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Comment by jasonv | Hacker News Reader

I spend my day on a Macbook Air and a MS Surface, and a Dell. The Dell keyboard is squishy and horrible to type on. I ordered a Logitech mechanical keyboard but it came broken, so I returned it.. and didn't get a chance to try it out.

Anyone have a recommendation for a low-profile, relatively quiet mechanical keyboard that will not feel disruptive to my Mac & Surface keyboard habits? Something akin to those, but mechanical, would be nice.

EDIT: OK, I'll edit my request for a recommendation: best keyboard of any kind if you're spending your day on Macbook and Surface keyboards.

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Try another Logitech. Their low-profile mechanical keyboards are very popular with my keyboard snob friends. :)

I haven't tried them yet myself, since I prefer a narrower layout. I really love my Drop ALT but it's not low profile.

I've heard very good things about the Keychron keyboards[1], especially on a Mac (the design is almost Mac-first) - the K1[2] and K3[3] are both low-profile and should be as quiet as a mechanical keyboard gets with Red/brown switches and you can opt for optical switches too - also bluetooth so it's fairly portable. Although there's no firmware/software to remap keys so you'll need to do that on the OS side.

Companies like HAVIT[4] and Coolermaster[5] have made them too, but I haven't heard much about their stuff.

[1]: https://www.keychron.com/

[2]: https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k1-wireless-mecha...

[3]: https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k3-wireless-mecha...

[4]: https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Extra-Thin-Rollov...

[5]: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Cooler+Master+SK622

I'm currently on the Havit. Excellent key response with lighter weight and shorter travel. Typing on it takes much less effort than my other blue switch keyboard.

This "low profile blue switch" uses a click bar, so the click you hear does not correspond to the actuation point exactly---which I am a bit bummed about---but I hear the majority of low profile clicky switches currently have the same implementation/issue.

Apple will sell you a low-profile chiclet keyboard that feels a lot like an older Macbook Air. I have one at work. I've got a daskeyboard (Brown switches) at home.

I think both chiclet and mechanical keyboards give me tactile feedback I'm comfortable with.

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