LET us assume you have dumped a ton of money on a shiny new gaming desktop. How much are you willing to pay for a keyboard to complete the setup of your dreams?
That is the central question as we consider the Keychron Q1 HE QMK Wireless Custom Keyboard. Built primarily for intense, fast-paced gaming, this premium beast should also easily delete any professional workload you throw at it.
The first thing we noticed about the Q1 HE is its hefty build and weight. The keyboard has a full-metal body made from high-grade aluminium, which should unequivocally lay to rest any concerns about durability or stability. You are getting a tank.
However, with a 75% layout, it is only three-fourths of the size of your “regular” full-sized keyboard. This means less keys, which can be jarring to normies (yours truly), who grew up with the numpad. But some hardcore gamers prefer this truncated format for its minimalism and efficiency – easier to press different keys when they are closer together. As with most things, it is ultimately up to personal taste.
What should interest gamers more is the Q1 HE’s Gateron Double-Rail Magnetic Hall Effect switches. Magnetic switches do away within physical contact between internal components, resulting in lightning-fast responsiveness, accurate and smoother key presses as well as incredible durability.
Most importantly, you can customise the sensitivity of each key and/or take certain actions in a game (say, running or walking) based on how deeply you press. The Q1 HE provides an insanely impressive amount of customisability and will undoubtedly satisfy competitive gamers looking to wring out every bit of advantage in Call of Duty or League of Legends.
But what if you do not need a Formula One (F1) car, but just want a tasteful sedan for a pleasant drive in the single-player countryside? Then the Q1 HE’s appeal dims a bit.
Despite the full RGB backlighting, the key legends (alphabets, numbers, symbols) are opaque and do not let light shine through. So, you often cannot see what you are pressing in pitch black or low-light conditions. This may not be a dealbreaker for most, but consider the target clientele of a premium product such as this:
Someone with this much money to splurge on a keyboard has probably snagged himself a gorgeous Oled monitor or TV that does not perform so well under bright lights. They plan to play games or watch movies in the dark, and are understandably shocked to discover their premium keyboard does not have a basic feature (shine-through legends) that other far cheaper models possess.
At least it types better than average. Word processing on the Q1 HE is wonderfully pleasant, with a satisfying tactile feel. This is further enhanced by its build, weight and compact design, which harken back to the typewriters of old. Every key press is accurately registered and stealthily quiet – no need to worry about annoying colleagues or even a spouse, if you are working from home.
Of course, paying this much for a professional workhorse or even gaming centrepiece may seem a bit of an overkill. The Q1 HE comes with a hefty pricetag of RM999, and this is aptly reflected in its top-tier build and raft of customisation options for competitive gamers. Whether that is worth it boils down to your use case.
Those who fancy frantic multiplayer games may celebrate the Q1 HE as a technical, gamechanging marvel. But most will likely prefer to spend more of their hard-earned cash on a better GPU, CPU, monitor, pair of headphones or mouse. Not everyone needs an F1 car.
Rating: 6/10
