we have had all sorts of bizarro
keyboards through the lab lately from super ergonomic to super ergo no thank
you but the one thing that all of them have in common is
they're just not that cool to be fair
the kinesis freestyle edge isn't uncool
it just lacks the wow factor of the more flashy mainstream keyboard options that
are out there so then introducing the latest iteration of the
infamous ergodox easy keyboard a no
compromises ergonomic keyboard that actually looks as good as it feels and
for the first time ever now comes with user replaceable key switches
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looking at it the ergodox easy is kind of like a mashup of two boards from
rival ergoboard maker kinesis it's a split keyboard like the freestyle edge
but it has thumb clusters and ortho linear keys like the advantage ii
it's a small 76 keyboard which lands it
somewhere between a 60 and a 10 keyless so there's no function row but it does
have navigation keys wherever you decide to put them
now since ergodoc started out as an open source build your own board company
customizability is in the easy's dna they include f and j keycaps that don't
have tactile guides in case you plan on rearranging the letters in a dvorak or
colemat configuration and even if you
order your board with a legend on the keycaps which you're not even required
to do some keys are still left unmarked so as
to not be confusing after you customize your layout
and customize you will because the default layout is
pretty different for example the backspace is now more
easily accessible over here beside the a key while the apostrophe
is way down here under the z that is too far for me i'm very
possessive of my apostrophe key
now for his part james our writer actually went through nine iterations
before landing on the perfect layout
that sounds like a lot of work but that high number actually just goes to show
how easy it is to tweak the configuration
just use the online configurator tool and flash the firmware to save it right
onto the board and while you're at it you don't have a ton of keys on this
thing so you'll probably want to take advantage of at least a couple of the 32
available layers which you can switch between in some pretty cool ways like
switching only as long as you hold a particular key down or switching layers
but only for a single key press kind of like how shift works on your phone all
this customization does mean that yes this board
can take some time to get used to especially if you're not used to
ortholinear or non-staggered keys which
i guess then brings us into ergonomics the split board lets you tilt each key
module to keep your wrists from bending outward so that's good
but if you want to cut out wrist extension you'll need the nice and solid
but sold separately silicone buzz collector sorry excuse me uh wrist rests
and same goes for battling pronation you'll actually need the tent kit for
another 30 bucks extra it's not cheap
but the legs are metal making them nice and durable the cute little dipped feet
are available in white or black to match the color of your board once it's
installed you can tilt each individual leg through ratcheted steps or using the
included washers steplessly it takes longer to set up than kinesis
is also sold separately lift kit but the
end result is more versatile and feels
more quality in fact overall build quality has a lot
to do with the easy's cool factor it doesn't look like it was made in the
90s like many other ergonomic keyboards
and that beauty is more than skin-deep the keycaps for example are made by
signature plastics the printed set is double shot injected abs plastic with a
lower profile than most key caps and a
rough and surface finish on the top so they don't get that gross shiny look as
they wear out and the unprinted set is pbt with a special bonus as well
since there's no reason to move them around they're sculpted meaning that
each row has a differently shaped keycap for improved ergonomics
then underneath the keycaps it gets real
because you'll find one of 12 different switch types available right out of the
box wait i'm sorry did i say one of believe
it or not our board right here actually has five different switch types plugged
into it right now the easy makes swapping them out
well easy just use the included dual pullage
tool to swap out some cherry mx browns for reds on the wasd keys maybe some
blacks on the keys you don't want to strike accidentally like hue and
overwatch um maybe some super crunchy kale thick gold for the
number keys i mean hell yeah why not let's throw let's
throw some cherry mx whites in here for
i don't know these keys in the future you'll even be able to
order small numbers of extra switches directly from ergodocs but for now their
ordering system only allows you to buy a complete set
which i guess brings us nicely to our gripes it wasn't easy to
dox these marks but i have to talk about the cable
i appreciate that these are detachable and therefore replaceable in theory but
they stand out as the least premium aspect of the entire package not only
are they not braided they've got like printing on them like they just went to
a store and bought them next up is the lighting the underglow
pretty freaking sweet it does contribute to the coolness factor there's lots of
options for colors patterns and brightness but
is this as good as backlit keys
maybe that's a matter of opinion but i do hope to see that on a future version
of the board as for the bottom line whether to buy
that depends on what you're willing to spend just the board by itself without even
switches is 225 us dollars a basic
configuration then is 270 and if you add all the bells and whistles which to
achieve proper ergonomic status we'd recommend you're sitting at 355 dollars
as for any bonus key switches you want to throw in well that's gonna cost you
two so is it a lot for a mechanical keyboard
yes is it a lot for a programmable mechanical keyboard
yep is it a lot for a programmable mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting
it sure is but is it a lot for an ergonomic
keyboard actually no
so if you're looking for a board that's as functional as it is eye-catching then
the ergodox easy might be worth making the switch
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