A few months after releasing 5Q and X50Q, Metadot also launched a remake of Das Keyboard 4, bringing the smart features of the Q series to its classic. This was the creation of Das Keyboard 4Q. Therefore, the keyboard is actually a bit newer than Das Keyboard 5Q. In contrast to the other two boards of the Q series, Das Keyboard 4Q features Cherry MX Brown instead of Gamma Zulu switches.
Keyboard for Work – Now with Smart Illumination
Das Keyboard 4 is a work-oriented keyboard. Typical features found in gaming keyboards are purposely omitted. Instead, Metadot put their focus on aesthetics, durability and productivity. The keyboard is built on an aluminum top panel and features dedicated media controls. Moreover, it has an integrated USB hub that allows to connect up to two USB devices. Strangely though, this hub only supports USB 2.0, even though the one from Das Keyboard 4 Professional several years ago already supported USB 3.0. Perhaps it got something to do with the introduction of the illumination – Das Keyboard 4Q offers smart RGB lightning.
Smart RGB Lightning
Why is it smart? The software of the keyboard can listen to events of certain programs and services and adjust the keyboard’s illumination according to a predefined schema. Several common tasks like checking for new mails, notifying about appointments or displaying a forecast of the weather are supported. Moreover, several services commonly used by developers and IT professionals can easily be integrated. For example, there are so called Q applets for:
- Asana
- Trello
- GitHub
- Stack Overflow
- Travis CI
From a Blank Keyboard to Notifications via Keyboard Illumination
Without a doubt, it is a creative idea to visualize incoming notifications via a keyboard’s illumination. Checking the reviews, hardly any editor seems to get much value out of this feature though. Also, it is easy to find users complaining about the software, they say it is too tedious / complicated to configure the keyboard’s lighting. It is definitely a bit ironic that the company known for their keyboards without labels now introduces keyboard notifications. Is it really a smart idea, to display notifications via illumination, when you are not even looking at your key labels? Be that as it may, no one is forced to use this feature. With the launch of the 4Q, Das Keyboard 4 now finally gets background illumination. If you don’t find use for that either, then the traditional Das Keyboard 4 is the better (and cheaper) choice for you.
Tech Specs for Das Keyboard 4Q
Further Information on Amazon.com
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Mechanical Keyboard Score
The mechanical keyboard score is our overall score for a keyboard. The score is based on the available ratings and critics and makes an easy comparison between different mechanical keyboards possible. It is also used for our mechanical keyboard ranking.
Reviews
February 17, 2020
"The Das Keyboard 4Q is a fantastic mechanical keyboard, combining a durable design with Cherry MX keys and cloud-based features."
February 8, 2019
"The Das Keyboard 4Q carries on the mechanical-keyboard company's hardware legacy, but it's the RGB lighting, not the quirky "Q" alerts software, that will justify the price premium for most of the Das faithful."
January 23, 2019
"With the Das Keyboard 4Q, the company has completed a new series of luxury-oriented keyboards. "
