All posts tagged: mechanical keyboards

Logitech K98M Wireless Keyboard Review: Great for Productivity

Logitech K98M Wireless Keyboard Review: Great for Productivity

Published by skeptic

Options, of course, also has built-in integration for AI assistants like ChatGPT, with a dedicated “Prompt Builder” UI that can be summoned with the press of a button. Thankfully, unlike some keyboards, AI functionality can easily be disabled, with the key defaulting to Page Down and being remappable to anything else. Unlike other new keyboards, there is not a dedicated Copilot key. Instead, there are only Alt, Function, and Control keys to the right of the spacebar. The keyboard comes with a USB-A wireless dongle that can be stored in a slot on the back, and also has Bluetooth connectivity. Wired connectivity, though, is entirely absent. Instead, like most of Logitech’s productivity items, the USB-C port is used exclusively for charging. This decision has always made some sense for Logitech’s mice, since a cable can get in the way of moving a mouse, but makes far less sense for a keyboard, which is entirely stationary. This isn’t the end of the world, but it doesn’t make much sense. Photograph: Henri Robbins The K98M also features …

The Best Ergonomic Keyboard I’ve Tried (and Other Comfortable Typing Options)

The Best Ergonomic Keyboard I’ve Tried (and Other Comfortable Typing Options)

Published by skeptic

While there are countless types of ergonomic keyboards, the most common are typically going to be angled keyboards and split keyboards. Angled keyboards, often referred to as “Alice”-style keyboards in the mechanical keyboard world (named after the TGR Alice), split the alphanumeric keys along the middle, positioning the two halves at an angle from one another while keeping the modifier keys (backspace, enter, shift, and so on) in their standard positions. The angle will vary between keyboards, as will the number of keys, but the main constant in an Alice-style keyboard is that, despite the halves being separated from one another, the keyboard itself is not split. It has one case that all of the keys are held in. Alternatively, a standard split keyboard does the opposite: A standard split keyboard will keep all of the keys in their standard position (with no new angles) and instead cut the entire keyboard in two, creating two distinct halves that can be moved independently of one another. Some of these keyboards will connect the two halves with …

Razer Huntsman V3 Pro 8KHz Review: A Keyboard for the Competitive

Razer Huntsman V3 Pro 8KHz Review: A Keyboard for the Competitive

Published by skeptic

The screen on the right side is convenient and practical. I appreciate the gimmick of the actuation visualizer, which is a small line of dots that illuminates from left to right as you push down a key. It can help with determining and setting an ideal actuation distance, but beyond that, it’s almost entirely aesthetic. The rest of the indicators on the keyboard are nice, but they are underwhelming compared to the full OLED screens that many gaming keyboards have today. The rarely used cluster of keys above the arrow keys now has a secondary purpose, where each of them can be used with the Function layer to select one of five preset profiles. Four of them are customizable, but the first, called “Factory Default,” seemingly functions as a fail-safe in case you royally mess up another profile map (such as remapping your space bar to your controller’s “A” button—something the software actually warns you against if you attempt it). Across these profiles, you can make all of the standard Hall effect adjustments. Each key’s …

Keychron Q16 HE 8K Review: A Ceramic Disappointment

Keychron Q16 HE 8K Review: A Ceramic Disappointment

Published by skeptic

The internals of this keyboard are unique. Instead of standard Hall effect equipment, the Q16 is one of Keychron’s first keyboards to utilize TMR sensors. These are very similar to standard Hall effect switches, but they have a few key differences. The largest benefits are their improved accuracy and reduced power draw compared to Hall effect sensors, while the downsides are primarily their increased price and a lack of development. For gaming, these switches are great. They’re fast and responsive, returning quickly after being pressed and having quite a few ways to adjust their performance. The Rapid Triggers setting allows for switches to immediately be pressed again after they’re released (as opposed to waiting for the switch to reset past its original actuation point), and the SOCD (simultaneous opposing cardinal direction) settings allow for opposite movements (typically A and D, for strafing) to override one another when both are pressed at the same time. This means when A is pressed, then D is pressed, the D key will take priority and disable input from the …

Asus ROG Falcata Review: A Split Gaming Keyboard

Asus ROG Falcata Review: A Split Gaming Keyboard

Published by skeptic

The wheel on the left side has options to adjust actuation distance, rapid-trigger sensitivity, and RGB brightness. You can also adjust volume and media playback, and turn it into a scroll wheel. The LED matrix below it is designed to display adjustments to actuation distance but feels a bit awkward: Each 0.1 mm of adjustment fills its own bar, and it only uses the bottom nine bars, so the screen will roll over four times when adjusting (the top three bars, with dots next to them, illuminate to show how many times the screen has rolled over during the adjustment). The saving grace of this is that, when adjusting the actuation distance, you can press down any switch to see a visualization of how far you’re pressing it, then tweak the actuation distance to match. Alongside all of this, the Falcata (and, by extension, the Falchion) now has an aftermarket switch option: TTC Gold magnetic switches. While this is still only two switches, it’s an improvement over the singular switch option of most Hall effect …

HHKB Professional Classic Type-S Review: A Brilliant but Niche Keyboard

HHKB Professional Classic Type-S Review: A Brilliant but Niche Keyboard

Published by skeptic

The integrated plate is so beloved that even the company behind one of the most high-end custom shells for the HHKB, Norbauer’s “Heavy Grail” case, designed and manufactured a custom injection-molded plastic plate instead of using individual switch housings. Coding Layout Photograph: Henri Robbins The largest benefit of any HHKB is the layout. Right out of the box, this keyboard is designed to be intuitive and efficient for coding. The Function key can easily be accessed by the right pinky, and the Control key has been moved from the corner to replace the Caps Lock key. The function layer underneath has also been custom designed. The most jarring part of the layout will likely be the lack of keys in the bottom left and right corners, but those keys are (supposedly) absent for a reason. In theory, it’s difficult to reach your pinky down to the corner while keeping your hand on the home row. Instead, the only key left in that row is the smaller Alt key, which can be reached by the pinky …