Should I get Keychron's Q1? How does the Q1 compare to the GMMK pro?

Below is a round up of reviews and impression videos that have been released today with the end of the review embargo. There are quite a few of them, with potentially more on the way, so I grouped them to help people prioritize videos depending on who they might best relate to.

More premium enthusiasts' perspective:

• Andy Nguyen (review)

• Alexotos (build stream with multiple configurations)

• Shoobs (review)

• MechMerlin (unboxing)

Enthusiasts' perspective:

• Keybored (review)

• Hamaji Neo (review)

• BadSeed Tech (review)

• Nextrift (review)

• minimalistik (review)

Non-enthusiasts' perspective:

• randomfrankp (review)

• Shortcircuit (impressions)

• Dave2D (review)

If you're not sure where to start and you can only view one video, I'd recommend Keybored's review video as I personally found it to be the most comprehensive to the widest range of audiences.

Bottomline:

The reviews largely recommend the Keychron Q1 for what it is - an accessible, entry-level 75% custom mechanical keyboard - that competes very well against the GMMK Pro. The main praise is it's price point and value. The main critique is its stock hollow sound (more on that in a dedicated section below). Assuming the sound is tuned to your liking, the Keychron Q1 should offer a great custom keyboard experience to most people for its price point.

$Value:

It's quite competitively priced at $149 for the barebones kit, with even greater value for the Fully Assembled version (includes 80+ switches and keycaps) that comes at $169. One thing to keep in mind is that shipping starts at $30 in the US, whereas Glorious ships the GMMK Pro for free - given you can't pick either of those keyboards in a store, you can argue that the Keychron Q1 more realistically starts at $149+30=$179 for the barebones kit.

Core Differences from the GMMK Pro:

Sound/Hollowness:

Most reviewers observed a hollow sound profile for the Keychron Q1 in stock configuration. Several reviewers observed that you can decrease the hollow sound as you add more foam inside the case. However the trade off is that the additional foam could add more resistance to the PCB moving downward into the case, creating a more stiff typing experience. Keychron will also be shipping additional case foam for those that want to customize their Q1 with it.

There is some ambiguity here as Andy's original sound test video featured hollow sounds across a variety of configurations, whereas Alex's stream seemed to "fix" the hollow sound fairly easily with poly fil and/or the tape mod. Both are credible keyboard builders. As always, your mileage may vary. [insert rant about how everything all the way down to your mom's breakfast tomorrow evening affects sound tests]

Marcia and Alex's Thoughts:

Marcia and Alex gave further thoughts on their Whats new in Keyboards 8/26-9/3 stream. Alex claimed that the stock Q1 was the best prebuilt keyboard experience he's had. He has recently been daily driving his modded Q1 over the Thera75, which is a keyboard that he, Andy and MechMerlin have given positive reviews for. Both Alex and Marcia believe the Q1 can be a great gateway into the custom mechanical keyboard hobby from prebuilts. They still crown the IKKI68 Aurora as the best entry level keyboard kit overall, and both prefer the Q1 over the GMMK Pro.

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I hope this helps some people research the Keychron Q1 as a potential purchase. Please let me know if I'm missing information. I will also continue to update this post for the first few days as more information and reactions surface.

EDIT (8/26/2021): added feedback from Alex and Marcia's stream

EDIT (8/27/2021): added Hamaji Neo's review

I really want a good premium wireless HE keyboard and I found this, I can buy it for 200€. Not planning on modifying it in any way just use it as is out of the box Is it worth it ?

So I received the Keychron Q1 Max today, and I've been messing around with it, testing out different switches (Akko Cream Yellow, Gateron Oil King, Akko Speed Silver, and the Gateron Jupiter Yellows which came stock in the board I ordered)

The Gateron Jupiter Yellow switches are by far the best switches I have used to date. They've got a very nice pop to them, while still managing to sound "thocky" They come pre-lubed, and from what I can tell, there's no need to wash the pre-lube off to apply your own, they've done an incredible job with the switch lube of the Jupiter Yellows that I have received.

I've only done one mod so far which was the Tempest Tape Mod, and that improved the thockiness some as well.

So, how does this keyboard sound straight out of the box, no mods, no tinkering, nothing, just... out of the box plug and play? Very nice and poppy. Not too high pitched, just a very nice, marbly pop sound. One of my RL friends described it as "That's some ASMR shit, like rocks rolling around"

I really like how the stock keycaps kind of "hug" your fingers if that makes sense, it feels really nice when typing, makes me sad I'm actually swapping the keycaps out for something that better fits my color scheme

The one and only con that I know of as of RIGHT NOW (This is just a day one review, and not even day one, more like... 7 hours in review) is that the stabilizers are god awful pieces of garbage. Which isn't actually a problem for me, I was planning on switching them out to Durock V2 Stabilizers regardless of how the stock stabs sounded / felt. BUT that is something to consider if you wanted to keep your stabs stock. They sound truly... awful. Think of something you'd receive from a low end budget, no name mechanical gaming keyboard from Amazon for $30... That's how bad the stock stabs are.

Overall: I give this keyboard a 9/10 after a 7'ish hour review with the board. Docking a point for the awful stabilizers, but as I said, that's really and quite honestly my only complaint about this board. Keychron has done an oustanding job with this keyboard. For reference, this is my second custom board build, my first one, before this, was the GMMK Pro.

The mods I plan to do to this keyboard are as follows

- Tempest Tape Mod

- Durock V2 Stabs with Dry H.U.M.P. mod

- PE Foam (ordered from https://www.keyboardkustoms.com/collections/keychron-q/products/keychron-q1-pe-foam )

- POM Plate OR Brass Plate (I have not decided which just yet, still researching this, I've heard great things with brass plates when using tactile switches, but I currently have a POM plate from the above mentioned website keyboardkustoms. Should I find the brass plate to be the winner when I finish researching this bit, I'll be buying the brass plate as well and just using that)

- Force Break (Which actually may not be needed with this keyboard, it LOOKS as if Keychron already did this mod stock for you when I took it apart to do the Tempest Tape Mod, but I didn't look too closely at that to confirm if this was actually done by Keychron themselves, but from the looks of it this may actually have been done already stock)

- Switch films (Possibly, more testing is needed to see if this keyboard /switches will actually benefit from switch films as I quite enjoy the sound right out of the box)

Let me know if you have any questions!

TL;DR: Best keyboard I've ever owned!

I've been using my new Keychron Q1 HE for a few days and love just about everything it has to offer. Build quality is outstanding. You could use this heavy keyboard as a bludgeoning weapon if you run out of ammo during the zombie apocalypse.

Adding 2.4GHz wireless was long overdue and works so much better than Bluetooth. I use the keyboard wired to my PC and via 2.4GHz to my M3 Air. I'm now fully hooked on magnetic switches. The customization options are pretty cool. Typing on my other mechanical keyboards just feels wrong now.

I'm going to get a different set of keycaps. A minor annoyance is not being able to tell if CAPS LOCK is active since you can't see any lighting change through the caps. There's no height adjustment so I got a pair of little flip up risers ($7 Amazon) to raise the keyboard to a more comfortable typing position.

I prefer a lighter touch, so bought a set of Gateron Dawn magnetic switches along with the keyboard. These hot-swappable switches can be difficult to remove. I tried several tools, but nothing worked. I didn't want to use too much force and risk damaging my keyboard, so checked a few YT videos. I found a solution by using a watch band removal tool, I was able to pry up the switches with ease.

I'm super pleased with this Q1 HE. At $220, it ain't cheap, but I think it's well worth the price. I couldn't add pics to this post, so here's a link to them: Q1 HE pics

Got a secondary keyboard. It had to be nicely affordable but good quality. Fairly compact, but with an F-row. After quite some time looking around I chose the Keychron Q1 QMK. It’s a wired mechanical keyboard with full RGB backlighting. That put me off at first, because I don’t like RGB at all. Decided to get it anyways and turning the RGB off permanently.

The quality surprised me when it arrived. Nicely heavy milled aluminum case, anodization is well done and the top/bottom half fit perfectly seamless together. PCB design is well done too, nicely positioned components and the silkscreen is clear. The metal plate actually has some sort of Teflon like coating; probably to dampen ringing. Simple gasket mount by use of strip of foam between the plate and case. While quite heavy, the typing feel was quite flimsy and clicky. I’ve ordered a foam upgrade kit along with it, so I installed it. Much better.

The default switches were Gateron Phantom Silver. I swapped those for Cherry MX Brown Hyperglides that I lubed about a year ago but had in storage since I put Gateron Oil Kings on my first board. When lubed, these MX Browns are less tactile and basically linear, but nicely smooth. So adding those to the Q1 was another nice upgrade. Much better again.

But by far the biggest letdown were the stock ABS keycaps. Felt like a disposable toy and really held the keyboard back… they obviously had to cut corners somewhere, but I think they went too far on the keycaps, so that the they don’t do the rest of the keyboard justice. So I’ve ordered PBTfans BOW keycaps and put those on the keyboard. Massive difference!

My conclusion is that you can get close to highend performance for a fraction of the cost if you do the right modifications. Even when buying factory pre-made mods and no DIY like tapemod or holee mod.

Hello all,

I am very new to mechanical keyboard. I have been using keychron k3 pro for few days (with brown swiss switch and everything else stock) and liked the feeling. I will be using a keyboard mainly for typing purposes only. I have been checking and came to a conclusion that I would like to buy/ build a first one using keychron q1 pro. I do appreciate connection via Bluetooth. I have been thinking between shell white and silver backbone for the base. Probably I would go with tactike switches...Other than that I do not have solid idea about switches and keycaps and other customizing accessories. I am based on a Nordic country and would need Iso Nordic format and do not have any local supliers where I could go and check. Everything have to order from either amazon or keychrons own shop. I would appreciate very much if one can suggest on some decent as well as reasonable switches and keycaps and other needed accessories.

I do appreciate nice and clean look however do not necessarily need heavy customization!

Thanks alot in advance. Cheers!!

I've been considering buying a GMMK PRO but was going to wait until the Q1 reviews came out to make my decision. I've watched a lot of the review videos that dropped today and compiled some thoughts since I'm sure other people will be looking for this.

Overall reviewers seem draw the obvious comparison to GMMK PRO (since Q1 is essentially a clone) and seem to favor Q1 in some ways, GMMK PRO on others. I agree with some of their points, disagree with others. Here are my key takeaways.

1. Price - They're advertising at $150 barebones, $169 with keycaps and Gateron Phantom switches included (and also a coiled cable). But as far as I've seen the only way to get it is to pay $30-$50+ shipping, so that price is a bit deceptive. Still appears to be a good deal given everything that's included but that value diminishes some if you plan on changing out their switches & caps. It's also pretty misleading to advertise a $150 board.

On price it seems to slightly win over GMMK if you want to use the included switches and caps, but the quality comparison is still questionable until we get reviews from more people

2. Gasket Mounting - They seem to have taken a different route to the gasket mounting implementation over the GMMK PRO. I'm not sure if it's better or worse tbh. If you like more flex I guess its better, if you like a stiffer board I guess worse. I've never owned a gasket mount so I can't really make a call for either. From sound tests I don't think more flex necessarily makes a better sound profile. I'm neutral on this.

3. Sound - absolutely horrible overall. It is pingy af. A couple of the reviewers tapped on it and it sounded completely hollow. Alu seems thin. To be fair this can be modded with foam inserts but out of the box it simply does not sound good. On the flip side GMMK PRO is loaded with foam and super stiff which will definitely dampen the sound significantly. I personally prefer the later profile over pinging, so +1 for GMMK PRO here

4. Stabilizers - The unmodded stabs sound ok but not great. They'll still need modding and probably best switched out with durocks. But GMMK PRO stabs are not great either, and have had some issues with overlubing. Definitely a +1 over GMMK until (if) GMMK refreshes their stabs.

5. QMK/VIA - Its there if you want it. Still untested on production units so we'll see how that plays out. It doesn't seem they're offering their own customization software so hopefully this works out of the box. Since GMMK PRO now apparently fully works with QMK & VIA, plus has Glorious Core (even if its not great yet), I think theres no clear winner here.

6. Aesthetics - TBH I think Q1 is kind of uglier. I don't like the big bezels on top. That's just personal preference so to each their own. It doesn't really have any unique features. I personally like the look of the side profile lights on GMMK so +1 for PRO for me here. Again, this is pretty personal so to each their won

7. Accessories - the Keychron accessories seem to be rushed and really low quality. It's nice they include a coiled cable but it doesnt look good and has a weird angle. The dye sub keycaps are super low quality. They also don't have a rotary knob option yet. From reviews i've read most of the GMMK PRO accessories are decent (now that the switch plates are fixed to fit Durock stabs). Since I'm switching out the keycaps and switches anyway none of these are that exciting for me.

OVERALL - It's a decent entry level board but nothing really new or exciting imho. It's a GMMK PRO clone with a few minor changes. It has some PROS over GMMK PRO and some Cons. TBH I do not see this being worth the risk of buying a round one unit. There will almost certainly be some QC issues given how fast they rolled it out, and there are some other issues noted in the reviews raising eyebrows. Its also missing some of the features I personally like on the PRO like the rotary knob and side lights.

Verdict - I'm sticking with the GMMK PRO. There's enough info & customer reviews out there already that I know what I'm getting. Aesthetically I like it better. It seems to sound better and overall higher quality. From what I've seen on here and Discord I think they've made some decent improvements in the initial QC. And I have had good experiences with Glorious CS/ordering process in the past (YMMV). I think both boards will require modding to get 100% right but I just feel I'm getting more bang for my buck with Glorious.

But, I do see the Q1 as a solid contender. Overall its nice to see several options at this price point which seems to have been inspired by the GMMK. I think overall this is very positive for the community and hobby. It will be interesting to see actual customer reviews on it once it ships.

Interested in other people's opinions on this?

I recently bought a Keychron Q1 Pro QMK/VIA Wireless keyboard with Keychron K Pro Red switches.

I want to love this keyboard (it's built so well) but I make SO many type-os on it!

I've been using mechanical keyboarfds since the 90s, butg I just can't seem to type properly on this one. I accidentally hit keys so often, and I think it's because it's too easy to actuate keys. I find especial;ly that I hit a key, and then just slightly brush the key next to it as I'm lifting up my finger, and that registers a keypress of the key next to it.

I left my type-os in the paragraph above as an example.

Is there anything that can be done about this? Maybe different keycaps or switches?

I have an Alienware M15 R4 laptop with Cherry MX low-profile red switches, and it's my favourite keyboard of all time. Those have the same actuation force as the Keychron switches in this keyboard (40g), but the Alienware keyboard is very low profile. Maybe that's the difference?

I'm a very fast touch-typist and I type over 100 wpm, so maybe I'm an edge case, but I've never had such problems with a mechanical keyboard before!

I heard the Q1 Max is coming in three days. Honestly I'm curious on what Keychron is up to. Firstly there's a HE version. Now there's a Max version.

Should I invest a bit more on the Q1 HE or just get the Max version?

Hey, folks. Keychron sent me one of the new Q1 HE 8K boards to review for Notebookcheck.

Keychron Q1 HE 8K review link

They didn't pay for the review or see if beforehand, although Notebookcheck did pay me to write it, since that's my job. If you want the full review or want to contribute like $0.0001 to my earnings, click the link above, but the highlights are as follows:

I like the design update. It looks a lot cleaner IMO. The OSA keycaps, as usual, feel great, but I'm a little disappointed by how thin they are. The gaskets are surprisingly active compared to other Keychron boards I've had. Usually they're pretty stiff.

The biggest deal with this new board is that Keychron isn't restricting compatibility to its Magnetic Lime Switches, although those are pretty nice if you like a medium-weight magnetic switch. I tested the Q1 HE 8K with the stock switches and Wooting's new Lekker Tikkens. It's interesting, because on other boards, like the Wooting 80HE, the Tikkens sounded more muted and deeper, but on this, they sound almost clackier than the Lime switches. I'm blaming the aluminium plate.

I also wasn't super pleased to find out that the Q1 HE 8K would cost $229 when it launches in December. For a premium-priced board, I think you might be better off with the NuPhy WH80, unless you need the QMK firmware or you really like Keychron Launcher.

Let me know if you have any questions about the board or if there's anything you want me to test.

Hi everyone,

I recently got the Keychron Q1 HE. It took me a while to decide because of the price, but now that I have it, I’m really happy with it!

Since this is my first keyboard of this kind, I have a few questions and would love to get your advice to make the most out of it:

1. I use two Windows PCs and one Mac. Are there any useful settings or tips I should know about for switching between these systems?

2. Where can I find good tutorials or guides specifically for this keyboard?

3. Eventually, I want to try modding the keyboard (e.g., swapping switches and keycaps). Do you have any recommendations for a beginner in modding?

4. I’d like to set up a macro to prevent my PC from going into sleep mode. Any recommendations on how to create this?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

Hey there everyone.

I've been in the market for a mechanical keyboard for a while now. I've previously owned a Strafe RGB and some cheap Redragon keyboard. I really like what Keychron is doing, and have been considering getting a TKL keyboard.

Before, I've been seriously considering the Q1 Pro. All of the good parts from the Q1, with the added feature of bluetooth. Sure, my keyboard might stay on my desk the whole time, occasionally switching rooms. But the idea of having a wireless keyboard + mouse sounded really intriguing.

Then Prime day came around, and I saw the Q1 and V1 on sale. Not really knowing the specifics of the two, I purchased both (I rarely do this, but keyboards are really something you have to try). I was all in favor of the Q1 Pro(which just launched on Amazon for 220), but saving $50 seemed more worth it at the time.

However, I'm struggling to notice the differences between the two keyboards. I'm typing this post on them now(both are brown switches), and besides the fact that the V1 sounds a bit more hollow (most noticeable in the space bar) the typing experience is basically identical. I know that the metal build is most likely the biggest cost differentiator. I'm interested in getting into modding(nothing serious) but I don't know how much better that can make either one sound.

Please don't take this as me attacking the mechanical keyboard brand. I really want to understand what makes the Q1 over double the price. Both keyboards are incredible to type on, but I'm stuck over which to return. I want to know what justifies the $100 difference between an amazing V1 and an even more amazing Q1. Also trying to figure out if its worth it to say "fuck the price, I want to maximize features," and pay full price on Amazon for the Q1 Pro(that had been the keyboard I've been thinking about for a while). Also, I'm more than willing to wait for a sale for the Q1 Pro(price history on the Q1 makes it seem unlikely).

Please let me know what you guys think. I'm really torn here.

TLDR: Bought Q1 and V1, trying to figure out what makes the Q1 worth the higher price/which one to keep.

Hi, I'm interested in buying one of the Q series Keychron keyboards. Can you please tell me what are the main differences between the Q1 V1 and V2 models? Also, is it worth paying extra for the V2 version? Additionally, I would like to know if the only difference between the Q1 Pro and the other models is its wireless feature.