Keychron V1: Specs, Features, Pros & Cons
At 17.9 mm, the front edge of the V1 sits well below that of most mechanical keyboards, and that low, light plastic body is the first thing that separates it from the aluminum Q boards it borrows so much from.
The V1 is the entry point to Keychron's custom boards, the one to buy before deciding whether the metal versions are worth it. It is a 75% wired keyboard with the maker's firmware, switches and keycaps, and a case made cheaply enough to put that combination within reach of someone buying a first enthusiast board. The layout keeps the function row and the arrows and drops the number pad.
Three things make it a custom keyboard. The switches pull out and go back in without solder, in three- and five-pin types. Every key can be reassigned, with the result stored on the board through QMK and VIA. And the case comes apart in layers, with a steel plate and screw-in stabilizers inside, so it can be opened, tuned and rebuilt.
The money is saved in the shell. It is ABS plastic on a tray mount, and the plate bolts to posts in the bottom half with nothing cushioning it. The Q1 Max, the aluminum board of the same size, holds its plate on gaskets instead and adds wireless. Connection is its one weakness. There is a USB cable, no wireless of any kind and no passthrough port. The polling rate is the standard one for typing.
That shape suits a person who wants to learn what switch swaps and a remapped layer feel like before spending on metal. Anyone who already knows they want a cushioned mount or a cable-free desk has outgrown it before buying.
Category strengths
Where the Keychron V1 beats the median
- A lower front height ?17.9 mm vs 20.2 mm (median)
Where the Keychron V1 trails the median
- Fewer connection options ?
How this VS Score was computed
Score 42: each known spec is measured against the median of all keyboards (101 products), then weighted; 50 means level with that median. In classes of six or more, a value beyond the class’s 10th–90th percentile range counts as that limit, so one extreme product cannot set the scale. 46% of the scoreable weight could be used; unknown values, features not applicable to this class and proxies (battery capacity where a rated life exists) add or remove nothing.
| Specification | This product | Cohort median | Score weight | Points moved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot-swappable | Yes | 61% of the class have it | 0.6 | +30.0 |
| Connection | 1 | 3 | 0.8 | −26.4 |
| Rapid trigger | No | 25% of the class have it | 0.5 | −24.0 |
| Adjustable actuation | No | 24% of the class have it | 0.4 | −19.2 |
| Front height | 17.9 | 20.2 | 0.2 | +1.2 |
| Switch technology | Mechanical | Mechanical | 1 | +0.0 |
| Polling rate | 1,000 | 1,000 | 0.7 | +0.0 |
| Keycap material | PBT | PBT | 0.4 | +0.0 |
| Backlight | RGB | RGB | 0.3 | +0.0 |
Not scored: Actuation force (unknown: not scored); N-key rollover (unknown: not scored); Analog input (not applicable: only 14% of this class have it); Wired latency (unknown: not scored); Wireless latency (unknown: not scored); Bluetooth devices (unknown: not scored); Battery life (unknown: not scored); Battery capacity (unknown: not scored); USB passthrough (not applicable: only 4% of this class have it); Sound dampening (unknown: not scored); Programmable keys (standard for the class (99% have it)); Media controls (unknown: not scored); Rotary knob (unknown: not scored); Onboard profiles (unknown: not scored); Configuration software (standard for the class (95% have it)).
Editor’s note
The V1 is Keychron's answer to a fair question: does a custom mechanical keyboard have to cost a fortune? It runs the same QMK and VIA firmware as their aluminum Q boards, takes the same hot-swappable three- and five-pin switches, and wears the same double-shot PBT keycaps, for roughly a quarter of the money.
The savings are in the case. The case is ABS plastic, and the internals use a tray mount, where the plate screws to posts in the bottom shell. Tray mounts are firmer and less uniform across the board than the gasket mounts on pricier keyboards. The middle of the space bar row feels softer than the corners. You may never notice. If you have typed on a gasket board, you will.
What you do get is the whole point of a custom keyboard: every key remappable, macros stored in the keyboard itself, a steel plate, screw-in stabilizers and south-facing RGB that lights the legends properly instead of glaring past them. At 970 grams it is also light enough to move around, which the aluminum boards are not.
The 75% layout keeps the function row and the arrow keys while dropping the number pad, which suits most people who are not accountants.
Two limits worth knowing: polling is 1,000 Hz, and it is wired only. Neither matters much for typing. Both matter if you play competitively.
Buy it as a first proper custom keyboard, or as a cheap way into QMK. Skip it if you want wireless or the most uniform typing feel.
Specifications
Quality bars show where each figure sits between the lowest and highest of the 101 keyboards this VS Score is measured against.
Switches & typing
Performance
Layout & size
Connectivity
Build & sound
Features
Sources and verification
Where the specifications come from
- Official product pagekeychron.com
- Independent testingrtings.com
Verification
- First published
- Specifications last checked
- Sheet completeness
- 22 of 34 specifications verified; the rest show as Unknown and are never estimated or scored
- Page type
- Product specification page — Compiled from the manufacturer’s published specifications and the cited sources; this is not a hands-on test.
- Basis
- Research-based: specifications and editorial text were compiled from the documents listed here and the manufacturer’s published data. We have not tested this unit ourselves; where independent measurements are mentioned they belong to the linked publication.
Keyboards with similar specs to the Keychron V1
Ratings & reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your experience.
The bottom line
The Keychron V1 earns a VS Score of 42, below the median of the 101 keyboards it is measured against (a score of 50 is level with that median).
- Who it’s for
- A first custom keyboard: someone who wants remapping on the board, swappable switches and PBT caps without paying for an aluminum case.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Wireless buyers should look elsewhere. So should anyone used to a cushioned mount, who will notice the firmer center rows.
- The trade-off that matters
- The plastic tray-mount case is where the money was saved, so the feel is firmer and less even across the board than the metal Keychrons.
- The main alternative
- Keychron Q1 Max: an aluminum board of the same size with a double-gasket mount and tri-mode wireless, for a more even feel and no cable.
The VS Score is calculated from the weighted specifications above, each measured against the median of comparable keyboards — a shortlisting guide, not a substitute for your own priorities. See how we score.
