Keychron 81 Pro vs J1
Get the Keychron 81 Pro for the 4,000 mAh battery and knob.
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5.0 (4)5.0 · 4 reviews
from$145at Input Gear
3.0 (5)3.0 · 5 reviews
from$59at Keychron
Which one should you get?
Get the
Keychron 81 Pro
Battery
Build quality in the top 5% of 75% boards under $150.
- South-facing LEDs. Shine-through legends stay dark, and some sculpted keycaps can clip the LED.
Get the
Keychron J1
Build quality in the top 40% of 75% boards under $100.
- Low-profile switches and keycaps only. Standard MX keycaps will not fit.
- North-facing LEDs. Cherry-profile keycaps can hit the switch housing.
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.
Keychron 81 Pro
Keychron J1
Connection
Bluetooth, Wired
Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz, Wired
Wireless for several devices and wired for lower latency
Battery
4,000 mAh
2,000 mAh
A larger battery means fewer cables during the day
Low profile
No
Yes
Case material
Aluminum
ABS
Knob
Yes
No
- Keychron 81 Pro
- Keychron J1
- Performance
- 8282
- Build quality
- 8771
- Productivity
- 9789
- Customizability
- 9486
- Portability
- 8280
- Layout size: 75%
- Hot-swappable
- Max polling rate: 1,000 Hz
- Switch options: Clicky, Linear, Tactile
- QMK
- VIA
What owners say
Ratings and quotes collected from verified store reviews, including the critical ones.
Keychron 81 Pro
4 owner reviews
“Love the sound and feel. Thr kickstand is cool too. Only thing is I wish there were more options for keycap colors, the red doesn't match my stuff.”
Keychron J1
5 owner reviews
“I like everything about this keyboard: the keys, their profile, the typing sound of the banana switch, the shape of the keyboard itself, and its size. There are no battery issues either; it holds a charge surprisingly long, and I don't remember the last time…”
“Almost perfect keyboard for me, low profile, etc., but battery dies too fast, i'd say 2-3 days max. and when it dies it does not reconnect when charging cable is plugged in, you have to toggle wired mode, plug in the cable and then toggle wireless mode for it…”
Keychron 81 Pro vs J1 specs
Every tracked spec, side by side. Rows marked with a dot differ between the boards.
11 of 28 specs differ
Keychron 81 Pro
Keychron J1
Switch options
Hot-swappable
Mount style
Low profile
Sound dampening
Screw-in stabilizers
Layout size
Layout standard
Ergonomics
Knob
Display
Media keys
Connection
Max polling rate
Battery
USB-C
Case material
Plate material
Keycaps
Weight
Dimensions
Typing angle
Backlight
QMK
VIA
N-key rollover
Mac & Windows
Released
Compare prices
Live prices from the stores we track, cheapest in-stock offer first.
Prices in USD are converted to your currency and can change at any time. KeebFinder may earn a commission when you buy through these links, at no extra cost to you.
Lowest price across stores, Amazon excluded.
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