Review on Gateron Brown Switch QMK Keychron K3 Pro 84 Key Wireless Ultra-Slim Mechanical Keyboard RGB Backlit by Wiktor Janic ᠌

Name: Gateron Brown Switch QMK Keychron K3 Pro 84 Key Wireless Ultra-Slim Mechanical Keyboard RGB Backlit
Item: Gateron Brown Switch QMK Keychron K3 Pro 84 Key Wireless Ultra-Slim Mechanical Keyboard RGB Backlit
Rating: 5

May 24, 2023

Good quality product, the price is commensurate with the quality.

Before that, I used only full-sized claves, and the transition to such a baby did not cause any inconvenience, because I set up a digital block for myself with a second layer under my left hand.

In general, think for yourself. Do you need it or not?)
If you need QMK capabilities, then take it. If not, then you can do something simpler and cheaper. Lots of options.

I would advise her to work as an engineer in an inverter, solid or compass, for a sound designer like me, or a programmer. Together with a good mouse a la Logitech 502 or 604, the work is done easily and effortlessly.
And also for those who are interested in spending time and delving into the firmware settings, and all the functions, as well as reading forums with a clumsy translation from English.

If you are programming for YOU, then do not be afraid. I had to delve into it for a long time, because I’m a complete boots in programming and I can’t distinguish C sharp from Python) And before that I wasn’t a goer on github at all.

Pros

The first QMK keyboard for me. took for flexible settings and work. I work in daw reaper and use a lot of modifier keys, hotkeys, etc. The keyboard allows you to customize yourself so that, without taking your left hand off the comfortable keys, you can cover almost all the need for combinations. Starting from setting the digital block to the second layer, ending with the ability to play it like a MIDI keyboard. QMK allows you to use the keyboard as a midi device. There is no point in describing all the charms. Read the doc. by QMK. Specifically, this clave is convenient for me. Small, wireless, well-coordinated, Looks solid. Not flashy childish - gamer with cosmic shapes, or ridiculously clown colored keys. Tactile-pleasant, compact.

Cons

I threw out a few days from my life to understand how to flash it, and to fix the firmware itself. Out of the box, it works with via and vial, but without additional. functions like combos or tap dance, although that's what I was counting on. I had to look for solutions. After creating your own firmware, until you managed to make it work with VIAL, only with the VIA web interface, but when you start poking around in keymap. C, in principle, all sorts of interfaces are no longer important to you. Although it would be nice and convenient. If someone has experience in setting up VIAL, then share it, I will be grateful. I hope that soon its support will be added to vial. So far, there is no ready-made firmware for it on the github. And I could not compile the firmware for vial. VIAL provides deeper and more flexible customization than VIA. I can't get past such a nuance as opaque plastic on the keys. That is, I thought that the engraving under the letters would shine through, but they are simply applied with paint. Accordingly, in the dark, you can see the gaps between the keys, but the keys themselves are not. But I think that this is a minus only for those who can not print. For if a person takes the clave for printing, then his fingers themselves remember everything, and he does not need any illumination anyway. And a simple user for games or for rare office tasks does not need such a keyboard at all. There are much simpler and cheaper solutions. In general, the logic of the manufacturer is clear. But if you think about it, it's all right. The letters are printed in white so that in wireless mode you do not turn on the backlight and put the battery down once again, and so that everything can be seen. If you make them transparent, then without highlighting the letters will be hard to read. So everything is logical and correct. So it's a feature, not a minus. In place of the manufacturer, I would be guided by the same logic.