Keychron continues to wow us with its Q series keyboards, which incorporate premium options from boutique mechanical builds into designs which are attainable (if not precisely low-cost). While they’re all lookers, the Q sequence keyboards are a great distance from transportable, and so they gained’t attraction except you’re already a fan of huge, chunky mechanical keyboards. Enter the Keychron S1: a brand new design that mixes the low-profile seems of Keychron’s transportable wi-fi designs with the extra premium supplies and options of the pricier boards.

The S1 makes use of a 75% format, with a full perform row and arrow cluster, plus a couple of additional keys like web page up and down. The milled aluminum case and Gateron low-profile mechanical switches (clicky blue, tactile brown, or linear purple) make your complete package deal simply 13.7mm tall sans keycaps. The keyboard contains detachable ft to regulate the typing angle from three levels to 6, and naturally, each secret’s backlit. Each board comes with high-quality PBT keycaps, which is sweet, since your choices for customized keycaps will likely be way more restricted than with common MX switches.

Keychron

But these are pretty pedestrian options for keyboards today, albeit not often seen in low-profile designs. For the true customizer, the S1 has non-compulsory hot-swap switches (with selections considerably restricted by the shape issue), full QMK and VIA programming, and a 1000Hz polling price to maintain players glad. Inside the case is sound-absorbing foam, to maintain your housemates/coworkers sane. The solely characteristic that appears to have been omitted is wi-fi performance — it appears odd to me that such a small, bag-friendly keyboard is restricted to a USB-C connection. The similarly-proportioned K series manages it. I’d reasonably have Bluetooth and a battery than the considerably antiquated Mac/PC laborious change.

The Keychron S1 is transport now, beginning at $109 for the bottom mannequin with white LEDs and your alternative of switches. Upgrading to full RGB lighting will price you $119, and an additional hot-swap improve brings the fully-laden worth to an affordable $129. Expect extra S-series keyboards in a wide range of sizes over the subsequent few months.