I´m looking to upgrade my keyboard to bit of a nicer one. Got a Varmilo VA88M that I intend to retire to the office, and I want something that´s a significant upgrade.
I´ve pretty much narrowed it down to two options: Tofu 65 or Keychron Q1. That´s pretty much what´s available here and sort of in stock. I´ve ruled out the GMMK Pro because I don´t really want to deal with it´s issues.
The Tofu would be more expensive and much harder to source all the parts, but seems doable. Keychron is much easier to get a hold of and cheaper. Seems really nice with some mods. However it´s only sold in ISO layout here which is… well, kinda good but also hard to find good keycaps.
Anyhow, what are your thoughts on this? Which one would you recommend?
Both boards have pros and cons but I wanted to reply to your ISO concern - don’t settle. If you settle for a board you may not truly love it in the long run. I recommend being patient and waiting for the board that fits you just right. Also, fwiw, the Q1 looks to be available in all colors if you go barebones.
I personally like the tofu more, but that’s because i like 60s and 65s over 75%s, and also i love the brass weight on the tofu. I would go for the tofu if you like them equally.
It’s actually a compromise either way. Over 30 years of using ISO Nordic would make it a bit weird going to ANSI, and I would miss some characters on the keys (though I can still map them so it doesn’t matter that much). The smaller enter key would take some retraining of muscle memory.
The ideal would be ISO Nordic with nice keycaps, but that’s hard to come by. On the other hand, haven’t found an ANSI set I like and that I can actually buy, so the problem might be universal.
I would likely have preference for 75% but 65% is nice in that it’s got a smaller footprint, especially depth. So yeah, either is good but neither is perfect.
Is typing feel important? With the Q1 being gasket mounted, it might be fun to try something new. If so, I see the KBD67 Lite R4 is set to drop soon – a solid option for sure.
Honestly I would go with the Keychron Q1 over the Tofu65 any day, all day just for the plain fact the Q1 is a decently implemented gasket mount & the Tofu65 is just tray mount (well unless you feel like cutting the standoffs out of the case & O-ring gasket mounting it). While I have no experience with either board I do have plenty of experience with both mounting styles & properly implemented gasket mounting makes for a drastically better typing feel than tray mount. As gaskets allow for some softness & flex on the plate, but most importantly give a uniform feel & sound across the whole board. While tray mount on the other hand gives a very stiff typing feel which is fairly inconsistent due to the areas near the standoffs being stiffer than areas not near the standoffs. Same goes for the sound of tray mount boards, most are usually pretty inconsistent with a higher pitched sound near the standoffs & lower pitched sound further away from them.
All that said tray mount is not all bad & can be made to feel/sound very nice. Although doing so usually requires permanent modification of the case. So if you are looking for something that will just work & feel/sound good out of the box with minimal modding the Q1 would be the way to go. If you really prefer the Tofu & do not mind permanently modding the case then it is a viable option. Although even after modding the Tofu I feel like the Q1 would still have the superior feel & sound.
I agree with @ajoflo, I think the KBD67LITE R4 might be a good choice. I’m typing on one right now, and have been enjoying it alot. One thing to note is that the shipping might be a good 30-40 dollars, so you might want to check some aftermarket keeb sites (even Keebtalk!)
If you’re set on a metal keyboard, CK Bakeneko 60/65 would be worth looking at. I have the 60% version, and would be happy to compare both if needed. Feel free to send me a message if that’s something you might like to have in mind.
Thanks guys, that’s a really interesting perspective regarding gasket mounting.
Typing feel is very very important to me. I do a lot typing in various forms. Both work and free time means banging away on the keyboard. So, this is definitely my top priority.
What’s it like going from a stiff keyboard to a more flexing one? I’ve never tried a gasket mount. My Varmilo is about as flexible as a cast iron pan.
My spontaneous reaction is that flex equals bad, but considering many enthusiasts like the flexible gasket mounts I assume that notion is incorrect.
The Q1 is looking more like the winner here. One advantage I haven’t mentioned is that it’s sold by local stores, where I know they have excellent support if anything should go wrong.
