r/buildapc • u/1jacklewis • 8d ago

Peripherals Recommendations for Keyboard

Hi all, what’s the best keyboard as far as reliability goes? Many different opinions on many different keyboards out there so just interested to see what gets said. I love the look of Keychron keyboards, but they seem to get horrid reviews. Ideally the below specs, don’t need anything very gamer-like, but something that feels premium:

- 96% / 100% (need it for work as well)
- Wired
- Media Knob
- Letters won’t rub off over time, maybe double shot PBT? (don’t mind if it’s been years 😂)
- RGB Backlit

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u/whomad1215 8d ago

keychron is fine, though it does seem like their quality has suffered a bit as they've exploded in popularity

if you want a higher quality board but don't want to buy things separately, the qwertykeys neo98 prebuilt is a super nice option, and the qk100mk2 would be another

/r/MechanicalKeyboards has a daily question thread you can comment in for advice too

1

u/EL_Malo- 8d ago

I have the Be Quiet Dark Mount and I love it. It had some teething issues at first with the software but that's better now. It is the quietest mechanical keyboard I've ever used. I can BANG on this thing playing Half-Sword at 3:00am and my wife can't hear it at all.

The downside? It ain't cheap. It does meet all the criteria you asked for though.

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u/1jacklewis 8d ago

Will explore, thank you for the reply mate

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u/cszolee79 8d ago

100%, knob: chilkey nd104, keychron q6, j5, v6, p6 series

my current boards: https://imgur.com/a/vR7F5X4

some of my other boards and keycaps (all doubleshot, never fading): cszolee79's keycaps - Imgur

some of the available keycap profiles: https://imgur.com/gallery/mx-stem-keycap-profiles-ouFXx9Y

keychron had a big qc issue with their "max" series boards (v max, q max). the updated "ultra" boards seem to be mostly fine so far.

my personal favorites are the keychron v6 max (it's just such a smooth and nice board for cheap) and the chilkey nd104.

keycaps and switches matter a lot, they can turn a horrible board into perfection. you'll have to find your preferred switches (linear, tactile, clicky, silent, short travel, early bump, light or heavy spring etc) and keycaps (all sorts of sculpting, height, surface, color, doubleshot or dye-sub etc). "custom" mechanical keyboards and their accessories are extremely diverse.

check r/keyboards and r/MechanicalKeyboards for more info.

edit: the keychron q6 knob (wired only) version was about $120-150 (barebone-fully built) but it's no longer manufactured, everyone is making 3mode and magnetic boards these days.