Keychron C1 Pro vs K5 Max
Get the Keychron C1 Pro for the 8,000 Hz polling rate.
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4.8 (10)4.8 · 10 reviews
from$50at MK
4.6 (13)4.6 · 13 reviews
from$94at Keychron
Which one should you get?
Get the
Keychron C1 Pro
polling rate
Build quality in the top 10% of 80% boards under $100.
- South-facing LEDs. Shine-through legends stay dark, and some sculpted keycaps can clip the LED.
- Missing ISO-UK, ISO-Nordic. The other board is sold in those layouts.
- No numpad.
Get the
Keychron K5 Max
Build quality in the top 15% of 100% 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.
- Missing ISO-ES, ISO-IT. The other board is sold in those layouts.
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 C1 Pro
Keychron K5 Max
Layout size
80%
100%
Connection
Wired
Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz, Wired
Wireless for several devices and wired for lower latency
Low profile
No
Yes
Max polling rate
8,000 Hz
1,000 Hz
Higher polling helps competitive FPS and does nothing for typing
Case material
ABS, Plastic
ABS, Aluminum
- Keychron C1 Pro
- Keychron K5 Max
- Performance
- 9181
- Build quality
- 8281
- Productivity
- 9888
- Customizability
- 9188
- Portability
- 5753
- Hot-swappable
- Switch options: Clicky, Linear, Tactile
- QMK
- VIA
- Sound dampening
What owners say
Ratings and quotes collected from verified store reviews, including the critical ones.
Keychron C1 Pro
10 owner reviews
“My son loves it. Upgrade from an implosion cap version. Not used to the US layout but he it learning some python. Might as well use a US Keyboard”
“Looks great and sounds amazing but keys gets stuck/don’t work or double press too often. When I remove the key caps to clean, it still doesn’t fix the problem. Example, my 7 key doesn’t work when pressed and my G key when pressed wrotes two g’s instead of one.”
Keychron K5 Max
13 owner reviews
“This is by far the best keyboard I've ever had. I did my research with AI defined the one I should get. I'm glad I did this first! I type about a hundred words a minute and do a lot of document creation as well as coding. This keyboard keeps up with me in the…”
“I would give this product a higher rating if the key caps were shine through. I saw that ither versions of the K5 QMK (non max) all had shine through key caps and foolishly assumed this keyboard would too. The MAX branding makes one think that you are getting…”
Keychron C1 Pro vs K5 Max specs
Every tracked spec, side by side. Rows marked with a dot differ between the boards.
17 of 28 specs differ
Keychron C1 Pro
Keychron K5 Max
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
ISO layouts by store
Which stores sell ISO-DE, UK, and the other regional layouts.
Keychron C1 Pro
Keychron (DE)
ISO-DE, ISO-ES, ISO-IT
In stockDoes not ship to you
Keychron K5 Max
Keychron
ISO-DE, ISO-UK, ISO-Nordic
In stockShips to you
Keychron (DE)
ISO-DE, ISO-UK
In stockDoes not ship to you
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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