KINESIS Gaming Freestyle Edge RGB Split Mechanical Keyboard | Cherry MX Linear Red Switches | RGB | Ergonomic | Detachable Palm Support | Fully Programmable | TKL | Available Tenting

In the past Ive shied away from a keyboard like this because I did desktop support for a living and needed to be able to use what my customers were using. But do to a recent change in my work I no longer support hundreds of people. So I can focus on just using one style keyboard. I was interested in in one that could be adjusted to the angle of my forearms to keep my wrists in alignment. This fit the bill perfectly. I can tilt the keyboard outward as well as angle the keyboard to match my forearms. It did take my a few days to adjust to the keyboard. But, it seems like I can actually type faster on it now. I really need to do a speed test to find out. But it does feel better. Pros: Being able to adjust the keyboard as I needed for ergonomics. Cons: The kit to do the tenting of the keyboard is a separate purchase. Also, do a bit a research if you want this to make sure you get the correct one. Cost, this is not a cheap keyboard. But, I do think it is worth the price.

The quality of the keyboard feels great, the best thing about it for me is that all the keys can be remapped, and macros created for all keys. Im a computer programmer, and use a Mac computer, its hard to find a programmable keyboard that is compatible for macOS. The ergonomics are wonderful. The back lighting is very adjustable. The pads are extremely soft and comfortable. The only thing negative I could say is that its a little pricey, and it should come with the lifts, but its worth it to me.

Overall, this keyboard is OK. The split design is nice, but thats about it. For over $200, I expected something high quality, but this is a disappointment. I dont know if I was expecting too much, or if Im just picky, but this keyboard was a letdown. I have never owned a keyboard with Cherry switches, but I heard great things about them. Are these really Cherry switches? If so, I feel Cherry is extremely overrated. Squeaky, inconsistent switches: The switches on this keyboard (MX Brown) were squeaky from the start. Not all of the keys squeaked, some where fairly quiet, but about 1/3 sounded terrible every time they were pressed. There is a TON of variation in the sound each key makes. Some are solid, some feel looser than other, some are quiet, some squeak. The keys in the center of the board also make a weird Ringing-bell type of sound that is pretty annoying too. Terrible tactile feedback: The tactile feedback on these is a joke. If I press the key slowly, I can feel the bump, but in normal typing, I cant feel anything. When I compared these side-by-side with my $35 Logitech keyboard, the Logitech is much quieter, and has much, much, MUCH better tactile feedback. The travel is about the same, the Logitech feels much more solid, and has a more pronounced bump with no vibration or squeaks. Keys dont always register after the bump: I can carefully press the keys past the bump, and if they are not depressed enough, they do not actuate. What little bump is present is in the wrong place. This makes the tactile experience frustrating when your fingers tell you that the key actuated, but nothing registers on your screen. Again, compared to my $35 Logitech, the Logitech is FAR superior, and actuates every time the key passes the tactile bump without fail. The tenting supports cost an extra $25: Really? This is sold as the ultimate ergonomic keyboard, but without the tenting, it isnt really ergonomic at all. The split is nice (this keyboards only redeeming quality), but for over $200, they could include the $1 plastic pieces to make this function as an ergonomic keyboard. Instead they charge $25 for them, and they dont work without the wrist rests, so if your desk has rests already, you cant use the tenting supports. I had high hopes, but I cant justify the cost of this keyboard, and I cant stand the squeaky, inconsistent keys.

Keyboard was easy to use and onboard but more than that I like their web interface where it is easy to get product support through videos, and easy to interact with customer service very quickly. I got my keyboard 6 months ago and this morning had an issue with a key not working. Thankfully, i found the support site, FAQ, and contact link in a flash; it was then easy to get test data to send to Kinesis, and I received extremely quick customer service response on my question — including clear directions on how to remap to fix the an accidental key remapping I had made. I clearly haven’t worked to get the most out of this keyboard - I really only bought it for the ergonomics, but based on the quality of the keyboard, the service, and my accidental experiment, I am looking forward to more effectively using its programmable features! As for ergonomics, the keyboard is a joy to use. I did get the lifts which make it much better for me. I like that the keyboard separates which allows me to have a clear space to place a snack while I am working, and I can work with a very comfortable arm position throughout the day.

Pros: Split-keyboard RBG Lighting Multi-function Macros/Keys Mutilple selections for type of keys Built-in wrist rest Stable Cons: Tenting kit is extra $$$ Tenting only has two levels (low and high) Ive used a variety of split keyboard designs over the years (including the recent CloudNine C989M) and Im in love with this keyboard. This is also my third Kinesis to date. Kinesis has gone to great lengths to improve on its past designs, incorporating elements from gaming keyboards, such as lighting, macros, swappable keycaps, and swappable key mechanisms. This means that you can configure the Freestyle Edge to suit just about any preference, including swapping the caps for Mac buttons instead of Windows. Even the key mechanisms themselves can be swapped for a lighter or heavier feel. My only criticism is that they dont include the tenting kit in any of their keyboards, adding a $30-50 charge to an already expensive keyboard. And the tenting kit is a MUST. Without it, you lose the ability to raise or tilt the keyboard and some of the more ergonomic advantages of a natural wrist-hand position. Advice: if you have hand or finger injuries that make typing for long periods difficult, get the low-weight keys. Your fingers will appreciate the rest.

This keyboard seems to need a good bit of power. I had a physical KVM switch and the switching was around 5 seconds before the keyboard was available for use. Now, I am running the KVM through a Dell monitor and the darn thing takes up to 20-30 seconds before it is available to use. Pretty frustrating, especially since I reached out to the company and their answer was yeah, we have that issue too. :/ I am getting a powered USB hub and am hoping that the constant power to the keyboard via the hub will keep it warm and ready to go when I switch the KVM....fingers crossed. Waiting for 30 seconds for a keyboard to work is mind numbing. Update:. It worked! The powered USB hub made all the difference!

As a developer, or someone who uses a computer a great deal, you may go through the efficiency transition of removing the wasted time moving your right hand between the keyboard and the mouse and for 98% of your work, removing your dependency on the mouse in order to maximize your effectiveness. Using editors like vim, browser plugins like vimium, and being effective with the command line or short cut keys, it is possible to work far more efficiently without your hands leaving the keyboard. I mean a lot more effectively than using the mouse. I want to cry now when pair programming and watching someone slowly interact with their system moving at 1/4 impulse power. The side effect of this significant improvement in productivity is that your hands are locked together and if you are a full sized adult (I am 64), keeping your hands next to each other for long durations of typing adds stress to your shoulders and upper back. A split keyboard like this puts the distance between your hands back to the far more physically comfortable distance between your hands as you would with your left hand on the keyboard and your right hand on the mouse. Further, Because this keyboard lacks the 10 key-pad and the section of keys that normally sit between your right hands home position and the mouse, transitions to and from the mouse are still quicker when necessary. But alas, there are still issues. Power users of applications like vim will find the need to use the escape key or other key combinations and if you look at the location of the escape key on this keyboard, it is too far to reach to not hit an efficiency bottleneck. Also, the button for simulating the right click is missing here. BUT, with this specific keyboard these are not an issues. This keyboard is a smart keyboard and retains its key mapping and programming on board. Additionally it allows full control over the coloring of the keys. What does this mean to you? Well, in my case I mapped the cap locks key to the escape key and moved the caps lock key just left of its old position. I added the common buttons and combinations like locking the computer and the missing right click context menu button to the quick access buttons. Now here is where the back light color control comes in. While this is a cool feature for gamers to watch their keyboard breath, you can also use this as memory retention model for your individual key mappings. Mine show me which keys map to escape and which items I have remapped so I can easily recall what I did in the past. My keyboard is hooked up to a KVM switch. You might be thinking that you could just remap your keys inside of your OS. Retaining the key mappings on the keyboard is far better as the key mapping is maintained by the keyboard. So once programmed, it works the same everywhere on every computer I connect this to through the KVM. I even carry this keyboard between computers on the weekend so I can have the same efficiency on my home computer when doing projects. The MX brown switches are reported to provide a faster typing experience. I cant comment on that more than telling you that since getting this keyboard my typing speed has improved by 20 wpm. But that might also be due to focusing on typing speed after getting this keyboard. If you are learning how to be more effective with your computer by keeping your hands on the keyboard, I strongly suggest you consider this keyboard or a similar one. The next level up keyboard, which looked interesting had the brackets in a weird position and some reviews complained about an inability to consistently hit the brackets after using the keyboard for some time. You also keep your ability to use a standard keyboard with this one. That is except for the escape key not being where your caps lock key is ;).

I bought this primarily for the split keyboard design, and I love this aspect. Im never going back to any other sort of keyboard. Moreover, the keyboard looks great. The chromatic backlighting is also a good aspect of the keyboard. BUT The ease with which you can set macros is a drawback. You do this by pressing the Macro button. Which is right next to the Profile button used for switching the backlight settings. Which you cant see if you are typing in the dark relying on the backlight settings, because the special keyboard keys have no backlighting. My point is that it is VERY easy to accidentally press the Marco key. Ive hit it by accident several times, a bottle of aspirin falling over has hit it, my cat has hit it ... And when it gets hit, you will suddenly have a macro of whatever you are typing linked to, say, the S key. And then you cant type an S anymore, because this initiates a macro text dump. Try even searching the web for this problem without needing to type an S. So as long as this macro is in place, your keyboard is no longer functional. You should be able to solve this problem in a few ways: the SmartSet app, a soft reset, a hard reset. Lets go over these: The SmartSet app seems like the best course, since you may have actual macros you want to keep, and resetting the keyboard will nuke those along with the one you want to get rid of. To use the SmartSet app, you have to pair your keyboards internal flash drive with your computer. To do that, you are told to press the SmartSet key + f8. But this doesnt work. So you cant pair your keyboard to your computer. So you cant use the SmartSet app to do anything. Strike 1. Next, the soft reset. This clears the macros off one profile, but not all of them. To do a soft reset, you must hit SmartSet key + Shift f12. But this doesnt work. Hitting these keys will simply not do anything. The soft reset isnt an option. Strike 2. And the hard reset. This one resets the keyboard to factory default, so youll get rid of the macro that is preventing you from using the keyboard, and everything else, if you have any macros. For this one, you press SmartSet key + f12 while plugging the keyboard into the computer. This one does work. About 1 in 50 times. So you have to do it over and over and over and over and over ... and eventually it will work, and you can use your keyboard again. Id like to disable the Macro key entirely, which may be possible via the SmartSet app, but since the SmartSet app doesnt work (or rather, the keyboard flash drive pairing key sequence doesnt work), I cant use the SmartSet app, so I guess Ill never know. In sum, the Freestyle Edge RGB keyboard is excellent for its ergonomic design, very good for its RGB lighting (the special keys should be lit too), BUT doesnt give you the macro functionality it promises: accidentally set macros can and will render the keyboard useless until got rid of, and two out of the three ways of fixing the problem just dont work. So be warned: if you get this keyboard, you WILL have periodic incidents where the keyboard stops being usable due to bad macros, until you can manage to clear them, which is a long and frustrating job of work. UPDATE: The one option that prevents the keyboard from destroying itself with its own macro function stopped working. No hard reset either. My keyboard is now unusable since several critical keys now trigger macros instead of their correct function and there is NO WAY to undo this. Here are five right-arrow strokes to demonstrate: 55555 Yes my right arrow key is dead forever, because it is the number 5. Dont buy a keyboard that is build to destroy itself.

Love this keyboard! I use it for software development everyday. Love programmable keys. Love that my hands and arms can be shoulder width apart, ending all sorts of shoulder and neck tension. I did purchase the lift kit, which helps wrist tension. Easy to type on, smooth feel, even with the more tacticle keys.

I have been using a Microsoft Sculpt which I have liked but they always crap out on me. My latest MS Scuplt keyboard crapped out after just 4 months. I was in the middle of a meeting where I needed to be typing into a document that I was sharing and it was awkward to have to switch out the keyboard in the middle the meeting. This keyboard had high marks for ergonomics and thought I would give it i shot. I like the idea of having my arms out straight in front of me as opposed to scrunched and huddled over a single integrated keyboard. It feels much more natural. However, flip side, it is messing with my brain a little trying to get used to remembering which keyboard to hit, if that makes sense. I actually play piano and am a touch typist so the notion of hands operating independently isnt a foreign concept. But still -- for typing, it is still a little discombobulating. However, Im confident Ill adapt. I went with the brown switches because the red were unavailable and it seemed based on my typing style, that these might be more akin to what Im used to -- typing with purpose! However, these are loud... much louder than I expected. So loud, in fact that Im going to have to go back to wearing a headset during conference calls so as not to cause interference with the speaker. I do like the wrist rest -- very comfortable. However, after spending so much on the keyboard itself, would it have killed the manufacturer to throw in the riser system? I guess that will be my next purchase. The cables are heavy braided cord and build quality feels solid. Wish it was bluetooth so that I didnt need to have a cord on my desk but thats life. I dont game so not really going to be using those capabilities too much. Also, the funky technicolor backlighting is not really my taste. Hopefully I can make it just a regular color. My touch-typing accuracy has gone down -- getting my fingers lined up on the home row is critical. However, once again, hopefully, this will bounce back once I have more hours with the keyboard. [LCAR]