Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
Keychron keyboards have always been clean looking while maintaining a personality, and the same can be said for the V3 8K. It may not have garish colors or features, but it also is not boring with a plain black or white exterior. The colors range from black on the frame to two shades of gray in the keycaps, plus a couple of accents of red on the Escape key and the volume knob. The letters on the keys are all white. The hard corners on the frame of the enclosure are contrasted by the rounded keycaps with their OSA profile. Keychron also keeps the unit free of any branding on the top. Some may call this overall design a bit bland, but I can appreciate the cleaner aesthetic that is consistent with most of their keyboards in their lineup. Even so, I would like to see another color option from the manufacturer.
As for its dimensions, the Keychron V3 8K is 366.7mm wide and 140.56mm deep. Without the keycaps, the back shell is 26.83mm tall, while the front is 19.44mm. This means you can add a palm rest to the front, but one is not included out of the box. The overall height with keycaps changes to 37mm when the keyboard is propped up. These numbers are typical of a tenkeyless keyboard. In terms of weight, the Keychron V3 8K weighs just over 1kg, which is also as expected for this size. The overall plastic exterior translates into a surprisingly solid quality. This is because the steel deck underneath does not torque easily, with no deck flex when pressing keys. There is a bit of give in the plastic frame, especially the area above the arrow keys, and this is a bit too much bending for my liking.
Our Keychron V3 8K is in the standard North American QWERTY ANSI layout and tenkeyless format. This translates to eighty-seven keys and one volume knob. Keychron changes their product names for each of their sizes within a lineup, so a 96% V5 and full-sized V6 also exists. The bottom row is standard with 1.25U keys on both sides of the space bar and a 6.25U space bar. The first difference between this and its full-sized counterpart is the omission of a number pad. Keychron has also squished the F-row at the top to fit a volume knob in between F12 and Print Screen. The volume knob has been slightly updated from previous V-series keyboards, with a concave center and a bright red middle to make it easier to feel and hold. There is a notch for a visual and tactile indication of movement, but the notch does not relate to a given volume level since the knob can move infinitely in either direction. Finally, they have slightly modified the top corner keys by changing Scroll Lock and Pause to activate the operating system's voice assistant and to change the backlights.
Secondary functions exist on the Keychron V3 8K, but they are not marked directly on the keycaps. These can be activated by pressing Fn, followed by the respective key. F1 and F2 are used to decrease and increase the screen brightness. F3 and F4 open task view and file explorer. F5 and F6 are used for decreasing or increasing the backlight of the keyboard. This can also be done with W and S, and we will explore other lighting shortcuts later. F7 to F9 are used for Previous, Play/Pause, and Next media keys. Finally, F10 to F12 are for Mute, Volume Down, and Volume Up. Of course, these volume controls are duplicated by the volume knob.
Changing the keyboard layout from Windows to Mac is a matter of changing the switch at the back of the keyboard. Doing so will swap the modifier keys in the bottom row to the respective Mac functions, as well as the function row to align with the standard Mac layout. If you make any changes you want to reset, you can press and hold Fn + J + Z for three seconds. Interestingly, there does not seem to be any way to lock the Windows key on this keyboard.
The bottom of the Keychron V3 8K is standard. In the middle, there is a silver label with some product information. The corners have rubber pads to keep the keyboard in place. At the back, there is a pair of double kickstands for different heights. As such, there are three distinct incline angles with the V3 8K. The smaller kickstands were a bit looser and did not stay in place compared to the taller ones, which should be addressed. The kickstands have rubber padding on them to prevent movement when the keyboard is propped up. At the back of the Keychron V3 8K, there is a USB Type-C port for connecting the keyboard to your computer and the previously mentioned layout switch to go between Mac and Windows layouts. As this is a wired keyboard only, there are no on/off or multiple wireless connection switches.
On top of the gray XTracGear Carbonic XXL, the Keychron V3 8K blends into my setup with its dark color. Personally speaking, I am used to a tenkeyless size, as this is what I use all the time when I am not testing another keyboard. I am not a huge fan of the volume knob being in the middle of the keyboard rather than a corner, but it is a minor thing to get used to. Otherwise, the OSA keycaps were a slight adjustment point, but its concave shell meant my fingers easily rested in the middle of the key. They may look visually different from a Cherry or OEM profile, but they do not feel too different under my fingertips.
As for the typing feel, the Keychron V3 8K feels good, but not necessarily great. The Keychron Apex Red switches are not the most pronounced switch, as we saw with the Keychron R5, but because of the metal backplate underneath, each keystroke is louder. Bottoming out the switch provides a decent thock. These are linear switches, but they feel slightly squishy when you initially press the key, resulting in a less mechanical overall feel. The longer stabilized keys, such as the space bar and Shift keys, are smooth with a lower-pitched sound. Overall, I do enjoy typing on the V3 8K, even if the Keychron Apex Red do not produce the most consistently linear feel. To note, the V3 8K comes in other switches with both nonlinear and linear options.
The backlights of the Keychron V3 8K are bright, even if these PBT keycaps do not shine through. The lights provide a glow around each key rather than through them. They are south-facing and make the gaps and areas around each key more visible. At maximum brightness, the lights are clear even in daylight. They can be adjusted via secondary functions by pressing the Fn key first. To change the effects, you can press Q or A to go back and forth through the effects or press the RGB Mode button on the top right corner. To change the brightness, you can use the secondary functions of W and S or volume knob, which will increase or decrease, respectively. E and D change the hue, and R and F adjust the saturation. T and G are used to modify the speed of the effect if there are more dynamic parts. Finally, you can toggle all the lights by pressing Fn + Tab, Fn + Volume Knob press, or Fn + RGB Mode button.
The Keychron V3 8K does not require any installed software, but it is compatible with QMK. Keychron also has their own Launcher web application to serve the needs of most of their users. It requires a Chromium-based web browser, such as Chrome, Edge, or Opera, to connect your keyboard to the browser. Once you navigate to the Launcher's website, you can pair the keyboard, and it will automatically recognize it. The first thing you might need to do is update the firmware for the keyboard. Internally, there is an ARM controller and 256KB of flash memory to save your settings.
Keychron Launcher is easy to use, albeit can seem a bit cluttered, since it is a similar layout for every keyboard. All the menus are listed on the left side. At the top, there is a Keymap page to set the keys for regular and function layers for the Mac and Windows layouts. To be clear, Mac layouts are Layer 0 and 1, while Windows layouts are Layer 2 and 3. You can export or import these settings to a JSON file. You can also reset your previous changes here. Next, Snap Action is used to set up SOCD. Backlight is where you can customize the backlights of the V3 8K with different effects, including two custom modes for per-key changes or mixing multiple effects. You can also set the indicator light for the Caps Lock key. Macro is where you can save and recall sequences of keys. Quick Start is used to launch applications, but you need to install Keychron Assistant on your local machine. Advanced mode is where you set the debounce mode, response time, and polling rate. The next are used for updating the firmware, although there is no wireless firmware to update with this keyboard. Key Test is used to test all the keys, while Help Center gives a general walkthrough for distinct functions. Expansion Tools includes a typing test, which might be handy for users. Overall, Keychron Launcher is straightforward to use and offers a solid amount of customization.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. A Closer Look - Disassembly and Internals
4. Conclusion
