KeychronK8 Tenkeyless Wireless Mechanical Keyboard for Mac, White Backlight, Bluetooth, Multitasking, Type-C Wired Gaming Keyboard for Windows with Brown Switch

This keyboard is the best one I've ever used. I would have guessed it's rating would be closer to 5 stars.The feel is very satisfying to me. It's not super loud, and the tactile sensation of pressing the keys is about perfect for me. The size is perfect. The lighting is a plus. It has worked perfectly for me over the couple of months I've used it. I cleaned it recently by pulling out the keys, using a dust cleaning gel, cleaning each cap with a towel, and putting them back, and everything is as good as new. The bluetooth connectivity is consistent, and the battery lasts a decently long time - I would say a couple of days to a week (several hours a day of use) with lighting on medium or high, and it's very easy to connect and use it while it charges. I have a feeling I will use this for a very long time. I also absolutely love how it came with Windows and Mac keycaps as I use both. They keycaps are pretty easy to pull off with the tool or even without it. It connects pretty easily to bluetooth, and I love that it is able to connect to 3 devices.On my Macbook, I was able to use Karabiner to reprogram the keys, and it has worked well. I reprogrammed the top-right keys to more useful shortcuts like opening specific apps, copy/paste, password for my account, and putting my mac to sleep. I discovered this through ChatGPT and YouTube and it is decent at generating the code to reprogram them.I only have a few wishes for this keyboard.Firstly, it is very unaesthetic for the previous, play/pause, and next buttons to not be placed together (see the F7 - F9 buttons in the pictures). They should have taken the extra steps to do so, or picked another design.Next, the top-right button for keyboard lighting is the only one that can't be reprogrammed through software, and since it's in the corner, I often press it on accident, which resets my lighting setting. I always had to switch through all the different light mode patterns for the keyboard, which I don't really ever use, until going back to the one I prefer, which is just the standard always-on light, and there's like 18 patterns so it always interrupted me. I ended up putting a spiraled paper clip inside the keycap so that it's much harder to trigger. I wish the key was reprogrammable in the first place so I could give it a better use.Next, I wish the power button was in a better location and easier to press. It has a switch between 3 modes (on, off, cable mode), but I would prefer an easier mechanism. It takes effort to put it exactly in the middle to turn it off. Luckily I found that putting it on cable mode is equivalent to off as long as it's not connected. Regardless, it would be nice to have just a button, especially on the right side since I am right-handed. But I do really like the switch for Mac and Windows, that works well.Next, the mic button near the top-right never really worked, and it is the hardest to reprogram because it seems to trigger a combination of keys instead of just a simple key.Lastly, the battery indicator LED light distracts me when it is on low battery. It starts to blink brightly until it gets connected, so I had to put a piece of putty over it.

I regularly use a very basic Logitech K270 as my work keyboard with a Windows laptop. I found I preferred the taller keys, the key travel, and the overall precision of a deeper traditional keyboard. But on my 2015 iMac, I still used the stock, flat Apple keyboard. I have considered another Logitech for a while, but after trying their pitiful collection of Mac keyboards, I never found one I liked.Reading some recent reviews of mechanical keyboards, I became intrigued. The Keychron keyboards seemed to be recommended on just about every list I came across -- either as a good starter mechanical, or as an overall favorite. They may not be using the Cherry MX switches that more expensive keyboards use, but they are comparable. So I caught the K8 for Mac with Brown switches on sale and took a chance.I LOVE IT! It has the clack of my old IBM keyboard from "back in the day," while also being Bluetooth or wired, backlit, and a dream to type on. Also, because it has a metal frame and some weight to it, it stays put. I am by no means a touch typist, but I can get going pretty fast once I am rolling, and the Brown switches on this K8 have just the right sensitivity to give me much more precision than the flat Mac keyboard. It was quick to pair, easy to adjust the settings (lighting and timeout), and coming from everyday work on a PC, having the Home, End, and Del keys is a definite bonus.Is this for everyone? Maybe not. It is not as loud as some mechanical keyboards, but it does make a lot more noise than the Apple keyboard. It also sits a LOT higher than the very flat Apple keyboard and it's even a bit taller than my Logitech. Obviously, as a mechanical, it has a lot of key travel -- 2mm -- versus a typical Apple or laptop keyboard, so those used to those keyboards may have a bit of work getting used to typing. (The only laptop keyboard I have ever liked typing on is my old Surface Book, which has very solid keys and marvelous precision.)My one quibble is with the size of the lettering on the keys -- or more precisely, the punctuation keys. As I said, I am not a touch typist, so now and then I really do have to hunt and peck. Having half-sized punctuation laid out on a key side-by-side makes it hard for my aging eyes to see well. Still, I've cranked out quite a few pages before writing this review, and I am getting use to it. If you have been thinking of a mechanical keyboard, give the K8 a try.