In its early pre-pandemic days, Keychron made a reputation for itself with its collection of reasonably priced mechanical keyboards — together with just a few low-profile ones that stay a rarity to today. Those boards didn’t essentially enchantment to fans, however had been greater than ok for many mainstream customers who wished a unique form of keyboard. Last yr, Keychron upped the ante with the launch of the Q1, an enthusiast-level, absolutely customizable hotswap keyboard with a 75% structure that had quite a lot of similarities to the closely hyped GMMK Pro. Since then, Keychron has expanded this collection with the 65% Q2, which acquired fairly rave critiques on the time and now the Q3.

The QMK-compatible Q3 clearly follows within the footsteps of the Q1 and Q2. It makes use of the identical double-gasket design that ought to make for a comparatively bouncy typing expertise (although in my expertise, there’s much less bounce than I’d’ve anticipated), and the general design is just about the identical, with the exception that it’s a tenkeyless (TKL), so that you get a full keyboard with standalone arrow keys and a full row of operate keys, however with out the numpad. The physique is created from aluminum and the entire unit weighs in at a hefty 4.5 kilos. In half, that’s as a result of Keychron opted for a metal plate right here.

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You can choose to get a bare-bones model the place you provide your individual switches and keycaps for $154 (or $164 if you wish to get the elective quantity knob), or a completely assembled model with keycaps and your selection of Gateron Pro Red, Blue or Brown switches for $174 (or $184 with knob).

For the additional $20, I believe getting the assembled model is a no brainer, on condition that the keycaps and switches will value you considerably extra and even if you wish to exchange them, you possibly can at all times reuse them in one other venture (as a result of who solely has one keyboard, proper?). The double-shot PBT keycaps aren’t the best (and the OSA profile takes a little bit of getting used to), however they’re completely serviceable and whereas some reviewers have reported points with legends that weren’t printed very effectively, that was not a difficulty on the unit I acquired. Twisting the knob feels fairly satisfying, too.

Keychron affords three colour selections for the Q3: black, silver gray and navy blue, which all include matching keycaps when you go for the absolutely assembled model. I obtained the blue model and actually loved the look.

My evaluation unit got here with Gateron Brown tactile switches, which I don’t love. They are OK switches, however simply not my model. I had a contemporary set of Akko CS Jelly Black linear switches, that are just about my go-to possibility for funds linears nowadays (or Gateron Yellows, which Keychron sadly doesn’t supply as an possibility for its Q collection).

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The pleasure of customized mechanical keyboards is you could regulate them to your individual preferences. These days, with hotswap being the usual, you possibly can simply attempt totally different switches as a substitute of simply choosing the mediocre horror that’s the Cherry Brown. But on the similar time, the Keychrone Q2 received over numerous customers as a result of it was just about nice out of the field. It was a straightforward board to advocate to first-timers. That wasn’t the case with the unique Q1 (Keychron has since launched a second model), and sadly it’s not true for the Q3 both.

In some ways, the Q3 is harking back to the Q1 in that it may be nice, however you must put a bit of labor into it. If you’re an fanatic on the lookout for this type of design, the Q3 will probably be proper up your alley, however out of the field, it suffers from fairly a little bit of case ping (that’s, a quiet however undoubtedly audible high-pitched sound that resonates by means of the case whenever you hit a key and that may shortly get annoying). It solely takes a couple of minutes to take the board aside, reduce up a Band-Aid and carry out the “force break mod” the place you strategically place these items of Band-Aid near the screws that maintain the board collectively, and also you’re in enterprise. While you will have the board open, you possibly can go for the tape mod and possibly add some extra sound dampening to the underside of the case and with possibly quarter-hour of labor, a Band-Aid, some masking tape and possibly a little bit of polyfill (there’s some sound dampening materials already included, nevertheless it’s not very efficient), you’re finished and the board will sound considerably higher. And let’s face it, when you’re an fanatic, you had been going to do all of these issues anyway.

If all of that sounds prefer it’s method an excessive amount of work for a keyboard, then the Q3 undoubtedly isn’t for you. You may go for the Q2, which is a superb gateway drug into mechanical keyboards in the identical worth bracket, and if you’d like one thing fancier, your choices are countless.

Maybe it’s the bigger dimension or possibly the general design had already been dialed in earlier than the Q2 launched, however the Q3 appears like a slight step again for Keychron. Now, as I mentioned, when you’re an fanatic and on the lookout for a TKL, which isn’t a format that’s extensively out there, I believe the Q3 is an efficient possibility. If you’re not locked into the TKL structure, simply get a Q2 or possibly the NovelKeys NK87 (which begins at $135 for the polycarbonate case and $225 for the extra comparable aluminum one).