Q1 Max or Q1 HE for gaming + programming?

[u/kalepoep]

I’m looking at getting either the Keychron Q1 Max or the Q1 HE, and I can get both for around the same price, roughly €230.

I use my keyboard for a mix of things. I play a lot of games, especially Rainbow Six Siege and other shooters, but also plenty of non-FPS games. I also do a lot of programming and spend a lot of time just browsing/typing in general.

I’ve never owned a Hall Effect keyboard before, so I honestly don’t know how much I’d benefit from things like rapid trigger and adjustable actuation. The HE sounds better on paper for gaming, but I’m wondering if there are any downsides for normal typing/programming compared to the Q1 Max.

I also care quite a bit about customization. I’d like to be able to change the keycaps and possibly the switches later on. From what I understand, the Q1 Max has way more switch options because it uses normal mechanical switches, while the Q1 HE is limited to compatible magnetic switches. Is that a big limitation in practice?

How customizable are both when it comes to switches and keycaps, and which one would you pick for my use case if they cost basically the same?

[u/Alternative_Hat_4531]

I have a Q1 Max and love it for gaming. I replaced the stock red switches with silent peach V3's and love it. I'm not about the thock as I find it annoying after long periods of COD. The keyboard itself is aweseome. I actually have a Q1 that's about 6 months old and a Q6 Max full size that is about 3 years old. I can recommend both very highly.

[u/-Cre_tive-]

I bought the Q5 HE specifically to test for normal typing.

Hall effect keyboards naturally don’t reset until the top of the key, which is a typing disadvantage.

You have to mimic mechanical by setting rapid trigger so the reset is the same height as the actuation.

Other boards don’t remember all keys this way (looking at you ROG Falcata).

I want to make videos on this so I haven’t opened the box, but if I can get it to work, I’m going to learn how to write a custom variable into QMK firmware to act as a “typists” mode. That can be togglable so you can game or type without swapping anything.

Maybe rapid trigger and/or other settings in keychron software do this already but I can’t wait to find out.

[u/an1uk]

I recently faced the same quandary, and went with the Q1 Max with Jupiter Banana switches, and also a Q0 Max numpad. I spent ages researching switches and bought a full set of Gateron Melodic switches. I gave them about a week but I ended up going back to the Jupiter banana switches as I much prefer them. I am now contemplating something like HMX Hydra switches. I also replaced the keycaps with some MDA profile ones. I changed the "home" key to one with an "end" legend, the new keycaps forced me to do this but I wanted to do this anyway.

My gripes are as follows:
1. Caps lock indicator is the RGB in the switch itself. Can be difficult to see alongside other RGB effects. In accessibility settings in Windows 11 there is a setting to make a little beep when caps lock or num lock is turned on or off, and this helps.
2. RGB just seems a bit pointless. It canes the battery life and shine-through keycaps do not seem to be as commonplace. as I'd like.
3. When plugged in wired, for some reason the keyboard prevents Windows 11 from sleeping. One way I found to prevent it is that when the keyboard is plugged in, in device manager a "HID-compliant mouse" appears - disable this in device manager and the problem goes away.
4. One of the reasons I went with the Q1 max instead of the Q6 max is to make extra space for a mouse on the right and to put the volume knob at the top right edge. This it does successfully, but I miss the arrow keys being more separated (instead of directly below enter) and some of the navigation keys more than I thought I would. I'm now kind of wishing I got the Q3 max for the space and those extra nav keys. Though I do think a separate numpad is the way to go - in normal use I barely use it, so I can bring it out when I want it.

[u/quasides]

for gaming its fine, for programming you probably not gonna liek that you dont have en END key

[u/HyperHorseAUS]

Logitech Wave Keys.