Page 3 - A Closer Look - Disassembly and Internals
The first part of disassembly includes looking at the keycaps. These are PBT or polybutylene terephthalate plastic with a double-shot injection. I like PBT keycaps because they are more durable and do not shine or fade over time compared to cheaper plastics like ABS. The thicker wall adds to the better audible feedback. The legends are inserted with a second layer of plastic that fills a mold. This is why you can see a gray outer shell and a white inner plastic. As such, the legends will not fade or wear. On the other hand, this is the most expensive way to make keycaps. The legends on the keys are clear with a thinner font that is still easy to read. The keycaps use standard MX stems with an OSA profile. This means we have rounded corners on the key but a concave top for your fingers to rest within. The Keychron V3 8K offers NKRO over the wired connection. NKRO stands for N-key rollover, which refers to the number of keys scanned independently by the hardware.
The longer keys, like space bar and Enter, on the Keychron V3 8K use Cherry stabilizers on each side to ensure even actuation and to prevent the keys from wobbling from side to side. These are factory lubricated and have a smooth travel. They do not rattle or squeak either. The stabilizers are screwed into the PCB. This is usually a premium choice that leads to better stability as they do not rattle as much as plate-mounted ones. The plate is steel and remains sturdy under pressure. The space bar also has some foam inserted to help with reducing echo and hollow sounds.
A key selling point of the Keychron V3 8K is the switch technology. These use mechanical switches, which consist of a housing base, stem, and spring, and offer varying levels of tactile and audible feedback. More specifically, these are Keychron Apex Red mechanical switches, which are the same switches we saw on the Keychron R5. They are linear in travel and require a bottoming out force of 45g, actuation point of 2.0mm, and total travel of 4.0mm. They have an expected lifespan of fifty million keystrokes. These connect to the PCB with hot swap sockets, and the sockets support both three-pin and five-pin mechanical switches. As such, if you do not like these or an individual one fails, you can swap it out without replacing the entire keyboard. As mentioned before, the online site says the V3 8K comes advertised with the Super switch instead, which looks to be a similar switch except Apex has a box around the MX stem for better keycap stability and less wobble.
I disassembled the Keychron Apex Red switch so you can see all the individual parts. This includes a transparent upper housing and a gray base. A 14mm spring keeps the stem elevated above the bottom. The switch stem has minimal lateral movement within the housing, which ensures keys do not wobble about. It also has a wider box wall around the MX stem to further increase stability. The switches are factory lubricated for a smoother typing feel and sound. The stem is made of POM or polyoxymethylene plastic, which is said to offer a smooth feel. The upper case is polycarbonate, while the bottom is nylon.
Taking apart the Keychron V3 8K is simple but time consuming. The top plastic frame is held in place with eight gold-colored screws that can be removed from the bottom. However, afterwards you will need to remove eleven black screws from the plate side to loosen the board and PCB from the bottom shell. This means you will need to remove several keycaps as part of this process to access the screws. Once you accomplish this, you can freely lift the keyboard from its enclosure. There are no ribbon cables to be concerned with here, but the back switch position should be noted when you reassemble the keyboard.
With the screws on the standoffs, you can see the keyboard deck is tray mounted, which is something we have not seen in a while. Unlike typical gasket mounts that sandwich the deck between the top and bottom case with damping socks, tray mounting produces a stable and stiff feel. Some may complain about tray mounted keyboards for their inconsistent sound or feel, but I think Keychron has done well to mitigate this with their multiple layers of foam and other materials.
Once removed, you can see the bottom layers under the keyboard deck. There are several damping layers of foam and film, including sound absorbing foam, IXPE foam, PET film, a latex bottom pad, bottom case acoustic foam, and bottom case PET film. All these layers work together to improve acoustics by reducing echo and noise, improve tactile feedback by reducing vibration and transmission, and insulate the board from shorting. The resultant behavior is clearly working as designed, producing a satisfying albeit slightly quiet sound.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. A Closer Look - Disassembly and Internals
4. Conclusion
