Gaming Keyboard that’s SPLIT in HALF? - Kinesis Freestyle Edge
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2018-05-06
·
1,189 words · ~5 min read
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if i asked you to imagine the perfect gaming keyboard you'd probably think of
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things like cherry mx switches programmable keys and n key rollover
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but what if there was a keyboard that had all the basic gamer features but
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also helped you play longer without fatigue and even gave you multiple ways
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to configure your desktop maybe that's something you didn't even know you
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wanted introducing the freestyle edge
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from kinesis gaming the world's first
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split gaming keyboard and introducing Corsair's new light loop
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fans featuring 16 independent leds in
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every fan and low noise operation without sacrificing performance check
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them out at the link below
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now the ideal keyboard position can change a lot depending on what game
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you're playing so the idea here is that whether you're the type who likes to
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tilt your keyboard for shooters throw in a joystick for flying bring the mouse in
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close for reduced shoulder fatigue or let's be honest sometimes you just want
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a little snacky poo the edge gives you flexibility so the two halves of the
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keyboard can be placed up to 50 centimeters apart and you can even hide
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some though not quite enough in my opinion of the cord that goes between
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the pieces to limit the amount of excess hanging out in closer configurations now
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i know what you're thinking okay maybe that's useful but is this really
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worth a video to be honest initially we thought it was just a keyboard with a
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flashy gimmick too but it ended up being a damn good keyboard the build quality
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is solid with braided cables and cherry mx switches either in red brown or blue
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flavors and features like one millisecond response times anti-ghosting
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and eight programmable macro keys will keep hardcore players competitive but
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stealthy the matte black finish and easy to read legend contribute to a clean
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modern look that doesn't scream gamer
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i mean who says that sick gear bro has
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to actually physically nauseate you and it even has a pitch black mode that
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turns off both the blue backlight and the indicator leds neat oh so at this
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point even if the video was over the no no
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wait i i said if it's not over yet the edge would be worth a serious look
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but we haven't even talked about the feature that takes this keyboard to the
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next level programmability every one of
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the edge's 95 keys can be remapped to
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not just any function but any two functions which you toggle between using
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the freaking key down here and i'm not talking about simple
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functions every key or combo using
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modifiers like control and or shift can
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be mapped to a macro and you can have up to 24 macros each one can be up to 300
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characters long the execution speed for which can be controlled globally or set
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individually all the way from four to a
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fiery 3 000 actions per second
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then man this thing just keeps going let's say that you share your keyboard
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with someone else or you like different key mappings for different activities
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like gaming or working that's no problem
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you can have this level of customization on up to nine different layouts so such
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advanced programmability probably needs advanced programming knowledge and or a
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software tool then right well you can do either of those things
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what's cool is that the software tool for Windows is actually built right into
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the keyboard no download required but all but a few niche actions can actually
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be done just using the keys on the board
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it's super intuitive and only takes a second and if you ever forget what layer
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you're using or just what you even have programmed you can
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check it at any time and all of this is stored directly on the board so you can
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take all of your settings with you which brings us to the bad stuff you may
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have noticed that i haven't talked about price yet this keyboard is 220
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or 200 on amazon which isn't outlandish
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but it is a lot even for a high quality mechanical board
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especially one that isn't RGB
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that price tag on its own isn't all of what bothers me anyway remember
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that's still only half the price of the last kinesis ergonomic keyboard we
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reviewed the advantage 2 which you can check out here
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it's the fact that once you've taken your expensive product out of its clever
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box you're left feeling a little
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incomplete the reason is that the edge doesn't come
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with the lift kit which after using it both with and without it feels
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completely essential it tilts your wrists 5 10 or 15 degrees
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and takes the edge from being a stylish flexible maybe even fantastic gaming
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keyboard to being perhaps the most ergonomic gaming keyboard out there
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since the wrist rests keep your wrist from extending the lift kit keeps your
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arms from pronating and the separation prevents them ulnas from deviating
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whether you're typing for hours gaming for hours or some combination of the two
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for hours so should you buy it not everyone is going to like the
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cramped arrow keys or the fact that the halves don't snap together for some
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reason and at this price we think it
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absolutely needs to include the lift kit but of all the ergonomic keyboards so
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far we think this one has by far the most mainstream appeal so if it goes on
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sale i'm ready to say pull the trigger now
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but until then
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you might say i'm a little bit split
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or torn uh
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will get their first two months free to try it out no risk
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at all so go check it out guys so thanks for watching if this video
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sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit the like button or check out the link to where to
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buy the stuff we featured in the video description also down there is our merch
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store which has cool shirts like this one actually i don't know if this design's still on there but it has other
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cool shirts and our community forum which you should totally join