The DANKEST Ergonomic Keyboard - Ergodox EZ Review
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2018-05-06
·
1,475 words · ~7 min read
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we have had all sorts of bizarro
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keyboards through the lab lately from super ergonomic to super ergo no thank
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you but the one thing that all of them have in common is
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they're just not that cool to be fair
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the kinesis freestyle edge isn't uncool
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it just lacks the wow factor of the more flashy mainstream keyboard options that
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are out there so then introducing the latest iteration of the
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infamous ergodox easy keyboard a no
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compromises ergonomic keyboard that actually looks as good as it feels and
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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
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rival ergoboard maker kinesis it's a split keyboard like the freestyle edge
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but it has thumb clusters and ortho linear keys like the advantage ii
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it's a small 76 keyboard which lands it
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somewhere between a 60 and a 10 keyless so there's no function row but it does
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have navigation keys wherever you decide to put them
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now since ergodoc started out as an open source build your own board company
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customizability is in the easy's dna they include f and j keycaps that don't
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have tactile guides in case you plan on rearranging the letters in a dvorak or
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colemat configuration and even if you
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order your board with a legend on the keycaps which you're not even required
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to do some keys are still left unmarked so as
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to not be confusing after you customize your layout
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and customize you will because the default layout is
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pretty different for example the backspace is now more
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easily accessible over here beside the a key while the apostrophe
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is way down here under the z that is too far for me i'm very
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possessive of my apostrophe key
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now for his part james our writer actually went through nine iterations
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before landing on the perfect layout
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that sounds like a lot of work but that high number actually just goes to show
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how easy it is to tweak the configuration
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just use the online configurator tool and flash the firmware to save it right
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onto the board and while you're at it you don't have a ton of keys on this
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thing so you'll probably want to take advantage of at least a couple of the 32
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available layers which you can switch between in some pretty cool ways like
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switching only as long as you hold a particular key down or switching layers
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but only for a single key press kind of like how shift works on your phone all
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this customization does mean that yes this board
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can take some time to get used to especially if you're not used to
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ortholinear or non-staggered keys which
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i guess then brings us into ergonomics the split board lets you tilt each key
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module to keep your wrists from bending outward so that's good
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but if you want to cut out wrist extension you'll need the nice and solid
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but sold separately silicone buzz collector sorry excuse me uh wrist rests
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and same goes for battling pronation you'll actually need the tent kit for
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another 30 bucks extra it's not cheap
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but the legs are metal making them nice and durable the cute little dipped feet
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are available in white or black to match the color of your board once it's
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installed you can tilt each individual leg through ratcheted steps or using the
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included washers steplessly it takes longer to set up than kinesis
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is also sold separately lift kit but the
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end result is more versatile and feels
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more quality in fact overall build quality has a lot
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to do with the easy's cool factor it doesn't look like it was made in the
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90s like many other ergonomic keyboards
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and that beauty is more than skin-deep the keycaps for example are made by
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signature plastics the printed set is double shot injected abs plastic with a
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lower profile than most key caps and a
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rough and surface finish on the top so they don't get that gross shiny look as
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they wear out and the unprinted set is pbt with a special bonus as well
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since there's no reason to move them around they're sculpted meaning that
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each row has a differently shaped keycap for improved ergonomics
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then underneath the keycaps it gets real
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because you'll find one of 12 different switch types available right out of the
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box wait i'm sorry did i say one of believe
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it or not our board right here actually has five different switch types plugged
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into it right now the easy makes swapping them out
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well easy just use the included dual pullage
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tool to swap out some cherry mx browns for reds on the wasd keys maybe some
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blacks on the keys you don't want to strike accidentally like hue and
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overwatch um maybe some super crunchy kale thick gold for the
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number keys i mean hell yeah why not let's throw let's
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throw some cherry mx whites in here for
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i don't know these keys in the future you'll even be able to
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order small numbers of extra switches directly from ergodocs but for now their
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ordering system only allows you to buy a complete set
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which i guess brings us nicely to our gripes it wasn't easy to
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dox these marks but i have to talk about the cable
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i appreciate that these are detachable and therefore replaceable in theory but
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they stand out as the least premium aspect of the entire package not only
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are they not braided they've got like printing on them like they just went to
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a store and bought them next up is the lighting the underglow
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pretty freaking sweet it does contribute to the coolness factor there's lots of
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options for colors patterns and brightness but
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is this as good as backlit keys
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maybe that's a matter of opinion but i do hope to see that on a future version
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of the board as for the bottom line whether to buy
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that depends on what you're willing to spend just the board by itself without even
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switches is 225 us dollars a basic
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configuration then is 270 and if you add all the bells and whistles which to
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achieve proper ergonomic status we'd recommend you're sitting at 355 dollars
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as for any bonus key switches you want to throw in well that's gonna cost you
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two so is it a lot for a mechanical keyboard
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yes is it a lot for a programmable mechanical keyboard
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yep is it a lot for a programmable mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting
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it sure is but is it a lot for an ergonomic
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keyboard actually no
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so if you're looking for a board that's as functional as it is eye-catching then
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the ergodox easy might be worth making the switch
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