Keychron K10 Pro Switches and Keycaps compatibility

[milesuy]

I have a Keychron K10 Pro with RGB Backlight and K Pro Red switches, and I am new to keyboard modding.

 

I am planning to upgrade the switches to Cherry MX Blue or Gateron Blue, but I am not sure if they are compatible with the keyboard and which model number I need to look for.

I am also planning to change the keycaps, but are the keycaps for Cherry MX compatible with Keychron K Pro or Gateron switches?

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

As long as you have one of the hotswap versions of the K10 Pro you are good.

 

K Pro switches and most cherry MX style switches (~95% of switches out there, NOT hall effect, optical or low profile though) are compatible. The custom keyboard community has large standardized around Cherry MX compatibility, even if they look different on the top, if it says Cherry MX compatible you are good. Only thing might be 3pin vs 5pin, but the K10 Pro is compatible with both according to their website. 

 

Same goes for keycaps, they should be compatible with all cherry MX style caps (i.e. using the + shaped stem, even if there's a bracket like [+] it should work). 

 

The only thing to look for is to make sure you have indeed the hotswap version of the board and not the soldered one.

[Monkey Dust]

All the K Pro series boards are all hot swappable. It's the regular K series boards that are available as either hot swap or soldered.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

8 minutes ago, Monkey Dust said:

All the K Pro series boards are all hot swappable.

Apparently not, that's why I specified to double check that.

 

[Monkey Dust]

2 minutes ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Apparently not, that's why I specified to double check that.

 

Looking at the Keychron website, yep on some K Pro boards, ANSI only, soldered is an option. Well Keychron, that makes perfect sense

[milesuy]

On 1/11/2024 at 6:28 PM, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

As long as you have one of the hotswap versions of the K10 Pro you are good.

 

K Pro switches and most cherry MX style switches (~95% of switches out there, NOT hall effect, optical or low profile though) are compatible. The custom keyboard community has large standardized around Cherry MX compatibility, even if they look different on the top, if it says Cherry MX compatible you are good. Only thing might be 3pin vs 5pin, but the K10 Pro is compatible with both according to their website. 

 

Same goes for keycaps, they should be compatible with all cherry MX style caps (i.e. using the + shaped stem, even if there's a bracket like [+] it should work). 

 

The only thing to look for is to make sure you have indeed the hotswap version of the board and not the soldered one.

What about the RGB, is it on the PCB or on the switch? If I want RGB, should I buy the one with RGB, like this one in Amazon?

 

I'm planning to buy another Keychron keyboard, if it is hot-swappable, would the RGB work if I buy switches with RGB if I have a White LED keyboard?

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

8 minutes ago, milesuy said:

What about the RGB, is it on the PCB or on the switch? If I want RGB, should I buy the one with RGB, like this one in Amazon?

 

I'm planning to buy another Keychron keyboard, if it is hot-swappable, would the RGB work if I buy switches with RGB if I have a White LED keyboard?

Generally, on custom keyboards the LEDs are on the PCB, not part of the switch. In the past it used to be that the LED was build into the switch, but nowadays those are SMD LEDs that are on the PCB.

 

For you this means you have to decide which LEDs you want when buying the keyboard, as they are part of the PCB (afaik in all Keychrons this is the case). It also means that the LEDs need a way to transmit light through the switch, since that sits on top of it. That is why switches have a sort of light window or are just made transparent.

In the case of the switch you linked, the "RGB" version of the MX2A is simply just that: the same switch with a transparent housing to let the light through, compared to opaque regular switches.

 

So if you want RGB, buy the RGB version of the keyboard and make sure your switches are not opaque.