Keychron - K4 HE Wireless Magnetic Switch Custom Keyboard

So far as I know only Keychron has a QMK-based magnetic board, though Monsgeek's driver is not terrible and the M1 v5 TMR has the ability to mix and match magnetic and traditional switches.

Make sure you get the hot swappable version, a soldered board is 2025 is practically a war crime.

It's Logitech, so no. Banana is a slightly heavier and smoother tactile switch. For the K4 you need to get the RGB backlight version with the hot-swappable switches. The default is soldered which is practically a war crime.

I just got the black special edition and I really like it. It feels and sounds much better than my stock gmmk2.

Got the Keychron k4HE 2 days ago from Amazon Prime Day. It is my first >$100 keyboard and I am so damn amazed by it.

For wireless keyboard I'd look for those that have qmk/via such as the Keychron

Their new HE series seems promising for gaming.

If I may give you a suggestion towards reliability rather than higher specs, my current setup entails a 96% size hot-swappable keyboard (Keychron K4) and a mouse with optomechanical switches (Logitech G502X, wired version). The K4 you can swap an individual switch with a new one should one start to fail The G502X works in such a way that the currently way too common misuse of microswitches isn't a problem (voltage and whetting current too weak, leading to double clicking and the like down the line) because the mechanical switch is only there for feel, while the actual switching is performed optically (piece that interrupts a beam of light).

Second this but the K4 HE, hall effect switches are OP for gaming

V and Q are flexible/gasket, K is rigid/tray. Hall Effect switches are another can of worms. They are peak hype right now. Eventually people will realize they are actually *cheaper* to implement than contact-based switches.

I recently got a Keychron k4 he keyboard and m6 mouse and the configuration for it uses any chromium based browser so no bloated, constantly running, resource hogging telemetry spyware on your pc, well, besides the chromium based browser lol.

If you're casually playing games then Keychron is all fine. So far the only "real gamer" keyboard to date to be considered is the recent HE variants due to its rapid trigger feature but that is more specifically targetted towards fps players that are willing to tinker each and every key press on how they want it to respond.

Keychron K4 is pretty nice. It has a numpad, takes only slightly more space than a TKL, and can toggle between Apple and Windows/Android modes. I have grown to really enjoy the feel of Gateron switches.

i love the look of this keyboard!!

Having a K4 a few years ago, Keychron is a good starting point for prebuilts. You can customize basically any keyboard with that budget now, but K8 is not too bad for an upgrade and starting to learn how to customize it piece by piece.

I got the same keyboard. I'm coming from the mx keys. Only thing i miss from the mx keys is the sensor of recognizing when you are close by that it turns on while this keyboard you have to press the space bar to wake it up from sleep.

As you are saying, the reason why you need to replace your keyboard is because you are buying cheaper keyboards. It's probably worth spending 150£ on one that will last you 5 years and that you will change because you want to rather than because you need to! I'd check into keychron UK and look at their mechanical keyboards. They are great quality and if you get a hotswapable keyboard you will not only be able to change the keycaps but also the switches themselves.

Their new HE series seems promising for gaming.

For wireless keyboard I'd look for those that have qmk/via such as the Keychron

I have a keycron and the keys/software is pretty good for gaming. I hear lemonkey is also good. If you dont wanna spend $400

The Keychron HE series are fantastic all-rounder keyboards. They are having a sale that ends today.

Looking at the history of this sub over the past year you'll see a heck of a lot more failures from the Q and V boards relative to the K boards. Of course, that *could* just mean Keychron is selling a lot more Q and V boards than K boards. Otherwise, the biggest difference you'll feel/hear will be coming from the difference between steel plate + tray mount and PC plate + gasket mount.

Yeah! I love the K4 HE. I wish the keycaps were better. I swapped on one of my MDA caps from my Galaxy 100, and lemme tell you, the sound from the thicker keycaps is so much better. Basically eliminates the shitty top-out sound completely. I may try to buy a set of the nicer OSA profile keycaps specifically for my K4 HE. I got the board for free as a review unit, but I would not have been mad about paying $145 for it. I've played around with the actuation distance settings and eventually settled on around 1-1.2 mm, with deeper settings on my modifiers and number row. It's actually been a decent help in avoiding miss-presses on the top alpha row, and I'm decently faster on the K4 HE than any of my other boards, which was a surprise to me. I have two 8 kHz HE keyboards, and I don't think the higher polling rate is noticeable at all. I'd much rather have the convenience of wireless than the high polling rate. I often work on an Android tablet, so having wireless is a huge boon for me. I tested the Wooting 80 HE on the tablet, and it absolutely decimated the battery life. I don't actually mind the limited switch options that much, tbh. The Gateron Double-rail magnetic Nebulas are nice enough, even if they are a little fatiguing to bottom out consistently. Maybe I'll learn to be a better typist on this thing lol.

I have the k4 HE and I love it honestly, I would suggest checking the pricing on amazon it might be a little cheaper, also for about 18$ more they have a bundle at Sam's club that's comes with a mouse.

r/MechanicalKeyboards and r/MouseReview would be better to ask specific questions. Wooting 80he is what I have, and I like it, mainly got it cause of the software. Keychron has a pretty nice he wood one. If you search on YouTube, budget wooting, there are alot of decent HE keyboards on the market now, and they all basically do the same thing. I can't help you with mice because I don't know what grip style you like/have. All I know is that you like the viper mini SE so I showed you all the mice with similar shapes to that mice. There's literally nothing else I can do for you. I got the incott g23 v2 because i like the gpx 2 shape but its half the price for better quality.

I mean, in FPS games that still allow it, SOCD is a pretty solid advantage, apparently. There are other features, like DKS that allows you to input like four different keys with one keystroke, or analog mode for games that support dual input. But those can take getting used to. I wouldn't say you're gonna need to train to get used to any of it, but it'll feel a bit wonky for a while, as with any change. As for actuation point, I actually find it quite easy to get used to shorter actuation points - until a point. As soon as I drop below like 1.2 mm, I start making hella errors in my typing. Honestly, you might just be better off getting a keyboard that feels really nice to use and calling it a day. I have four HE keyboards available to me (Wooting 80HE, Keychron K4 HE, Iqunix EZ63, Epomaker HE75 Mag), and I still mostly game and type on my mechanical keyboards. They sound better to me, so they're less distracting, and that motivates me to use them.

I bought a Q3 Max with red switches and it was very silent. Be aware, Keychron HE keeb is compatible only with its own HE switches. For me it was a no-go.

I have a keychron k4 and a nuphy halo65. The nuphy instantly became my favorite

RK should be fine for the cheaper price... though I had one with PCB breakdown within 3 years.. Would recommend Keychron though, get the hotswap and it would have QMK/VIA support if price don't matter. [Keychron K4 MAX](https://shopee.ph/Keychron-K4-Max-QMK-Mechanical-Keyboard-96-Tri-mode-RGB-LED-Keychron-Super-QMK-Launcher-Hotswap-i.308793963.28126392749) [Keychron V5 Max Knob](https://shopee.ph/Keychron-V5-Max-Knob-QMK-Mechanical-Keyboard-Carbon-Black-96-Tri-mode-RGB-QMK-Launcher-Hotswap-i.308793963.24517025491)

They don't "officially" support them, but a lot have open source alternatives. Projects like openrazer, Solaar, openrgb for rgb controllers, etc. Even if they don't have a Linux equivalent, most of the time, as long as stuff is set up on their Windows software, it just sets it in the firmware on the device so when you use it on Linux, MacOS, etc, it works exactly as it did on Windows. Obviously, that's very device dependent so please do your research before buying a new device if it ends up not working. Corsair and Logitech I've found are very hit or miss, especially with their headsets (at least the few I've used). As for what I use personally, I have a Keychron K4 96% wireless keyboard and a Razer Cobra Pro. I don't recommend getting the keyboard I got specifically since the keys are way too crowded and I end up fat-fingering the wrong keys 24/7, but the keyboard itself doesn't need any additional software since it has physical keys for that. They're also just generally great keyboards that work well and last a long time no matter what OS you use them on. Highly recommend. :) For my mouse, it also doesn't technically need software to work since it has both a USB cable and wireless reciever that work OOTB, I just prefer having openrazer installed along with Razer Genie as a GUI frontend since it defaults to the lowest polling rate. It'll also give me notifications when my battery gets low. I don't really care much for the lighting modes but that also works as you'd expect. I will say that I've had very good luck with using Razer products on Linux with minimal compromises, if any. Openrazer's website has a list of supported products that makes it very easy to know what does and doesn't work. Now I'd like to point out that I bought these explicitly to use them on Linux and did heavy research on them before buying anything so don't expect this to be the norm. Anything that relies on software, which is pretty much everything these days, may not work at all. Again, DO YOUR RESEARCH.

Keychron K4 Pro, can mod keys with VIA in-browser, saves on device, no app necessary. Logitech G903 LightSpeed, has 2 extra buttons behind scroll wheel and 2 either side (6 total) , can be configured but needed Logitech software on a Windows machine, then save on device and it works perfectly on Linux.