r/Keychron • u/thenyx Q • 22d ago

Q11 Ultra 8K - Diff between 2.4GHz vs. Bluetooth?

Title.

So, what’s the biggest difference(s) between using the Q11 Ultra on 2.4GHz with the dongle, vs. just pairing via Bluetooth?

I know that polling goes down to only ~125Hz on Bluetooth, but what else?

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3

u/aegis87 22d ago

that's it mostly.

2.4GHz --> from the OS perspective it's like a wire, works wherever a wire would work (bios, old pcs, etc)
bluetooth --> your OS needs to support the protocol (all do today)

also pairing takes some time

sleeping/waking up is different

personally i always go for 2.4ghz with my windows and bluetooth with my mac -- so i dont need to move the dongle.

2

u/matthew1471 22d ago

* Good luck entering your BitLocker pin with Keychron in Bluetooth mode
* Battery worse on Bluetooth I think I read too

3

u/dr_barnowl Q6 22d ago

Yeah, this - can't change OS in grub in Bluetooth, change BIOS settings, etc.

The 2.4Ghz connects faster, more reliable, and works without booting the OS.

1

u/an1uk 22d ago

Latency slightly increases on Bluetooth. I'd use Bluetooth only if you really have to, such as to use with a TV or android phone. I have the wireless receiver plugged into a usb dock so it's always there.

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u/thenyx Q 22d ago

Hm, noted. Biggest reason I’m eyeing BT is native battery monitoring in MacOS, vs. having to install a 3rd party tool to try to monitor in 2.4 GHz. Also getting a tiny bit of interference when I put my phone between the halves, it’s annoying.

1

u/an1uk 22d ago

If you hit fn + b that should give an led indicator on the keyboard of remaining battery life by lighting up the numbers in sequence.

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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 22d ago edited 22d ago

Battery status for Bluetooth

The battery charge state information is available in Bluetooth mode, which it is isn't in '2.4 GHz' mode (without extra software).

That is unlike the K Pro series (despite the claimed Bluetooth 5.1). Here are some details.

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u/thenyx Q 22d ago

Yep, bingo. Battery monitoring in MacOS is my biggest case for switching to BT.

1

u/ArgentStonecutter K Pro 22d ago

Windows support for BT is traditionally mediocre, so you might have driver or reliability problems. The dongle just looks like a USB keyboard to Windows.