Keychron K2 Hot-swappable ISO-UK-Layout Wireless Bluetooth/USB Wired Gaming Mechanical Keyboard, Compact 84 Keys RGB LED Backlight N-Key Rollover, Plastic Frame, Gateron Brown Switch, Version 2

 

I am by no means a mechanical keyboard “person”. But – I do like the way they feel, and it was something I missed when using a Macbook for work.

This keyboard is clearly aimed at Mac users in a big way – it comes with the macOS keycaps installed by default. Additionally the fact it supports Bluetooth as well as USB-C places it as a competitor to the Apple Magic Keyboard.

Weight wise I measured the keyboard itself at almost exactly 650g (plastic frame). I went for the plastic over the aluminium bezel to save some weight as I’ll be commuting with it frequently. The plastic frame seems pretty sturdy and I don’t regret this choice saving a few grams.

Out of the box, the packaging is premium feeling – but not excessively so – and you get a keycap puller and a switch puller (in the case of the hotswap edition), a braided right angle USB-C cable plus some quick guides on getting yourself set up for the first time. If you’re using a cable, there’s no much to it other than setting the switches to the right position and plugging in. Setting up Bluetooth pairing is a touch more involved, but not much, and it’s explained in the quick start guide.

The USB socket is on the left hand side by the switches. This is a bit unusual, normally they’d be at the back so the cable can trail off your desk easily and you can use a normal connector – but this positioning almost forces you to use a right angle connector. Also, the connector itself doesn’t feel super solidly mounted – it does have a bit of wiggle to it (probably as it’s only physically connected to the PCB and not the case). If you’re the type that moves your keyboard around a lot with the cable attached, I’d not be surprised if this failed eventually. I’m tempted to reinforce it with a bit of hot glue on the PCB.

There’s a switch to select between Cable, Off and Bluetooth mode. The legends on the switch are almost impossible to read – you’re better off memorising what each position means! But, they work perfectly fine and are easy to move to the right position and stay there.

There’s another switch to select “macOS” or “Windows” modes. I think all this does is swap the option/windows and command/alt modifier keys so that pressing the command key matches the command key in macOS, and alt in Windows. If you’re used to using a PC keyboard on macOS, this will take some un-learning to remember that the keys are now in the “right” place the way Steve Jobs intended (probably). The media keys/function keys are a good addition that other small form factor keyboards often miss, and helps with the macOS experience quite a lot. As a macOS user you’ll want to follow the quickstart guide to set those to by default be media keys before F number keys as this is how a Apple keyboard would function (otherwise you have to hold Fn whilst pressing them to get the desired function).

Talking about functionality, the back lighting is fine. The stock (dark) double-shot ABS keycaps don’t show it off that well and it’s easily downed out by normal task lighting. Despite having the RGB model, I’m often finding myself just using the static white pre-set as the other modes don’t really illuminate the shine-through legends that well and are just a bit distracting for my tastes. Maybe it’d look better with lighter keycaps. Unfortunately there’s no way of controlling the lighting from the computer, so you can’t do anything fancy there either.

As for Bluetooth – pairing is easy and works pretty well one connected, no issues there. It does have a bit of latency to it which makes fast paced gaming when connected via Bluetooth a less than great experience. Simple enough fix – use a cable. There is one minor annoyance – when using Bluetooth, there is an auto off feature that powers off the keyboard if you don’t press any buttons for 10 minutes. Seems great, but actually it’s quite annoying – waking it back up again takes a few keypresses before it reconnects to the device and you can continue to type. Unless you’re planning on typing for more than 70 hours without charging, you can turn that function off (hold Fn-S-O for 4 seconds whilst in Bluetooth mode).

As for typing experience – it’s great. Even the plastic bezel one is nice and stiff, there’s little to no rattle. The stock Gateron Brown switches seem to be pre-lubed which feel and sound nice. Whilst it’s a tactile brown switch, the tactility is very subtle (perhaps due to the lube, but also might be because I’m used to Cherry MX browns instead of Gateron). The stabilisers are decent enough and well lubed – and the space bar has a good “thock” to it.

People have commented about the height of the board – and for me, it’s a little on the high side but not so high I feel I need a wrist rest. At least, not yet – maybe a few more hundred hours of use will change my mind.

There’s probably some incremental improvements possible with mods – and this is the hotswap switch model, so presumably that’s of interest to you – but out of the box it’s a great board. However – if that’s your jam, remember this is an UK-ISO layout (may the heavens rejoice!) which is great for people who don’t want the cognitive load of learning ANSI layout – but it does reduce your ability to pick new keycap sets.

Overall – despite nit-picking in this review, I’m very happy with the Keychron K2v2. Having the flexibility to use Bluetooth when I’m on my Macbook away from home, but a wire when I’m at my desk – is great. And when I get bored of the look or feel, I’m happy that I’ll be able to upgrade various parts of it with ease – but if I don’t, it’s still a really solid board.