Keychron K4 HE Review: A Gorgeous and Affordable Hall-Effect Keyboard

I leaped astatine the accidental to reappraisal the Keychron K4 HE. Not due to the fact that it's a fancy Hall Effect keyboard, but due to the fact that I thought it looked pretty. Thankfully, the keyboard turned retired to person immoderate deeper merits—it has a unsocial pillowy feel, it's fantastic for gaming, and it's comparatively affordable, too.

Price and Availability

The Keychron K4 HE is disposable for $145 astatine the Keychron web store. It comes with macOS keycaps preinstalled, though Windows keycaps are included successful the package. I'm reviewing the special-edition achromatic colorway, though there's besides a achromatic model, arsenic good arsenic a cheaper modular variation that doesn't person woody broadside panels.

Hello, Handsome

If this reappraisal were based connected looks alone, I'd astir apt springiness the Keychron K4 HE a cleanable score. It's conscionable a great-looking keyboard. The rosewood broadside panels springiness disconnected a chill retro look, the double-shot PBT keycaps person super-legible legends, and there's thing undeniably pleasant astir the compact yet ample design. This keyboard has a 96% layout, and it lone weighs 2.3 pounds, yet it looks large, tall, and imposing, particularly erstwhile you flip retired the legs. It's a bully connection piece.

I'm besides amazed by the physique quality, which exceeded my expectations astatine this price. The K4 HE's framework looks similar plastic, but it's aluminum. And though the bottommost of the keyboard is plastic, it doesn't person immoderate flex. Under the hood, Keychron uses a frame-mount plan with 2 layers of foam, positive a silicone acoustic pad, to execute a uniquely "thunky" typing dependable and brushed feel.

My lone complaint, really, is the backlight. Colorful gamer lighting doesn't brace good with eggshell achromatic oregon faux woodgrain. And, anyway, this backlight is excessively dim to spot successful daylight. A bright, softly-diffused, pure-white backlight would've been better, successful my opinion. Shine-through keycaps would've been nice, too, though I'm besides blessed without a backlight, truthful possibly it's not a large deal.

I ended up mounting the backlight to a lukewarm achromatic and utilizing the "reactive" setting, which temporarily lights up keys aft they've been pressed. I'd similar much of a axenic white, but the backlight skews toward bluer hues, truthful I had to spell with a warmer tone.

There's besides immoderate prime power weirdness going connected with my reappraisal unit—one of the side-panel screws arrived loose, and the "Enter" cardinal astatine the acold close of the keyboard has immoderate scratches connected its side—but I presume that these blemishes are a fluke.

Weightless Hall Effect Switches, Decent Ergonomics

As a Hall Effect keyboard, the Keychron K4 HE people has a linear, weightless, bouncy feel. I deliberation it's a spot excessively sloppy for typing, particularly with the default actuation settings, but it's cleanable for gaming. Every keypress is fluid and responsive, and the keyboard people encourages you to person a light, accelerated touch. After a fewer days of use, I recovered that I nary longer pressed the keys down each the way—I floated astir the keyboard and lightly pushed each cardinal to its actuation point.

I'm beauteous blessed with the Gateron Dual-rail Magnetic Nebula switches that are included with this keyboard, too. They's wholly frictionless, they don't wobble much, and they're somewhat little springy than different HE switches I've tested (although this whitethorn beryllium owed to the keyboard's stiff tray-mount design). However, the switches marque a stereotypical Hall Effect plodding dependable erstwhile they apical out, which I don't enjoy. If I benignant truly fast, it astir sounds similar I'm deep-frying immoderate chicken—plop, plop, plop-plop-plop. Thankfully, the typing sound isn't excessively loud, and Keychron's double-shot PBT keycaps person a pleasant texture that distracts from the acoustics.

From an ergonomic perspective, the K4 HE is simply a spot taller than what I'm utilized to, which is simply a bully thing. It forces maine to clasp my wrists up and instrumentality connected a bully posture. And though I similar tenkeyless keyboards—I don't similar it erstwhile a large numpad takes up a clump of abstraction betwixt my keyboard and mouse—the K4 HE's 96% layout is simply a decent compromise.

Unfortunately, the keys consciousness a spot cramped. I deliberation that wider, flatter keycaps would beryllium a superior upgrade arsenic acold arsenic comfortableness is concerned, but adjacent then, I can't bash overmuch astir the close broadside of this keyboard without looking down to spot wherever my manus is. I regularly drift into the numpad erstwhile trying to property the arrow keys, for example.

The lone footnote present is the 1,000Hz polling complaint successful wired mode. I'm good with 1,000Hz due to the fact that I'm not a hardcore gamer, and successful immoderate case, the K4 HE feels ace responsive. But if you're obsessed with the thought of an 8,000Hz polling rate, you'll request to bargain a much costly Hall Effect keyboard.

Unique Features That Give You a Competitive Edge

Of course, magnetic switches travel with immoderate unsocial functionality that could springiness you an borderline successful competitory games. The item here, astatine slightest for me, is adjustable per-key actuation. Others volition astir apt hone successful connected Rapid Trigger oregon Snap Tap, though these features are much utile successful immoderate games than successful others.

The Keychron K4 HE offers adjustable actuation betwixt 0.2mm and 3.8mm, meaning that it tin conform to an impressively wide scope of typing styles oregon preferences. You tin besides acceptable per-key actuation, which creates a batch of absorbing possibilities. If you acceptable your WASD keys to an highly shallow actuation portion the remainder of your keys are "normal," for example.

Adjustable actuation is besides liable for a diagnostic called Dynamic Keystrokes, which allows you to springiness keys a secondary actuation constituent for customized functionality. It efficaciously turns your keys into pseudo "analog triggers;" I programmed my "W" cardinal truthful that, erstwhile pressed each the mode down, it would besides trigger the "Shift" key—this saves maine the occupation of reaching implicit and pressing "Shift" erstwhile I privation to tally successful a crippled similar Fortnite.

Rapid trigger is simply a spot much straightforward. It ensures that keypresses are reset instantly aft you assistance your finger, making speedy actions, similar strafing successful Counter Strike 2, a batch snappier. There's besides Snap Tap, which utilizes Last Key Prioritization to supply near-instant directional changes successful immoderate games. So, if you clasp the "A" cardinal to shuffle to the near successful Counter Strike 2 and repeatedly pat the "D" key, you'll strafe truly fast.

Just cognize that Snap Tap is banned successful immoderate competitory games, including the aforementioned CS2, and whitethorn not supply immoderate payment successful newer games—the diagnostic takes vantage of in-game question behaviour that was much communal successful older titles.

Software That Gets the Job Done

Like different Keychron keyboards, the K4 HE tin beryllium customized successful the web-based Keychron Launcher. You request to beryllium successful wired mode, and the customization instrumentality is simply a spot cluttered, but it gets the occupation done. All of the gamer-focused customization worldly that I mentioned previously—rapid trigger, per-key actuation settings, and truthful on—are located wrong the Keychron Launcher. There are besides options for cardinal remapping, macros, and RGB.

Notably, Keychron Launcher lets you programme and prevention 3 abstracted profiles to the K4 HE, meaning that you tin telephone upon these profiles astatine immoderate time, adjacent if you determination to a antithetic computer. I ended up creating a unsocial illustration for enactment with a reasonably debased actuation mounting successful bid to marque my typing a small little sloppy. But, for gaming, I kinda conscionable stuck with Keychron's default settings. I don't deliberation that the mean gamer needs to bash immoderate customization beyond immoderate RGB tinkering.

Should You Buy the Keychron K4 HE?

At $144, the Keychron K4 HE offers fantastic value. It's a gorgeous, amazingly high-quality Hall Effect keyboard that you tin customize oregon upgrade to your heart's content. While I don't truly urge it for typing—a tactile keyboard is truly my limb of choice—the K4 HE's fluid consciousness and unsocial functionality marque it an fantabulous enactment for gaming.

If I proceed utilizing this keyboard, I'll astir apt swap retired the switches for thing firmer to marque typing easier. But I'd alternatively support 2 keyboards astatine my desk—one for work, different for play.

By the way, you don't attraction for the special-edition K4 HE's woody broadside panels, you tin drawback the standard mentation of the keyboard for $135.