Keychron has been on an absolute tear this year, releasing one keyboard after another in a cadence that puts other brands to shame. It’s no surprise: its Q-series has been one of the most impressive debuts we’ve ever seen in the world of mechanical keyboards. With stellar build quality, a suite of features taken directly from the custom keyboard community at a fraction of the price, and Bluetooth connectivity added with the launch of the Q Pro series, they’re great value keyboards that can elevate your typing and gaming experience.
Now that Keychron has covered just about every layout, we have the Q3 Pro SE, a wholly unique keyboard unlike anything we’ve seen before. Featuring an expanded TKL layout, it has four dedicated macro keys along the left for gaming, an oversized volume wheel, and an embellished aluminum case that’s more than a little unique. It also offers a stellar typing experience with Keychron’s new Banana switches. At $214, it’s on the expensive end but there’s nothing else out there quite like it and we’re enamored.
Specifications
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Keychron Q3 Pro SE - What Is It?
The Keychron Q3 Pro SE is a tenkeyless custom mechanical keyboard that’s packed with features to delight keyboard enthusiasts and gamers. The layout of the keys is mostly familiar but expands on the left with its macro keys and volume wheel. This is a keyboard that shouldn’t be judged by individual elements, however. It’s designed to be taken in and experienced as a whole first, so let’s do that.
When I first saw the Q3 Pro SE, I was surprised. It broke the mold compared to Keychron’s other Q-series keyboards, embracing an overstated aesthetic with its macro keys and volume wheel. But pictures do not do this keyboard justice. More than any keyboard I’ve ever reviewed, in person, it looks like it belongs on a space ship.
Like other Q-series keyboards, it features a fully aluminum case. Unlike those keyboards, this one features tall bevels around each group of keys and the individual macro buttons. There are exposed screws around the volume wheel and RGB indicator panel — literally, left to right they illuminate red, green, and blue. The bottom of the keyboard is similarly beveled with an italicized, all caps, logo. It’s as if someone stripped this from the bridge of a space ship.
The left side of the keyboard is especially interesting. The macro keys aren’t the typical single-unit keyboard keys. They’re long and rectangular and sit lowered than the rest of the keys, so you don’t need to worry about pressing them by accident. Interestingly, pulling them off reveals that they actually use Gateron low profile switches, so you could change them out if you like. The keycaps are entirely custom, however, so unless Keychron decides to sell sets just for this keyboard, the macro keys will be locked to these keycaps.
The keycaps on the remainder of the keyboard are also new. They’re tall KSA profile keycaps, which are similar to the SA profile found on Apple II computers and are now popular amongst keyboard enthusiasts. They take some getting used to if you’re coming from standard height OEM or Cherry profile keycaps, but their sculpt is very comfortable once you’re used to it. They’re made of doubleshot PBT plastic and are nice and thick for a sturdy feel under the fingers and satisfying acoustics.
The switches under those caps are available in your choice of Keychron K Pro Red, Brown, or Banana. There are no clicky options this time. Keychron’s switches come pre-lubed and are very good. I was sent a sample with Banana switches, which are like Keychron’s take on Holy Pandas, a highly tactile switch with the bump right on the top of the key press. They’re excellent, with consistent lubing, just enough pressure to bottom out and a long-pole stem for an extra pop to their sound profile. The keyboard also features hot-swap sockets so you can easily unplug your first choice and change them down the line.
The RGB on the keyboard is excellent. The keycaps aren’t don’t have translucent legends, so the lighting is purely backlight, but it looks great. There are many onboard effects to choose from and using pre-programmed shortcuts you can color customize them to match your unique setup. They also look great in the dark!
Before moving to the internals of the case, it’s important to note that Keychron is producing these in three colorways: Carbon Black, Olive Green, and Silver Gray (which we tested and gives off major SNES vibes). It’s also available as a barebones kit for $20 less but we would recommend picking it up assembled as the switches and keycaps are easily worth more than the slight price premium and it ships ready to go out of the box.
The keyboard also features native support for both Windows and MacOS right out of the gate. Your operating system is selected using a switch on the back. All of the Mac functions have their own legends along the function row, so it’s easy to swap between operating systems.
Additionally, as part of the Q Pro series, it also supports Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity with up to three devices. Using a key combination, you’re able to enter pairing mode and quickly connect to your device. From there, the connection is fast and stable — though I wouldn’t use it for high-speed gaming due to the latency built into Bluetooth connections. For slower paced games and work, it is perfect, however, and automatically reconnects when you swap to the appropriate channel for each device.
Returning to the inside of the case, the Q3 Pro SE carries through all of the enthusiast-grade features introduced by its predecessor. It features the double-gasket mounting structure where the plate and PCB sit on soft foam strips instead of screwing into the case itself. This creates a soft and flexible typing experience that’s also a bit quieter and less sharp to the ear when typing quickly. The second set of gaskets are small bits of silicone that separate the top and bottom halves of the case. This break in contact cuts reverberation from the top metal case from resounding throughout the bottom one.
Two additional layers of foam are built into its assembly. A layer of PORON switch foam sits between the plate and PCB, surrounding the switches. This isolates their sound and allows it to be more audible versus reverberation and reflections in the case. Beneath the PCB is another layer of foam intended to dampen reverberation and reduce hollowness that might otherwise sound.
In addition to pre-lubed switches, the keyboard also comes with pre-lubed screw-in stabilizers. Mine were generously lubed out of the box and didn’t require any additional modding on my part to remove rattle. That’s fantastic to see as many, if not most, pre-built keyboards require tweaks here to sound their best. Not the Q3 SE Pro.
And like the custom keyboards that inspired it, the keyboard utilizes VIA for all of its programming needs. This is a very good thing as VIA allows you to instantly remap keys and program multiple layers of commands, shortcuts, and macros using an easy to understand web app. These changes are stored instantaneously on the keyboard without any need to flash. They’re also stored at the firmware level, so no matter what computer or operating system you use, the keyboard will maintain its keymaps and macros.
VIA does have some shortcomings, however. As of this writing, VIA does not automatically recognize the Q3 Pro SE. You’ll need You will need to download the JSON file to load the keyboard into the site. Once you do a diagram of the keyboard will pop up and you can begin remapping. There’s no easy way to assign per key lighting schemes and programming complex macros is much more challenging than with gaming software. There’s no simple record button. For simple letters and numbers, you just type in what you want. But for modifier keys, you’ll need to enter the key command which forces you to look it up on the QMK website. And if you want to adjust your delays, you’re out of luck. Macros are simple and straightforward, anything more will require additional third-part software.
Keychron Q3 Pro SE - Performance
At this point, Keychron has refined its typing experience and this is one of the very best examples of what the Q-series has to offer. Right out of the box, it delivers a truly exceptional typing experience. Macro challenges aside, it’s also a pleasure to game on. A good keyboard is fun to use no matter what you’re doing at your PC, and that rule really carries the Q3 Pro SE across types on content.
The Keychron Banana switches really are great. The shorter travel distance is due to a longer stem inside the switch itself. This causes the stem to bottom out instead of the whole cross insert you see when you remove the keycaps. It changes the sound profile of the switches to make them lighter and poppier. Long pole switches are the current hotness in the custom keyboard world, and the Banana switches are a good example of a quality, yet affordable, long pole tactile done right. The lube job was also quite consistent across the board, making these switches smooth and nice to press across the entire keyboard.
The gasket mount implementation is also very well done. There’s a tiny amount of flex that’s visible just from normal typing. It doesn’t bounce under your fingers but that bit of movement certainly makes typing feel softer and more comfortable. The second set of gaskets also work well here. On past Q keyboards, I would apply my own force break mod, adding little bits of tape around the keyboard to make sure there was no contact. That wasn’t necessary here. It’s one of the first Q-series keyboards that really seems to have pulled this off well.
The high-profile keycaps also work very well on this board. SA-styled keycaps are always an acquired taste but the added space under each shell draws out and highlights typing sounds more, which is a plus since so much effort has gone into making sure it sounds good. The high profile and SNES-like color scheme really tie together the sci-fi aeshetic it’s going after too.
It’s also one of the most gaming-friendly keyboards Keychron has produced too. The left-side macro cluster puts chains and commands right as hand for easy access, but are low and uniquely shaped enough that you won’t hit them by mistake. Add in its support for multiple layers and you can quickly swap between multiple layouts that can be individualized for specific games. Connected using the wire, it also sports a 1,000Hz (1ms) polling rate and NKRO so you can send as many commands as you’re physically able to press and have them all register near-instantaneously.
Final Thoughts
All in all, while the look and keycaps might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s unique and really pretty great in its own way. The Q3 Pro SE carries through everything that made prior Q keyboards great and improves on a number of different elements to make it one of the very best typing experiences Keychron has produced yet. It may just be my favorite Q-series keyboard of all — and I didn’t expect to say that going in. If you can get behind its style, it’s absolutely worth picking up.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.
