Keychron Q65 Max review: Someone FINALLY made the 65% layout practical

Money can’t buy happiness but it can buy you the fantastic Keychron Q65 Max keyboard for maximum productivity, and who doesn’t feel good about themselves when they’ve smashed their tasks for the day? The Q65 Max is a solid piece of metal, literally, thanks to its full CNC-machined aluminum build. It’s lovely to type on, and with a 1,000Hz polling rate, it’s great for casual gaming too. Sporting a 65% layout with a twist, you get a row of four dedicated macro keys and a customizable control knob, making this keyboard much easier to work with than typical 65% layouts.

But let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the price. The Q65 Max has a steep $209 price tag while facing fierce competition from the best mechanical keyboards. Should you still buy it? Find out in my full Keychron Q65 Max review.

Keychron Q65 Max review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A full-metal wireless mechanical keyboard with a 65% layout
• Who is it for? Serious typists and casual gamers
• How much does it cost? An eye-watering $209 / £184
• What do we like? The all-metal build, practical 65% layout with a twist, lovely typing and casual gaming performance, and web-based companion software
• What don’t we like? It’s very expensive!

Keychron Q65 Max review: Specs

Keychron Q65 Max review: The ups

The Keychron Q65 Max is a very easy-to-love keyboard thanks to its full-metal sturdy construction, awesome typing and casual gaming performance and web-based software.

Very, very sturdy

The Keychron Q65 Max, much like the other keyboards in the keyboard giant’s Q-series, is an extremely sturdy keyboard as it’s made entirely of metal. There’s no trace of any plastic used anywhere. That’s why this is a heavy keyboard, weighing 5.33lbs, so it’s meant to stay firmly on your desk. It’s made of full CNC machined aluminum, and it’s just as heavy as the Keychron Q14 Max (5.4lbs, $209) and the Keychron Q6 (5.3lbs, $195).

You’re getting bang for your buck here, as the Q65 Max is fitted with double-shot PBT keycaps that feel high quality, and a metallic knob in the top left corner that can be customized to adjust volume or even zoom in or out. The all-metal build also means there’s zero flex in the body which we’ve seen a lot in keyboards made of plastic, like the Epomaker EK68 ($89) or the McHose X75 V2 ($89).

Keychron says that the Q65 Max’s switches come pre-lubed, which means they’ve been lubricated beforehand for a smooth typing experience right out of the box. While most of the Q65 Max’s switches worked well, I can’t say the same of the spacebar’s switch. When I pressed the spacebar, it got stuck and wouldn’t spring back up.

The solution? Buying keyboard lube for $9 at Amazon. I then removed the spacebar, took the switch apart, applied the lube with the included brush, popped it back in and that fixed the problem. This shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place as, like I said, these switches are meant to come pre-lubed. If you ever need to do this — and I hope you don’t — this YouTube tutorial will serve you well. In fairness, this is the first Keychron keyboard we’ve ever tested (and we’ve tested a lot) that has ever needed any switches lubed, so this is likely just an isolated event and therefore not a major flaw.

Macro-management

Keeping with the 65 moniker in its name, the Keychron Q65 Max sports a 65% layout so there’s no row of function keys — but there’s a twist. The left-hand side of the keyboard houses an extra column consisting of four programmable macro keys. You can assign to those some of the functions you lose with the removal of the Fn row on 65% decks, making this a much easier ‘board to use for productivity than a typical 65%. I really appreciate that there’s a small gap between the macro keys and the rest of the keys, too, as this means I didn’t accidentally hit one.

Thanks to its 65% layout the Q65 Max only measures 14.2 x 4.7 x 1.3 inches, so you can angle it any way you like, and it gives you more space to move your mouse around freely — a useful feature if you want to use this keyboard for gaming. Its heavy weight also ensures that it stays in place so you don’t unintentionally move or knock it about while in the heat of battle.

Most keyboards I’ve tested have a knob for volume control in the top right corner, and I’m glad the Q65 Max’s is on the opposite side. This means that I don’t have to let go of my mouse when adjusting volume or zooming in. I think that’s a fantastic and practical design choice, and now I don’t want to go back to a keyboard that places the knob in the right corner, like the Keychron V1 ($94) or the Epomaker RT100 ($115).

Lovely typing experience

You know me: I’m a writer who bashes out nearly 7,500 words or more every week. So you know I’m going to put a keyboard through its paces to determine whether it’s actually good for typing. And the Keychron Q65 Max? This is a productivity beast. First, it’s fully hot-swappable and compatible with 3- and 5-pin mechanical switches, so you can change them when you like without de- and re-soldering them to the PCB.

Second, the stock Gateron Jupiter switches themselves are awesome. I tested the Gateron Jupiter Banana tactile switches. At first, I was a little skeptical as I’d just finished testing the Keychron K8 V2 ($79) with its Super Switch Banana ones (57g), and I found them very heavy and fatiguing. However, the Jupiter switches had the opposite effect, even though they require 59g of force to register a press. Jupiter Banana switches utilize a two-stage spring to provide a stronger return and a more consistent feel, which I found easier on my digits.

The Q65 Max has a double-gasket design which not only reduces metallic pings and acoustic resonance but offers a softer typing experience too. Combined with this, the heavy Banana switches don’t feel anywhere near as heavy as the Keychron Supers. I’d still prefer Red linear switches, so thank goodness the Q65 Max is hot-swappable. The Jupiter Banana switches also have a 2mm pre-travel distance, which is how far down a switch needs to be pressed to activate it. This means that you don’t need to press it all the way down, which results in faster typing speeds. Also, shorter travel distances mean your hands won’t get too tired even when typing for long periods of time.

As I mentioned earlier, the double-gasket design negates any metallic pings compared to traditional single-gasket keyboards. And I didn’t hear any unwanted sounds. The overall sound profile of the Q65 Max is fantastic and well-balanced. Also, the KSA profile keycaps feel pleasant to touch and are very comfortable during long typing stints.

I took a typing test at 10fastfingers.com to see how the Q65 Max compared to other keyboards I’ve tested, and you can see the results above. This is a lovely keyboard to type on, even with the heavy Banana switches, and I achieved above average typing speeds and around average accuracy.

Great for casual gaming

I’m primarily a console gamer, sinking hours on my PS5 Slim, but I do like gaming on our testing laptop when testing peripherals. If you want a mechanical keyboard that can hold its own in some casual gaming, I’m here to tell you the Keychron Q65 Max is the one you’re looking for, perfect for when you want to play a couple rounds of Counter-Strike 2 between tasks. The keyboard has a 1,000Hz polling rate which ensures you don’t experience any latency issues over the wired or 2.4GHz connection.

If you want to treat this as a serious casual gaming keyboard (pardon the oxymoron), I’d recommend swapping the Banana or Brown switches out for Red linears at checkout. The Jupiter Reds require 45g of force and have a pre-travel distance of 2mm. Your hands won’t feel as tired as they may using Browns or Bananas.

I put the Q65 Max to the test by playing a couple hours of CS2 and Baldur’s Gate 3 and Hitman (2016) on a Windows 11 laptop. Like I said, I really appreciate the 65% layout as it gave me a lot of room to move my mouse around during all three games. The KSA profile keycaps have a concave shape so my fingertips nestled perfectly, and I was fully aware of the keys they were on. This made quickly switching to different ones easier, and I could rest assured there wouldn’t be any missed inputs — and there weren’t. This is also in part due to the responsiveness of the Banana switches and the keyboard in general.

The dedicated macro keys come in handy in both gaming and office work. You can program them via the web-based Keychron Launcher (more on that in a minute), and they can be great for repetitive tasks in game. For instance, to split an item stack in BG3, I assigned left shift + right shift to M2, and shift + space to M3 to enter and exit turn-based mode. The possibilities are endless, and macro keys just make it quicker to execute key combinations.

QMK-enabled

Instead of downloading third-party software or bloatware onto your laptop, you can use the web-based Keychron Launcher to customize the Keychron Q65 Max. Here, you can change the RGB’s effects, remap keys, swap between zoom and volume control for the knob, and record macros.

By default, the macro keys are set to adjust the laptop’s brightness, but it’s easy to remap these buttons in Launcher to do tasks in games or at work. If you’re missing the Fn row after switching from a larger format keyboard, you can assign Fn buttons to the Macro buttons via Launcher — for example App Expose on macOS.

You also have multiple keyboard profiles at your disposal so you can program separate ones for work and play. Overall, the Q65 Max can be personalized in a number of ways to suit your needs.

Keychron Q65 Max review: The downs

There isn’t a lot wrong with the Keychron Q65 Max — but can you stomach the cost?

Very expensive

There’s no sugarcoating it: the Keychron Q65 Max is an expensive keyboard that might burn a hole in your pocket. The barebone version is available for $189 at Keychron U.S. / £167 at Keychron U.K. or you can get the fully assembled model for $209 / £184. This isn’t uncommon with Keychron’s full-metal keyboards — the Q1 Pro, for instance, costs an eye-watering $219.

I said it before when I reviewed the Keychron Q7 ($199) and I’ll say it again now: the full-metal construction and great typing and gaming performance don’t justify the steep price tag. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Q65 Max, and full-metal keyboards are a class apart, but it really boils down to personal preference. There are cheaper alternatives that are still built well, like the Keychron K11 Max ($94), the Keychron V8 Max ($104) or the NuPhy Air75 V2 ($119).

Keychron Q65 Max review: Verdict

As full-metal mechanical keyboards go, there isn’t much to complain about the Keychron Q65 Max. This is a truly fantastic keyboard that’s built extremely well. With its 65% layout which incorporates four dedicated macro keys, it’s excellent for serious typing and casual gaming. And web-based software makes it easy to customize the keyboard to your liking.

I really struggled to find any faults with the Q65 Max, but I kept coming back to its price: $209. That’s a lot of money for a keyboard, especially when there are cheaper alternatives available. They might not be made of full CNC machined aluminum but they’re still built well, like the Keychron V1 or the NuPhy Air75 V2. It comes down to personal preference: plastic or metal?

I’ve really enjoyed testing the Q65 Max. After having been burned by the Keychron K8 V2’s very heavy Banana switches, the Q65 Max’s Bananas have restored my love of tactile switches.