Keychron Q11 QMK Custom Mechanical Keyboard

To get to the point real quick: This is my first split-keyboard I've ever used, and it has totally spoiled me. I NEVER want to use a non-split again. When I occassionally have to use my wife or daughter's regular keyboards, it just feels wrong.

I opted for the Q11 as it was a traditional layout, so I figured it would be a lot easier to get started with a split-design versus some of the far more exotic split types.

The Good:

- Solidly built, I don't see this ever wearing out.
- Nice and heavy so it doesn't move around
- Mapping software is pretty solid and very handy when dealing with fewer keys like this keyboard.
- The lighting is pretty nice and have a lot of options.
- I like that by default its configured for Mac, but has option for Windows.

The Bad:

- The cable between the two halves is too short. I'm a big guy and I need the keyboard farther apart than the cable they offered. I had to buy a longer cable.
- There is no End key. I quickly discovered how much I'm actually using the End when I'm working. I was able to map a key combo to End, but I think they could have made the keyboard just a little bigger and fit in an End key
- The keycaps aren't shine through for the lighting so you miss out on a lot of the RGB effects.
- I'm not a big fan of the keys that came with the fully assembed version I got. They are okay, just not quite for me. To each his own though

What I want in the next version:

- LOW-PROFILE CLICKY KEYS!! I LOVED my G915. The low profile keys on that were a joy to type on. I miss the typing experience of that keyboard.
- An actual End key would be very nice.
- Keycaps that let the RGB shine on through
- Wireless. Having to have a bridge cable and a cable to the computer is annoying.
- Or if still wired, then an additional USB port on both sides of the keyboard to allow plugging additional devices in.

Overall this is a great starter split keyboard. If your looking for more keys, ortholinear design, low-profile keys, etc, than this is probably not what you want. But if your a big person suffering because you have to hold your hands so close on a regular keyboard, this is a good place to start.

The full version sold out right away so I had to buy the barebone version and I absolutely love it. It's got a low profile base and a clean, minimalistic look, The barebone keyboard is actually fully made from metal so it's solid and heavy, feels very industrial which is to my liking. The chassis is pretty much flat and does not concave in like some other keyboard chassis and that makes it pretty easy to use a can of compressed air to blow off the dust.

It’s solidly built, great sounding and with plenty of room for the RGB to show. I found the wrist rests on Keychron‘s website. The learning curve was incredibly fast — there’s no ortholinear to learn or anything else. Two layers of programmability mean I can put a numpad on the right half with different colored key caps to mark it out. I can use just the left or just the right sides, which is nice to have in some games. The second knob is set to skip forward or back by word through texts and enlarge the text size whenever I need it.
Long story short, everything you could need is in there with a minimum of unnecessary fluff. It’s my third keyboard, and probably my last. So happy with it.

What I like:
- This is my first split keyboard, and so far I'm loving it. It's nice to have my hands more apart so I can square my shoulders better. I was also able to pick up typing on this board immediately with no loss in typing speed.
- Compared to the Q1, this keyboard has even more buttons to work with at essentially the same size. You get all the basics, plus 5 dedicated macro keys and not one but TWO knobs! I'm still not sure what I want to use the second knob for, but I'm very happy I have two.
- Also, having two spacebars is pretty great because since I never use my left spacebar for space I get another super convenient macro key. Love that so much!
- The fact that this keyboard is staggered and not ortholinear is really nice. As someone that didn't want to take a productivity hit on buying a new keyboard, this was really nice.
- The way the two halves of this keyboard fit together perfectly is so incredibly satisfying. I love the look so much.
- This keyboard doesn't have any gasket mounts and is significantly flatter than the Q1, but honestly I don't notice at all. I'm not a wrist rest user so I may not be the best person to ask, but I don't really notice much of a difference switching between my Q1 and the Q11.
- Right out of the box this keyboard sounds great. I haven't opened this up and modded it like I did with my Q1, but I don't think I will for the Q11, it sounds that good.
- Also, I don't know if I'm hallucinating, but they red switches this keyboard came with are significantly smoother than the switches that came with my Q1.

What isn't as great:
- I really wish the keyboard came with another longer wire to connect the two halves. One of the main reasons I wanted a split keyboard was so I could rest my arms fully on my chair's armrest, but with the short cable I still have to angle my arms in a bit.
- I'm not a huge fan of how Keychron does their layering with their keyboards. They give you four layers total, which is awesome at first glance, but the toggle switch isn't configurable at all. It forces you to use either layer 0 or layer 2 as a default, which only gives you a single secondary layer when the switch is toggled to Windows. At a bare minimum I would much prefer the windows layer to be set as layer 1 instead of layer 2, that way I would have two macro layers shared for both Mac and Windows toggle, and not just one for each. This problem could also be solved if the keyboards came with more layers, but the only way you can make that happen is by forgoing VIA and using raw QMK, which is much less user friendly.

I am very pleased that my long awaited split keyboard is now available from my favorite Keychron.
The feel of the Q11 was very different from the previous Q series keyboards.
Perhaps that is very much due to the fact that it did not use a gasket construction.
We were very disappointed that the Q11 was noisier and harder to hit than the previous Q series keyboards.
It seems to me that there was a way to mount sound-absorbing foam such as Poron without using a gasket structure.
Also, the 75% size is too large for me.

I am looking forward to the release of a 65% size keyboard with improved typing feel.