Phone manufacturer OnePlus has just announced a mechanical keyboard that’s set to launch on February 7.
OnePlus, known for its mid-tier and budget Android phones, has announced that it’ll be stepping into the mechanical keyboard market on February 7.
On Twitter, the trailer includes a pre-rendered keyboard slowly being put together, giving us some indication as to what to expect. Outside of the obvious USB-C, it appears to have a switch similar to that of Keychron, allowing you to swap between Mac and Windows PCs on the fly. A small Bluetooth logo can be seen as well, making it wireless.
That similarity between Keychron is actually notable. The keyboard actually appears to be based on the Keychron Q1. Keychron is known for its high-end, and vast roster of mechanical keyboards.
Although it is a 3D animation, the inclusion of Red switches means that OnePlus probably intends to market this to those beginning their journey in the world of mechanical keyboards. Reds are the perfect balance between the instantaneous press of a membrane switch and the tougher actuation of other switches found on mechanical keyboards.
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There’s a glass-looking knob replacing the solid one on the Q1 on the side. This, much like the Keychron, will be for media control. Hopefully, OnePlus provides software that will allow it to be mapped to any function. This is one of our favorite features on the Mountain Everest Max, and something that we’ve seen come up more and more.
It’s unknown as of right now, why OnePlus is stepping into the keyboard market. According to their website, they announced that they were stepping into the market back in December, and then through January have worked with people to figure out what to focus on.
We’ve reached out to their PR team in the meantime to figure out why a phone company would do this. We’re also curious as to whether they will continue to develop hardware like this in the future, as phone sales begin to slump slightly across the world.
OnePlus’ mechanical keyboard will launch on February 7, 2023. We have no indication of pricing as of yet but expect it to come in at nearly $200, much like the Q1.