[Wolves] Keychron Pro Keyboards

[Adam Sweet]

I'm not a keyboard nerd like some out there but I showed off my new 
keyboard at last night's meeting and was asked to share a link. In 
recent years I've begun to invest in the hardware I use every day, like 
keyboard, mouse and chair.

As I explained, I bought a new keyboard a few months back, a Logitech MX 
Mechanical, but hadn't really gotten on with it.

When I was researching for that purchase I came across the Keychron K5 
Pro and K10 Pro but the UK layout wasn't in stock and it appeared to be 
an indefinite situation. The K5 Pro has low profile keys, the K10 Pro 
has classic chunky keys reminiscent of the IBM Model M keyboard that 
people get all misty-eyed about. I mention the Pro part in the name 
because there are regular non-Pro K5 and K10 models.

I spotted the UK layout K10 Pro on an Amazon Black Friday deal and 
popped for it, having forgotten about the K5 Pro. I really liked it but 
kept catching my fingers on the keys due to the height as I'm used to 
low profile keyboards. Looking at the Keychron Amazon store later I saw 
they had the UK K5 Pro on a deal too, remembering that's the one I 
originally wanted I bought it and will be returning the K10 Pro.

It feels very comfortable and natural for a new keyboard. Both are USB 
and bluetooth full-size mechanical keyboards (inc numpad) with 
programmable key functions, a Mac/iOS or PC/Android toggle switch and 
interchangeable keycaps for each platform. It supports bluetooth pairing 
with up to 3 devices and switches between them with a keyboard shortcut, 
though of course bluetooth doesn't work until your OS is booted so you 
need the cable to use it in the BIOS/UEFI/bootloader. It also has the 
usual hideous RGB backlighting effects, like rainbow coloured rainfall 
top to bottom or waves left to right etc but I set it to white and just 
flash the key I pressed.

As seems increasingly common it doesn't have SysRq, scroll lock or 
pause/break keys, but it does have a dedicated print screen button and 
programmable functions for scroll lock and pause that can be assigned to 
any key of your choosing. I've yet to work out if the print screen key 
works as a SysReq.

This is the K5 Pro:

https://www.keychron.uk/products/keychron-k5-pro-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard-iso-layout-collection

And the K10 Pro:

https://www.keychron.uk/products/keychron-k10-pro-qmk-via-wireless-mechanical-keyboard-iso-layout-collection

The ones I bought have red Gateron switches, which don't have the click 
or bump sensation that brown switches have when you press a key. The 
switches are replaceable though so you can buy them with brown ones and 
the K10 Pro supports Cherry MX and numerous other switch types.

The key function programming software is a web application which works 
fine but you have to faff with device permissions on Linux. You have to 
upload the manufacturer .json file for it to recognise the keyboard. The 
changes are immediate though and you can also download a copy of the 
modified json. You can change the keycodes generated when a key is 
pressed or assign custom macros. The keyboard firmware is Open Source if 
you're interested.

This is the Amazon product page for the K5 Pro (I see the price has gone 
back up now):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CD44FKZL

and the K10 Pro (deal still on):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BVHV8Q34

The Keychron website still have their own Black Friday deals so it's 
worth comparing prices including delivery.

Anyone else religious about or particularly happy with their keyboard or 
mouse?

Ad