Keyboards have gotten kind of crazy lately, as the mechanical trend extends to every facet of the niche and companies search for some kind of edge. Keychron, one of the most visible specialists, is not immune from the hunt for the next big thing—which appears to be ceramics. Indeed, the new Q16 HE keyboard is all ceramic, all the time.
If you haven’t been exhaustively looking at the trends in the keyboard niche, ceramic material for keycaps is kind of a big deal. It’s exactly what it sounds like: heavy, clay-based material covered in a layer of smooth polish, which offers a smooth feel that’s unlike even the most premium plastic. It’s also loud, with a distinct “clack” that comes with every keypress. (Maybe don’t bring it into the office or coffee shop.)
Keychron is doubling down on the trend with its Q16 HE keyboard (spotted by KitGuru), making both the keycaps and the body of the keyboard itself out of ceramic material.
Keychron
The rest of the 65% board is pretty standard for the company’s high-end Q series, including Hall effect linear switches with adjustable actuation, hot-swap switch sockets, RGB lighting, and programmable options with the web-based Keychron launcher. It’ll come in white and black options.
Despite the adjustable actuation, “rapid trigger” function, and impressive 8,000Hz polling, this isn’t branded as a gaming board via Keychron’s Lemokey sublabel. It’s also not wireless. Perhaps Keychron thought those magnetic switches would take too much battery power, or the ceramic body would interfere with wireless signals.
Keychron has not announced when the Q16 HE will launch, though it’ll hit Kickstarter first when it does, as is usual for the company. There’s also no price attached. Considering that ceramic keycaps alone can cost $100 or more, expect it to be very high indeed.
