I really enjoy the new Keychron C2 Pro keyboard that I have in my possession. It is several things that I never thought I could find in a mechanical keyboard at once:

• Well-priced, within the reach of a casual typist.
• It sounds great when you’re typing on it. Instead of sounding like the usual brown-sounding dreck, this keyboard sounds purposeful and stately. The backspace key sounds almost like thunking wood.
• The linear red switches give you an impression of purposeful typing, instead of the variable resistance that you sometimes encounter with brown-style switches.
• The switches, although very smooth, feel almost weighted in both directions. The keys are tall, and the keying action with your fingers can be very animated. Getting used to this keyboard for touch-typists includes getting your mind used to the idea of having to precalculate the travel your fingers need to make to get your needed strokes in.
• Unusually satisfying to type on. So many mechanical keyboards feel like a bit of effort to key in, never quite sure if they’ve activated (the Matias alps-alike quiet switches as an example), or are excessively noisy. This keyboard is none of those things.

I’m really happy Keychron has created a keyboard with such a great balanced combination of all of these characteristics.

So for me, thinking I would try a new keyboard that was not one of the existing monster brands or key types, I thought I was taking a gamble. This turned out to be an easy gamble to win.

I’ve written this initial review after having this keyboard for a few hours. I will update this review in the coming weeks, and then again in a few months once I’ve decided whether I’m keeping or replacing it.

Note the confidence. I think I’m going to have this keyboard for awhile.

Previous mechanical keyboard owned, this Keychron is being compared to:

• IBM Model M, original. Learned to keyboard on this.
• PCKeyboard Model M. I typed on this in the office for almost three years.
• Matias Ergo Pro. This one saw a year of office use before the switches started to fail.
• Logitech MX Mechanical. This one still sees occasional use when I’m working at home. It is not particularly inspiring to type on, and the bluetooth latency is doubly not inspiring.
• Logitech G512. This model, and an earlier desktop nearly identical model saw use for two years. The Romer G tactile switches are, as Logitech usual, not thrilling.