New mechanical keyboard suggestions

[maddock34]

Hello, I'll keep this nice and easy and get straight to the point because this is likely the 1000th post of this type here, so sorry about that.

I'm looking for a new mechanical keyboard.

• Usage: Casual gaming, general office, and life usage
• I like 100% keyboards
• Wired
• Individually backlit is ideal but zoned gets the job done (RGB does actually add frames)
• Price limit is £150 however this is not a hard limit
• Don't care about wrist rests
• Dedicated macro buttons aren't a necessity but I do like the F keys being reprogrammable on Logitech keyboards
• Not entirely concerned about construction materials
• I've only ever had the G-Roamer switches from Logitech which is apparently fairly close to Cherry MX Browns (I don't think the switches will be a major deciding factor but I thought I'd put this here just to give a little context as to what I'm familiar with)

 

I presently have the Logitech G810 Orion Spectrum, I do enjoy having the media controls offered by this keyboard (the volume roller and play pause etc buttons), I initially looked at the G213 progidy but doing a little search on the dome switches showed they were generic dome switches jazzed up with marketing speech. The other one I considered was the G910 Orion Spectrum, this was right on my budget but I feel I'm paying more for the Arx phone dock thing that I never plan on using.

I did ask on Reddit and only got 1 suggestion, that was the Keychron Q6 QMK. I was initially interested in this one but the UK ISO is unavailable on their site, and elsewhere it's more expensive, so I'm looking for further suggestions.

Thank you in advanced.

[191x7]

HyperX Alloy with Aqua switches.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

Copying this from an earlier thread, should be mostly valid here as well:

 

Any preferences on layout, i.e. is ANSI ok? ISO layout boards are a lot less common, sadly. The usual things to consider when looking for keyboards (in my mind, at least) are:

• look for hotswap switches, as it means you can change switches easily one by one should a switch ever fail. It also means you can experiment down the line without having to buy a new keyboard, just because you think the switches are a bit too loud, light, stiff, tactile etc.
• Do you want wireless and if so, is BT fine or do you want a 2.4GHz dongle? Some popular brands only offer wired/BT and only limited 2.4GHz.
• If you want macros, do you like VIA support?
• Do you need RGB?

Having said that, the usual suspects around here are:

• Keychron:
  • K10: solid entry, just make sure to get the hotswap version! Offers both wired and BT support. 89-109£ for the hotswap versions (highly recommended)
  • K10 Pro: upgrade over the regular K10, with a lot of custom keyboard features like better stabilizers or acoustic foams and silicone dampener. BT and wired, with QMK/VIA support, RGB optional. 90-99£ for the hotswap versions, barebones is 82£ without switches/caps.
  • V6: basically the wired only version of the K10 Pro (K10 Pro is really a wireless version of the V6 imho), most affordable of all of these. 82£
  • Q6: custom keyboard, full metal frame, only wired. Also hitting the 200$ 180£ range here. Used to be awesome for the price, though the competition is improving all the time. Good out of the box, potentially great when modded.
  • Q6 Pro: flagship model with wireless functionality added. Only BT though. 185£
  • A bunch of other models exist, most notably the L3 from Lemokey, which is Keychron's gaming brand. Not 100% though, only TKL.
• Nuphy, no personal experience with it, but heard lots of good things about them.:
  • Air 96 V2: low profile board, wireless with BT and 2.4 GHz or wired. V2 now also has VIA support. Also hotswap, though only for compatible low-profile switches.
  • Halo 96: normal keyboard, also 96%. BT/2.4GHz/wired, but no VIA support yet.
• GMMK:
  • No personal experience, but from some reviews I have seen they are considered overpriced for the quality you get. Though if you were to get a nice deal on it, why not.
• Monsgeek:
  • Again, no personal experience but there are at least two 100% options:

  • https://www.monsgeek.com/product/mg108w-kit/

  • https://www.monsgeek.com/product/m5/

Other brands include of course all the gaming keyboard brands like Corsair and the likes, though they often don't have hotswap. Might be a good option though if super low latency is important to you. Similarly, there are now more and more keyboards with Hall Effect switches coming on the market, like the Wooting keyboards. Could be interesting.

 

A lot of more budget boards exist, though the vast majority is ~75% or smaller.

https://epomaker.com/products/cidoo-v87

https://epomaker.com/products/epomaker-rt100