow you to produce what are fundamentally macros that trigger different keystrokes at unlike point during the down press and release . Here , Keychron allows for up to four action that you could trigger on a single key stroke . The canonic example for how to apply this ( with just two actions set to a single key ) is to switch between walking and running .
Those who are far more creative than me will likely be able-bodied to dream up plenty of productivity function cases .
It ’s worth note , however , that there ’s no flex here . That palpate like a bit of a yielding to the gaming audience that may be attracted to the magnetized switch and their customizability . That may make longer typing Roger Huntington Sessions a little morsel more fatiguing , but that ’s very much a personal predilection . It should also be easy enough to mod the board to bring back some flex .
I ’m well-chosen to report that Keychron will apply stock Cherry profile keycaps here , which I much opt over the gamy KSA keycaps Keychron often admit by default . The sample I received earlier hail with a set of OEM visibility caps ( and that ’s what you see in some of the images here ) , but during my testing , I also switched that out for a basic set of Keychron Cherry keycaps I already own and while there are high - timber sets out there , Keychron has always done a utterly fine job with its keycaps .
One other nice feature that is often lack in forward-looking mechanically skillful keyboards : The K2 HE have two pocket-sized plastic human foot that rent you adjust the keyboard ’s slant .
There are , of course of action , LEDs under every headstone and 22 different ways to make them alight up . If that ’s your thing , you ’re in chance .
At this more low-priced price point , you are making a few trade - offs . Unlike some other boards that let you employ both magnetic and traditional switches , the PCB that Keychron is using here is n’t gear up up to support anything but magnetic switches . Thankfully , there ’s an ever - increase bit of magnetic permutation options out there now , include tactile and clicky ones , but that ’s something to be cognizant of .
Oh , and there ’s no knob , if that ’s significant to you .
Overall , though , this is a very nice software program and as so often with Keychron , it ’s an easy one to advocate if you want to dip your toe into hall result magnetic switches .
