Keychron - Q6 HE

Gasket keyboard with internal foams and silent switches (linear or tactile). Much quieter than tray mount boards. O-rings don't do anything if you have silent switches, just make it even more mushy. In my tests, the quietest linears are Outemu Silent Peach V2/V3 and TTC Frozen V2. They are all quite smooth (no scratchiness), with minimal pop when hit. Not as smooth as the perfectly silky and thocky Gateron G Pro V3 Black, though. For tactiles, Outemu Silent Yellow Jade (I've been told) and Silent TOM (I tested and ordered more) are top tier, the TOM tactile is actually quieter than the Peach V2 linear. And the quietest board I have is the Keychron Q6 with gasket and minimal internal foam, on a nice 3mm thick deskmat for even more sound dampening. The Max series have more sound dampening (poron under switches, EV film and whatnot). But honestly, it's 90-95% the switch that makes a quiet board. So get something with gasket, 5-pin hotswap switches, factory lubed silent switches and your preferred keycaps.

Keychron Q6 HE (linear Gateron HE only) or normal Q6 / Max if you want better switch compatibility. The normal (non-HE) Keychrons also have ISO layout and localized keycaps for most EU languages believe.

Keychron Q6 HE (linear Gateron HE only) or normal Q6 / Max if you want better switch compatibility. The normal (non-HE) Keychrons also have ISO layout and localized keycaps for most EU languages believe.

Size (100% -> 40%)? Layout (ISO, ANSI, southpaw, Alice whatever)? Purpose (game? work? mobility)? For a full size board, take a look at Keychron Q6 HE (magnetic, Hall Effect) if you want the gaming goodness or Q6 Max (standard MX switches) if you want different switches like tactile, clicky or silent. A bit over 200, but pretty decent.

Keychron V6 Max or Q6 with Outemu Silent Ice Snow (linear) or Silent Tom (tactile) switches. K10 (I have a Pro) is decent but very basic, no gasket and no knob, a simple tray mounted board. I have Outemu Silent Peach V2s in that. Edit: the quietest silent switches I tried are Outemu Ice Snow and TTC Frozen V2. Both are 40-45g linears, I replaced the springs with 60g ones. Haimu Heartbeat is incredibly loud (for a silent), so is Kailh Whale TTC Bluish and anything that uses those weird plastic bits on the stem instead of silicone pad inserts.

dude got q6 max a few months back and complained it wobbles too much, picked the board apart and added extra silicone pads to un-gasket the gasket mount movement, and no one in the entire production team took the effort to research what a gasket mount does. jay is a nice dude but he's like a very enthusiastic and totally clueless 12yo in so many cases i'm pretty sure he has no idea that the keychrons q6 he massacred is hot swap and he could pop some outemu silents in there for $25

I have two Keychron Q6s, a Q9, a K10 Pro and an Akko 3098B Plus. One for every mood :) Also about 1000 unused switches of all sorts (linear, tactile, silent and non-silent) and 15 keycap sets in the drawer. The K10 Pro for $100 is just as good for work / game as the more expensive ones, the difference is just how they sound and how luxurious they feel (metal case, gasket mount).

The one I have, Keychron Q6 :) The games I play use most of the keys, including numpad.

I got a wired c35 from Amazon for 30 bucks a couple years ago and it's been an awesome steam deck keyboard for when it's docked. My main q6 pro was like 200 bucks though, but TBH nobody really needs the aluminum body

I love the way that keyboard looks. It is really beautiful and premium. Unfortunately the switches are hit or miss. I bought the wired version of that exact board and one letter wasnt working. When clicking it typed 2-3 times instead of one. I returned it and decided to replace with the wireless one. It took a day and boom, the same issue with the T. At that point I just returned it and got my money back. I have no trust in that keyboard holding up. Even if I would have gotten a third one, a button would likely break within a year. I know they are not for gaming but I went with a keychron q6 pro instead and havent regretted it a day. I dont notice the higher latency.

Some notes: Aluminum boards will not have feet. Plastic ones will. The K10 Pro is what started my obsession. Stick to QMK VIA boards and you can do whatever you like in the long run. I then moved on to a Q6 Pro, while i thought I was happy, it was too big in the end and I found that the Q5Max was my happy place. Should you get any of the Q series, you will soon learn to love or hate the KSA keycap profile. I hate it, plus keychrons caps are a little thin and cheep ish feeling so going into any Keychron, I know that I’m going change both the caps and the switches out to others that I prefer. ATM that’s Ceramic caps and Tactile Swithes. (Everyfree Greyish). All that said, after a year of trying most stuff out there, I still chose Keychron because you get a great base for where the hobby leads you.

Anything keychron is amazing, i now own Q6 Pro and it is amazing, highly recommend:)

OK so…. 1. Double typing can be a result of tired out switches, but can also (perhaps more commonly) be caused by dirt and dust or loose connections on the PCB (circuit board) especially if your keyboard is hot swappable (you can easily remove and replace the switches without having to solder them in), it’s really easy to push too hard or bend the board and pop out a connection. Also software (firmware and drivers typically) can end up old and conflicted and can cause problems. Just FYI. 2. It sounds like you need a sturdy board and the Keychron is a hefty chunk of alumninium, so you’ll def get that. I’d always urge you to consider getting a slimmer board so that your setup is more convenient to use, the next size down is an 1800 with 96% of the keys like the the Keychron Q5. 3. When it comes to switches, there are currently 3 main types (that aren’t bog standard membrane) and there are two you’ll be interested in - standard MX switches and HE (magnetic) switches. Effectively the switches in most keyboards are “analogue” in that they work by connecting two metal terminals when you press them (MX) and performance is therefore only improvable by improving the transmission of that signal to the computer - the polling rate - the Q6 is ok compared to most gaming boards but the Q5/Q6 Max are better. Hall Effect (HE) switches activate when a magnetic field detects that a certain point on the keypress is reached and there’s an instant voltage change. These are popular now for gaming because you can set that activation point wherever you like and also have multiple on a single key. Keychron does an HE version of both the Q5 and Q6 which both also have the same 1000Hz polling rate as the max. In terms of switches wearing out, if you get a hot swappable board you can just replace them. The HE boards Keychron makes are only compatible with one type of switch (Gateron double rails) which are actually pretty good, and the lack of mechanical action makes it much less likely they’ll wear out. For gaming MX / Cherry switches ( not to be confused with cherry profile keycaps) there are two types people like for gaming, linear or tactile with a definite bump when you press them. That’s really a matter of personal taste (I can’t stand linear switches and find my fingers splaying out across the board in need of some sort of rebound) but this is where you get to sample a few, read around the subject and try them out. The Keychron keycaps are all pretty good. 4. RGB - if you mean north facing (shines straight through the top of the keycap) or south facing, north facing rgbs can interfere with certain types of keycap and generally south facing are actually considered better (they’re also much brighter from the users perspective). Keychron does a side printed OSA profile set and their RGB customisation has 22 types of setting plus adjustable brightness, speed on each of them etc. Generally, the more performance orientated the board, the less likely you’re going to get north facing rgbs. Hope this helped!

OK so…. 1. Double typing can be a result of tired out switches, but can also (perhaps more commonly) be caused by dirt and dust or loose connections on the PCB (circuit board) especially if your keyboard is hot swappable (you can easily remove and replace the switches without having to solder them in), it’s really easy to push too hard or bend the board and pop out a connection. Also software (firmware and drivers typically) can end up old and conflicted and can cause problems. Just FYI. 2. It sounds like you need a sturdy board and the Keychron is a hefty chunk of alumninium, so you’ll def get that. I’d always urge you to consider getting a slimmer board so that your setup is more convenient to use, the next size down is an 1800 with 96% of the keys like the the Keychron Q5. 3. When it comes to switches, there are currently 3 main types (that aren’t bog standard membrane) and there are two you’ll be interested in - standard MX switches and HE (magnetic) switches. Effectively the switches in most keyboards are “analogue” in that they work by connecting two metal terminals when you press them (MX) and performance is therefore only improvable by improving the transmission of that signal to the computer - the polling rate - the Q6 is ok compared to most gaming boards but the Q5/Q6 Max are better. Hall Effect (HE) switches activate when a magnetic field detects that a certain point on the keypress is reached and there’s an instant voltage change. These are popular now for gaming because you can set that activation point wherever you like and also have multiple on a single key. Keychron does an HE version of both the Q5 and Q6 which both also have the same 1000Hz polling rate as the max. In terms of switches wearing out, if you get a hot swappable board you can just replace them. The HE boards Keychron makes are only compatible with one type of switch (Gateron double rails) which are actually pretty good, and the lack of mechanical action makes it much less likely they’ll wear out. For gaming MX / Cherry switches ( not to be confused with cherry profile keycaps) there are two types people like for gaming, linear or tactile with a definite bump when you press them. That’s really a matter of personal taste (I can’t stand linear switches and find my fingers splaying out across the board in need of some sort of rebound) but this is where you get to sample a few, read around the subject and try them out. The Keychron keycaps are all pretty good. 4. RGB - if you mean north facing (shines straight through the top of the keycap) or south facing, north facing rgbs can interfere with certain types of keycap and generally south facing are actually considered better (they’re also much brighter from the users perspective). Keychron does a side printed OSA profile set and their RGB customisation has 22 types of setting plus adjustable brightness, speed on each of them etc. Generally, the more performance orientated the board, the less likely you’re going to get north facing rgbs. Hope this helped!

Ok, I just placed my order for a Q6. I feel like I just bet €250 on a single number in a casino roulette..

Well, the version I had an eye on and showed as "low stock" up until a few minutes ago now shows as "sold out". I just placed an order for the Q6 max, far more expensive but is available with the ES layout so it should be usable out of the box. Wish me luck..

I'll probably go with this suggestion for the Q6 specifically tbh. My S/O already has a keychron she likes. May just end up swapping keycaps or switches if I need to later. I do wish that the regular Q or the pro Q were available. I like premium feel but not that extra premium price lol. Appreciate the advice!

Been using this one until just last week. Changed over to a keychron q6. It’s not as long so I can use my keyboard cover to keep my cockatiel off of it. https://preview.redd.it/c5dcj8bfp4te1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bff7fb246063a78c99cece3090aff3140343d3ce

https://preview.redd.it/e5qlucplp4te1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=033af9f1e0f5d234fed3fe95771297e8baff45ec The velociraptor herself

I have a Q6 HE and the Lemokey L0. The only downside to keychron is limited switch choices. I swapped the Q6 switches to a heavier aurora version but the L0 has no hot swappable options yet.