Keychron Q11 review

Like many other people, I spend the majority of my waking hours in front of a computer. Thus, I’m always looking for ways to make those hours as enjoyable and productive as they can be.

When considering possible upgrades, I’d argue that for me and many others, focusing on I/O components, like a great monitor, yield larger improvements than compute upgrades.

Case in point: I use Neovim as my code editor and skew towards native apps on macOS. So any investment into a faster, more powerful Mac simply won’t improve my user experience as much as thoughtful I/O upgrades.

Over the years, I’ve compiled an I/O setup that meets or exceeds my expectations regarding ergonomics and quality: a 4k monitor with P3 color gamut, a decently-built vertical mouse, and my trusted AIAIAI studio headphones.

One component I’ve curiously never upgraded from the vanilla/base option was the keyboard though: I bought an Apple “Magic” Keyboard right when I bought my external monitor and stuck to it.

It’s hard to find a Mac-layout keyboard that’s as low-profile as this one. This was important to me, since my previous office chair lacked arm rests. Thus, not having to tilt my hands upwards too much was simply more comfortable. However, I disliked how it lacked any meaningful tactility and how little I could customize it.

After getting a new chair with armrests recently, I started venturing into the mechanical keyboard rabbit hole and eventually bought a Keychron Q11 split keyboard.

Since there aren’t many reviews of it online (ergo mech keyboards are still somewhat of a niche), I’ve written up my experience with it below.

Context

My typing speed ranges from 60-80wpm with an accuracy of around 95%, depending on the complexity and language of the text (especially punctuation and German Umlaute slow me down).

I type mostly (90%) in English and 10% in German. Most of my typing eventually ends up being a Slack message or documentation, with a little bit of code (mostly off work).

Ergonomics are important to me, I’m in my mid-thirties and know a couple of people my age with serious back issues, so I’m inclined to invest whatever it takes into prevention.

Apart from Neovim, I also use VIM keybindings in most other tools I use (e.g. Obsidian). Generally, I optimize for keeping my hands on the keyboard as much as possible for speed and convenience.

Search Criteria

When looking for a keyboard, this is what I optimized for:

• Should be mechanical, for the added tactility that’d give me.
• A split or Alice layout – because being able to keep your arms a shoulder width apart is more comfortable. Out of the two, I preferred full split options for the additional flexibility they provide.
• Hot-swappable switches – since this was one of my first mechanical keyboards, I wanted to be able to quickly try out different switches.
• Customizable firmware – I frequently switch between my Mac at work and my personal one and I want the keyboard to behave exactly the same across those devices. Thus, any customization should be stored on the keyboard itself.
• Pragmatism / ease of switching – going split already requires some rewiring of muscle memory, and so does switching to a mechanical keyboard in the first place. I wanted something that I could adopt without taking too much of a productivity hit.
• Build quality – something that I type on for several hours a day needs to have a sturdy, premium feel to it.

Things I didn’t care too much about:

• RGB backlighting: never use that, I find it distracting.
• Columnar layout: in terms of comfort, I haven’t found any issues personally with a staggered layout.
• Wireless connectivity: I actually prefer cables, connectivity with them is hassle-free and I don’t need to worry about battery life.
• Price: I was perfectly prepared to invest a couple hundred bucks into this since it a) improves my experience with something I do a couple of hours per day and b) potentially prevents back pain.

Options I Considered

Even though it’s a niche, there are plenty of split keyboards around. There’s a nice, comprehensive list here ↗. Ultimately, I only evaluated a couple of options more closely, listed below. Take the prices here as rough indication, I’ve put them together at the time of writing this piece and import duties for may change the price significantly. Plus, it wasn’t my main criteria anyways, but I’ve added them to the list to give you a rough feeling of (perceived) value vs. asking price.

• Dygma Raise ↗ (from 349 USD): ticks all the boxes listed above. I also like that one can combine the two halves into a single keyboard for an easier/more gradual switching from a standard keyboard. However, all the colorways I’d actually want were unavailable (with the next re-stock only in Q4/24, so a full year from now). I’m also unsure about Dygma developing their own Chrysalis fork for the Raise’s keyboard firmware management. Should Dygma go out of business, will I be stuck with an unmaintained firmware?
• Dygma Defy ↗ (from 396 USD): if a columnar layout and build-in tenting/more thumb keys would have been more important to me, this is the keyboard I’d have gotten. Shipping starts in Spring 2024, so more than 3 months from now. And the point about the firmware for the Raise applies here, too.
• ZSA Voyager ↗ (from 365 USD): tried the ZSA Moonlander previously and had to re-sell it since my thumbs somehow didn’t like the thumb key placement. Love that this one is low-key, but ultimately, the thumb key placement looked to similar to the Moonlander, so I passed on the Voyager as well. Shipping time is around 3 weeks at the time of writing.
• ErgoDox, Dactyl Manuform (various prices): those are some popular DIY options I found on eBay and other platforms for around 200-250 USD. The Manuform looked a bit too much of a switch for me. And on the ErgoDox, the thumb keys (especially the outer ones) looked like even more of a stretch to me than the one on the Moonlander.
• Kinesis Advantage360 ↗ (from 449 USD): Kinesis is the OG option among split keyboard / ergo mech brands. It looks extremely comfortable to type on. For that price however, I was a bit too afraid of whether the concave footprint in combination with the columnar layout would be too much of a switch for me. A possible upgrade from the Q11 for sure though.
• Keychron Q11 ↗ (from 205 USD): basically an even more pragmatic (no thumb keys, and no custom firmware) option than the Dygma Raise. Plus: it actually ships in a couple of days.

Ordering a Q11: Availability, Pre-sale Service, Final Price, Config

Since the Q11 has everything I wanted and nothing I didn’t want, I ordered one off their German website right away. This is the config I went for:

• Pre-assembled
• ANSI layout
• Gateron G Pro (prelubed) Browns

There’s also barebones version without keycaps and switches for 20 USD less, but getting double-shot PBT keycaps + a set of Gateron G Pro switches for 20 USD seems like a good deal to me.

Keychron states on their website that all orders are put out for shipping within 2 business days. Indeed, mine was picked up by a local courier on the second day after I ordered it.

Keychron has somewhat of a bad rep when it comes to customer service (at least that’s what I picked up on reddit ↗), but so far I can attest that my experience with them was quite decent. I mistyped my address during the order and wrote a quick email to Keychron. Their support sorted it out in no time and replied in a friendly way. I’m aware that this was essentially pre-sale support so the experience might differ if you have an issue years down the line or a warranty claim, but at the very least I walked away from that initial interaction with the impression that this is a well-run company.

The final price including delivery to Europe (from Mainland China, I assume Shenzhen) was around 240 USD. That also included import duties to Europe already. Compared to the other options I checked out, this is at least 100 USD cheaper.

While I didn’t optimize for price at all, this demonstrates that Keychron has a pricing edge. My assumptions:

• They are headquartered in China, essentially achieving tighter integration into the manufacturing landscape there.
• By now, they’ve achieved relative scale, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they can get factory capacity and input components like switches, PCB plates etc. cheaper than newer, more specialized competitors like ZSA or Dygma do.
• Looking at costs generally, their no-nonsense attitude to marketing and firmware development (betting on QMK, essentially) likely also help in keeping costs down.

Total time from order to delivery were 19 days, with most of the time spent in customs checks in China and Europe. The keyboard was flown out of China with YunExpress.

First Impressions

The first things I noticed were:

• The Keyboard itself is sturdy and well-built. It’s also quite heavy, which I like, but definitely something to keep in mind in case you’d wanna take this to the office regularly.
• The gold-plated cables add to the premium feel, but I dislike that Keychron liberally printed their logo on them. I know the brand I ordered my keyboard from; there’s no need for the extra visual noise.
• The print job on the keycaps is excellent, without misalignments or faded letters. I also like the typeface Keychron uses.
• The keyboard box had a strong perfume smell to it. I checked reddit ↗ and indeed, it seems that Keychron perfumes their boxes before they send them out. Somehow a nice thought, but ultimately I threw away the box because of the smell.
• The keyboard knobs feel great. Changing volume on my Mac now reminds me of my old Onkyo receiver. Delightful.
• It sounds great. I now understand where the whole debate around “thock” comes from.
• The default layout of the left modifier keys was quite weird and not in line with standard macOS keyboards, had to remap and change the command and fn keys.

After 2 Weeks of Use

What I like:

• The build quality continues to impress. There’s no wobble, the all-aluminum housing feels and looks premium.
• Typing feels great on it, I’ve exceeded my typing speed on the Magic Keyboard already.
• The Gateron G Pro Brown (subjectively) have a nice resistance level to them and feel great as well.
• QMK & VIA (3.0) let me remap everything I wanted and I started to make good use of the macro keys, e.g. for putting a screenshot of my screen selection into the clipboard. VIA has a no-nonsense UI and it just runs in the browser, no extra install needed. If I want to go wild with tap-dance and more combos, I’ll look into flashing VIAL onto the Q11.

What I don’t like:

• The USB cable connecting the 2 halves is a bit too short for my taste. I underestimated how quickly I’ll adjust to having a split keyboard. I already can’t go back and if anything, I’d actually want the two halves to be farther apart. Will probably buy a longer one.
• I underestimated how nice a tenting kit would be when keeping my arms farther apart – hopefully there’s a decent option available soon.
• The south-facing RGB backlight which doesn’t shine through the PBT keycaps is a gimmick in my view and doesn’t help at all in low light.

Verdict

If you want to ease into split keyboards in particular and ergo mech keyboards in general, this is a great option. Especially if you care about build quality and don’t mind a staggered layout and the lack of built-in tenting and wireless connectivity. I don’t, so after a couple of weeks of use, I’m still happy with the purchase.