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Head to head · Prices checked Oct 21, 2026

Royal Kludge C98 HE vs Keychron K4 HE

Get the Royal Kludge C98 HE for the 8,000 Hz polling rate and knob.

What actually differs

The differences that matter

Skip the 40-row spec sheet. These are the specs that change how each board feels, sounds, and fits your desk.

Royal Kludge C98 HE

Keychron K4 HE

  • Connection

    Wired

    Bluetooth, Wired, 2.4 GHz

  • Max polling rate

    8,000 Hz

    1,000 Hz

  • Switch options

    Magnetic

    Clicky, Linear, Magnetic, Tactile

  • Knob

    Yes

    No

  • Weight

    1,200 g

    1,090 g

KeebFinder scores

How we score
  • Royal Kludge C98 HE
  • Keychron K4 HE
Performance
95
92
Build quality
52
87
Productivity
84
94
Customizability
67
89
Portability
45
56

What they share

  • Layout size: 96%
  • Hall effect (magnetic)
  • Rapid trigger
  • Hot-swappable
  • Sound dampening
  • Keycaps: PBT
See every spec side by side

From real owners

What owners say

Ratings and quotes collected from verified store reviews, including the critical ones.

Royal Kludge C98 HE

No owner reviews collected yet.

Keychron K4 HE

4.2

10 owner reviews

Praise
“So far it have met my expectations for the use i wanted it for, had a small hic up the first day i started ysing it but got easily resolved with the provided user manual”
PabloVerified buyer· via Keychron
Critique
“The keyboard is smooth to the touch, and has the nice feel. For me, it's almost an ideal keyboard but the one thing that gets me and it's a hard issue is that when connected, it takes away input from my controller when I game, especially for live service…”
Vick L.Verified buyer· via Keychron

Full specs

Royal Kludge C98 HE vs Keychron K4 HE specs

Every tracked spec, side by side. Rows marked with a dot differ between the boards.

12 of 28 specs differ

Royal Kludge C98 HE

Keychron K4 HE

Typing & switches

Switch options

Magnetic
Clicky, Linear, Magnetic, Tactile

Hall effect (magnetic)

Yes
Yes

Rapid trigger

Yes
Yes

Hot-swappable

Yes
Yes

Mount style

—
Tray Mount

Sound dampening

Yes
Yes

Screw-in stabilizers

No
Yes

Layout

Layout size

96%
96%

Layout standard

ANSI
ANSI, ISO, ISO-CH, ISO-DE, ISO-ES, ISO-FR, ISO-Nordic, ISO-SW, ISO-UK

Ergonomics

Standard
Standard

Knob

Yes
No

Display

None
None

Connectivity & battery

Connection

Wired
Bluetooth, Wired, 2.4 GHz

Max polling rate

8,000 HzBetter
1,000 Hz

Battery

Wired only
4,000 mAh

USB-C

Yes
Yes

Build & materials

Case material

—
ABS, Aluminum, Plastic, Wood

Plate material

—
Aluminum

Keycaps

PBT
PBT

Weight

1,200 g
1,090 g

Dimensions

41 x 409 x 140 mm
31 x 126 x 373 mm

Typing angle

—
5°, 8°

Backlight

RGB, south-facing
RGB, north-facing

Firmware & software

QMK

No
Yes

VIA

No
Yes

N-key rollover

No
Yes

Mac & Windows

Yes
Yes

Extras

Released

2025
2025

Where to buy

Compare prices

Live prices from the stores we track, cheapest in-stock offer first.

Lowest price across stores, Amazon excluded.

  • Royal KludgeUS

    In stock
    $89Visit
  • AmazonGlobal

    Check price
    Visit
  • MKUS

    In stock
    $118Visit
  • KeychronHK

    In stock
    $134Visit
  • Keychron (DE)DE

    In stock
    $180Visit
  • AmazonGlobal

    Check price
    Visit

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