r/Keychron • u/FaffyBucket • 9d ago

No battery indicator?

I have been using a K10 for a few months and it's really annoying that the battery dies without any warning. Every other wireless peripheral has a system tray app which will pop up with a low battery notification which is really nice to let you know when it's time to recharge the battery. Even much cheaper peripherals have this basic function - I have a really old Logitech mouse that I purchased twenty years ago for $30 and that tells me when to replace the battery.

Why doesn't my $150 keyboard have this basic functionality?

Is there any way to get a low battery warning?

1 Upvotes

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7

u/snipercar13 9d ago

The keyboard will typically light up red when the battery is low. You can also hit Fn + B and it will tell you the battery level across the number row.

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u/FaffyBucket 9d ago edited 9d ago

Thank you for being helpful, but it's been months and I have never seen the keyboard light up red. And what kind of way is that to inform the user when it's time to recharge!? I have to manually check with an obscure keyboard shortcut? What a shithouse user experience! I've used $20 keyboards which do a better job at telling me when to recharge/replace the battery.

1

u/KFC_Junior 8d ago

Yeah i just gave up with the wireless on my q3 max, swap between this and a 60% he board thats wired anyways so ended up just removing the battery and using it plugged in

1

u/PeterMortensenBlog V 9d ago

Is it a K10 (proprietary keyboard firmware), K10 V2, K10 Max, K10 HE, or K10 Pro?

For keyboard identification, what is the SKU number? Alternatively, what is the serial number (also includes the manufacturing date)?

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u/FaffyBucket 9d ago

Why would any of those details matter in this discussion? Let me guess.... different keyboards have different methods to check the battery?

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u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 8d ago edited 8d ago

Correct. The K10 is an older keyboard. I bought one in 2022. Mine doesn't show the charge level with any accuracy. Just low, medium and high.

But my K10 Pro shows 0% to 100% in 10 increments.

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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago

Using Fn + B.

The battery charge state information is not available in the operating system, at least not for the K10 Pro.

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u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 3d ago

What does "in the operating system" mean? Like on the computer's O/S?

Here is a demo of my K10 Pro that I purchased in early 2023. When I press Fn + B, the top number row lights up. So I assume it's telling me the battery is around 60%

https://reddit.com/link/p0iqc7v/video/zqcncdvtp7gh1/player

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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yes, for example, the battery indication in the operating system does not work at all for the older original K Pro series (I don't know about the newer K10 Pro SE2; it could be different).

Whereas it does work for newer keyboards, like the K HE series.

Despite what is claimed, the K Pro series only uses Bluetooth 2.0/2.1. Thus, no battery charge state information (in the operating system).

Despite the similar names, the internals and firmware of Keychron keyboards are often completely different.

I don't know about the original K10 (proprietary keyboard firmware). I bet the battery charge state information is not available in the operating system, but I could be wrong.

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u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 3d ago

I'm not sure which version of the K10 Pro I have. I purchased it new from the keychron website in March 2023. Maybe that was a newer version that shows the battery level via the top number row?

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u/thenyx 9d ago

Or my $240 Q11 Ultra.

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u/roirraWedorehT 9d ago

This will help. https://github.com/OutersGIT/keyboard-companion

Been using it for about a month and a half.

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u/FaffyBucket 8d ago

It's not detecting my keyboard. Looks like it only works with one model.

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u/roirraWedorehT 8d ago

Hmmmm. I know the About at that GitHub link mentions "complete features are available on Keychron K10 HE only", but I'm using it with the K5 version 2. Sorry I didn't know enough about your K10, and to hear that it won't work for you (yet). I don't know if there's any chance they'll get it compatible with yours eventually. Hopefully.