Keyboard reviews

Tenkeyless aluminum with hot-swap sockets, upgraded Phantom stabilizers, and a build that feels closer to a $400 custom than the $250 price tag. No numpad, no wireless, heavy enough to anchor a small boat.

Cherry MX switches, aluminum top plate, brass feet, a real volume knob, and absolutely nothing else. At $199 it's a tool, not a hobby project.

Optical switches with per-key 1-4mm actuation, 8kHz wired polling, and Rapid Trigger built in. Around $220 of analog precision, with a Razer software requirement that makes me want to scream.

75% low-profile with hot-swap Gateron switches, 220-hour battery, and a height that sits flush over a MacBook's built-in keys. The compromise board for people who refuse to compromise on typing posture.

CNC aluminum 75% with gasket mount, hot-swap sockets, VIA support, and a rotary knob for $170. The platform that lets you spend the next year tinkering, or the platform that lets you stop tinkering.

80% layout, Lekker switches with per-key actuation from 0.1mm to 4mm, 8000Hz polling, and a web-based configurator that works on any OS. The most adjustable keyboard you can buy, with rough edges around the polish.

Scissor-switch slab with ambient-light auto-brightness, three-device pairing, and weeks of battery between charges. Same hardware as the 2019 original, $10 cheaper, with a few software tricks bolted on.

A split ortholinear with thumb clusters, full QMK programmability, and a four-to-six-week learning curve that ends either in conversion or in a return shipment. There is no in-between with this keyboard.

Fingerprint unlock and Keychain autofill on a Mac desktop is the workflow trick everyone underestimates. The keyboard around the sensor is a 2015 design with no backlight, and that's the only real catch.

Aluminum 75% with gasket mount, hot-swap sockets, QMK firmware, and Bluetooth that actually holds a signal across the room. At $199 it gets close enough to the custom experience that I stopped saving for one.

A capacitive-switch keyboard with the iconic HHKB layout, plus a trackpoint, gesture pads, and Bluetooth. It is not for everyone. The people it's for will not shut up about it.

An 80% aluminum board with hot-swap switches, wireless, gasket mount, and no gamer LEDs screaming at you. Two hundred dollars for a keyboard that types like a $400 one.

A 60-percent analog keyboard with Hall-effect switches that respond to how far you press. It's the closest a keyboard has come to feeling like a game controller, and it still types like a great mechanical board.