I’ve never been a gamer or reached for one for the best gaming keyboards, but everything changed when I picked up the Keychron C1 Pro 8K. When I was younger, I’d sit and watch my brother play video games and be shocked at how quickly he could hit the keys, but now I understand a lot of it is down to the keyboard.
With the right keyboard, your gameplay can be smoother and more reliable. The Keychron C1 Pro 8K can be customized to suit whatever the situation calls for. Need faster switches or comfier keycaps? No problem, the whole deck is hot swappable.
For only $54, this board has a lot to give, and I have to admit, it's made a gamer out of me.
Comfortable typing at a low price
I've used this keyboard every single day for weeks now. It's my reliable keyboard for work in my home office, and then it moves over to the PC for some evening game play. It’s the definition of an all-rounder.
Whenever I test out a new keyboard, it's part of the testing process here at Tom’s Guide to take a typing speed test. And this keyboard gave me the speediest results I've ever had. And these results were down to the comfortable OSA keycaps and the profile of the keyboard.
The OSA keycaps are medium-tall profile with bevelled tops and rounded edges that guided my fingers from key to key with ease. When paired with the Keychron Banana super-switches, the keys are bouncy and propel my fingers across the board.
And the rake of the keyboard is varied from the back to the front of the board, with the top row being the tallest. This allows for easy access to all keys, and meant I wasn’t accidentally hitting any keys on my way back down the board, and every tap was intentional.
The rake is also improved further with the use of the feet on the underside of the board. These can elevate the board from the back to an angle of 8.5º or 10.7º, depending on your preference. This made typing so much more comfortable.
Only a wired option
When I first picked up the board, I thought that it being wired only was a negative thing. But it’s actually something that I have come to appreciate.
A wired-only board will be a no-go for people who appreciate the convenience of multipoint connectivity with Bluetooth or a wireless dongle. But for anyone who isn’t jumping between multiple devices, I think wired is the way to go.
It means I can make the most of the 8K polling rate, not have to worry about the board running low on battery, and make the most of the classic Keychron lighting options. I have also been caught out a few times with Bluetooth connectivity issues on my Laptop, so this completely mitigates that risk.
For speed demons
As I mentioned briefly, the 8,000Hz polling rate of the Keychron C1 Pro 8K is a very big win. It means the board is incredibly fast, and the risk of any missed key inputs is significantly reduced. Although I am no professional gamer, and it will make no real difference to me, the reassurance that every input is caught is ideal.
If you do think this polling rate is unnecessary, though, you can head to the Keychron Launcher site and reduce the polling rate of the board. This will also reduce the amount of power the keyboard needs, and if you have it plugged into your laptop like I do, it will save some juice.
You can find out more about what makes this keyboard so great in my full Keychron C1 Pro 8K review.
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