Work hard, play harder: Keychron K4 HE wireless gaming keyboard tested

At $140, the Keychron K4 HE costs less than many of its competitors but offers performance and features on-par with its more expensive counterparts. Gateron Dual-rail Magnetic Nebula switches and Keychron Launcher offer everything from SOCD, Rapid Trigger (with last-key priority), DKS, Analog Mode, and actuation point adjustment to macro customisation and key remapping. 

The rosewood accent plates on the sides give it a premium look and feel, and the fast wireless connectivity and solid battery life make the K4 HE a good all-rounder for both work and gaming.

The K4 HE's tray-mount design makes the K4 HE feel stiff when typing and gaming, but the combination of Keychron's sound-damping foams and decent stabilisers improve the sound profile, despite the basic design. The biggest drawback for the K4 HE is that it is not compatible with other HE switches, limiting you to the Gateron Double-rail Magnetic Nebula, Dawn, and Aurora switches Keychron sells. 

The K4 HE is available on Keychron's online store in three different variations. The Special Edition with wood accents is available in both black and white versions for $145. The $135 Standard Edition has a more traditional design with an ABS case, aluminium frame, and shine-through double-shot PBT keycaps.

The Keychron K4 HE is a Hall-effect gaming keyboard with a num pad, tray-mount design, and a case made of aluminium and ABS. It packs many of the normal navigation keys found in a full-size keyboard into a slightly smaller footprint with its 96% layout. The K4 HE Special Edition we reviewed sets itself apart from similar Hall-effect keyboards with rosewood side accent plates and OSA profile keycaps. 

The K4 HE comes  in Keychron's usual sleeved cardboard box with clean printed branding throughout. The included accessory kit is more comprehensive than many other keyboards at this price range. The usual keycap and switch puller, USB-A-to-C cable, and 2.4 GHz receiver are accompanied by a USB-C-to-A adaptor to connect to a the 2.4 GHz receiver via the cable to avoid signal interference. The extras also include macOS keycaps, non-accent modifier keycaps, and a screw driver and Allen key for disassembly and mods. 

The Keychron K4 HE feels sturdy and well-built, although it isn't as heavy as the Keychron Q13 Max. Despite this, the K4 HE doesn't flex or creak, even when twisted hard, exhibiting better build quality than something like the Wooting 80HE. The relatively light weight and robust construction make the K4 HE a good option for gaming events and working away from home. 

The double-shot, non-shine-through PBT, OSA-profile keycaps on our Special Edition K4 HE are a little thinner than the double-shot keycaps on the Q13 Max, but the texture on the tops is pleasant to the touch and has not shown much sign of wear in almost two weeks of heavy use. 

As expected from a tray-mount keyboard, there is no flex or bounce when typing on the Keychron K4 HE. The Gateron Double-rail Nebula switches have a unique typing feel, although the sound profile is less than perfect. Stem wobble and typing feel are on-par with modern linear mechanical switches, and the switches don't feel scratchy — a common complaint with Hall-effect switches. 

While the bottom-out sound from the Gateron Nebula switches is nicely damped, they still exhibit the typical clattery Hall-effect top-out sound, which you will hear in the sound test. Overall, the plate-mount stabilisers in the K4 HE are well-implemented, but the backspace stabiliser on our review unit had noticeable ticking. There is a short typing sound test below for reference. 

Keychron offers software customisation via the Keychron Launcher. For the K4 HE, this is where you access features like SOCD, Rapid Trigger, Last Key Priority, DKS and Analog Mode. The K4 HE also supports the same level of macro creation as Keychron's mechanical keyboards, making it completely viable as a productivity keyboard, unlike the Wooting 80HE and the Iqunix EZ63. 

The settings in Keychron Launcher are easy to understand, and there are short explanations for many of the more complicated settings. The K4 HE has four customisable layers for key mapping and three customisable profiles for the Hall-effect gaming features, and one profile already has keys assigned for Analog Mode.

Despite its shortcomings, the Keychron K4 HE offers a strong value proposition, thanks to its versatile 96% layout, a reasonably low price, great build quality, and an excellent software experience. 

If you're after a similarly well-built HE keyboard and want a gasket mount with wider switch compatibility, the Iqunix EZ63 is an easy recommendation (curr. $179.99 on Amazon).