I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed something out of spite before, until now.
I’ve known about the Keychron brand for a long time now, but hadn’t tried testing one out yet. They just seemed like they were targeting people who weren’t as involved in the hobby as I was. They would have been great when I was getting into the hobby, but now I’m so far in that I didn’t think they’d have anything for me.
One fateful day, I saw a blog post. “Keychron, the Best Mechanical Keyboard Brand Chosen by AI.” Nearly every AI chatbot said the same thing, naming Keychron the best keyboard brand, or at least the best all-around beginner’s keyboard. I assume this is possibly due to Keychron sending many keyboards to reviewers. Many of these reviewers might be in the tech space, but didn’t make their own keyboards or have much experience with decent mechanical keyboards before that. You’d have a hard time finding a tech YouTuber who hasn’t gotten a Keychron keyboard and talked about it at this point, and many continue to use them long after they share their reviews. Social media, from YouTube to Reddit, is overflowing with Keychron, if you’re looking for keyboards. That’s all AI would know to focus on, the overwhelming amount of data and positive reviews, not an actual comparison of quality between a Keychron keyboard and something more niche, but likely higher quality.
I’d been looking to try a 40% keyboard, and Keychron almost had that in the Q9. I ordered one. It’s good to review products that can serve as an entry point into the keyboard hobby, but if I’m being honest, I just wanted to see if AI was right, or if it had been manipulated with a new modern version of SEO, flooding social media with reviews, most leaning positive.
This might be the first honest Keychron keyboard review from someone in the hobby for some time you read. I bought this myself, with my own money, and have tested it for weeks.
I can already tell you the AI’s wrong. Of course it is. But that doesn’t mean the a Keychron would be a bad option for someone looking for a keyboard. In fact, I can see why it’s a good starter mechanical keyboard, even if there might be better ways to get into the hobby.
In This Article:
Specs
- Width: 326mm
- Height: 94.1mm
- Thickness: Front: 19.6mm Back: 28.2mm
- Weight: 1050g
- Angle: 5.2º
- Body: All aluminum
- Plate: Steel
- MCU: Ultra-low-power Arm Cortex-M4 32-bit STM32L432 (128KB Flash)
- LEDs: Yes, RGB, south-facing
- Port: USB-C (wired only)
What Do All Those Model Numbers Mean?
There’s a bit of fuzzy gray area in the Keychron lineup, and it might be hard to tell from name alone what each keyboard does. The web is full of people trying to figure it out or explain it. There’s the more “professional” lineup, the Q models that are made of aluminum. The professional but still plastic models in the V lineup, various levels therein. For example, I have a V series keyboard form them that has Bluetooth and USB wireless connections, while the Q9 Plus this review is about lacks wireless, but it consider a part of the more premium lineup because it’s aluminum. Something that, frankly, hurts it a little. Then there’s the more base models up to the “Max” models, which are top of the line for their category. These often have more case foam or other improvements. Some models might not be gasket-mounted until the second tier.
Keychron’s lineup is a bit hard to figure out, but you can use their keyboard finder to figure out which one would be right for you.
Sound: I Hope You Like Pings!
Sound is so important to keyboard enthusiasts. Some like a clicky sound like an old typewriter. Others prefer to hear almost nothing. Then there are discussions around the pitch. Is it higher pitched? Pingy? Clacky? Or lower pitched and resonant, thocky? I prefer the latter. To do that, you’d use case foam, plate foam, and potentially even a layer under or on top of the PCB of thin foam. Use a plate that disperses sound, rather than carrying it, like plastics or FR4. Then you’d use key switches that send the sound below the plate, something with a long pole stem to create that “thock.” Finally, you wrap it up in a gasket mounted case or case that otherwise separates the plate and PCB from the case itself with silicone.
The Keychron Q9 doesn’t allow for that kind of customization. Oh, it came with foam, but not enough, and there isn’t room for more. It’s a gasket mounted keyboard, but the gaskets are a lightweight and porous foam that cause the keyboard to move a lot, but also don’t dampen sound enough. It feels cheap. If you know what a quality keyboard feels like to type on, this will come off as a bit cheap feeling. The plate is steel, rigid as it gets. The end result is a keyboard that has a harsh pingy clack to it, even with the foam and gasket mounts. Some will like it. I’m not “some.”
It would be cool if they had some kind of customizer, similar to what KBD Fans or Mode has for their keyboards, where you can pick the plate and other aspects to tailor the sound to exactly what you’d like. But instead, you get just about one sound profile. There’s not even enough space in the case to add more case foam.
Design/Construction
Those soft gaskets hurt the sound profile, as well as the feeling of quality. Soft, porous foam will also likely wear out with time. Eventually, it’ll likely feel loose in this case as I look to replace the foam with something else. At least I can open this case up to do that. As it is now, it’s exceedingly loose, you can bottom out the entire board with ease. It’s a bit too loose, and on top of that, I know it’ll wear out quickly.
The case itself is slim, again to its detriment. The slim case doesn’t have the space for you to add foam. It also puts the keyboard typing surface at a paltry 5.2º angle. For me, this is uncomfortable to type on. Because this is the “high end” aluminum case, they don’t include flip out feet. I’ve seen others, such as those from Drop, feature magnetic feet that could be removed from the case for a flatter feel or put back on for a more traditional angle. Keychron doesn’t have such options. Instead, I had some adhesive foam on hand, which I stuck to the bottom to put the keyboard at a better angle. Keychron shouldn’t have taken the flip-out feet off their keyboard. But if they did, it should have at least been a more average angle, rather than an angle so low.
Weak foam gaskets and narrow internals aside, the rest of the construction feels solid. It is a block of aluminum, after all. Even the knob is aluminum. It’s solid. It’s just not innovative in any way, and you may not like the shallow angle of the keyboard.
Shipping/Customer Service
I ordered a barebones Q9 Plus to bring my own switches and keycaps. Unfortunately, it turns out it was secretly out of stock. I only found this out because I reached out to support after it was well past the final date it should have shipped according to their shipping window. The customer support person was very nice (most are, please be nice to customer service employees), but what they had to tell me was annoying.
Keychron was out of stock of the keyboard I ordered, and did not know when—or if—it would be back in stock. It was lousy that they even allowed me to place an order for an item that was out of stock, let alone not telling me about it until I asked. They swapped out the keyboard for another one and I paid the difference—with a generous discount—for the additional keycaps and switches. I wasn’t happy about it, having already ordered another set, but I was in too deep, I wanted to test out a Keychron with only their own parts.
If you’re thinking of buying a Keychron keyboard, you might want to consider getting it from a third party retailer. At least they’ll tell you if it’s out of stock.
Keycaps
When I first got into mechanical keyboards, I loved the look of the spherical-topped keycaps. I thought the SA profile would be too tall for me, so I got into the DSA keycaps. But I ended up not liking them very much. They’re much too flat. An SA keycap is nice, and some of my fastest typing speeds come from SA keycaps. But that is a lot of height, and it can be fatiguing on taller boards. If only there were more middle ground options….
Okay, there are. Plenty of manufacturers have made their own keycaps smaller than the SA profile, but larger than the DSA profile. Ursa’s keycaps for Topre, ASA profile, KAT profile, even MT3’s are a little shorter. Keychron’s OSA keycaps from Keychron are also a nice feeling profile. They’re probably not my favorite, there’s something about them that just doesn’t stand out. Perhaps the cut out areas in the keycap tops are just too shallow. Also, on a 40% kit, I’d love to see something like custom printing that could show users what keys do what. It took me a while to get used to all the layers and symbols I needed to just type normally on this keyboard. Then again, there’s no guarantee you’d like their layout, and if you have to change it, you’re going to have keycaps that don’t make sense later. Still, I’ve had this on other unique keyboards, and it was helpful until I got the muscle memory.
Switches
If I had been able to get the keyboard I wanted, it wouldn’t have come with keycaps or switches. In fact, because this was out of stock months ago, I couldn’t get the version I wanted the most, either the Carbon Black or Shell White barebones knob “Plus” versions. As of this writing, they don’t even have any Plus versions available. Fortunately, I got mine, but I had to get the pre-assembled version. Part of that was the Gateron Pro Brown switches.
Gateron Brown switches are named like the more familiar Cherry MX Brown switches. I haven’t used any of Cherry’s latest models, including their improved browns, but these are far better than the Cherry MX Browns I used on boards over a decade ago, before I discovered better switches.
The Gateron Pro Brown switches are nice. Lightly tactile, far smoother than the scratchy Cherry MX Browns of old. But lightly tactile isn’t what I’m looking for in a switch. Linear switches just don’t appeal to me, I need the most tactility I can get. But I also wanted to build a fully Keychron board, to see if the best Keychron could offer was really worthy of AI’s adoration of the brand. So I went with Keychron’s own in-house K Pro Switches in the Banana flavor for the design I tested.
Ironically, I’m allergic to banana.
Keychron’s K Pro Banana Switch is a tactile switch with an average amount of pre-travel, 57g of operating force, and a short total travel of 3.3mm, thanks to the long pole design. I dislike long pole stem designs. Some fantastic switches have these designs, but I find it such a gimmick. You limited the total travel of the keypress just so the pole of the switch will hit the bottom of the switch housing to give it a “thocky” sound? I’m not a fan.
The K Pro Banana switches are more tactile than the Gateron Pro Brown switches, but not by much. That long pole design is supposed to make keyboards sound more thocky, but the slim aluminum construction of the Q9 design means that thock is lost. Not that they add much in other keyboards I’ve tried them in. It’s not the kind of deep resonant thock you get from Pandas, Bobas, or even Quinns, but it is better in the other keyboards I’ve tested with.
These switches are okay. Not great, but okay. Passable. If you want to just buy a pre-made Keychron keyboard with decent switches you won’t have to worry about until you’re ready to do more serious customization, these will suit you just fine.
Customization?
It was nice having something new to customize
You can’t even customize the angle of this keyboard. Some all aluminum boards either have taller, more comfortable angles, but in Keychron’s case, it seems like they took the design for their plastic boards, which do have extendable feet to customize the height, and then just removed the feet, leaving it at the lowest setting permanently. They don’t even sell anything that would let you raise it.
Then there’s the slim design. The slim aluminum design leaves no room for additional case foam. That means you’re stuck with that pingy sound this keyboard makes, there’s no customization in terms of sound either, as it’s pingy even with foam.
Hardware is limited to customizing the keycaps, switches, and knobs. I suppose you could remove foams, but seeing as it already sounds clacky, I doubt many people would want to.
Some of Keychron’s keyboards require you use their software, a web interface, for editing the key functionality. Fortunately, this is not one of them. It’s standard QMK firmware that’s compatible with Via. Although, because they have the “beginner-friendly” Mac/Windows switch on the back, you’ll have an entire layer to clear out if you want to make use of all your available layers and never switch between Mac and Windows PCs.
The Q9 feels like Keychron forgot about it. They don’t have an acoustic upgrade kit for it, not that you can fit much more in the slim case. There’s no information on the dimensions or 3D printer diagrams for hardware customization on their GitHub page, though they do this for many of their other keyboards. Keychron does have more customizable keyboards, but this isn’t one of them.
The 40% That Isn’t
See, Keychron? This is what a proper 40% looks like (Epomaker TH40)
Then there’s the layout itself. The Keychron Q9 Plus is marketed as a 40% keyboard. The Plus model has a split spacebar, so you can use one as a function key. I’ve got it set up in QMK to serve as either a key that moves the keyboard into the first layer, or a space if I just tap it.
A 40% keyboard has no number row. In fact, it’s not supposed to have much more than the standard alpha keycaps and the modifiers surrounding them. Some omit symbols, with the entire “-=[];’/” keys on the right side of the keyboard going missing. I’m not a fan of this kind of 40%. Anyone who writes or programs enough knows how important the apostrophe/quote key is, and having it right by my pinky is essential. I don’t want to have to go up a layer every time I type a common character. On top of that, muscle memory will lead you to pressing Enter when you mean to enter an apostrophe or quotation mark.
Fortunately, Keychron’s “40%” keyboard doesn’t have this issue. In fact, it’s largely a standard 60% keyboard without the number keys. It’s been the easiest of my 40% keyboards to get used to. However, it’s what Keychron added to that formula that I disagree with. They could have reduced the width of the modifier keys surrounding the alpha keys. They could have ditched unnecessary heft, making a slim, space-saving 40% keyboard. Instead, they included arrow keys, an additional function key, and a knob. The Keychron Q9, a “40%” keyboard, is wider than any of my 60% or HHKB-style boards! The whole point of a 40% is to take up less space on a desk, and Keychron somehow figured out a way to make it take up more!
The knob is nice, but I’d rather get a macro pad with knobs (which I have), or even a separate knob. The additional function key doesn’t add much, and I, like many people interested in 40% keyboards, have been using keyboards without arrow keys for years now. I don’t need them! I’ve actually come to like the HHKB layout for arrow keys, though some use WASD or PL:” just as well. There’s just no need for this much additional space on a keyboard like this. It would be like trying to design a sports car and then putting it in the body of an ugly, tall, grotesque SUV.
Oh, sorry Ford.
Overall 6.5/10
This definitely isn’t the worst keyboard I own. Not by a long shot. It’s not the best either. It’s not my favorite 40% keyboard (and it isn’t a real 40% keyboard). But it’s not bad. It has many of the right things for a good keyboard, just not the whole package.
Keychron is mid. Between cheap beginner boards and more high-end pro keyboards, the Keychron sits in a beginner-friendly space that also offers some limited customization options and decent keycaps. Being mid is great for people who don’t want to do the research or spend too much to see if mechanical keyboards are right for them. I don’t think I have anything really bad to say about this board, just not enough good to rate it more highly. It’s a simple mechanical keyboard for the mass market.
Keychron is a company that makes good entry-level mechanical keyboards, but isn’t making products specifically for the enthusiast crowd with a high level of customization. It reminds me of older Drop boards in that sense. High quality, good parts, easy to recommend to beginners, but not quite what I’m looking for anymore now that I know more about keyboards. I could see recommending a Keychron keyboard to someone asking about it, but if I really cared about them and wanted them to get the best, I’d just offer to build a kit with them and make something they’ll really love. Buying the best thing the first time, especially when it’s not that difficult to find something better, is the best choice when doing anything, not just keyboard shopping.
So, was the AI right? Of course not. It’s AI. Personally, I’m quite partial to KBD Fans and Mode’s kits. There’s probably no “best” keyboard brand. But there are ones that enable you to make exactly what you want, instead of just taking something off the shelf. But if you’re just looking for something off the shelf, a Keychron will do you well enough… until you wonder what something better might be like.