Review: Keychron Q7 (ISO) barebones

I’ve now had the Keychron Q7 for a couple weeks now and have been trying out various switches and keycaps on it to get an idea of the sound and feel of it. Right now, I’ve gone back to the Kailh Box Cream Pros as I just really love the sound and feel of them on this keyboard. They really pop on it and give it a vibrant and enjoyable typing experience. I’ve also put on the Keychron double-shot PBT white on black keycaps in Cherry profile. The combination of these two makes a very poppy experience, higher pitched and clacky.

Previously I also used it with my MT3 Dasher which gave a completely different feel and sound, deeper and more resonant. What I’ve found is that I really like the Cherry profile more as time goes on. I think it pairs well with this board in particular for the sound as the aluminum chassis helps to resonate with the higher pitch and give it a very poppy sound. It also did well with the Kailh HUSH switches making a delightfully quiet experience showing that even more resonant keyboards like the Q7 can be tamed with the right set of switches and keycaps.

Making these changes also gave me plenty of time to test out installing and uninstalling switches. Overall, the plate is tighter than most of my other keyboards. Most switches are still relatively easy to install and remove but it also means that some switches really put up a fight and make it more difficult to change them out. It’s especially true of removing switches I find, especially with the higher sides of the board making it a bit cramped with the switch puller on the case side. Pleasantly, I’ve noticed the plate doesn’t have quite the tendency to scratch as some of the other plates I’ve used that are either softer metal or have a painted surface. Even if the plate is typically covered by the keycaps, I still like knowing that I’ve not scratched it up from removing switches over time.

Something important as well is that the hot swap sockets are cleanly mounted with no issues of with them. They also are south facing which means no clearance issues with lower profile keycaps like Cherry which is always good. The one exception is the ISO return key/enter key which is west facing instead. Overall, it’s good to see that what was once a very common issue, of north facing sockets, is becoming less common. Though that may help with backlighting it is problematic with keycap compatibility and on a keyboard like the Q7 that is targeting more enthusiasts and more premium parts making the decision for compatibility rather than niche aesthetics should be commended.

As far as the layout goes for the Q7, it’s what I had been hoping it would be. After years of using 60-65% boards I habitually use Fn+number for the function keys and like having a shorter keyboard without the F-key row because of that. However, I also appreciate having the dedicated arrow keys as well as home/end and page up/page down. I use those quite frequently when browsing online and having them easily accessible is something I’ve come to love. As far as the layout goes, it’s mostly standard ISO for the board, even including the full-sized right shift. Areas where you may need to improvise are the modifier keys to the right of the space bar (default they are Alt/Alt+Gr, Control, Fn1, and Fn2). Also important will be the two columns of keys on the right side of the keyboard. Those keys may not be in the correct row profile depending on what keys you map there, and the keycap set you are using. In my case something I’ve changed is that I’ve swapped Home and End so that the column to the right of the return key is Insert, Home, End rather than the stock Insert, End, Home. That one still has me scratching my head why the keys designed to send you to the start and end of documents were reversed but having access to Via sorted that out quickly and easily.

Something that I feel is also important to note is that Keychron offers multiple models with hot swap sockets as well as an ISO layout. That is something that has been slowly changing and improving and having larger keyboard companies offering that as an option has been good for the keyboard market as a whole. My first hot swap keyboard was one of the first generation Glorious GMMK keyboards, specifically the compact size in ISO. For a while after that it was difficult to find other ISO hot swap keyboards, so I have several ANSI boards as well. Those are, admittedly, easier to find keycaps for than ISO. I realize this is a bit of an unfamiliar issue for most US/Canada users, but I’ve come to like having ISO for the ease of typing in other languages. I also admit I like having a larger return key. Again, all preference obviously but I feel it’s good to see the option made available and sold internationally. On a fun side note there is in fact an ISO layout for the US called US International, but it’s very rarely used.

I also want to go briefly into the Keychron white-on-black (WoB) keycaps that I purchased along with the board. Their coverage of layouts is pretty good, and they even have extra keycaps (such as duplicates of the ISO return key and arrow key cluster). Being double-shot PBT is also great from a quality standpoint. Legends are clear and crisp, the double-shot plastics are well mated. They are 1.5mm thick from the measure of my calipers so they’re not the thickest but also aren’t super thin either. The base of the caps is typically not smoothed, with sharp edges from where the molding was separated from the keycaps. Some keys are particularly heavy with this, and few have no sharpness along the edges. They do feel nice to type on though as they have a smooth, and regular surface that is uniform across all the keycaps. I personally prefer more heavily textured keycaps. I feel more texture in the aluminum case of the keyboard than with these keycaps for instance. It’s slight but easily felt and I think that if they had that texture, they would be nicer to type on. The home-row bumps on F and J are distinct, but small. Again, I prefer a higher, more defined bump but these are still easily found without looking at them. In the end I’m glad to have a good set of WoB keycaps but I also would like to get another set, probably double-shot ABS with a heavier texture.

Back to the board itself, combining those keycaps on this board produces a fascinating sound profile for me. They are higher pitch and much clackier than other keycaps, even other Cherry profile PBT keycaps. It sounds brilliant combined with the Kailh Box Cream Pros and sounds energetic and poppy to me. It’s also easy to completely change the sound profile of the keyboard by using thicker, taller caps to produce a deeper and more resonant sound, going from clacky to thocky. In my mind, having a board that is capable of both is wonderful as sometimes I prefer one over the other and it’s great that I can swap switches and keycaps and produce an entirely different typing experience.

Keychron includes several accessories with the Q7, and other Q-series boards. Firstly, the included cable is color-matched to the board and is USB-C to USB-C, with an included black, plastic USB-C to A adapter. The cable is braded, features aluminum ends with plastic reinforcement and a color-matched Velcro cable tie. It’s a stiffer cable and one of the nicest cables I’ve seen included with a keyboard, quite well-made. Also included are a small, Philips screwdriver and a small hex wrench. Those can be used to disassemble the keyboard, however a larger screwdriver with the appropriate bits would be easier to use, especially for getting torque on the screws more comfortably. Also included are spare rubber feet, two replacement foam pads for the gaskets, and replacement brass screws of both sizes used in the board. That is a great inclusion and helps showcase the moddable nature of this keyboard. Finally, it includes a wire keycap puller with plastic handle and a small, metal loop type switch puller. The keycap puller is well-built and comfortable to use. The switch puller, however, is small and frankly uncomfortable to use. I use a longer puller with a rubberized handle that prevents stress on my hands when doing a whole keyboard while the small metal puller has flat, angled edges that quickly becomes irritating to use. I like that these are included but would have preferred even simply one of the longer switch puller designs that offer a more ergonomic shape and are easier to use. Overall, the included accessories are decent, but nothing remarkable aside from the replacement parts which I commend Keychron for including.

As for construction, the housing is held together by eight 2.5mm hex screws. They are brass-coated steel, so they are magnetic which makes installing and uninstalling them a breeze with a magnetic screwdriver with the aforementioned 2.5mm hex tip. The Philips screws are PH1 size and are the same brass-coated steel. Once apart the bottom of the case has a thin plastic sheet with foam glued to it in the bottom for sound dampening. The USB-C port is mounted on a daughterboard with the Windows/Mac toggle switch as well that has a black ribbon cable connecting it to the main PCB. It is easily disconnected for further disassembly. Be careful however as the mainboard is slightly under the daughterboard and will require you to gently tilt up then back to separate them without removing the daughterboard from the case. Between the board and the case, in addition to the gaskets, are 12 small silicone dampeners to further isolate vibration between the two case halves to prevent metal-on-metal resonance. Inspecting the hot-swap sockets revealed them to be Gateron produced with clean soldering across the entire PCB. In the event there is a new PCB revision I have version 1.0 ISO variant. The plate is steel and matte black to match the black PCB. Between the PCB and plate is another layer of dampening foam, also black.

Overall, a lot of the standard modifications for keyboards come as stock features, such as the foam under the PCB and the foam between the PCB and plate. The housing is a deep blue, more royal than navy to my eyes. All the edges are nicely chamfered and clearly precision designed to have no gaps or uneven overhangs. The case is entirely devoid of branding. Even the large, flat bottom of the housing is completely void of any labels. There are no stickers, no beveled Keychron logos, nothing. In fact, the Keychron logo is only present on the PCB itself, hidden from view. The case isn’t flashy and in fact I would describe it as more subtle and conservative in design. There’s no RGB aside from the sockets themselves and no strongly angled sides. All in all, it’s a restrained design and the most shocking aspect is the blue anodizing on mine. Going with the black or silver cases would offer an even more subtle base for design and I feel could easily blend in with a plethora of keycap options. There are of course other options for changing up the board for all sorts of price brackets and skill levels. I could see painting, changing the anodization, and sticker bombing as being options to drastically change the appearance of the case.

And, really, that’s where the Q7 shines. It’s a solid base to build upon. A lot of the work is done for you allowing you to focus on your build and improving it as you see fit. It has decent sound dampening to start, well-lubricated screw-in stabilizers, support for QMK and Via for software remapping, and even a reset button hidden under the spacebar along with a dim red power LED. In the end you have a highly customizable keyboard in either the barebones (I chose that option) for $159 or fully assembled with Gateron G Pro Red or Brown switches and OSA profile ABS shine-through keycaps for $179. They offer the ISO version in German, UK, Nordic, French, Spanish, and Swiss layouts with availability being on and off for the different languages. At time of writing, for instance, UK and German layout options are out of stock with the rest of the languages available. Something important to consider, however, is that the fully assembled version is only available in black. To get the blue or silver you would have to order the barebones kit like I did. It would be nice to have the different case options available for fully assembled but I also realize that would dramatically increase the number of keyboard variants available and make even smaller numbers of each sold. If you do want to try out the OSA profile for ISO, you will have to get the fully assembled model as they don’t sell the caps separately. They do offer more languages in their dye sublimated PBT keycaps but rather than being OSA profile, which they describe as spherical OEM profile, they are all OEM profile instead. ANSI users have, as always, a much broader selection of keycaps including Keychron’s OSA profile double-shot PBT keycaps. That’s par for ISO support in general, but I would love to see Keychron offer their OSA double-shot PBT keycaps with ISO support, even if just with UK English as I would like to try the profile at some point. As an aside, they also offer the Q1 in JIS (Japanese layout) only fully assembled along with a handful of their other boards in JIS layout. I may have to pick up one of those to tinker around with as that is one of the languages that I also type in.

Ultimately, the Keychron Q7 is a great option for a keyboard. The fully assembled version being only $20 more but including keycaps and switches is clearly the better deal but the other colors of case, especially the blue, are also fun options to consider. As of now, January 2023, this is my most ‘premium’ keyboard, pulling ahead of even my Tofu 60 I feel, especially in stock form for both. And, even if the Q7 isn’t the layout of choice for you, the fact that Keychron has so many Q series keyboards means that you can find one in a layout you would want, even if that is just a number pad with their Q0. They even offer their 40% Q9 in ISO which is something I tend to not see in 40% boards. In the end, I feel comfortable recommending the Q7 to people looking for a great starting point for a highly customizable keyboard and I imagine the rest of the Q line would hold up similarly. I must commend Keychron on a job well done for a solid keyboard good for people starting out to those who like customizing their builds. I’m not sure if they will appeal as much to someone wanting something extremely unique but I think it’s a great base for building upon.