This is a follow-up post of Keychron K2: Linux Setup. The previous post focused on the configuration of the keyboard, this one focuses on its user experience from the point of view of a Software Engineer.

Previously…

My first (and previous) mechanical keyboard was a Logitech G610 Orion Red1. It’s a full wired keyboard with Cherry MX Red switches (linear) and dedicated multimedia keys. In my opinion it is a solid choice for beginners because its interface is quite familiar thanks to the wide range of available keys. It is branded as a gaming keyboard but frankly it was a fine office keyboard as well. However after using it for a while I wanted to upgrade.

The natural upgrade path would contain one or more of the following features, in order of importance:

  1. good support for both Linux and macOS, especially Linux
  2. compact: tenkeyless a.k.a. 80%, or 75%2
  3. portable: wireless, either with a dongle or with bluetooth or both
  4. with decent battery life: should outlast at least a week of office work
  5. not overpriced: ~$200 CAD budget
  6. playful: with RGB backlight (instead of white LED)

Given those, a natural upgrade path would have been the Logitech G915 TKL. Its main caveat is that it is relatively overpriced, ~$300 CAD. Above that $300 CAD point one should arguably be looking for ergonomic and/or fully programmable (QMK firmware) keyboards, like the Kinesis Advantage and/or the Ergodox EZ3. Even though the G915 TKL is rock solid, it didn’t have any fancy features to justify that investment.

The quest for the perfect keyboard…

I then proceeded to outsource my luck to the wisdom of the crowds, by asking for recommendations in a mailing list at $DAYJOB, giving them a subset of the requirements above.

The choice was then obvious: I’d get a Keychron. It fit all of my requirements perfectly. The issue was that Keychron had so many choices to pick from.

Despite it being imaginary, I already have SUCH a strong opinion on the cord-switch firing incident.

XKCD Courtesy of Randall Munroe

After some deliberation I had two options in mind: Keychron K2 and Keychron K1 TKL. The main difference between them is that the K1 is a low-profile keyboard. I didn’t know what low-profile meant at the time and had to do some research to figure it out4.

In the end I opted for the Keychron K2, red switches (linear), with RGB backlight.

The keyboard

The keyboard met all my expectations, even surpassing them, I am quite satisfied overall:

Linux support
Great out-of-the-box support, it just works. Even though I tweaked a few configs, it wasn’t strictly necessary. In particular, there’s a physical toggle where you can choose between macOS (=Linux) or Windows mode. Furthermore they provide both macOS-style (command, option, etc) and Windows-style keycaps (super, alt, etc). For Linux I tend to stick with the Windows ones.
Compact
A 75% keyboard is compact by definition, what else could I add? I wouldn’t go lower than that though, in my opinion removing the function keys goes too far and makes the keyboard harder to use. A Tenkeyless / 80% option would also be compact enough while maybe increasing comfort a little bit, but I managed to adapt quickly to the 75% layout. Multimedia and OS keys are easily available by the means of Fn + F1, etc.
Portable
It has bluetooth, but can also be used while plugged in. There’s a toggle that controls which mode (wireless or wired) to use. The bluetooth has 3 channels and it’s very easy to switch between them: Fn + 1, Fn + 2, Fn + 3. This makes it easy to switch between laptops and/or workstation, work and/or personal. The cable connector is USB-C which in my opinion is a must these days (2020s).
Battery life
Battery lasts more than enough, to the point that I don’t even need to care about it. I tend to recharge it every 2 weeks or so. Fn + b will let me have a visual indication of how much juice is still left. The keyboard automatically sleeps after 10 minutes of inactivity in order to save battery, which I think is a nice bonus, I don’t need to worry about turning it off. This can be disabled if it ends up being annoying, though.
Great value for money
$90 USD at the time of this writing. Because I didn’t want to deal with international shipping, I ended up simply buying it from one of their official local retailers in Canada, OneOfZero. This slightly increased what I paid for it (~$150 CAD with taxes), on the other hand the shipping was really fast. Just beware, this particular retailer does not have a friendly return policy, if I recall correctly they charge a 25% fee and end up throwing the keyboard away (landfill), which is very depressing.
Playful
The RGB lighting is fluff and completely irrelevant in terms of productivity, however it adds a playful touch to the keyboard. I would say that white lighting is enough, but sometimes it’s just cool to change to different color(s). What can I say, we humans are visual creatures. You can easily adjust the light brightness and toggle it on/off (Fn + light), plus there are several patterns to choose from. I tend to use a still pattern because it isn’t distracting for programming or other type of work that requires focus.

Finally: The keyboard keycaps are quite sturdy and stick well in place. I had some issues with my previous keyboard where some of its keycaps would easily fall off it when moving it within my backpack. I do not have this issue with the Keychron.

Future

Mechanical keyboards are meant to last. I do not intend to upgrade it any time soon. However, if/when I ever do it, I will be looking for the following features:

  • QMK firmware / programmable: would unlock more workflow possibilities. The Keychron Q1 would be a good candidate for this.
  • With a dongle, in addition to bluetooth. Because sometimes bluetooth is just annoying and/or unreliable. The Logitech G915 TKL has a dongle.
  • Other switches? So far I’ve only used red ones (linear). More silent switches could be useful.
  • Ergonomic: Whether it’s a split, an ortholinear or just a curved keyboard, I figure that at some point it will be a good investment for my wrists. Adaptation is difficult but it may be necessary one day.

I am not particularly attracted to custom keycaps, they are cute but not my cup of tea. And I also do not see the appeal of hot swappable keycaps. I can understand why some folks appreciate those features, customizability is powerful, but for me it’s less stressful to keep things simple.

  1. Linked to the .pdf because apparently the SKU isn’t listed in the Logitech product website anymore. At the time, it cost ~$120 CAD. ↩︎

  2. This requirement indirectly excluded all those gaming keyboards with dedicated macro and/or multimedia keys, if they ended up increasing the overall keyboard surface area. ↩︎

  3. In the past, I had the opportunity to borrow these from coworkers for a week but couldn’t quite adapt to them, their learning curve is quite steep. Maybe I’ll try that again in the future. ↩︎

  4. It basically means the keys are thinner than usual, comparable to laptop keyboard keys. ↩︎