Review: Keychron Q16 HE 8K

The Keychron Q16 exists primarily for spectacle. It takes the trend of ceramic keycaps and chases it to its logical conclusion. As much as I have liked many of Keychron’s unique offerings from the past, the newer Q16—an “all-ceramic” keyboard—sacrifices a lot for that novelty.

The Q16 HE 8K is also one of Keychron’s first forays into the world of TMR (tunneling magnetoresistance) switches. These are technically distinct from Hall effect switches, promising superior performance across most metrics, while still providing the same level of customization and adjustment. However, these switches don’t make up for the rest of the keyboard, especially when Keychron is rolling out this technology to other models that are less conceptually flawed.

Ceramic Panic

Photograph: Henri Robbins

This is definitely an interesting keyboard. The ceramic keycaps and case feel like a different kind of ceramic than keycaps from Cerakeys, with a ceramic/plastic hybrid feel. They feel less dense than the fine china that sits behind glass in your grandmother’s dining room. The glaze also feels more plasticky than other ceramic products, feeling like a blend between a glaze and a spray-on gloss coat. These keycaps are not bad, per se, but they certainly don’t feel (or sound) quite as premium as the “ceramic” branding implies.

The keyboard has a slightly hollow noise when typing, with a distinct, rounded top end and a lot of sound coming in from the midrange. I can’t say I like the typing sound, personally. The case is weirdly resonant, while the impact of the keycaps has a slightly deep tone that’s awkward and dull. Certainly not the “marbly” tone that ceramic keycaps are lauded for.

The worst part of this keyboard is the spacebar, which has a warbly resonance to it and is much deeper than the other keys. Releasing it after pressing, there is a vibration on the upstroke that creates an unpleasant, deep “pop” noise. The vibration is severe enough that it resonates through my entire desk, and I can feel it through my wrists when typing. While this sensation is lessened by a deskmat, it is not eliminated and creates an unpleasant bump between every word.

The keycaps are not as thick as they need to be, and, as a result, the LED lighting can be seen shining through the thinnest parts of the keycaps in a darker environment. Multiple keycaps look slightly misaligned, with the top of the key being higher or lower on one side than the other. While this is most noticeable on the longer Enter key, it can also be observed on a few of the standard-sized keys, like the S and K keys on the unit I received. While this likely won’t be noticeable or bothersome to some (it doesn’t have a significant impact on typing), it’s far below the standard I expect for a $200-plus keyboard.

The keycaps and case also pick up fingerprints incredibly easily. You can see them clearly in quite a few of the photos here. This is one of the major issues with any particularly glossy material, and it is made especially obvious here.

Good Bones

Photograph: Henri Robbins

As usual from Keychron, the non-ceramic parts are great: smooth factory-lubed switches, precise sensors, and a great interface for customization. You can easily adjust actuation distance, enable rapid trigger, and adjust the keyboard’s RGB LEDs. However, the ceramic keycaps even impact the lighting. When enabled, the LEDs shine through the bottom halves of the keycaps, but don’t illuminate the top at all, creating an inconsistent lighting profile that looks bad.

The internals of this keyboard are unique. Instead of standard Hall effect equipment, the Q16 is one of Keychron's first keyboards to utilize TMR sensors. These are very similar to standard Hall effect switches, but they have a few key differences. The largest benefits are their improved accuracy and reduced power draw compared to Hall effect sensors, while the downsides are primarily their increased price and a lack of development.

For gaming, these switches are great. They’re fast and responsive, returning quickly after being pressed and having quite a few ways to adjust their performance. The Rapid Triggers setting allows for switches to immediately be pressed again after they’re released (as opposed to waiting for the switch to reset past its original actuation point), and the SOCD (simultaneous opposing cardinal direction) settings allow for opposite movements (typically A and D, for strafing) to override one another when both are pressed at the same time. This means when A is pressed, then D is pressed, the D key will take priority and disable input from the A key. Inputs feel near-instantaneous with 8,000-Hz polling, and the switches’ actuation distance can easily be adjusted in Keychron’s Launcher software. Besides minute differences in performance and accuracy, these switches perform identically to standard Hall effect switches, maintaining all of the features that HE switches are known for.

To fully explain what a tunneling magnetoresistance sensor is, I would need a background in quantum physics, which I do not have. However, I can attempt to explain it in a rudimentary way. Tunneling magnetoresistance is closely related to quantum tunneling, a phenomenon where a subatomic particle passes through a barrier that it should not be able to pass through. This happens because subatomic particles are both particles and waves at the same time. In a TMR sensor, two ferromagnets essentially pass these subatomic wave-particles—in this case, electrons—between an ultrathin barrier. This causes the levels of magnetism in the two magnets to change as they come closer together. A sensor detects this change in magnetism and uses it to determine how far the switch has been pressed. It’s kind of like two magnets are playing tennis, the electrons are a tennis ball, and the TMR sensor is a chair umpire watching it happen.

If this sounds utterly insane to you, or if quantum subatomic particles sound far too high-tech to be in a consumer-grade keyboard, you’re not alone. I find the entire thing deeply strange, and using this keyboard makes me feel vaguely uncomfortable for reasons I can’t properly explain or justify. But I can assure you that there is zero danger in using this keyboard—you won’t accidentally split an atom or give yourself radiation poisoning, no matter how radioactive the light green ceramic keycaps may look. And if I look beyond my Luddite-like distaste for quantum typing, the switches in this keyboard are a marvel of modern engineering that, from an objective perspective, I quite like.

Tasteful or Trend-Chasing?

Photograph: Henri Robbins

Keychron has made keyboards that followed trends before. Look at the K2 HE Special Edition, a keyboard that matches perfectly with the Fractal North PC tower. It’s a great keyboard. The mid-century modern styling elevated the keyboard and made it something truly special. It had purpose, direction, and a reason to exist.

Conversely, the Q16 HE 8K feels like it’s trying to be a spectacle instead of a genuinely good keyboard. More than that, it feels underdeveloped. The end product’s unique features don’t justify themselves: The ceramic case doesn’t look better than a plastic case, it doesn’t sound better than a metal one, nor does it create an improved typing feel. The keycaps do have an exceptionally smooth surface, but their aesthetics don’t hold up when illuminated, and they don’t contribute to a particularly unique or groundbreaking typing sound. If it weren’t for the popularity of ceramic keycaps, this keyboard likely would not exist in this form. Instead, the keyboard’s incredibly impressive TMR switches would be front and center.

Despite my conceptual issues with this keyboard, it is still very well built. While the external materials are atypical, the internals are exactly what I want to see when opening up a keyboard. Being a tray mount, the keyboard can be disassembled easily by removing a few screws underneath the keycaps. Once those are out, the entire printed circuit board (PCB) and plate can be lifted out of the case effortlessly. You’ll see a set of brass posts that the screws were embedded in—most keyboards use plastic posts, which can easily wear away over time, so this is a welcome improvement. Surrounding these are small silicone cylinders. These are presumably meant to reduce vibrations and rattles when typing, and considering how much the spacebar still creates resonance with them installed, I imagine they are very necessary.

Photograph: Henri Robbins

The only noteworthy component is a separate daughterboard. This allows the PCB to be placed lower in the case, and prevents typing vibrations from being transferred to the USB-C port on the back. This daughterboard also hosts the switch to swap between Windows and MacOS, which means there’s no risk of damaging this switch in disassembly (an issue quite a few other keyboards don’t address).

The keycaps also opt for a second fastening material, with each one of them connecting to the switch underneath with a small plastic stem that’s been glued on. Both this and the brass fittings inside the case are a welcome choice, since ceramic materials do not like to stretch or experience friction (some of the earliest ceramic keycaps used all-ceramic stems, and the stems were well known for shattering randomly when put on keycaps).

If you want a keyboard with TMR switches, consider Keychron’s gaming-focused sister brand, Lemokey. Or wait for Keychron to introduce a TMR-based keyboard with a normal case and plastic keycaps. Even then, a TMR keyboard runs into the same issue of Keychron’s Hall effect switches: As Keychron makes proprietary designs, there is no aftermarket for customization or modification. If you don’t like the included Lime switches, you don’t really have any other options. This is the exact opposite of mechanical keyboards today.