WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.720 When ceramic keycaps first launched, I kickstarted those. I wanted a set so 00:00:03.760 --> 00:00:12.400 badly. So, when Keychron came out with a Q16 HE 8K, a 65% magnetic switch 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:15.000 keyboard that is also, surprisingly, I don't know why they don't put this all 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:19.560 over the box, but this is the world's first ceramic keyboard. That's right, 00:00:17.560 --> 00:00:24.640 there's no aluminum. Well, the plate? I don't know, we'll get to that. 00:00:22.040 --> 00:00:29.160 That was a really satisfying box slide off. Yeah, so it uses TMR magnetic 00:00:26.840 --> 00:00:32.480 switches. So, if you want four different actions per key, you can do that. So, it 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:36.280 does like an action when you barely tap it and when it's fully depressed and then you can set different ones at 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:39.680 different points. Like, a lot of the other HE Hall Effect keyboards that 00:00:38.040 --> 00:00:42.160 we've seen come out from like Wooting or whoever else. In the box, we've got our 00:00:41.040 --> 00:00:47.040 quick start guide. If you're a Windows user, please find the appropriate keycaps in the box, then follow the 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:51.040 instructions below to find and replace them cuz it what? Shows up with Mac 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:55.080 keycaps? What else we got? A really nice cloth, actually. This is like glasses 00:00:53.200 --> 00:01:00.440 cleaner level quality of cloth. They probably included this because ceramic 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:02.200 is a fingerprint magnet. You will see 00:01:00.440 --> 00:01:07.240 smudges all over this thing if you're not careful, both on the keycaps and on 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:13.680 the case. We've got a sleeved cable with ferrite bead. It's their 8K polling rate 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:15.800 for 8 kHz gaming. Comes as a USB-C to C 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:18.680 cable, but with a little handy C to A adapter. Always useful. I've got a 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:23.400 couple of these just lying around at home cuz you never know when you're going to use a C to A adapter. Uh we've 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:30.200 got a keycap and switch puller, which you're probably going to need cuz it's hot-swap. Little screwdriver. I love to 00:01:27.240 --> 00:01:34.000 see those. Some replacement looks like gaskets and a couple of screws or maybe 00:01:31.880 --> 00:01:36.720 feet, actually. These might be the feet. And what else we got? Some extra 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:40.520 keycaps. These are our Windows keycaps. Very nice. 00:01:40.720 --> 00:01:45.720 That's right. They're ceramic. I got rid 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:48.880 of my ceramic keycaps. I think I sold them to someone because while I really 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:54.560 liked them for a lot of reasons, um I don't know if it was just the first revision that was done uh that had 00:01:51.960 --> 00:01:57.800 issues, but mine didn't always seat properly. And so, I'd be gaming and I'd 00:01:56.240 --> 00:02:03.040 go to hit control or alt or something and then it would like the keycap would come off with me as I pulled my finger 00:02:01.080 --> 00:02:06.920 off it. So, I think it caused me one or two deaths in Elden Ring and I said, 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:12.640 "No, no more of this. I can't do it." But, this it feels so wild. 00:02:10.160 --> 00:02:15.360 >> It's so shiny that it almost looks cheap. 00:02:13.200 --> 00:02:19.360 >> Right? So, part of it does feel cheap, but in a really weird way. The thing 00:02:17.440 --> 00:02:24.440 about ceramic is it can look and feel plasticky depending on your materials 00:02:22.480 --> 00:02:26.880 used and how they're doing everything. Like, I'm not going to sit here and tell 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:32.480 you I know how to make ceramics. I just know that they typically use like clay material along with some other organic 00:02:30.200 --> 00:02:36.360 material and center it at different uh heats. The the the palm or like finger 00:02:35.320 --> 00:02:41.080 feel definitely feels like you're touching plastic, but it feels like a 00:02:38.440 --> 00:02:44.200 very slippery high-end plastic. I don't exactly know how to explain it 00:02:42.600 --> 00:02:49.680 otherwise. The weight is about right, actually. We should probably weigh this thing. 00:02:46.440 --> 00:02:52.280 2.06 lb. So, it's definitely heavy 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:55.680 enough that it doesn't feel like a cheap plastic keyboard. Like, this thing's got 00:02:53.640 --> 00:02:59.400 some weight to it uh and I really really like it. I also just love the blue. 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:04.400 Like, this really dark kind of navy blue that they've gone with is beautiful. I 00:03:01.640 --> 00:03:08.120 love how shiny it all is, too. It's so weird. I don't know, ceramic is such an 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:14.040 odd choice, but it's a choice they made and it's a choice they're sticking with and I am all for it cuz the price isn't 00:03:12.320 --> 00:03:18.960 even at all that absurd. Uh we'll get to it later, but it's under $300. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:21.680 And then uh talking about those smudges earlier, uh I've barely been I mean, 00:03:20.640 --> 00:03:26.880 I've been handling it more than most people would, I guess, but we've got some smudge action kind of already 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:30.600 happening here. And then so, that's going to happen to your keycaps as you type on them as well, especially cuz you 00:03:29.760 --> 00:03:36.360 know you're going to be actually touching these all the time. The other thing to know is the material they went 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:40.680 with is softer than glass. So, you want to be careful with your coffee mugs. 00:03:38.200 --> 00:03:43.360 This is like, "Oh, I don't know." And you just hit the corner or something 00:03:42.200 --> 00:03:48.440 and then like this whole part just cracks open or something like that. It'd be wild. As for the layout in the 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:51.720 keyboard itself, it's a 65% so, it should be pretty familiar to most of 00:03:50.480 --> 00:03:55.960 you. You've got pretty much everything you need with like your delete and page 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:59.920 up, page down, arrow keys. And then if you want like all of your F row, you 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:03.080 just hit function and whatever number corresponds with that. 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:07.800 On the bottom, there's not a whole lot going on, which I'm kind of a fan of. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:11.560 There's been a lot of fancy weights and stuff recently and uh what I like is 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:15.080 they've just got this like kind of divot running right through the center here. 00:04:13.040 --> 00:04:19.640 And then uh the feet are nice and I like that they gave me replacement feet. Uh 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:23.520 and then as for our switch, we've got a little Windows and Mac switch and a 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:27.600 USB-C. Boop. Is it openable? 00:04:26.320 --> 00:04:32.520 I don't see any screws and this is a diecast piece of ceramic and I don't see 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:36.160 seams, either. Like, is this a unibody? Is this all one solid piece? 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After taking a couple 00:05:12.640 --> 00:05:19.360 keycaps off, you can see that they're magnetic linear ultra-fast lime 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:22.640 switches, which, you know, feel pretty good. And they are hot-swap and I can 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:28.000 see a little screw right there. I bet you I can 00:05:25.280 --> 00:05:31.760 pop these out and then it does look like this is one big shell and then you just 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:36.320 pop the whole thing down in there. There's no case sandwiching or anything 00:05:34.320 --> 00:05:39.000 like that, which can be totally fine. Like, all the different mounting styles 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:43.160 are, you know, they have their own merits. Yeah, let me take off just a 00:05:41.400 --> 00:05:47.360 couple more just to confirm, but there's probably 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:53.160 like 1 2 3 4 5. There's probably something like six screws in here. 00:05:50.880 --> 00:05:56.720 I am genuinely afraid of like scratching this keyboard as I use this. 00:05:55.160 --> 00:06:00.120 Never. Yeah, they are in fact plate-mounted, 00:05:58.440 --> 00:06:04.680 can confirm. Ooh, they've got these nice little pieces of rubber here, too, to 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:08.480 stop some extra noise. I like it. I like it. Yeah, one more screw here. So, it's 00:06:06.960 --> 00:06:13.600 probably three on the bottom, three on the top, maybe two more on the sides. 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:16.680 I'm not sure, but uh man, that is slick. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:19.400 One thing about these ceramics Oh, these 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:23.160 are different. On the first run, these were fully ceramic, if I recall 00:06:21.520 --> 00:06:27.120 correctly, because I remember hearing the like crunch as you were putting them 00:06:25.520 --> 00:06:29.960 onto your keyboard, which is a little disconcerting, but you know, it said 00:06:28.640 --> 00:06:35.480 it's compatible. I get I'm going to believe them. But, the problem is the tolerances uh have to be [music] perfect 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:39.080 on those molds and that's why I was having keycaps like come off uh with my 00:06:37.760 --> 00:06:44.280 fingers as I'm lifting them up. They're sticking to it just a little bit and they're not really on there properly cuz 00:06:42.880 --> 00:06:48.724 they're too loose. So, what they've done, it looks like I'm not sure if this 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:53.640 interior white >> [music] >> material is ceramic. It feels like it. 00:06:52.320 --> 00:06:58.640 Uh but either way, they've gotten they've gone and put these little plastic inserts into them so that they 00:06:56.640 --> 00:07:01.360 can actually fit properly on top of the stem. And the nice thing is plastic, you 00:07:00.320 --> 00:07:06.240 can make it a little too tight cuz it can stretch and bend and what and you know, not much, but it can. Whereas 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:10.720 ceramic, yeah, ceramic's not going to do that, it's just going to shatter. So, that's really cool and I'm really happy 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:15.080 to see this update. This is cool. I always love looking at Hall Effect switches, too. Just looks like a normal 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:20.000 switch except it's a little different on the bottom here. You don't have those uh there's no pins. Instead, they've just 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:24.080 got these two little pogo stands that you pop down into there. They're 00:07:21.640 --> 00:07:26.840 north-facing RGB, uh which is great if you've got shine-through keycaps. You 00:07:25.520 --> 00:07:30.760 probably won't see it a whole bunch on this board, but they're north-facing. Uh 00:07:28.520 --> 00:07:35.600 let me pop this guy back in here and then I'll fix my keycaps cuz I put them 00:07:32.840 --> 00:07:39.200 on in the wrong spots. I got so excited that I did it incorrectly. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:48.840 I think there's something about this sound that really resonates with me 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:53.480 personally and I love it, but I think to some of you it's going to sound almost 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:53.480 plasticky. 00:07:53.880 --> 00:08:01.320 Ah, I don't know. I really I Spacebar so deep. 00:07:58.320 --> 00:08:04.360 Also, like zero rattle. 00:08:01.320 --> 00:08:06.600 Maybe the tiniest bit. 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:12.120 All right, let's plug it in. Boot it. Where's my north-facing RGB? I 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:16.320 was promised it. Oh, it's on a like per type. 00:08:13.280 --> 00:08:17.520 Ah, wow. I love the way it's coming up 00:08:16.320 --> 00:08:22.120 through the cracks and just kind of shining on the edges of the keycaps. It 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:25.760 really makes for some like OSL kind of look with the object source lighting. 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:34.680 I haven't been this excited about a keyboard in a pretty long time. And I think that I really want some of the 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:39.200 revisions on the keycaps. I don't know if it's the same company. I don't know who's making the keycaps, but I like 00:08:37.479 --> 00:08:42.719 them and I want them and I'm so glad they fixed that issue I had. So, let's 00:08:40.719 --> 00:08:45.520 do a typing test. 00:08:50.040 --> 00:08:57.600 121.99. >> [sighs and gasps] >> With ceramics, your fingers almost stick 00:08:55.480 --> 00:09:00.480 on the keys as you like wiggle them around and that's partly just because of 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:04.200 like the oils on your skin, I'm guessing, reacting with the material. 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:07.280 Whereas like on a plastic, it does stick a little bit, but it's not the same. I 00:09:05.920 --> 00:09:14.320 don't know how to explain it. You got to try it for yourself. It's just got this like odd skin feel. And then on top of 00:09:11.640 --> 00:09:17.560 that, uh it's you typically cold because ceramic like I don't know what it is 00:09:15.800 --> 00:09:20.680 about plastic, but these plastic keycaps, I mean, it's okay, to be fair, 00:09:19.160 --> 00:09:24.520 they're in a laptop, so those are heated up by the laptop, but even on a keyboard 00:09:22.160 --> 00:09:28.240 like my keycaps always feel room temp, whereas these feel ever so slightly 00:09:26.560 --> 00:09:31.560 cold. And like the funny thing is I normally dislike when a spacebar sounds 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:36.040 vastly different from the rest of the keys, but because this is such a subtle, 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:39.026 nice and low deep kind of thock, it sounds like it complements it instead of 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:43.440 having that like >> [music] >> high-pitched hollow spacebar sound. Oh, 00:09:41.880 --> 00:09:50.520 actually, I want to check the spacebar and I want to see if it's got anything inside. It does. Ah, I knew it. It's got 00:09:48.040 --> 00:09:54.680 just a couple of little foam inserts here just to help it with the hollowness 00:09:52.560 --> 00:09:58.760 that most spacebars experience. And again, yeah, they've got this big insert 00:09:56.711 --> 00:10:01.840 [music] for the plastic to actually fit on here nicely. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:05.840 I told myself I wasn't buying any more keyboards. I really did. 00:10:03.916 --> 00:10:09.400 >> [laughter] >> But this is like this is perfect. The 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:14.720 colorway fits me perfectly. I love dark blue. It could fit on my desk. I like a 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:17.040 65%. I love that the ceramic looks and 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:23.000 feels so good. I like how shiny it is. Like it looks plastic shiny. Like 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:27.400 And I wasn't lying to you. It's only 220 bucks if you buy it on Kickstarter. 230 00:10:25.400 --> 00:10:30.280 regular price if you miss out on that. I think when I first bought my ceramic 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:34.480 keycaps, they were I mean they're keycaps, but I think that was like 150 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:38.120 bucks by themselves or something. It was expensive. And yeah, those felt more 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:41.560 premium than the Q16 HE, but if the quality went up, I expect the price 00:10:39.880 --> 00:10:44.400 would as well. And the best part is at that $220 price, you're getting 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:49.720 everything. Same with the 230, you're getting your keyboard fully assembled, keycaps, switches, everything. So, you 00:10:48.160 --> 00:10:54.520 don't have to spend 200 bucks on a board and then, you know, another 80 bucks on 00:10:51.640 --> 00:10:59.080 switches and 50 to 150 on keycaps after that. You're set. Yeah, it's 8 kHz. We 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:03.440 tested it. It definitely pulls at 8 kHz. And on top of that, the latency is super 00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:07.640 good. I think the max we saw was like 1.47 milliseconds, which is for a max 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:12.680 number, like that's great. And they've even got their own version of Snap Tap called Rapid Trigger. It'll reset right 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:16.360 when you take your finger off of it. And if you're pressing two keys at the same 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:20.000 time, it'll take the input from the deeper one. So, if you're resting your 00:11:17.839 --> 00:11:22.600 hand a little too heavily, but you know, this key is definitely actually being 00:11:21.520 --> 00:11:28.000 pressed and the others are just kind of being pressed, it'll actually take the input that you want. This thing's got 00:11:25.800 --> 00:11:31.560 pretty much everything I'm looking for. And I don't need another 65%, so I'm 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:36.600 probably not going to buy it personally, but if they make the same keyboard in 00:11:33.880 --> 00:11:40.560 like a 104 key full size board, maybe a weird condensed layout, I could be 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:43.920 enticed. And I could also be enticed to watch another video from ShortCircuit, 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:46.920 like the Pixel keyboard. That thing's not the Flux, but it's close enough. 00:11:45.680 --> 00:11:50.683 Will the Flux ever come out? Probably not. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:53.600 Who the Flux knows? >> [laughter] >> That was pretty good. 00:11:53.640 --> 00:11:56.040 Goodbye.