Keychron C3 Pro review: A new budget keyboard contender

Price When Reviewed

$34.99

Best Prices Today: Keychron C3 Pro keyboard

$36.99

Mechanical keyboards are my favourite little bit of PC accent tech, however I wouldn’t blame anybody for balking at a few of their costs. A “gaming” board from a serious model begins at about $100, and extra premium examples can stretch towards $300 or beyond. The sky’s the restrict for customized or boutique builds, however your choices for price range designs from dependable distributors are fairly restricted. Keychron is able to buck that pattern with the brand new C collection.

The C3 Pro collects a smattering of Keychron’s greatest options with a teeny-tiny worth, simply $35. For that you just get single-color backlighting, inner foam and a gasket mount, a alternative of linear or tactile switches, and maybe most crucially, programming choices with QMK and VIA. It’s a really totally different beast from the keyboards that Keychron has been making for the final couple of years, notably with a full plastic physique and ABS keycaps. But the mixture of options and high quality makes it the brand new price range board to beat.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best mechanical keyboards to study competing merchandise.

A examine in compromise

The C3 Pro is a TKL board, that means “tenkeyless,” whereby the quantity part on the suitable of a full-sized design is chopped off. While eschewing the complete aluminum case and rainbow lighting of Keychron’s costlier designs, this board nonetheless gives a contact of aptitude with crimson Space, Enter, and Escape keys, matching the crimson backlighting. (Black alternates come within the field if you would like a extra button-down look.)

Michael Crider/Foundry

Though this isn’t a gaming keyboard particularly, you would be forgiven for considering it’s, particularly with the crimson LED flare lights on either side. The crimson theme may be enhanced with the backlighting, which shines by way of the ABS keycaps. These are a bit smoother and cheaper than the PBT keycaps supplied on many keyboards (even some less expensive ones). But they’re fairly first rate doubleshot plastic, that means the legends won’t ever put on down irrespective of what number of TPS stories you full.

Look intently at these legends, and you may see a little bit of Keychron’s legacy as a Mac-first keyboard maker. Some white printing on the Function row on the Win and Alt keys reveals their Mac keyboard equivalents — urgent Fn + Caps will change to a Mac format. Fortunately for us PC die-hards, the legends additionally double for the perform layer for many of those keys, together with media and quantity controls.

Michael Crider/Foundry

Lighting is available in any coloration you need, as long as you need crimson. Again, that is an appropriate trade-off for the value, although I think about some customers would have most well-liked white. Fn + Q will cycle by way of 14 pre-programmed results, that are fairly first rate as this stuff go, particularly with the added aptitude of the facet lights. Fn + Tab turns them off.

Michael Crider/Foundry

The remainder of the board is pretty typical. Underneath is a set of two-stage ft, very helpful for adjusting the typing angle, and a few much-appreciated routing for the removable USB-C cable. (This is a characteristic that Keychron doesn’t have on its hefty Q collection boards, by the way in which — presumably placing these grooves into aluminum could be way more costly.) The cable isn’t braided, and it’s weirdly onerous to plug in with its flanged head, however upon getting it arrange you don’t want to consider it once more.

Typing and programming

The typing expertise on the C3 Pro is fairly good, and punching approach above its weight class by way of worth. I’m guessing that the “Keychron branded” linear switches on my evaluate unit are in all probability re-badged price range switches from Kailh or Gateron, and so they’re undoubtedly not as clean as those on the pricier fashions. But because of high-quality stabilizers and a little generous give from the gasket mount, which suspends the principle deck in two layers of froth, typing is downright nice occasion for prolonged durations. It’s a bit quieter than common, too, because of some additional inner foam.

Michael Crider/Foundry

The keyboard’s format is normal TKL, which suggests you should utilize the included keycap device to take away the caps and provide your personal, assured that they’ll all match appropriately. Sadly, the switches are soldered in place, so that you received’t be changing them any time quickly. Again that is pretty typical of boards at this worth (or perhaps a a lot larger one), however no less than one instance has confirmed that it’s doable. The plastic case additionally has no uncovered screws, so this isn’t a design meant for heavy customization, both outdoors or in.

But there’s a fairly large benefit that the C3 Pro has over a few of its price range competitors, and it’s why this design will get “Pro” within the title. Like among the firm’s costlier fashions, it may be programmed with the favored QMK or VIA open-source instruments. While that is much less instantly crucial than it could be for, say, a 60% board, it’s nonetheless a premium characteristic that you just hardly ever see at this worth stage (even with proprietary “gaming” software). It’s a lot appreciated.

Michael Crider/Foundry

Actually getting the extra user-friendly VIA up and operating for the keyboard is a bit unintuitive, requiring you to load up the online interface, authorize the board, and then upload a format file. Once in place, you get a regular and performance layer for each Windows and Mac configurations, which ought to be greater than sufficient for everybody.

Is the Keychron C3 Pro an excellent deal?

The C3 Pro is, objectively, a implausible deal. Its mixture of options and {hardware} at this worth could be unbeatable…if it weren’t for one different keyboard I’ve examined this 12 months. The G.Skill KM250, at simply $5 extra, is unquestionably going for a similar price range crown.

The G.Skill keyboard contains RGB lighting, PBT “pudding” keycaps, a rotary quantity dial, and hot-swap change sockets that allow you to customise the texture of the board to a a lot higher diploma. On the opposite hand, it’s missing the VIA programming featured on Keychron’s keyboard, and with its extra compact measurement, it may actually use it. It additionally doesn’t have a gasket-mounted deck, making it a bit stiffer, although it does have a few of that very same sound-damping inner foam.

Michael Crider/Foundry

Honestly, the most important distinction between these two boards is the obvious one: the scale. Keychron gives a regular TKL format that’s simpler to get accustomed to, whereas G.Skill’s 65% is comparatively tiny, however requires a little bit of person adjustment. If you’re selecting between the 2 and it’s a toss-up, go together with the one which appeals primarily based on the format.

Conclusion

Michael Crider/Foundry

Keychron has confirmed that it could compete within the high-end, triple-digit phase of the keyboard market, with tons of various designs and codecs. The C3 Pro demonstrates that the corporate can nonetheless make a fantastic board on a price range. While it’s missing the premium switches, PBT keycaps, and adaptability of fancier keyboards, it’s practically inconceivable to beat dollar-for-dollar. Unless you completely want hot-swap switches (through which case, go for the G.Skill KM250), it’s a implausible alternative.