Keychron Q5 HE Review

Keychron’s Hall effect keyboards lineup has expended nicely after the release of a popular Q1 HE. Now I have gotten my hands on the Keychron Q5 HE which uses the same magnetic switches as Q1 HE, but it has a 96% layout. The layout makes it quite unique as there are not many hall effect keyboards at that size which offer top performance and can be used also for work.

In their lineup they have:

• Keychron Q1 HE – 75% layout
• Keychron Q3 HE – 80% layout
• Keychron Q5 HE – 96% layout
• Keychron Q6 HE – 100% layout

Gateron Double-Rail Magnetic Nebula Switches

The Q5 HE switches are Gateron’s KS-37B – Gateron Double-Rail Magnetic Nebula Switch. They are not wobbly thanks to the dual-rail structure and honestly they sound excellent inside this keyboard. They are prelubed and linear with 40g starting force and 60g ending force. Actuation range is possible between 0.2 to 3.8mm with 0.1mm sensitivity and they have 150 million clicks lifespan.

This is a magnetic switch with a magnet inside an a hall effect sensor in the PCB of the keyboard which – thanks to this configuration you can use features such as adjustable actuation, rapid trigger or snap tap. Most of these features can be useful for gaming, but adjustable actuation can be also good for work and for accessibility.

The only negative thing about these magnetic switches is they they aren’t compatible with newer Gateron switches from the KS-20 series such as Gateron Magnetic Jade, Jade Pro, Genty, Jade Max. The only compatible switch that I know is the Gateron Jade Mini E which is also KS-37B type switch with N pole polarity of the magnets.

Latency

The polling rate of Q5 HE 1000Hz and while there are keyboards on the market with 8000Hz polling rate it doesn’t mean they are automatically faster. It all comes to the recorded latency on the key press and the Q1 HE had 3.2ms wired and 4.3ms dongle latency which is quite good and I expect the Q5 HE has similar latency. 1000Hz polling rate means only that the latency is at least 1ms or more and the rest depends on the PCB, firmware and software.

So while the latency isn’t the best on the market like the Wooting 80HE or Nuphy Field75HE which have under 1ms latency, the Q5 HE is still extremely responsive and probably one of the fastest 96% layout gaming keyboards out there.

Build quality

Now, the build quality. It’s very good. I have tested over 20 HE keyboards and Keychron is one of the top ones in that regard. Q5 HE feels super solid and well made and it’s heavy at around 2.18kg with aluminium chassis. The keycaps are doubleshot PTB with OSA profile and they are also well made. The OSA profile isn’t the most popular and it can take getting used to, but I liked it after a few days of using.

The battery is 4000mAh and it should last you up to 100 hours on a single charge.

Keychron Launcher

Before I used the Keychron Launcher software I wanted to update the firmware from 1.0 to 1.1. It’s a pretty straightforward process, you have to download drivers and then flash it to the keyboard and the instructions were helpful.

Now onto the Keychron Launcher software. The most important menu is the “HE Mode” – it allows you to set the Actuation Distance, Rapid Trigger, One Key Multiple Commands, Long-Press Switch, Snap Action, Gamepad Analog and Curve.

You can set the actuation distance and rapid trigger for each key on the keyboard individually. Rapid trigger works between 0.1mm to 3.8mm in Basic mode or in Advanced mode you can adjust the Press and Release distance seperately also between 0.1mm to 3.8mm for each.

Then there’s the Snap Action – where you can set up two keys so that when both keys are pressed at the same time, you can have the one pressed deeper trigger and the other reset.

And the Last Key Priority – two keys can be set up so that when both keys are pressed at the same time, the last triggered key triggers at the same time as the other key resets. Selecting 2 keys, both keys are then bound to enable the last triggered key to remain triggered and the other key to be released.

Gamepad Analog emulation in the keyboard

This is another super neat feature that only Wooting and Razer Huntsman keyboards have, as far as I know. The gamepad analog emulation. This feature allows binding any set of keys to standard gamepad functions and automatically sets joystick buttons to trigger keyboard keys when used as an analog stick, enhancing functionality in games depending on their support. The keyboard presents itself as a game controller device and the polling rate is 250 Hz in both wired and wireless modes.

Other features are pretty straightforward:

• Keymapping
• Setting Backlight – 22 modes with adjustable brightness and speed.
• Macro Settings
• Firmware Update, Key Test and Bug Report

Verdict

This is a great quality hall effect keyboard, but at a hefty price tag – at $229 it’s more expensive than Wooting Two HE or Keydous NJ98-CP HE V2. But if you are in the market for a great quality keyboiard with 96% layout that can be used both for gaming and work, with a great build quality then this is a really good option.