As I continue to amass a quite large collection of keyboards (for a normal girl) I convinced myself that for work productivity purposes I needed a keyboard with a number pad. I of course preferred an aluminum framed keyboard, a heavy feel, and wanted (and ordered) the IQuinix F96 keyboard. Waited weeks for a shipment notification, contacted customer support — only to be told they had none in stock. Cancelled the order and looked for an alternative, decided on the Keychron K4 V2. My overall experience you ask is BLEH…
The Keycaps
Horrendous! The worst keycaps I have ever felt under my fingertips. I just couldn’t. Thank God I had ordered a set of PBT keycaps on Amazon that were XDA profile with cute doggos because I would have been absolutely furious with myself if I had to type one single day on those horrible stock keycaps. While my doggo PBT keycaps are not top of line keycaps, they are a million times better than what I received. Words cannot accurately describe how absolutely horrid those keycaps are.
The Weight
A feather. When I get a mechanical keyboard I want to feel like I’ve purchased a weapon. That I have in my hands the equalizer… Lucille even in the event of the zombie apocalypse… not something a shitzu can make into a chew toy. Not all plastic is made the same, and this is plastic that is just meh… light as a feather. I stuffed it to the gills with neoprene to calm that hollow sound some.
Hot Swap
Everything is not bad. This keyboard is hot swap, and since I’m a switch hoarder — had a liked the keyboard I would have been motivated to put my oreos in it. I am not motivated. I ordered it with Gateron Brown switches. Options were limited as usual — red, blue, brown. At this point you would expect these companies to do more. I did switch the number pad switches with some YOK Pandas — cause why not. I do feel like I’m wasting switches- which I’m not — but that’s how I feel and feelings are not rational.
Lighting
What lighting? Just a white backlight. That wasn’t a mistake I specifically chose a white backlight instead of RGB. My focus was productivity and not disco lights for fun. I don’t need backlighting to type at night because I touch type. The serious RGB I have on my other keyboards could be distracting — maybe — depending on my mood. So I said Qc something minimal, classy for work. But boy is it minimal alright! You can see the lighting effects on my youtube video where I typed a draft of this post.
Bad Keys
Yes, they shipped this keyboard with non-functioning F5 and F6 keys. I couldn’t believe it. These Keychron keyboards are so hyped! You can’t check your keyboards before you ship them! One bad PCB is gonna put you out of business? Maybe they won’t notice? WHAT! The only good thing is that they do pay attention to reviews as I had left a pretty shitty one and they responded to it and contacted me the same day. While I jumped through a myriad of unnecessary tech support hoops and they ultimately recommended me returning the keyboard for a replacement or a refund… I don’t use those keys often enough to care… and the IQuinix F96 was not in stock! The number pad is why I purchased this keyboard -> that works. Other plastic keyboard with this form factor were surprisingly more expensive. This keyboard was $80 dollars. While I will not get over the poor QA, its suited my needs. I don’t really need F5 and F6 but I also don’t ever need another Keychron product.
The Competition
This keyboard entered this home already at a disadvantage. The competition was fierce. Novelkeys NK65 Editions — Fire and Milkshake. Drop Signature Series — El Capitan, I can continue but I’ve made my point. Any incoming plastic keyboard was not making the cut. Had it not given me the two things I needed — a number pad and the bunched together keys, it would have gone right back. That’s why you are here F4 V2. Your only competition is the IQuinix F96, the keyboard/weapon I’m still obsessing over. You are still here because I replaced those keycaps. You are still here because the whole function row can escape and I wouldn’t care.
Do I use it?
Absolutely, for the reasons I’ve already given I use it. After all its for productivity. The number pad was necessary and with the new keycaps its not a total fail. I neoprened the crap out of it so the hollow sound disappears. It will never sound like a 600 dollar keyboard but that was not the plan… I use it Mon to Fri on spreadsheet days. When Friday night rolls around and I “log off of work” I also switch the keyboard to something more enjoyable for recreational typing. At the time of my editing this piece the IQuinix is back in stock! Yippeeeee… and yes I ordered it… I’m still waiting for them to ship it but this time I will be a little more patient! I will then have decided what I will do with the Keychron. I may donate it to the VVA I may play with it and see if I can get it to feel respectable. I will definately make a video comparing this one to the F96 Knight.
En conclusion
Even if this keyboard had arrived in a perfect condition, the experience (compared to others I own) paled in comparison. While I cannot recommend this keyboard to anyone, that doesn’t mean we will have the same experience. This keyboard must be satisfactory to a multitude of people or else they would not still be in business. Me, I’m just not one of those people.
