Sometimes tools matter
I have a graveyard of keyboards in my closet.
Since Apple made the disastrous goal of prioritizing thinness over usability for their keyboards, I’ve been hunting for a keyboard that was a pleasure to use.
My favorite for a while was the “Laptop Pro” by Matias, a clone of Apple’s Extended Keyboard II. It had a satisfyingly quiet click and was a breeze to type with.
Unbeknownst to me, the hardwired battery has issues, and mine died after 6-months. When I reached out to Matias, they essentially replied, “Sorry, you’re shit out of luck.” I decided not to buy another one from them.
I eventually settled on a wired Keychron Q1 with knob (fully assembled shell white with Gateron G Pro Red linear keys.) I’m confident I’ve found my holy grail.
Here’s what I love about Q1:
It’s wired! No more worry about the keyboard being charged or completely dying on me beyond repair.
Its heavy Matias keyboards have plastic bodies and always shifted around on my desk when typing. The Q1 weighs in at 1828 grams (4 lbs!) That’s almost 2x the weight of my Macbook Air (1273 grams, or 2.8 lbs.)
I never knew how much I enjoyed the stability until typing on a heavy dumbbell of a keyboard.It comes in white! This keyboard does have an annoying LED lights feature (which thankfully you can turn of) The big appeal to me was that it just looks like a simple keyboard, not something out of a 20-year old streamers gaming room.
The keys are buttery smooth and QUIET I went with the Gateron G Pro red linear switches, which are famous for their quietness.
Mechanical keyboard reviews often focus on programmers and gamers. Sure, you could argue programming is basically writing, but the things they tended to focus on didn’t speak to me. My guess is that many of these programmers were also gamers and needed something that allowed them to mash keys for gaming.
That’s not me. I wanted something that was a pleasure to use and inspired me to do deep, creative work.
Despite the quiet switches, the keys have a satisfying “thock” (as it’s affectionately known). I can only compare the sound of typing to the shutter click of a camera or the snap of a typewriter.
If you are primarily a writer, go with Gateron G Pro Red linear switches.
They have a learning curve, as it can feel a bit sensitive in the beginning. But I found myself naturally hovering over the keys after a week, and my typing became much smoother and faster.
