Keychron C1 Hot-swappable Wired Mechanical Keyboard for Mac Layout, Keychron Mechanical Brown Switch/USB Type-C Cable/ABS Keycaps Tenkeyless 87 Keys Computer Keyboard for Windows PC Laptop

The media could not be loaded.  Some background: I'm a custom keyboard enthusiast that has enjoyed the hobby for a little over a year and I enjoy making keyboard gifts to my friends and coworkers. I've probably put together 20+ boards at this point and have some decent experience in modding.My original intent with this keyboard was to pull the switches, lube/film them, polyfill the case and then re-assemble to gift to my FIL. I accidentally ordered this during the 2021 black friday sale with the blue switches (which I personally cannot stand) and at the time I received it the Red/Linear switch option was OOS. So I went with a custom switch option but if you're intent on getting the mainstream linear sound from this board it is probably possible with the provided Red switches, I just don't have them to tell you for certain.Disassembly was straightforward, the outer shell pops off around the edges with clips and then once you remove the keycaps you have to take out about 8-10 Philips screws to remove the plate from the bottom case. Once done the PCB is held to the plate just friction fit from the switches, you can remove the switches before or after the case comes off.The included plate mounted stabs aren't the worst nor the greatest, they did require a tiny bit of medical tape on the edges to make them tighter in the plate but did not require clipping and the wires were quite straight. I lubed the stabilizers and wires with Tribosys 3204 which is my personal preference instead of die-electric grease. I used some strips of dense packing foam and superglue to create some buffer between the plate and PCB and to add some sound deadening.For the lower case unfortunately it has a ton of little plastic standoffs, I went the more intense route of doing a custom Silicone mold pour into this with about 70 grams of mold, taking care to tape off the height adjustable feet as they do have holes through the bottom of the case that will leak if you go this route. If you're more patient than I you could use foam shelf liner or Kilmat but cutting the standoffs through would be painful. Once set I used a sparing amount of Polyfil to fill the rest of the top of the case and a folded layer of PE foam under the spacebar. I opted not to tape mod this PCB.I used some Gateron Milky topped yellows that I had previously lubed with Krytox 205G0 and filmed with Deskeys to replace the horrid blue switches, was easy since the PCB supports 5 pin switches.At this stage I reassembled the whole keyboard and used the stock keycaps which aren't too bad for cheap ABS, they are moderately thick and sound decent but have a very clean look when finished. The legends leave a bit to be desired in some places.Overall I'm very happy with the finished product, its still a relatively thin, plastic feeling board but it sounds excellent for what it cost (I estimate ~70 total from my supplies including the board for $45). I'll upload a video sound test for reference.

This is a nice keyboard. The tactile response of the keys is great. Even the brown mechanism is noisy when compared to a relatively silent Apple keyboard - its a whole different experience - your preference. The key alignment is more compact that I'm used to - switching back and forth to larger keyboards, your "home key" hand position takes a few minutes to adjust - during which time your are often typing "Erotf djoyZ". It takes up very little space on the desk, but I found that I really missed the number keypad. With the scrunched orientation, there is even less forgiveness when hitting the top row number keys. You gotta go real slow to make sure you aren't paying the utility company $900. This model is exactly as advertised - smaller -- and if you stick with it as your sole keypad you would be fine. If you are constantly moving back and forth to different keypads - if will be frustrating.I moved this keypad to our computer in the basement, which gets less critical use. I ordered a larger Keychron model with red keys and a number pad for my "main" computer. I am typing on that now and the whole family is much happier. Also, I"m sorry, the lighted keyboard is kinda cool and I think it is worth the money.

the very front of the keyboard is very high which forces your wrist to rake up. this can be solved with a aftermarket wrist rest if you want. the quality is great and it comes with a keycap puller as well as a switch puller if you have the hotswappable model. gaming is fine no problems like ghosting or registry errors. i dont personally do much gaming but for the short time i gamed with it it was enjoyable. the lights are bright enough to see the keys in the dark but not during the day which i dont personally mind because i use them when i need to. i took the keyboard apart and the switches werent half bad neither the stabilizers. the stabilizers were way better than other budget option mechanical keyboards

The best keyboard I have owned. I needed a second one for home and thought wireless would be a better solution. I ordered the Keychron K2 and its not the same as the c1 in feel. Dear Keychron. make this KB but in wireless! it is your best offering! The keyboard is an excellent value. I swear this has improved my typing by 30 percent

I've had this board for a couple of weeks now and it's been working pretty well. The switches aren't too bad and feel pretty good. I also like that the keycaps are full size and not a lower profile. What I don't like is the lack of matte texture on the keycaps. Also on the wishlist would be for keychron to ship the keyboards with a plastic dust cover. Overall though you can't go wrong with this board for the price. And if you don't like something, it's hot-swappable! Get your Panda's or whatever.

So I've tried red, blue, and brown switches from keychron. And I can safely say that reds are probably their best. The brown switches on C1 require more actuating force than reds or blues. The "bump" is barely noticeable - it feels like you're typing on mud. So if you're used to touch typing or light tapping, I would not recommend these. My fingers are tired after writing just 3 sentences. Definitely going to be returning this.

To be honest when I saw the price I didn’t think it was going to be anything special. When I first typed on the brown switches I thought that it was fairly scratchy so I replaced them with lubed gateron yellows. The board also has a slight ping to it so the foam mod is great. If you like to customize or mess with boards this is the best one for the price.

As a person who at the time was just getting into the world of mechanical keyboards, this was great. I used it to figure out what switches I like, and it's hotswappability make that really easy. Would recommend to people who are just trying to get into the world of mech keebs.

As someone who wanted to get into mechanical keyboards, I heard some good things about the Keychron C1. The important part for me was that it was hot-swappable, I wanted to learn how to modify and customise my keyboard.I've already done the foam and tape mod, and it's a great sounding keyboard for a Brown switch. (I'm new at this, so they may not actually be great sounding to an enthusiast.)I'm yet to lube my switches, I've got some TriboSys 3203 on the way. The stabilisers are pre-lubed. I may switch out the Gateron Browns for a linear at some point.All in all, if you are looking at getting into mechanical keyboards, this is a good place to start.