I have been using a cheap TKL AliExpress hot swap board for a little while, and I want to upgrade because:
- I miss the numpad
- Build quality is better than the average membrane keyboard, but still not great
I’m planning to get the keychron V6 because it is is one of the few keyboards that are:
- Not ultra expensive
- Full size
- Has a knob for volume control
- Reasonable build quality
- Hot swap
- QMK/VIA support is nice
The only issue is that I am not sure what switches and keycaps to get. I was considering saving my money and going with stock switches (keychron k pro reds) and keycaps (in-house “OSA” profile), but I do not know if I will like this keycap profile. My current board has OEM profile keycaps, and those are fine, but I want to try more “spherical” rather than “cylindrical” profiles, and it doesn’t seem like the stock keychron keycaps are particularly spherical, at least in photos. If they are more spherical in person, I might go this route.
My other plan I was considering was to try keychron’s other in-house profile, “KSA”, which seems more spherical to me (https://www.keychron.com/products/double-shot-ksa-pbt-keycap-full-keycap-set), or maybe a mt3 set (but I’m not sure about getting an abs set, my current keycaps are getting shiny). For switches, I was thinking of buying the tried-and-true gateron milky yellows, but I am not sure if there are better bang for the buck options out there for smooth linear switches.
TL;DR: Should I go with stock switches and keycaps to start out? Or should I get the bare bones keychron V6, a spherical keycap set (KSA or mt3), and budget linears like gateron milky yellows?
Before I spent more money and since you seem to like linears maybe just lube the reds and see if you like them after a few weeks. If you decide you don’t like them all you lost was time.
Same with the default profile/keys. Give them a shot and decide if you like them before you spend money. I didn’t think I liked my SA profile keys at first but after a week I started to love them.
That seems like a good plan. I just realized that the extra $20 (from barebones -> switches+keycaps) for switches AND double shot pbt keycaps is a good deal anyway. If I don’t like the keycaps, I can move the stock keycaps to my old keyboard to give it an upgrade before letting my brother have it. Then, I could check out keychron’s KSA keycaps to replace them. The kalih box reds on my current board are perfectly usable imo, so if keychron’s version of red switches is comparable, I will be fine with regards to the switches.