Keychron introduces Q1 HE keyboard with analog Hall effect switches
Keychron introduces its Q1 HE keyboard. This is the company’s first keyboard with analog Hall effect switches. The Q1 HE works both wired and wirelessly. Keychron expects to deliver the keyboards from February 2024.
The Gateron 2.0 Magnetic switch
Keychron introduced its Q1 HE keyboard through Kickstarter. The keyboard uses linear Gateron 2.0 Magnetic switches. These are analog and can therefore tell the difference between a partial and a full button press, unlike traditional keyboards. For example, users can run slower in games by only partially pressing the key. This is not possible with regular mechanical keyboards. These Hall effect switches also offer adjustable activation points from 0.1 to 4.0 mm.
The Keychron Q1 HE is further based on the existing Q1 Pro, which has a 75% layout and an integrated volume button. The Q1 HE works both wired and wirelessly via Bluetooth and a 2.4GHz connection via an included USB dongle. The keyboard has a polling rate of 1000Hz when used wired or via the 2.4GHz connection. Via Bluetooth 5.1 this is 90Hz. The Q1 HE has an integrated 4000mAh battery that can be charged via USB-C. According to the manufacturer, this takes about five hours. Keychron does not say how long the Q1 HE can be used wirelessly before it needs to be charged.
The keyboard comes with keycaps and Hall effect switches pre-installed. There will also be a barebone variant that is supplied without switches and keycaps. The switches are hot-swappable, but can only be exchanged for other Hall effect switches. It is therefore not possible to install regular Cherry style switches in the Q1 HE. The keyboard also has RGB LEDs, which can be set via Keychron software.
Keychron is not the first manufacturer to introduce a keyboard with Hall effect switches. Companies such as Wooting, Corsair and SteelSeries have already done this. The Q1 HE costs $214 as a complete set or $194 as a barebone via Kickstarter. This amounts to approximately 199 and 180 euros respectively, excluding VAT. The full set is on the Keychron website listed for $219, but there is no delivery time yet. It is not known when the Q1 HE will be available outside of Kickstarter.