Keychron K8 Wireless Bluetooth/USB Wired Mechanical Keyboard, Hot-swappable Tenkeyless 87 Keys ISO-UK-Layout RGB LED Backlit Gateron Blue Switch N-Key Rollover, Aluminum Frame for Mac and Windows

Product Information

The stabilisers come very visibly pre-lubed and it is very easy to lube if the need ever arises by using stabiliser lube and taking off their respective keycaps to reveal the sides of the stabiliser’s wire. That’s not even scratching the surface of the features that VIA offers you, but one that I always use, especially when testing new switches, is the key tester tab. This highlights which key you pressed after you make a keystroke. Something missing is Bluetooth support. A keyboard this top quality should have the BT option included by default. Yeah, that requires battery and implies connectivity issues but that is something I miss comparing it with my Logitech G915. It also has a secure low-delay wireless link by USB dongle.

If you’re not into hotswapping and spending your whole net worth on switches and keycaps, this keyboard is for you; the Keychron red switches I selected are also fairly nice to type on and are lubed to an extent.Since Keychron introduced QMK and VIA support for the Q-series, I was curious if it would do the same for its other boards. Lieu and behold, it did. QMK is a beloved keyboard customization app because it's open source, allowing for endless possibilities, but I opted for VIA instead due to its ease-of-use. Gateron G Pro Brown switches come pre-installed on this board, and they are nothing special aside from one feature that I will discuss later on. They do allow light to shine through due to the clear upper housings, which is perfect for this board’s south-facing RGB. As mentioned earlier, the K8 Pro uses a more traditional tray-mount design, making the sound profile less uniform and the typing experience stiff thanks to the heavy use of screws. Keychron did a fantastic job creating a mostly screwless gasket-mount board with the Q1 and it only got better with the Q2, so given this board’s Pro classification, something other than a tray-mount style would’ve been appreciated here.

Also, you said the G Pro switches were unlubed, which is false. (https://www.keychron.com/products/gateron-switch-set). The switches work fine, maybe a bit pingy, but it's a pretty good sounding keyboard (judging by other sound-test videos I've seen).QMK is a bit dated and requires some coding, but VIA, its sister software, is like any other keyboard remapping software due to its simple UI.