Keychron's sleek new wireless low-profile keyboards come with clean wood aesthetics and in Hall effect or mechanical flavours
Keychron's K2 HE has been a bit of a hit for the peripheral brand, and it is apparently running with the design with its two newest keyboards. The new K3 HE takes the same design language we praised in our review of the Keychron K4 HE and applies it to a low-profile design with all-new switches, while the K3 Ultra borrows the low-profile design and LSA keycaps from keyboards like the K15 Max we reviewed prior and combines it with the same rose wood accents as the K3 HE, the new Milk POM switches previously featured in the Keychron K9 Max, and the same firmware advancements that were introduced with the rest of the Ultra line-up recently.
Both keyboards are wireless and both are geared at portable use cases, but there are a few distinct differences between the K3 Ultra 8K and the K3 HE. For starters, the K3 Ultra is mechanical, while the K3 HE uses Hall effect sensors, but the K3 Ultra also features 8K polling, which is an odd choice, considering its HE counterpart tops out at 1 kHz. Obviously, due to the Hall effect sensors and magnetic switches, the K3 HE also offers deeper customisation of features like actuation point DKS, snap tap, rapid trigger, and analogue input.
Keychron K3 HE and K3 Ultra specs
| K3 Ultra 8K | K3 HE | |
|---|---|---|
| Case material | ABS bottom case, aluminium rails, rose wood edge accents | |
| Connectivity | USB type-C, 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 5.3 | |
| PCB and switch style | 3-pin, 5-pin hot-swap PCB for Gateron Low-Profile 2.0 switches | HE PCB, magnetic switches |
| Default switch options | Keychron Milk POM Red (linear), Brown (tactile), Banana (sharp tactile) | Keychron Ultra-Fast Lime Low-Profile |
| Layout | 75% | |
| Keycap material and profile | Double-shot PBT, LSA low-profile, non-shine-through | |
| Customisation software | Keychron Launcher web-based UI | |
| Battery life | 550 hours (no backlighting) tested in 2.4 GHz | Not specified |
| Backlight | Per-key north-facing RGB backlighting | |
| Polling rate | 8,000, 2,000, 1,000 Hz over wired and 2.4 GHz, 133 Hz over Bluetooth | 1,000 Hz (USB-C, 2.4 GHz) |
Based on the information Keychron has already revealed about the upcoming low-profile gaming keyboards, we can speculate about some of the specifications of the K3 HE and K3 Ultra. For starters, while Keychron hasn't confirmed this, it stands to reason that both keyboards will share the ABS bottom case of the original K HE Special Edition keyboards. It also seems likely that the Keychron Ultra-Fast Lime Low-Profile switches will have north-pole magnets, just like the regular Ultra-Fast Lime switches we saw in the Q1 HE 8K review, which means the K3 HE will likely be compatible with regular "universal" low-profile HE switches, like the Gateron Magnetic Jade Pro switches (curr. $79.99 for 90 switches on Amazon) or those from the likes of TTC, like the Low-Profile KOM switches.
While we know that the Keychron Milk POM Low-Profile switches have a total travel of 3.1 mm, Keychron has not specified the travel distance of the Ultra-Fast Lime switches. That said, those switches are likely based on switch designs from an OEM, so the travel distance should be somewhere between 2.8 mm and 3.5 mm. Given the box stem and short travel distance of the original Ultra-Fast Lime switches, it seems reasonably to assume 2.8 mm is closer to reality. Pricing is also still a mystery for these two keyboards, since Keychron has only really announced a $3 reservations for early bird pricing. The keyboards officially launch on February 12, and that's when the actual specifications and pricing will be confirmed.
Source(s)
Add as a preferred