Hi all, I have a quick and possibly very simple question. I have a keychron V6 with red switches being delivered to me tomorrow. I just want to know what switches and keycaps will fit this keyboard? This is my very first mechanical/swappable keyboard and I know nothing about it. I want to try other switches, mainly brown, blue and yellow. Also want to have a different look keycaps every now and then. I’ve searched on their site, but I had no idea which ones to choose. lol Thanks in advance.
Milktooth (https://milktooth.nu) will let you try 10 different switches for $15. Worth it to save you the trouble of buying multiple sets of switches before finding ones you like.
Wouldn’t that be too expensive for a full size keyboard? They sell 10 switches for $4+. Don’t I like need over 100 of them for my keyboard?
Think of it as a sampler. You get a sample of 10 different switches, 5 of each kind of your choosing, and then return the sampler after 5 days. When you find the switch you like, you can buy a whole set for your keyboard.
You should choose some keycap from brand GMK, JTK, Keykobo, PBTfans, EPBT. For switchers, start with entry, easy to find brand like Gateron, KTT. They are good brand, also if you want to save some money, you can buy used keycaps, and switches, the quality doesn’t drop.
As some other commenters said, find a tester and see what you like when it comes to switches.
I’m personally a big fan of linears but I’ve been warming up to tactiles though I’m a big cherry brown hater.
Atm my main keeb has SP-star tactiles and they feel pretty good compared to other tacts I’ve tried. (though i haven’t tried some all stars like the bobas or holy pandas)
My favorite linears (that aren’t in the zealios family) are probably Durock L2s though I’m very partial to Tangerines. Good starter switches are milky yellows and inky blacks as well. You can’t really go wrong with cherry reds though.
As to keycaps, You can’t really go wrong as long as you find something that’ll fit your keeb size. The keychron V6 is a full size board so look for anything that has enough caps for full size boards.
Double shot PBT is pretty sought after for caps because the legends on each key are their own layer of plastic rather than just being painted on like some OEM keycaps. Pudding caps are very nice if you’re not looking for anything too expensive or fancy. There’s a world of keycap profiles as well, you can take a look here: https://www.keycaps.info/
OEM and cherry profile are what most people are probably familiar with. I heavily prefer SA profile as it’s a sculpted profile (meaning it has a nice dip on each key for your fingers.) Though I do enjoy DSA as well. (on DSA profile every key cap has the same shape and height)
I’d recommend you get a nice OEM profile set first though before splurging later on a different profile.
As for switches, I bought a cheap sample kit from Amazon to test a few of them, it was incredibly helpful as someone new to mechanical keyboards.
Keycaps are easy, anything MX compatible (which is like most of them) will work. Since the V6 is a 100% it’s even easier, since it’s a standard layout and you don’t need to look for extended keycap sets that have keys to correspond to certain layout types.
Switches you need to just bite the bullet every now and then. A tester only will get you so far. Expect to make a few regretful purchases from time to time.
Thank you. That’s basically what I realized. Watching youtube videos and having a tester won’t cut it, as switches tend to sound different on different keyboards. So, like you said I’ll probably be buying a couple of sets that I won’t like until I find something that works for me. As for the key caps. The only issue I’m facing at the moment is finding the actual keychron ones. The keychron ones have double legends (is that what the letters are called on caps?) Like on the F buttons, it shows the F and another icon like the sound or mute etc. I couldn’t find any set that has that. Also, above the numpad there are 4 extra keys that I really like, circle, square, triangle and an X and I’m not sure what to replace those with.
The 4 icons are just for you to customise with.
Double legends are meaningless on a fully programmable keyboard. Just use VIA and take a screenshot of your layers if you’re worried about forgetting.
