I tested the world’s first concrete keyboard — there’s a reason no one else does this
If you have previous experience with keyboards, you will know about the Keychron K2 HE. It’s one of the best keyboards out there – a brilliant combination of gaming performance, feel and look, all at an affordable price. I reviewed the Keychron K2 HE when it first came out, and honestly, there really wasn’t much I could improve on it (which is why I awarded it 4.5 stars and our Editors’ Choice badge, and why I still own and use the deck now).
Clearly, however, there was still work to be done on the K2 HE. And anyone who did it said the job was very boring, or sitting by a window overlooking a construction site. Or both. Definitely both.
Yes. Keychron’s latest update to the K2 HE was to do the damn thing out of the case, keep almost everything else (mount, switches, keycaps, poll rating) the same, and raise the price to $199. As far as I know, this is the only concrete keyboard out there… seems obvious, right? After all, why would someone make a concrete keyboard?
Still, I was able to get my hands on one of these special-edition concrete keyboards — released alongside a regular-looking resin version — to find out if it’s worth the extra $60 over the K2 HE Rosewood base, or if it’s just a gimmick.
A monolith desk
I’ll be up front: I’m a concrete fan. The look and feel of smooth concrete gets me. I take pictures of brutal concrete buildings in my spare time. I caress the pillars in the IKEA underground parking lots. To me, it’s the equivalent of ASMR. It must also run in the family – cement in the veins or something – as my sister is a plaster artist.
I also like the Keychron K2. My first keyboard ever was a Keychron K2 — it’s the board that started the sound. And at home, I’ve had the K2 HE as a regular part of my keyboard rotation (if you have more than 30 boards, you need a rota) since its review.
So, you will understand that I really like having this keyboard on my desk. It’s not nearly as good as the Lofree ZERO ARTZ terrazzo keyboard. But still, concrete K2 looks good. Its case is made of a single piece of concrete, giving it a monolithic, minimalistic look. It’s like something you’d see on one of Optimum Tech’s über-slick setups.
I didn’t think Keychron could improve on the Rosewood K2 HE, with its wooden side panels; then released i full Rosewood K2 HE, with full wood case. Now this. I’m here for you.
Learn more about the host, Keychron
It’s also nice to see Keychron finally play in some testing. Don’t get me wrong, Keychron is my favorite manufacturer. I think it does the best things in the industry, providing the market with very good, reliable and convertible keyboards in abundance.
It should be said, though: Keychron re-releases the same decks – with the same designs, switches and keycaps – over and over again. They’re all pretty cool, but design-wise, at least, they’ve been dull (I’m sorry, Keychron, you know I love you!)
Now, I know that Keychron was not blocking in the background. I appreciate the continuous development of new technologies such as magnetic switches, easy to customize firmware, high polling rates. But the new technology is almost wrapped in the same shell.
Compare that to NuPhy, which is constantly messing with it the avante garde ideas: boards that can switch between low profile and standard like the NuPhy Kick75; low-profile switches behave like standard profile switches, such as on the NuPhy Air75 V3; new design features like NuPhy Node75 with touchbar; and major shifts in product design fundamentals, such as the NuPhy Field75 HE and NuPhy Nos75.
All this to say, it’s nice to see Keychron do something fun and silly at once. Although I wish the brand would take it a step further, and start releasing wackier designs that are more than just a different case. I just want more.
Solid core performance
The K2 HE concrete, except for the stone case, is identical to the K2 HE Rosewood base. Same keycap profile, same switches (Gateron Double-Rail Magnetic Nebula), same tray mount, etc. And that’s all a good thing. This is a great keyboard.
I originally wrote this article on K2 HE concrete, and it still writes like a dream. You can adjust the opening distance of the keys in the accompanying Keychron Launcher app, and I get the best results with the 2.6mm-based operation.
|
The keyboard |
Words per minute |
Typing accuracy |
|---|---|---|
|
Keychron K2 HE (1.6mm actuation) |
95 |
85.64% |
|
Keychron K2 HE (2.6mm actuation) |
106 |
93.97% |
|
Pete’s Moving Scales (all keyboards) |
94.28 |
87.67% |
And if you want to play, the K2 HE has you covered. While the board functions as a hybrid productivity/gaming platform, with those magnetic switches, it’s a gaming board at heart. Adjustable activation, quick shot, last key priority (AKA ‘Snap Tap’), this thing can do it all.
Sure, it’s voting for 1K, not 8K, but that doesn’t matter. 8K is mostly a marketing gimmick anyway. Do you really think you will notice the difference between something happening 1,000 times a second and 8,000 times a second? You might think so because the keyboard manufacturers told you you would, but trust me, you won’t.
All of this means that, beneath the undeniably run-of-the-mill concrete shell, there is a beautiful deck that will meet your needs.
An obvious reason why not
But it is obviously not perfect. As you can imagine, there is a reason why some manufacturers did not make keyboards with concrete – even the Lofree ZERO ARTZ inspired by terrazzo is only “inspired” by stone, and is actually made of ABS plastic. Adding rock and metal to the keyboard makes it really hard. A mobster can tie this thing to your feet and dump you in the Hudson, no problem.
Granted, it’s not as heavy as I thought it would be, but if I wanted to take this thing home to the office, I’d be adding a concrete slab to my bag. I’ve carried the lightweight K2 HE Rosewood to work and back many times, but there’s no way I could do with the concrete version – it’s a permanent desk decoration. On that note, however, K2 concrete is very liable to scratch your desk. It has rubber feet to stop this (and sliding), but it’s easy to accidentally push a corner of the case against your nice wooden surface, grinding a piece. Granted, you can do the same with a metal deck.
Adding concrete volume never made the acoustics any better, either. The K2 HE wasn’t the best sounding board to begin with. Gateron’s magnetic switches sound boring, and the board was not an acoustically minded board to begin with. I would describe the sound base of the K2 HE as loud (thanks to the tray mount) and the clack is not annoying but not encouraging. The sound of the concrete version is loud. As someone used to the addictive sounds of the NuPhy Halo75 V2 and the Wobkey Rainy 75, the thud just doesn’t do it for me.
So, is it a gimmick?
Yes, of course. But it’s a good gimmick. It’s an expensive gimmick, too, sure – at $199, the concrete K2 HE costs $60 more than the Rosewood K2 HE. So, you’ll have to weigh (get it?) whether covering a $139 keyboard in concrete makes it that much more worthwhile.
Personally, I think it does. The concrete K2 HE sounds like something special. It’s beautiful to look at, and sits as a statement piece on your desk. I still can’t get enough of the looks on people’s faces when I tell them I have a concrete keyboard. And besides, it’s nice to finally see Keychron a little happier.
You can buy Keychron K2 HE Concrete directly from Keychron.
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