Many of the perfect gaming keyboards I’ve reviewed in recent times are tenkeyless – ones that lop off the quantity pad to save lots of desk house that additionally ship excessive efficiency and fancy options. But I nonetheless need full-sized performance on my keyboard, which is why I like the 96% structure the place you continue to get all the necessities with all of it crammed right into a barely extra compact board with no gaps between keys or wasted house. They are more durable to search out, nonetheless. And for that, I rode out the unique Keychron K4 as my predominant till I spilled a drink over it and destroyed its mechanical switches. It was a stable keyboard that had every thing I wished on the time, however now it’s been up to date with Hall Effect magnetic switches, and the outcomes are incredible.
The Keychron K4 HE has been outfitted with Gateron double-rail magnetic Nebula switches and the body has a barely completely different trim, however it’s nonetheless the easy and smooth keyboard I’ve at all times liked. While it doesn’t have something like an OLED management display on the likes of a SteelSeries Apex Pro or Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75, I don’t thoughts as a result of typically it’s about getting the fundamentals proper, and providing that at an inexpensive value.
Keychron K4 HE – Design and Features
I obtained the particular version of the Keychron K4 HE that is available in a cream white coloration scheme with wooden grain alongside the aspect of the aluminum body and a few gold keycaps for a lovely accent. The OSA profile double-shot PBT keycaps are good to the contact and have rounded edges for a softer total look. There is RGB backlighting and a devoted RGB key on the top-right to cycle by built-in RGB results like respiratory, waves, ripples, wheel, or only a single static coloration. But for the reason that keycaps on the particular version don’t have clear legends, it solely actually seeps by between the keys (the usual version does have clear keycaps so I might suggest going with that mannequin if it issues to you). It’s shiny sufficient to come back by vividly even when it doesn’t gentle up the important thing lettering.
The 96% structure tickles a sure a part of my mind and I like how neat every thing appears regardless of being crammed collectively. There’s no wasted house, however that does imply I attain for the incorrect key typically, like hitting residence key as an alternative of delete when working. Because it’s truncated in the best way it’s, you save numerous deskspace with out sacrificing the complete suite of keys – side-by-side with my tenkeyless SteelSeries Apex Pro, there’s solely a one-inch distinction in width. The performance I get again in return may be very a lot price it, and I discover myself utilizing the quantity pad usually once more for work or mapping further actions/macros in video games just like the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV.
There aren’t going to be groundbreaking high-tech options right here, and even easy issues like simply accessible devoted media keys, that are issues I discover helpful, however at the very least you don’t essentially lose that performance since these are mixed with different keys through the FN key. It is good, nonetheless, to have 2.4GHz wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity to present it a bit further versatility. The connection toggle is on the left aspect of the body together with a Windows/Android-MacOS enter toggle – the buttons are smaller than I would like, however it’s a kind of set-it-and-forget-it form of conditions.
Keychron K4 HE – Software and Customization
There’s nonetheless a good quantity of customization on account of getting magnetic switches, they usually’re very straightforward to tinker with. Boutique producers like Keychron have moved towards having web-based configurators versus downloadable suites that greater producers use. (I get that Razer, Logitech, Asus, and many others. try this to get you of their ecosystems.) You merely go to the Keychron launcher site, choose your keyboard from the Connect menu, and also you instantly have entry to a full set of customization choices.
From right here, you’ll be able to set the actuation level on a per-key foundation wherever between 0.2mm and three.8mm and in increments of 0.1mm – and having a brief actuation level is essential for aggressive gaming efficiency. You even have extra nuanced options like one-key multi-command, which helps you to map completely different inputs to varied distances alongside the keystroke. And there’s the analog gamepad characteristic that means that you can simulate particular sensitivities of controller inputs on a keystroke. Hall Effect switches are nice for efficiency alone, however it’s this sort of versatility enabled by magnetic know-how.
It’s just about anticipated for magnetic keyboards to have options like Rapid Trigger and LKP (final keystroke prioritization), the latter of which is the contentious SOCD (simultaneous reverse cardinal path) enter. We cowl this with every magnetic keyboard because it’s changing into extra commonplace and completely different corporations name it one thing completely different. It definitely has its makes use of instances, however should you’re not conscious, SOCD (or LKP on this case) enables you to maintain one key and register an other way each time you hit it, and re-register the important thing you are holding each time you let go of the opposite. You can counter-strafe (or jiggle strafe) at inhuman velocity, making you a a lot tougher goal. Be conscious that you’ll get kicked from Counter-Strike 2 matches, for instance, should you exploit SOCD like LKP.
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The extensiveness of choices don’t cease there, although – Keychron has a reasonably strong macro device to map enter sequences and set the timing of every enter. You can even remap any key simply within the on-line configurator and set your RGB patterns and colours nonetheless you need. And it’s all neatly laid out and simple to grasp, which a number of software program suites can’t precisely say.
Keychron K4 HE – Performance
For gaming, the Keychron K4 HE and the magnetic Nebula switches are pretty much as good as another expertise I’ve had with Hall Effect keyboards. However, the one factor I’ll word is that it’s rated at a 40g preliminary actuation drive and a 60g bottom-out drive – whereas that’s pretty commonplace, it does really feel extra agency on the contact than most different magnetic keyboards I’ve used not too long ago. It might put on you down a bit extra over time, however there are benefits to this.
When it involves enjoying FFXIV, the place I’m always biking by my assault rotation on close-by keys or attempting to hit particular actions at necessary moments, having magnetic switches which are each agency on the actuation drive however set to a shorter actuation level is unbelievable. I gained’t “fat-finger” a key due to the stiffer resistance and I’ll register the enter quick for the reason that keystroke might be acknowledged a lot faster. It’s the perfect of each worlds in a recreation like FFXIV, particularly as somebody who has a heavy resting hand over his keyboard.
In video games like Counter-Strike 2 or Valorant, the quick actuation factors additionally are available in clutch for jiggle-strafing, fast actions, switching weapons, or activating talents on a dime. I went with 0.5mm with the K4 HE, which is far shorter than I might use on different keyboards, and that was the candy spot. I performed my standard batch of ranked matches to find out if this was suited to aggressive recreation and it definitely handed muster for me. Although I’ll wish to go along with one thing lighter on the actuation drive for aggressive shooters, I definitely loved utilizing the K4 HE for them.
Such is the case with most Hall Effect keyboards I’ve used, however the clean linear keystrokes of a magnetic change are fairly satisfying, particularly as somebody who at all times used linear mechanical switches just like the Cherry MX Reds for practically a decade. As I’m typing this proper now, I get a kick out of the creamy “thock” of every keystroke and the clear really feel of the magnetic change, which you may also attribute to the various kinds of foam and padding tucked beneath the keyboard’s plating.
