I really don’t know too much about mechanical keyboards and I had tried a Keychron K1 low profile keyboard before and wasn’t super thrilled with it. Mainly because of my choice in switches I’ll admit.

So I decided to try again with the Keychron K7.

I really liked the small size and layout of the K7, I really don’t need a large full-sized keyboard.

How did it go? Overall I’m quite impressed and this is probably my new favorite keyboard. I got the white backlit version with Mint Blue hot-swappable switches.

 

Keychron K7

The Layout and Size

I was a bit worried about the layout being too small at first but I actually quite like it.

It’s still got the arrow keys which I regularly use plus delete, home, page up and page down keys.

All of your media keys and other functions are on other keys that you can access by also hitting a function key.

Ultimately I really don’t use any of the media keys other than the next track, previous track, pause and print screen keys so I really didn’t mind not having a whole dedicated row of keys on the board for these.

It took a bit of getting used to holding down a function key and then hitting the corresponding number key for the different functions but after a bit it became normal.

I really like the small compact size. It doesn’t take up much space on my desk, it looks good and I never bump my mouse into it like I constantly did with my Logitech MX Keys full-sized keyboard.

 

Keychron K7

The Switches

I learned from my previous Keychron that I don’t like the linear style switches. I had heard good things about the Optical Brown switches but something about the sound of the Optical Mint switches sounded good to me.

Plus on their typing test the mint ones were the quietest option.

One feature I really love about this keyboard is that the switches can be swapped out easily with other ones. There’s no soldering or anything required.

So I ended up getting the Mint switches but also purchasing a set of the Brown switches so I could give those a try too.

The Brown switches felt pretty good but I really liked the feel of the Mint ones so I ended up sticking with those. They’re described as “Early Bump Tactile” and I’m not entirely sure what that means but I like how it feels and the keys have a nice sound.

So overall I’m much happier with my choice of switches this time around.

 

Keychron K7

Lighting

There’s an RGB option but I’m not a huge fan of RGB so I just went with the white backlight option.

There’s a bunch of different fancy lighting animations and effects which are neat but not really that practical so I just use a simple solid backlight if the room’s dark. The rest of the time I don’t really use the backlighting.

I do like how the white backlights look with the Mint blue/green colored switches though. It almost gives off a bit of blue/green lighting which is subtle and nice.

 

Keychron K7 keyboard and iMac

Usability

Overall the keyboard is great to use and I didn’t have any trouble with my fingers adapting to the layout or making any mistakes when typing.

It feels great and there are three different heights and angles you can adjust the keyboard to to find what’s most comfortable for you.

The keyboard works both wired and wireless through Bluetooth and you can set it to Windows and Mac layouts.

One thing I absolutely love about Keychron keyboards is that they give you different key caps depending on if you’re on a Mac or Windows so your keys match perfectly.

You can sync the keyboard with up to three different devices too which is pretty nice but I only ever really use it with my main desktop computer.

The only real complaint I have with the keyboard is that the battery doesn’t seem to last me longer than one week and I have to charge it pretty often. It’s not a huge deal since I just plug in the USB cord and keep using it but I like to keep my desk as clean as possible and avoid wires where ever I can.

 

Keychron K7

In Conclusion

I’m going to keep using this keyboard for now. It’s the best feeling keyboard I’ve used so far and the only real negative thing I have to say is the battery life which isn’t really a big deal.

So if you want a small, compact, great looking low profile mechanical keyboard this one is easily my favorite right now and I highly recommend it.

–

Images are from Keychron’s official website used under Fair Use