Keychron B40: Specs, Features, Pros & Cons
The B40 is Keychron's cheapest route into an Alice layout, and the price is the headline: a split-angle ergonomic keyboard for less than the cost of a decent keycap set. The Alice arrangement angles the two halves of the alphabet inward so the wrists sit straighter, and duplicates the B key so either hand can reach it – an idea that normally appears on enthusiast boards costing several times this.
It is not a mechanical keyboard, and Keychron does not pretend otherwise: the switches are scissor mechanisms, fixed and not hot-swappable, with keycaps Keychron says are 59 per cent taller than a typical scissor cap. That puts it in the same family as the B-series boards already in this catalogue rather than against the mechanical Q and V lines. There is no backlight at all.
The layout is 75 per cent with 89 keys, and Keychron adds two things its cheaper B-series boards lack: a knob for volume, brightness or zoom, and a column of five dedicated macro keys down the left edge. Both are configured in the browser-based Keychron Launcher, which also handles remapping, macros and polling rate; there is no QMK or VIA here.
Connectivity is tri-mode – a 2.4 GHz receiver that stows in a slot in the body, Bluetooth 5.2 across three devices, and USB-C – polling at 1,000 Hz wired and wireless but only 125 Hz over Bluetooth. The 800 mAh battery is quoted at 330 hours, and that is a real figure rather than a lights-off one, because there is no lighting to turn off. It weighs 595 grams in an ABS body with ABS caps, offers 6.5 and 9-degree typing angles, and switches between Mac and Windows layouts with a physical toggle.
One gap worth knowing before you clear desk space: Keychron publishes no dimensions for this board anywhere, so the size rows below are empty.
Category strengths
Where the Keychron B40 beats the average
- More connection options ?
- Has rotary knob ?
- Has configuration software ?
- Has media controls ?
- Has programmable keys ?
Where the Keychron B40 trails the average
- A much lower polling rate ?1,000 Hz vs 3,902.44 Hz (avg)
- Much shorter battery life ?330 h vs 1,427.96 h (avg)
- No hot-swappable switches ?
- A much smaller battery ?800 mAh vs 3,479.78 mAh (avg)
- No rapid trigger ?
- No adjustable actuation ?
- No analog input ?
- No USB passthrough ?
- Fewer Bluetooth devices ?3 vs 3.07 (avg)
Editor’s note
The B40 is the keyboard I would suggest to someone curious about ergonomic layouts who is not ready to spend serious money finding out whether they suit them. Alice boards divide people: the angled halves feel obviously right to some typists within an hour and permanently awkward to others. At this price you can answer that question for yourself, and the scissor switches mean the jump from a laptop keyboard is small.
What you should not expect is a mechanical typing experience. Scissor keys are quiet, shallow and precise, which is why they are in every laptop, but they do not have the depth or the sound people buy mechanical boards for. If that is what you are after, the money is better spent elsewhere in this catalogue.
In use, the knob and the five macro keys are what justify choosing this over Keychron's cheaper flat boards. Both are set up in the browser Launcher, which works without installing anything – a genuine advantage on a locked-down work machine.
Two practical notes. Bluetooth polls at 125 Hz against 1,000 Hz on the receiver, so use the dongle where responsiveness matters and save Bluetooth for the tablet. And there is no backlight, so a dark room means touch-typing.
The one thing that gives me pause is that Keychron publishes no dimensions at all for this board. An Alice layout is wider than a normal 75 per cent, and if desk space is tight you are buying without knowing the footprint. Its same-day sibling, the B39, is the same board with a numpad if you need one.
Specifications
Quality bars are generated automatically against 100 other keyboards.
Switches & typing
Performance
Layout & size
Connectivity
Build & sound
Features
Sources and verification
Where the specifications come from
- Official product pagekeychron.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
- 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 B40
Ratings & reviews
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The bottom line
The Keychron B40 earns a VS Score of 22, trailing most of the 101 keyboards we compare here, at least on the spec sheet.
- Who it’s for
- Anyone curious whether a split-angle Alice layout suits their wrists, who wants a knob and macro keys and does not need a mechanical feel.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Typists who want mechanical depth and sound, anyone who needs a backlight, and buyers with tight desks – Keychron publishes no dimensions for this board.
- The trade-off that matters
- An ergonomic layout, a knob and five macro keys at a budget price, in exchange for fixed scissor switches, no lighting and an unpublished footprint.
- The main alternative
- Keychron B11 Pro – the smaller 65% B-series board if desk space matters more than the Alice angle, though it has no knob or macro column and a much smaller battery.
The VS Score is calculated from the weighted specifications above, compared with every other keyboard we track — a shortlisting guide, not a substitute for your own priorities. See how we score.
