GoKawiilis a reviewer covering laptops and the occasional gadget. He spent over 15 years in the photography industry before joining The Verge as a deals writer in 2021.
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Keychron’s expansive keyboard catalog covers everything from basic full-size mechanical boards to niche layouts like southpaw Alice or a one-handed half-keyboard for gaming. Its Q and V series are among our go-to recommendations for off-the-shelf keyboards, and the latest iterations — the Q and V Ultra models — are a straightforward upgrade to the lineup, with benefits for regular users and deep-in-the-weeds keyboard nerds alike.
I’ve been testing two Ultra keyboards: the Keychron V5 Ultra 8K and Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K. The $119.99 V5 Ultra is a near-full-size 1800-layout board with a number pad in a plastic case, while the $229.99 Q1 Ultra is a 75-percent layout (my preferred size) with a much heavier milled-aluminum chassis and much more robust build and typing feel. Aside from case material and layout, they’re very similar keyboards that are both excellent.
The Ultra 8K lines are the highest-end versions of the V5 and Q1 keyboards to date, preceded by the Max versions (which added 1,000Hz 2.4GHz wireless) and Pro models (which first went wireless with just Bluetooth). The 2.4GHz wireless connections have been upgraded from 1,000Hz polling to 8,000Hz (hence the 8K suffix) for maintaining fast response times — especially when gaming. Most people won’t notice the difference, but that’s not the reason to get the Ultra anyway.
Unlike the older Q and V series boards, the Ultras run on ZMK, an open-source firmware often used by advanced keyboard enthusiasts (absolute sickos) for building their own custom boards. ZMK is powerful, but updating keymaps can be a pain, and ZMK’s remapping software is less polished than the options like Via or Vial that are available for QMK-based boards. (Keychron’s older keyboards run on QMK.) Fortunately, the Ultra boards use Keychron’s browser-based Launcher software to remap keys, dial in customized lighting patterns, or set macros, just like other Keychron models.
The V5 only adds about 2.5 inches of length over a 75 percent board like the Q1. I still prefer the smaller layout, but 1800 format is a nice alternative to full-size.
ZMK’s most obvious benefit for most people is its battery efficiency. It’s the reason Keychron claims you can get up to 660 hours of use on an Ultra 8K board — about four times longer than its claims for the Max models. If you use your keyboard for about eight hours a day with the backlight off, that’s 83 days before you’re bothered to plug in — or longer, if you’re using Bluetooth. It’s not the one to two years of battery some membrane keyboards offer, but this kind of battery life in a mechanical keyboard was unheard of not long ago. Even some of the best wireless mechanical keyboards from recent years usually require charging every other week or so (depending on your usage).
This marathon-level battery life goes a long way to making the V5 Ultra and Q1 Ultra my favorite Keychrons so far. And now that I’m spoiled by it, I hope other manufacturers follow suit with ZMK boards of their own. The V series and Q series were already very good keyboards available in tons of layouts, so not having to charge them as frequently is a nice plus. The 8,000Hz polling, on the other hand, is a “Sure, why not” kind of benefit. Maybe esports champs using the fastest monitors can tell the difference between 1,000Hz and 8,000Hz. Maybe.
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