Keychron S1 Review: Top Quality Low-Profile Mechanical Keyboard
Keychron S1
If you’re looking for a compact mechanical keyboard that will last you a lifetime, the Keychron S1 is what you want. It’s compact, low-profile style is built with high-quality materials, and the typing experience is smooth and easy. It has extensive customization options, and you can also opt for the full RGB version if you want some additional flair while typing.
Keychron’s extensive range of mechanical keyboards always hits the spot. The company has found the sweet spot between mechanical keyboard features, build quality, and—most importantly—price. Keychron makes it affordable for nearly anyone to pick up a new board without breaking the balance.
The low-profile Keychron S1 ticks all of those boxes and more. The S1 typing experience is sound, the low-profile Gateron switches enabling your fingers to glide across the board with ease, while the design maintains the now trademark build-quality of a Keychron board. Better still, the Keychron S1 is slightly cheaper than other Keychron boards, which is another bonus.
Keychron S1 Configuration
A quick note on the Keychron S1 sent to us for review, as the S1 comes in several configurations. We’re testing the Keychron S1 with full RGB lighting, using hot-swappable Low-Profile Brown Gateron Mechanical Switches. This configuration comes in at $129. The regular, non-hot-swappable version drops the price to $119 while opting for just white backlights instead of full RGB takes it down to $109, but you lose the option to use Low Profile Brown Gateron Mechanical Switches, with just Low Profile Red or Blue available.
Unlike other Keychron designs, there is no barebones S1 package available. The Keychron S1 comes fully assembled and ready to go out of the box.
Keychron S1 Design and Build Quality
The Keychron S1 is a low-profile mechanical keyboard with a maximum height of around 25mm at the rear with keycaps (Keychron gives this measurement as 13.7mm without keycaps… but you’re always going to need keycaps, so this measurement seems superfluous). The front height is around 13mm with keycaps, which gives a very gentle, almost imperceptible angle. There is also the option to install additional feet at the rear of the S1, which increases the height by 2.7mm.
Interestingly, I prefer the Keychron S1 without the additional feet, despite using most other keyboards with their integrated feet or some additional magnetic risers. For example, I found the five-degree incline of theKeychron Q8 too flat, which is very much at odds with my experience with the S1. The very slight angle and the low-profile design of the S1 mean your hands aren’t working as hard to cover the keyboard, and its overall size is good for my hands. The only time I occasionally opted for the additional feet was while using the S1 with my standing desk in its position.
The S1 is 118.4mm wide and 310.4mm long (7.42 x 12.22 inches) and has 84 keys (it’s a 75% keyboard). An 84-key design is exciting because it is very much in the optimization zone. What I mean here is that with 84 keys, you still get a full set of numbers, a full set of function keys, and some additional keys to play with, but the keyboard doesn’t feel large or like it takes up much room on your desk. In that, the Keychron S1 is well designed, packing in everything you want on the keyboard and extending its functionality through the integrated Function key and programmable layers.
Build quality is another plus point for the Keychron S1. Like other Keychron mechanical keyboards, the Keychron S1 is CNC machined aluminum, built extremely well, and comes with the all-important sound-absorbing foam layer to reduce the noise of your typing.
One thing to note is that while the Keychron S1 is a low-profile 75% keyboard, it isn’t lightweight like other compact keyboards. The Keychron S1 weighs 960g (34oz), a testament to its excellent build quality. However, that means you’re unlikely to sling it in your bag to use an alternative to your laptop keyboard. Still, the weight is worthwhile and makes for a better overall product.
Another Keychron S1 feature I really like is the north-facing RGB lights. With so many mechanical keyboards opting for south-facing RGB to maximize the effect of the LEDs, shifting the focus away from you is a nice change and makes some of the color transitions feel a little more ambient and calming. There are 22 different RGB color schemes to cycle through, plus various brightness levels, hue, saturation, and more.
The Keychron S1 is a wired-only keyboard. You’ll find a USB-C port at the rear of the keyboard, and a USB-C to USB-A cable is included in the box. While some may find the prospect of using a wired keyboard a little irksome (myself not included), rest assured, being wired means faster response time, no dropouts, and no worrying about battery life.
Keychron S1 Typing Experience
Your Keychron S1 typing experience will vary depending on the Gateron switches you choose. However, with the Gateron Low Profile Brown Switches, the typing experience is comfortable and fluid, as you’d expect with a brown switch (brown switches generally fit between the linear experience of a red switch and the clicky experience of a blue switch).
It’s not just the brown switches that aid the Keychron S1 typing experience, though. The Keychron S1’s low-profile double-shot PBT LSA keycaps have a smooth, circular, concave surface that offers minimal resistance as you transition from key to key, boosting your typing flow.
In terms of overall sound while typing, the Gateron Brown switches create some noise, as expected, but it’s nothing untoward. So long as you’re not smashing the keyboard with every keystroke, your typing volume won’t be of much note.
Keychron S1 Customization Options
Keychron is a company that values customization.
The Keychron S1 model we’re testing has hot-swappable mechanical switches, which means you could change the mechanical switches without breaking out the soldering iron. Instead, you can use the switch puller in the box to remove the keyboard switches (carefully!) and replace them with another compatible set. If you want to swap out the Keychron S1 switches, you’re looking for low-profile three-pin MX-compatible switches, but we’re not here to advise on that.
You can, of course, swap out the keycaps. The S1 keycaps are very easy to remove, requiring little effort to pop the keycaps off. They’re similarly easy to slot back into place.
Keychron S1 customization also comes through the QMK VIA software. VIA is a software package that allows you to customize keybinds, lighting controls, create macros, and adjust heaps of other settings. For example, the placement of the screenshot key on the S1 is just about the backspace key. If you find yourself hitting the screenshot key during a fast typing session, you’re able to use VIA to remap the screenshot key elsewhere.
The key tester in the latest version of VIA is also fantastic, as it plays different tones when you test if your keys are working properly. This isn’t down to Keychron; it’s just a fun thing to do.
Once you fire VIA up, it should automatically detect your Keychron S1.
Download: VIA forWindows, macOS, Linux(Free)
However, if VIA doesn’t recognize your Keychron S1 automatically, head toKeychron’s JSON file listand download the correct JSON file for your layout. Once downloaded, open the JSON file using VIA, and it’ll import your keyboard layout, customization options, and more.
Should You Buy the Keychron S1 Mechanical Keyboard?
I’m impressed with theKeychron S1. Keychron’s mechanical keyboards come with certain expectations—the build quality, the customization options, the typing experience—but it’s always nice when these expectations are hit.
What really sets theKeychron S1apart is the price. The fully hot-swappable RBG version we’re testing is $129, but you’re able to pick the Keychron S1 up for as little as $109. For a keyboard of this quality, that’s a brilliant proposition and one that may appeal to those looking to get into mechanical keyboards for the first time or who perhaps want a mechanical keyboard they can leave in the office.
You may well find other compact mechanical keyboards at a cheaper price. In fact, you certainly will. But rarely will you find one built this well, and that, along with the customization options, is what makes the Keychron S1 a great option.
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