KeychronK1 Max Ultra-Slim QMK/VIA Bluetooth Wireless/USB Wired Custom Mechanical Keyboard, 2.4 GHz Hot Swappable TKL Layout RGB Backlight Gaming Keyboard with Low-Profile Gateron Red Switch

I’m not a keyboard a connoisseur. Although I have been looking for a good quality, good performance, smooth tough keyboard, and small compact suitable for traveling I happened across the Keychron K1 Max Ultra-Slim QMK/VIA Bluetooth Wireless/USB Wired Custom Mechanical Keyboard, 2.4 GHz Hot Swappable TKL Layout RGB Backlight Ergonomic Keyboard with Low-Profile Gateron Brown Switch.As mentioned this keyboard was offered up and after consulting with my brother, he said its a good one. I don’t mind not having a number key pad, as mentioned I needed a shorter keyboard suitable for packing up into a trave backpack, bit yet performs to my preference.I am not gonna go into the technical aspects as others are in theirs reviews can better provide that information to you. I her to tell you that. This keyboard is worth of consideration. A bit expensive but there is really good quality value provided here. I like the soft click and action this keyboard produces. Easy to use and setup. Backlighting is adjustable brightness is fair. Overall, I do like this keyboard, a smidge heavy for travel but the functionality is great. The size is still small enough for traveling. Great find, and a great buy. Highly recommended.

This keyboard is very nice and compact. It's saving absolutely loads of space on my desk, by lacking a numpad and being so short and low-profile that I don't feel as though a wrist rest is a necessity.The build quality feels excellent, this thing is a chunk of metal, not plastic, and I don't think you'll be getting any deck flex or anything with normal use. The low-profile keys feel great, though I would prefer a little less travel on the key presses myself, but that's a personal preference thing.It starts in Mac configuration with a legally distinct command button and whatnot, but comes with Windows keycaps to correctly show the Windows key and alt key, as well as an optional bright orange replacement cap for the enter key. I'm not one to replace the actual switches, but it's worth noting that this keyboard does have hot-swappable switches, and that's always very nice to have as an option in the event that they fail or you prefer a different kind of switch.There are no dedicated media keys, as it's meant to be a slim and portable keyboard, but it does have those functionalities via a single function key, and it works well enough. There is a dedicated RGB button though, thus not requiring any software for the lights. However, the keys themselves are not transparent and do not allow the user to see what letters are on the keyboard in a dark space. If you know the general layout of the keyboard, however, I'm sure they'll still be a benefit. Everything that would normally require software is handled via function hotkeys, which I'm gonna say is pretty nice because it means less completely unnecessary strain on my computer's resources.It comes with a nice, braided cable, which is automatically a nice inclusion, but it gets even better. It comes with a bonus USB-A to USB-C female-to-female adapter, while allows you to plug the cable into your computer, plug the adapter into it, and then plug the 2.4Ghz dongle into that so that it can be better-positioned for better signal. That's some above-average thought and care put into this product. But, because it's simply an adapter, the braided cable can also just be used to plug the keyboard in.The keyboard itself has nowhere to store the dongle, which is less than ideal, but I will say that the box is only marginally larger than the keyboard and can essentially be used as a storage/carrying case. It has protective padding and sliding the keyboard back into it for safe travel is a good idea anyway so that the keyboard isn't getting gunked up.Overall, on a 2.4Ghz connection blocked by my desk, I am not noticing major latency. I would definitely have no problem using this for gaming, and I intend to. The noise is not bad, it has some satisfying thunks, sure, but it shouldn't bug others in the room. This is an excellent keyboard and I fully recommend it. There is optional software available if you want it, but I very much appreciate that it's completely unnecessary.

I have a few Keychron keyboards - specifically a K7 Pro (similar to this K1 Max), as well as a Keychron Q5 96% keyboard. I'll cut to the chase and say that the K1 Max lives up to the standard that has been set by my other Keychron boards. It's responsive, comes with necessary accessories like keycap and switch pullers, cables, adapters, and new for the K1 Max a 2.4ghz dongle - enabling low-latency wireless usage for gamers.One of the things I like with Keychrons is they come with pretty good keycaps, stock. In my use case, I often flip flop between Linux, Windows, and MacOS hosts - which isn't an issue since the keychrons have a switch on the back which allows seamless transition between the positioning of your super and function keys. Though, I do think that the default keyset offered by the K1 Max is tailored a little bit more towards Mac users, there are spare keys which you can swap out.The construction on the K-series is acceptable, I could see how someone could end up with warp since only the faceplate of the keeb is metallic, though I have not run into this. I will note that customization options are going to be limited, due to the nature of the specific slim switches installed on this, necessitating the need for special keycaps if you want to go aftermarket.Lastly, performance has been great. I immediately plopped it into my work Mac and put several hours on it with minimal performance drop - plus I found the Red Slim switches to be actually pretty nice to work on. I'm typically more of a Gateron Yellow or MX Silver guy, but the slim switches feel like they have a little less travel. I then used the 2.4ghz dongle to hook up the K1 Max to my steam deck which I have had latency issues with my K7 Pro on bluetooth before. The K1 Max exceeded my expectations, and now I am looking forward to a K7 Max so I can get one of those too.All in all, I think this is a fantastic keyboard at this price. There are more enthusiast friendly boards out there which require more finesse or aftermarket parts to really shine, but that's not the core audience for this keeb. If you're someone who either just wants a nice mechanical SLIM keyboard, I think you're going to have a hard time beating this.