Keychron K12
60% wireless mechanical keyboard I used to keep as travel board. But couldn't get used to all the layer dance
| Maker | Keychron |
|---|---|
| Model | K12 |
| Type | 60% wireless mechanical keyboard (61 keys, Bluetooth 5.1 + USB-C, Gateron switches) |
Store
| Store | Price | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| No EU availability | - | 2026-09-21 |
Specs
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Layout | 60%, 61 keys, 12 multimedia keys via function layer |
| Switches | Gateron G Pro or Keychron optical, hot-swappable version available |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.1 (up to 3 devices) and USB-C wired |
Description
This used to be my travel keyboard. It's small enough for a laptop bag, but I never got used to all the function-layer dance, so the Ace 68 replaced it.
The K12 was a test I did. I bought it used from someone I worked with, and it didn't come with Keychron's standard switches, it came with the Keychron blue, which is a clicky switch. It's a 60% board, 61 keys. I never sold it on, because it's a fully functional keyboard and I just never wanted to let it go.
Impressions
I bought it when I was in my keyboard maniac phase, so I wanted to collect mechanical keyboards. Not that I don't want that today, I still like mechanical keyboards a lot, and you'll notice I like quite a few things. Same as I said about the ZSNs, I like collecting electronics I find beautiful, and I think keyboards and headphones are two of the most collected pieces of electronics out there. Not because they have a different function or because they're very different from one another, but mostly because they're beautiful. They have a nice aesthetic, and that aesthetic can change depending on what you do with your keyboard or your headphones.
The K12 itself is a problem though. That blue switch is horrible, I think it's terrible, it's extremely noisy and I don't know how people manage to use it. I couldn't take this keyboard anywhere, not to the office, I couldn't do anything with it.
It's very small, being a 60%, but being that small brings its own problem, which is that it has to have layers. A 60% doesn't have the row of function keys, so there's no F row, and it doesn't have the numpad on the right side either. Some keys end up crammed in next to the main block, and on the K12 those are the arrow keys and the modifiers, Home, Insert, Page Up, Page Down, which makes them quite hard to press.
The other bad thing about this kind of keyboard, and this one seems to do it worse than all the others, is the strange layout that needs two function layers. You get two keys, one yellow and one blue, and you use them to switch between the layers. The F keys that used to sit above the number row now live on the number keys themselves, so F5 is the blue Fn plus 5. But if you want Insert or Home or something like that, you have to press the other Fn plus another key. So you spend the whole time looking down at the keyboard to work out which function key is the right one, otherwise you never find the thing.
I ended up changing all the keycaps and I also changed the switches for something more socially acceptable, because walking around with that switch was impossible. Eventually I stopped using this keyboard completely, because there was no way I could get used to how it lays out all the keys. I ended up buying the Ace 68, which has another kind of switch, but that's a different kind of product and I'll talk about it in its own note.
Final thoughts
I really don't recommend buying it. If you're going for a 60%, I'd say look anywhere except Keychron, because most of them have this strange layout. With the four hundred thousand keyboards they launch every month, maybe one of them has an acceptable layout by now, but this isn't one of them.