Keychron K8 review (Gateron KS-22 optical)
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- čas přidán 18. 10. 2023
- Skip to 12:05 for a typing demonstration.
Get it here: www.keychron.com/products/key...
Switches: www.keychron.com/collections/...
Today we look at a very interesting offering from Keychron; the K8, their optical keyboard model! These switches are supremely interesting, and the K series has been requested a lot previously, so I hope you enjoy the video! :)
Intro by Kyle Carter
Outro by Facundo Cabanne
My keyboard reviews: bit.ly/1TbOtft
My switch teardowns: bit.ly/2C1QGHz
My TOP X videos: bit.ly/2FmpZfd
My XL typing demos: bit.ly/2OoAW3w
My tutorials and featurettes: bit.ly/2OrkLUh
My unboxing videos: bit.ly/2TSrr0m
I'm Thomas and I do videos and reviews on mechanical keyboards ranging from the most sickening modern RGB gaming keyboards to vintage hardware relics, or sometimes keycaps or keyswitches ranging from Cherry MX to Alps SKCM to IBM buckling springs and anything in between.
Follow me on Twitter for updates on my keyboard videos! / chyrosran22
The practice sentence was: "Hello my name is Thomas and I'm typing on a Keychron K8 optoelectric keyboard right now. Honestly, this was quite a pleasant surprise, this this thing! It performs quite well!" - Věda a technologie
8:32 - this is a record. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more intense “HHHIIIIDEOUS” on this channel. Well done.
Thanks. It really is quite unsightly though xD .
Yeah this was a big one
@@Chyrosran22I completely agree. I prefer a good, no-nonsense high profile board. That includes not cheaping out on the spacers by just making a top, thin horizontal top layer but not extending it down vertically like on the side of the board. Many cheaper cases do this.
But most modern floating switch gamer boards look infinitely less offensive than this type of case. This case essentially acts like a "chow collector" with that exposed nav cluster & F row; chow goes in and has nowhere to go except inside the rest of the board. My first ever mechanical keyboard was a Redragon that had this design but likely even worse; the plate was bent steel and there was a tiny gap in between the edge of the bent plate & the extended bottom case which made it near impossible to get shit out from inside there. It got NASTY reallll fast.
That said; this still looks infinitely better than the hideous shit gamer brands like Razer, Logitech or Steelseries USED to put out. Steelseries got their act together far quicker than most gaming brands though, the Apex M400 was a remarkably good looking gaming board for the time & even better than their modern boards now :(
Also, there's an infamously cheap 60% with an older generation of optical gaterons called the GK61. It can be had for as low as $20! The build is fair enough for the price; thin, hollow ABS case with an ugly glossy finish but held together quite nicely with a steel mounting plate. Something of note is the INSANE amount of wobble the switches had. The stem, switch housing & the actual switch plate mounting were so loose it was literally IMPOSSIBLE to take a keycap off without the switch coming along with it!
It seems to be the same exact case as the MonkeyKing iGK61, just obviously with a different PCB and altered plate.
If you want the rimless version, take a screw driver and remove those metal rails. Literally the same board.
Thanks, that is a good tip! ^^
The fact that the rails are so easy to remove makes them extremely easy to spray paint if one fancies something that better matches a custom keycap set. I have the Keychron K2 version and I painted my rails pink to go with a violet keycap theme.
Thomas busting out that Acer is like your favorite rock band playing an old crowd pleaser that they haven’t played in a while.
I'm so used to the Win+Shift+S shortcut I almost forgot the Print Screen key existed
It's cmd shift 4 for me and all mac users
You can set the Print Screen key to act the same as Win+Shift+S in Windows.
It's also the "magic" SysRq key (from _system request_ ), occasionally useful on Linux to recover from freezes.
On a well-configured system you never need it, but it's nice to have.
Raising skinny elephants is utterly boring.
This is a great step towards making contactless switches more mainstream, though I would be more interested in the Q1 with hall-effect switches. What would be best is greater adoption of hall-effect so we could have something like VIA but for adjustable actuation.
It's been a while since I've heard a good *HHHHHHEEEDIOUS* .
Cheers Thomas, keep doing what you do.
The K series has a lot of variation from what I've seen, especially including the pro models, my K10 pro looks a lot like the knob-less version of the Q6 but in ABS (and of course no gasket mount, just ordinary plate mount) instead of floating switches with a frame like this one. The flip-out feet with two options for height are the same.
100% agree on PrtScr key, deal breaker for me if not present, absolutely essential.
I wish they had specifically that keyboard in 100 percent size. I would buy it in a heartbeat I think, would like to have one for work in my cubicle The only ones they list on the website for the K8 backlit one now is the Gateron Optical Blue
They do sell the switches separate.
Keychron has a TON of opticals, don't they? Their OEM low-profiles, for one.
Well my goodness! We both seem to like these switches. How fun! I got the cheap plastic version with the optical blues. Right now they're a black friday deal on Amazon for less than $40. A steal really. What I like about these switches is that the tactile bump is big enough. It's nearly impossible to press the switch, no matter how slowly, past the tactile bump without reliably activating the switch. And frankly, this is what I liked the most about the model M and what came before it, the original IBM PC keyboard which I think was the best of the IBM bunch. In both cases, the IBM keys were nearly impossible to press past the tactile bump without registering a reliable key press. This is not the case with most of the clicky switches I've ever tried. For the most part they seem unreliable to me. So finally, in my opinion, a keyboard switch that's reliable enough to please me. I don't know about the alps switches though. Maybe those are good too.
What I'm looking forward to is training my fingers to use something close to the minimum force needed to activate the switches. This can minimize fatigue. I also put in o-rings to shorten the keystroke and cushion the blow. This also can reduce fatigue. I'm not saying o-rings are for everybody, I just wanted to report that they didn't seem to impact reliability. YMMV. So yeah, I like these things.
Nice review! Thanks!
Keychron normally gives you windows keycaps so that you can swap out the mac ones. Did you miss those keycaps in the review unit?
No I think I had them, but I lost them. What I was saying is that it's laid out for mac by default.
By any chance, have you ever tried the old KS-15 Gateron Optical switches? I've got an old optical keyboard I am modding and am curious if there is a notable difference between the KS-15 and KS-22.
No unfortunately.
Talking about optical switches, have you heard or considered getting one of the asus keyboards with their rx switches? Having tried them personally, I have to say that they're not so different smoothness wise from other optical variants like opx or libra strike, but I liked them a lot because of well rounded they are, namely they didn't have any binding like the libra strike switches and they kept a pretty light weighting like the opx switches, and the design is pretty interesting too, at least as far as I know about it. Speaking of razer, they also released an upgraded version of the switches used for their analog keyboard (that you can have with the huntsman v3), which should basically be the same except for the weighting that'd be similar to standard linear switches.
I think I sent them an email ages ago but didn't get a reply. Maybe I'll try again at some point :) .
Did you check out the mtnu / mt3 keycaps?
how is the battery life compared with the mechanical one? thanks
This is very relevant to my interests, as my prebuilt with old Gateron Blacks is starting to have issues. Might pick one of those and a set of Black opticals.
Got the keyboard and the switches. Hooooly guacamole, is it smooth :)
Thomas, can the click leaf be removed from the blues to make them identical to linear (the only difference being the spring, obviously)?
Hmm, I'm not sure they'd be IDENTICAL to linear, but they would be functional linears, yes :) .
the way he described the rails.. 😂🤣 did not expect that at all 😂
Thanks for coming back keyboard jesus, thought we lost you
You're not rid of me yet ;) . I still have a bunch of boards to review, I just can't manage one every week anymore.
8BitDo keyboard review incoming?
I was genuinely surprised when I knew Keychron was actually an OEM brand from a e-commerce company, JD.
1:27 Keychron has some other contactless boards, I know the K3 has an option for optical switches.
That was such an exceptionally fierce "Hideous" I thought he was gonna sneeze
I've got a low profile K -series at work. Low profile browns (contact), hot swap and - just like this one - useless RGB. They have amazing customer support. I asked nicely and I got a few extra switches in case (pun intended) one gives up the ghost. I've indicated to them that including one or two switches would be nice, possibly also a taste of other switches to boost their sales. Somewhere like 100 Euro for a Bluetooth keyboard.
I had some weird problems once where keys got stuck somehow and I had to reconnect the BT connection. Using the default VIA software etc. can be a bit of a bummer if you're a simple consumer; not a very nice GUI, you have to configure things and that all makes it a bit too technical for most.
All in all it's a beautiful keyboard. Oh yeah, PBT switches too. Colleagues like it as well and it is not too loud. Lots of text for: cannot really go wrong with their keyboards. Yeah, OK, I like my - by now - 500 euro UHK slightly better, but hey...
One disadvantage that Thomas didn't mention: yes, the frickin' screws are under the feet. Now that's not much of a problem for hot swap, but if you e.g. want to add some felt then you are ... ok, I'll stop.
@Chyrosran22 - Which do you prefer, the clicky Gateron KS-22 or Zeal Clickiez?
I'd say the Clickiez, although they really need to tone down that tactility on them a fair bit.
I like my K8 (regular electro-mechanical) quite a lot but the fact the default behaviour for the SCRLK and PA/BR buttons are "cortana" and "change lighting mode" with no way to change it is absolutely stupid.
I pretty often accidentally fat-finger the cortana button or the lighting change button which means, now I have cortana in my face or need to press a bunch of buttons to get the right colours again.
With Microsoft retiring Cortana, that makes it obsolete.
Remapping those was the first thing I did once I figured out how to make VIA work on my K10 pro.
I found that I could use Shift + Light to switch back to my previous lighting mode on my K8 Pro, so could be worth a shot.
Alternatively, you could remove the keycaps and/or switches to prevent accidentally pressing those keys ^^
I really want something like the Q12 with optical switches.
I was not expecting the "Heeeeeedeeeouuuus!" and I got such a fright 😂
Wait, optoelectric Q1?! Now that's something I'm interested in...
It has the characteristic "scratchy click" sound of click leaf. Nice
The K8 Pro is definitely worth the upgrade IMO.
Hi cyrostoran.
Oove your videos
Also why hate the lube on switches when thats what makes alps so good. Just wondering.
Where did he say that he hated lube on switches? I did **not* hear that in this video.
Who says that's what makes Alps so good?
@@Chyrosran22 true
It helps with the smoothness.
@@gearsgamer7115 Smoothness isn't the main advantage of Alps, I'd say.
It's unfortunate I can't live without my scandi layout and ISO enter... I've tried making custom layouts and there is always something I'm missing and 20 years of typing can't change that muscle memory.
Keychron actually has a a lot of ISO models, actually!
In terms of contactless switches I'm definitely much more interested in capacitive or hall effect for their ability to have some hysteresis in the sensing. I'm assuming binary optical designs like this can't do this.
It is possible, Wooting did it. But you'd need adjustable actuation, which is a far trickier proposal with optoelectric switches than with capacitive or Hall effect ones (hence why Wooting switched).
I think the optical receiver itself has hysteresis to make sure the key won't register twice in one stroke.
@@xiahualiu Interesting, I wonder how that works exactly and what the hysteresis distance is compared to say Topre capacitive.
9:36 That revolting made me actually laugh out loud 😂
This keyboard (and review) seems made for me. Usually it's: "Hey, I found the perfect keyboard for you: (board/switches/caps)"
I add it all up: US$322.50 without 3x shipping... 😳 ... "Yeah okay. Thanks for the 'tip'." Not this time! You deserve an affiliate link for this review, Thomas.
The audio quality reminds me of DIY perks haha
I have had one of these (the non-optical version) for about a year and a half and I really like it for the most part. I replaced the switches it came with (Gateron Browns) with a combination of Matrix-01 tactile and linear switches that I like a lot but that also cost way more than they should have (there are some very similar switches that can be had for less and I mostly got these to support a local business (novelkeys)) and I also use a variety of keycap sets I already have and switch them when I get bored with them (right now I have an orange and black set for halloween/fall that was my all year round set on my previous keyboard as I like a black and orange color scheme). I've got linears on the shift, alt, and backspace keys as I've found I like a lighter keypress on those and I have a zeal clickiez switch in tactile mode on the caps lock key so if I ever accidentally hit it I'll know I hit it (and accidentally pressing one of those is no easy feat). I've also got switch with a heavier spring on the space bar (I believe it may be a halo clear or something like that) as I prefer a fairly heavy space bar and a 63.5g tactile wasn't cutting it for me.
I agree with most of your complaints about the keyboard. The function key row (and escape key) should be a bit further away from the rest of the keys and even though I got used to them far more quickly than I expected I'd prefer a standard layout to be honest. I'm also not a huge fan of the aluminum/aluminium rails or whatever around the keyboard and I would much prefer if they just made a standard face plate like old keyboards of this form factor had. I like that it creates a bezel of sorts that my wrist rest can sit against, but I'd much prefer a traditional plastic face plate like most old keyboards had. I will admit that the looks of it don't really bother me and I almost like them in a brutalist/utilitarian sort of way were it not for the fact that they essentially make it way harder to clean and trap dust in the essentially recessed areas of the keyboard. Those gripes and the lack of via or qmk support (particularly via) to rebind keys are the only gripes I have about it and they are pretty minor. Its good enough that I haven't missed my old Ducky year of the tiger board I used from 2011 to 2022.
Overall, I'm happy with it and it feels like more keyboard than what I paid for even when I take into account the cost of switches. I've got my gripes about it but they are minor and it works well enough. With some nice keycaps it doesn't even look too terrible (though it would look better with a plastic top plate instead of the aluminum rails on the sides).
i.imgur.com/aPnQjgb.jpg
I havent watched a chyrosran22 vid in a while and i was definitely not prepared for the hideous lol
optical clickies might be the move until we get hall effect
Optical are cheaper than hall effect. Not everyone needs hall effect to customize level of click :D
But anyway it is really interesting thing :D
I use the k70
10:37 Haha, now imagine if Wacom released a $1000+ tablet display with an old iPhone-like straight cable (you know, the long and thin one), a side port too, and on the right side.
Wouldn't *Windows disconnect sound* it be *windows connect sound* lovely *windows disconnect sound* ?
The rim around the outside is an efficient crumb collector. I mean, do want your crumbs all over your desk ;^P
It collects everything, dust, crumbs, fragmets of fingernails that break somehow, everything.
62$ = 260 PLN, nice keyboard with a good prise.
in Poland a little bit more expensive :D
Surely someone has got to start sending this man actually good keyboards
He isn't very interested in customs, MX switches just aren't his thing. He's way more about vintage boards & vintage switches (ALPS SKCM/L seems to be his favs).
bro did say he was “procurer of the poop museum”
or something like that.
He reviewed some customs; I remember one that is MM Studio Class80. Also, he already unboxed the EC version of Class80. I'm actually quite interested in that review when he released it.
@@bltzcstrnx Oh yeah I'm not trying to speak for Chyros, was just saying in general he skews more towards vintage than newer MX customs.
$500 custom boards just aren't that interesting to him
@08:33 Gesundheit 😛
I wished you compared the smoothness of the clicky ones to the Outemus on that one ergo keyboard you had... sound wise they're almost like SMKs. God I miss that Acer.
IDK what i missed more though, the Acer or your.... HHHHHHIDEOUS? 😂😂😂😂
Now I'm just questioning what keyboard is going to be the End of the Year review.
To be honest I'm not sure yet either xD . There are a few fantastic projects underway that would make great ones but most are delayed until after new year. One will hopefully still make this year though.... I've had a hopeful update recently ^^ .
🔝‼
Sorry Thomas, I have to go away now. It was good while it lasted, but I'm deleting all my YT feeds and you prolly know why. Thanks a lot, it has been a pleasure.
Goodbye!
hola chyrosran :3
Hola!
10:15 zoomers would rather use windows snipping tool than hit a physical button.
If you're asking "why would they do that" I am as clueless as you.
Hi, born 2001 here. No I don't, I keep forgetting it exists.
@@BringMayFlowers Hey, I honestly tried it out and changed my mind, atleast partially. I still use Alt+PrScn for full window screenshot, but Win+Shift+S for a part of window (it's much more convinient than opening paint and cropping it there).
@@danhil856 If you're using Windows 11, the regular print screen button on its own offers you the option to select a box or window to capture, alongside the traditional entire desktop.
Most of us use window + shift + S to crop a part of the screen instead of the entired screen so printscreen is useless nowaday
You can set the Print Screen key to act the same as Win+Shift+S in Windows. And I find that single button to still be useful. Plus, the new screenshot tool that Windows uses gives you the option to crop the screen *or* get the full screen
Haha see for mee the winkey is useless! I'd rather have that removed from the board xD . 101 gang!
@@Chyrosran22 wait, since you are here may i suggest some keyboard for reviewing?
First is the FL Esport OG98. It's a 1800 layout board with retro asthetic, two version of kailh switches and hotswapable, tri mode PCB. FL Esport is kinda a hidden gem to the global community since they offer much better build quality and stabilizer than pretty much any other prebuilt hotswapable kb brands like Akko or NJ. But as far as i can tell, the S.E.A countries which are often very quick to get products from China and get good deals out of them don't seem to know about them.
Second is the Feker K75 (or Gamakey LK75 in the western market), a hidiously multated 75% with a touch screen - knob that can display gif, pc's state and basic funtion of nowaday boards like led, volumn, etc.
i think you will be intriged to test out the 2nd one .
ahlewwwmeeneeyum
Just "aluminium"... you know, like it's spelt ;p .
But is it tactile?
Yes ofc