Best Prices Today: Keychron Q1 HE QMK keyboard

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$191.99

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Editor’s note: The Keychron Q1 HE is on sale for $192 at Amazon, a savings of $48 off its $240 MSRP.

I recently reviewed the Lemokey L1 HE, an excellent mechanical keyboard full of gamer-specific features. What if you’re not interested in gaming or are put off by the L1 HE’s garish, in-your-face aesthetic? Well, Lemokey’s parent company, Keychron, has another option in the form of the Keychron Q1 HE QMK, and it’s a superb device with quality touches everywhere you look.

Gone are the gaudy key legends and transparent caps, replaced by a far more refined look and feel that should complement your Apple gear nicely. Yet it loses almost none of the Lemokey’s high-end features and rock-solid build quality, and it even has a few perks of its own.

Take the Keychron Q1 HE out of its box and its heft is unmistakable. It weighed in at a beefy 1.74kg according to my scales–combined with the small rubber feet on the underside, that weight means it isn’t going to slip around on your desk any time soon.

The metal case is made from 6063 aluminum, and its quality stands up to inspection. There’s no bending or flexing anywhere, just a solid chunk of metal that should take its fair share of bumps and bruises without an issue.

There are two color options to choose from: Carbon Black (black case and white, black and red keycaps); and Shell White, (white case and white, black and green caps). I was sent a Carbon Black unit, and it looks beautiful in a simple, understated way.

The Q1 HE also looks absolutely gorgeous when its south-facing RGB lights are aglow. There are 24 customizable presets to choose from, most of them subtle, tasteful, and a far cry from the glaring “gamer” aesthetic. Set against the white keycaps and black chassis, the effect is quite lovely.

The only quibble I had with the lighting is that the Caps Lock indicator is extremely difficult to see. When pressed, it changes the key’s underside backlighting from RGB to white. Yet you can only really see this from directly above, thanks to the chunky keycaps surrounding the Caps Lock key, and you’re unlikely to be typing from a bird’s eye view. A clearer indicator would be an improvement. (Some apps display a Caps Lock icon when that button is active, so you could rely on that, but it’s not a system-wide display.)  

The Q1 HE offers a 75 percent layout, which features a compact design that chops off a few keys that you might not need (the numpad, the End key, and a few more). I personally prefer an 80 percent layout (also known as tenkeyless) and found myself reaching for an End key that was frustratingly absent. The compactness is also undercut somewhat by the keyboard’s weight, which makes it less portable than you might expect from a board of its size.

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</button><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The knob is set to sound volume by default and can be customized.</figcaption></figure>

Alex Blake/Foundry

The keycaps are made from double-shot PBT plastic, w