Kinesis Advantage Review: Long-Term Evaluation
by Jarred Walton on July 2, 2013 10:15 PM ESTClosing Thoughts: Advantage, Kinesis
I spent more than a month typing on the TECK before moving on to the Kinesis Advantage. The initial learning curve with the Advantage wasn’t as steep for me, and while part of that may be the similar orthogonal key layouts, I think the layout on the TECK requires more effort to learn. I don’t know that anyone can really declare either keyboard as superior, but every user is likely to prefer one more than the other. I happen to be lucky in that I got a chance to try out both.
My initial thoughts were that the TECK and Kinesis are really just different takes on the same idea—mechanical ergonomic keyboards. After returning to the TECK to do some additional use, however, I’m now convinced that the TECK requires more effort to learn, and in fact if you stop using it for a month or two and return you’ll have to retrace some lost ground. Today for instance, after numerous attempts, I managed to get no better than 55WPM on the TECK in any of the typing tests—15 to 20WPM off of what I was doing back when I finished the TECK review. On the other hand, I pulled out an MS Natural and was able to get good results within a few minutes.
A big part of the difference is in the key arrangements; TECK changes a lot more relative to the standard keyboards, whereas the Kinesis layout puts a bunch of stuff on your thumbs but otherwise leaves most keys where you’d find them on other keyboards. Maybe it’s just personal preference, but the center column of Start, Delete, Tab, Backspace, and Enter on the TECK doesn’t work nearly as well for me as the thumb pad arrangements on the Kinesis. On the other hand, I generally had a better time with the cursor keys and document navigation keys on the TECK, and while it can cause some issues at first, I think moving Shift up to home row is an ergonomically sound idea.
There are other aspects to consider as well. The TECK is definitely more compact than the Advantage, even with the palm rest attached; without it, the TECK is positively diminutive in comparison. The Advantage also has a few additional features like USB ports, macro recording/playback, and built-in key remapping. None of these are “must haves” in my opinion, but they’re all potential perks that make a good product just a bit better.
I know that I’m not a very good study in “typical” computer use—I have several desktops that I switch between, plus laptops come and go almost weekly. That means I tend to like things that don’t mix it up too much, at least in the keyboard arena (these two keyboard reviews notwithstanding), and in this case the layout of the Kinesis Advantage simply works out better for me than the TECK. It also costs more, but the good news is that both companies offer money back guarantees. If you’re looking for a good ergonomic keyboard, there’s at least the potential to give both of them a try and then keep whichever one you like the most. The Kinesis Advantage will set you back $299 for the model I reviewed, or $325 for a model with Cherry MX Red switches; the Advantage Pro bumps the price up to $359 but you also get longer macros and a single-action foot switch. The TECK rings up at $248 (plus shipping and such), so about $50 less than the base model Advantage.
There’s still one more keyboard that I’ve got waiting for some serious attention: the ErgoDox via MassDrop. I almost cringe at the thought of having to go through “keyboard rehabilitation” yet again, as just poking around at it is enough to let me know that yet again there’s a completely new layout to come to grips with. I suspect by the time I’m done I’m still going to end up back with the Kinesis as my favorite of the bunch, but there’s something cool about a keyboard that you can build on your own if you want, with the design released under the GNU GPL v3. The MassDrop option isn’t currently available, but if enough people express interest in it I’m sure it will open up again. Now pardon me while I go cry a bit before unplugging this Kinesis and starting in on a full review of the ErgoDox….
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JarredWalton - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
This is mostly what I was trying to get at with the gaming discussion in the article, but I suppose I stopped before fully completing the circle. Basically, yes it can be used for games, but it will in practice requires you to remap the default keys in virtually every game, as well as potentially needing to use the Kinesis remapping feature to also switch out the Backspace and Delete keys. It goes back the the whole "standard keyboard" phrase again: the Advantage isn't a standard layout and thus you have to resort to custom mappings. But the key action, number of keys you can use at once, etc. should be a problem.Now I'm going to go add the above to the article....
JarredWalton - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
Edit: that second to last sentence should say "should *not* be a problem".Azethoth - Saturday, July 6, 2013 - link
That is why you get a Cyborg RAT MMO7 for your mouse. It has a good set of extra buttons you can pick from to supplement your ESDF keyboard setup (making sure your mousepad is red so it helps and not hinders the laser).branney - Saturday, July 6, 2013 - link
the advantage of USB keyboards is that you can have more than one plugged in at once, which only leaves physically swapping the keyboards, but at least you don't have to fiddle with wires. any avid PC gamer worth their salt would probably not mind making space for an extra keyboard? i have made do with a gaming steering wheel permanently fixed on my desk above the keyboard tray for almost a decade and a half!glockjs - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
I need a TL;DR in effect to: Do you think the price tag is justifiable enough to save my hands over the long run? Is it that much more natural/comfortable vs a normal keyboard? etc etc...f54 - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
To me, the TL;DR is "Yes, it's worth it because prevention is better than the cure." I've had the Advantage since 2008 when I started to develop pain in my shoulders, arms, and hands. I debated a lot about the cost, then was reminded a friend who went through surgery and therapy. The pain of spending ~$300 is much less than that.That being said, I was using a Microsoft Ergonomic 4000 (which I now realize is a bad design) before that and had really bad shoulder pain. Simply moving the mouse to my left hand helped a lot since I didn't have to stretch my hand so much. That's a free ergonomic upgrade. Moving the mouse probably did more for me than buying the Advantage, but I still think the Kinesis is worth it because it did help a lot.
f54 - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
Somebody else posted this, but another option is the Kinesis Freestyle. For 1/3 the price you get an adjustable split keyboard and no numpad, which (IMO), are the two biggest plus points of the Advantage.everythingis1 - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
As a Kinesis Freestyle owner, I can say that it is a the most ergonomic keyboard for the money, but it is pretty terrible to type on and is of poor overall quality.shinjin - Saturday, July 6, 2013 - link
Let me put it this way. I've been using a Kinesis at home and work (software development) for ~17 years or so. Relatively recently I switched to a 'regular' wireless Logitech keyboard that is roughly the size of a laptop keyboard, when you ignore the 10-key keypad. After 6 months of this torture I switched back to the Kinesis. This laptop-sized keyboard had my wrists packed so closely together and contorted so badly that my wrists and forearms were just screaming.hrbngr2 - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
Jarred,I made a similar comment in your initial review of the Kinesis keyboard, but I wanted to reiterate how much using the footswitch along the the "Advantage" model helped with my RSI issues. I used the single button footswitch and then set it to emulate the "shift" key. Once that was configured, I was able to type Capital letters without having to use my pinkie fingers to hold down the regular shift key. It really reduced the fatigue in my weak pinkie finger and made a real difference in my pain levels. I really recommend you giving it a try.