ErgoDox Review, an Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboard via Massdrop
by Jarred Walton on August 27, 2013 12:00 AM ESTClosing Thoughts: Some Assembly Required (Maybe)
Reviewing unorthodox keyboards can be a rather difficult business, and clearly it has taken me longer than originally anticipated to complete just these three reviews. However, the time taken has hopefully been of use to some of our readers, and I’ve certainly learned a thing or two. One important thing is that to get the most out of any of these products, you need to be willing to invest some time. You won’t make a switch from a standard 101-key layout to any of these without at least a few days of consternation, and on top of that the ErgoDox will require you to put the whole kit together before typing even a single word! Or will it? The original Massdrop for the ErgoDox required full assembly and programming by the purchaser, but for this round Massdrop has added a couple new options.
First, let’s also clarify something: you don’t actually get everything you’ll need for the current price of $199; you actually have to pay a bit more for the blank key caps that go over the Cherry MX switches – $37 to be precise – and if you want laser etched keys I'm not even sure where you'd buy them. So the minimum cost is $236 if you want key caps, which most people will need, unless you have a bunch of extras just lying around your home/office. There are a couple other options as well that you can check, like getting an anodized aluminum top plate instead of the clear acrylic for an extra $25, or you can have the whole keyboard in a gold plated case for just $5000 (awesome). As for assembly, if you don’t want to roll your own, Massdrop has two options: one is to have all the basic soldering done (steps 1-9 in the assembly process), and then you just need to solder the Cherry MX switches into place; this will cost $19.99. The other option is the easiest: Massdrop will assemble the whole kit for you, for a $49.99 fee.
That means when we talk about pricing, $236 gets you the parts and you put it together, or if you want a similar experience to buying a TECK or a Kinesis Advantage, you’re looking at $285.99 for a fully assembled ErgoDox. By comparison, the TECK will currently set you back $248 if purchased directly from TrulyErgonomic, plus $19 for ground shipping, so it’s only slightly less expensive (but you’d get it within the next week or so). Kinesis Advantage has an MSRP of $299, but it’s also far more widely available, so you can actually snag one off of Newegg.com for $268 + $15.99 shipping, or TigerDirect has it for $271.69 + shipping, which for me is $280.33. Looking at all three prices, then, it’s close enough that what it will really come down to is which one you think is the best/most comfortable/coolest looking keyboard.
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I can’t answer the question of which is best for every person, but I do have my own personal preference. All three keyboards have their advantages as well as some potential disadvantages. I think the TECK is good for anyone looking for a compact ergonomic keyboard, and as I mentioned in the Kinesis review I found the TECK to be better than the other ergonomic keyboards if you want to play games. The Kinesis ends up being my favorite of the three keyboards I’ve looked at, with the large, raised palm rests and curved key wells being the most comfortable for prolonged typing in my experience; I also like that it includes a USB hub, and the macro functionality is basically a free extra. The ErgoDox meanwhile is going to be best suited for people with larger hands in my opinion, and the ability to move the two halves wherever you want (within reason) could prove beneficial for some users – plus it’s the keyboard best suited to modders and tweakers. If you want to dabble in alternative layouts, the Massdrop Configurator is practically impossible to match with any other keyboard.
As far as ordering options go on the ErgoDox, my recommendation in hindsight would be to get the full hand casing, and having now spent plenty of time with the Cherry MX Blue, Brown, and Clear switches, I would personally get the ErgoDox with Cherry MX Blue – though I can’t say from personal experience how the Blacks and Reds compare. Just note that Blue switches are very clicky, so if you’re in an office space with a lot of coworkers, you’ll probably need to get one of the “quiet” switches instead. I do feel the Clear switches require a bit more force than I like, so I imagine Reds would be my next choice for the ErgoDox. It’s too bad you can’t get the ErgoDox with Brown switches – you could always order your own, but most places sell the MX Brown switches for $2.50 each – that’s $190 just for the switches if you were to buy 76 for an ErgoDox, which illustrates quite well the power of the Massdrop group buys.
If you’re interested in giving the ErgoDox a try, now is a great time as the latest Massdrop group buy is nearly finished. Join before the end of the week and you should get your order within a few weeks; the next round of ErgoDox group buy isn’t likely to happen for another six weeks or longer, so for the impatient among you, time is of the essence.
And if you’re curious about what I’ll be typing on next, I’m going to be switching to a more traditional staggered key layout for a bit, the Goldtouch Go!2 Mobile, as I’m a glutton for the punishment of regularly switching keyboards apparently. I’m also going to be focusing on Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12.5 for the next month or two; I know for a fact that I can dictate faster than I type, at least for straight text, but unusual words, punctuation, and acronyms can be a bit of a pain. I’ll see if things have improved since my last serious Dragon review and render a verdict on typing vs. speech recognition sometime in the next couple of months. In the meantime, if there’s some other crazy keyboard you’d like me to test, leave a note in the comments.
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labrats5 - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
My buddy just got the ergodox, and I can say with great certainty that customization is the main draw. his entire layout was painstakingly designed by scratch to match his exact needs and idiosyncrasies. His goal was to do most everything on or near the home row while using the thumbs for chording, thus making his finger movements more similar to those of a stenographer than of a traditional keyboard typist. He loves the thing to death, but it is only worth getting if you put in the effort.Ninhalem - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
Jarred, you have one weird QWERTY layout on your Ergodox. Mine has the "6" key on the left hand, and where your key currently is placed, mine has the "ESC" key. I have the Push Layers and Toggle Layer buttons where your F4 and F5 keys are, the "Backspace" key is on the left hand in place of the "Space" key.The beauty of ErgoDox is that you can create a layout all your own to fit your own hand size. I went in on an earlier drop that included PBT DCS blank key caps. The only thing I have to do now, is keep a picture of my current layout in front of me in order to memorize where all the keys are placed now.
jjegla - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
I have two ErgoDoxen, one full-hand and one classic (I also prefer the full-hand version). You really should have emphasized at the _beginning_ of your review how customizable these are, because your experience with your OOTB layout is meaningless, as that layout is meaningless - change it to what suits you, as you eventually did. For example, my own standard layout contains three RETURN, three SPACE and two DELETE keys so that I'm never far from one, and exposed F5, F10 and F11 for convenient Visual Studio debugging. I certainly won't be switching back to any other keyboard any time soon, and may even buy a couple more of these, but they are not perfect. They really were designed by someone with large hands - I have trouble reaching the thumb clusters without shifting my entire hand. Also, the use of so many 1.5x keys makes it a very expensive proposition to get labelled keycaps for a custom layout - those 1.5x keys will run you upwards of $7 _each_! Right now I just have sticky labels on mine (yes, the keycaps you can buy from MassDrop _are_ blank). I'm gearing up to buy custom keycaps, but will probably use 1x keys in place of the 1.5x ones just to save on cost (yes, it will be slightly harder to reach them). All-in-all, a really cool project and product and I'm glad to have found it.JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
Thanks for the feedback, and you're totally correct. I wasn't entirely sure how the kit comes since mine was pre-assembled, but now that I know I've tweaked several areas of the article to emphasize the customization options. Really, other than being limited to 76 keys and having a less compact feel than some of the other ergo keyboards, there aren't any real deal breakers here. It's a very cool idea, though obviously not something you'd buy on a whim unless you have a lot of disposable income. :-)jjegla - Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - link
By the way, thanks indeed for this series of reviews - I've quite enjoyed them. Didn't mean to sound too harsh there in that previous comment. You're a glutton for punishment, to the benefit of all of us.I happen to have also purchased a TECK keyboard a while ago - I tried it for at least a couple of months, carrying it back-and-forth between work and home, but I just could not come to like the darn thing. For me, the problem was really the key layout, not the size or shape. The way that they chose to lay out the "command" keys (return, shift, ctrl, alt, etc.) was really weird and just killed my productivity. It also really hurt my ability to type on normal keyboards. In the end, I scavenged the keycaps to use on my first ErgoDox. I just saw, a couple of days ago, that TECK have finally come out with a fully-reprogrammable firmware ala ErgoDox. I may have to reassemble the thing and try it again...
One last note: my TECK had Cherry MX Browns, my ErgoDoxen have Blues (really because that was all that MassDrop could source at the time, I believe). I really like the Blues. They are very loud and clicky-clacky, but it sounds cool and for me they are easier to actuate than the quieter Browns - perhaps has something to do with predicting the actuation point based on the sound or something.
jesh462 - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
Jarred,I just wanted to say that I'm super thankful for all the reviews on keyboards you have posted.
I didn't get my first computer until the age of 14 (now 26), but I've always had the mentality that it's better to use ergo products and avoid RSI than to take the risk of injury.
For years and years I've only used the Microsoft Natural 4000. Even though the one I have now is fairly new, I'm now contemplating jumping ship to an ErgoDox. I simply love messing with things and breaking them and fixing them. This keyboard you recently reviewed sounds perfect. Before your first article, I had no idea there were mechanical ergo keyboards!
Anyway, thanks again, you the man.
emilyhex - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
I am always interested and intrigued by new UI devices and I really appreciate these reviews. But, I personally couldn't justify buying this. After customizing it and buying accessories, it's like you are meeting the device half-way, conforming to the device instead of the other way around. Money aside, is the increase in productivity or comfort going to be that much worth the effort and are you going to drag this with you every time you choose to work away from your home base?I'm sticking with my wireless that I can plop in my lap from time to time. I have learned where all the quirks are, even if it isn't perfect. I'll patiently wait for the next game changer.
Bromsin - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
Sigh, another failure in ergonomics. Keyboard manufacturers need some anatomy classes if they want to create a proper ergonomic keyboard.Flat keyboards are NOT truly ergonomic as the hands\wrists natural state is not flat. Out of all the so called ergonomic keyboards I have seen, only the Microsoft natural keyboards come close to true ergonomics.
I am sure you are asking, Why? Simple really, the natural position for hands\wrists when typing is at an angle, with the thumbs slightly higher than the pinkies. This is why the Microsoft wave looking keyboards with the high point in the center is the proper position for typing.
Same holds true when punching. When you punch a punching bag, your fist should be on an angle with your index finger nuckle being the highest point. That is the natural position of the arm.
If these companies want to create a truly ergonomic keyboard, look to Microsoft's Natural 4000 and figure out how to make that mechanical.
2disbetter - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
This wasn't made by a company, but by the keyboard enthusiasts collective.JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
The need for a raised center really has more to do with the position of the rest of the elements. If you're trying to type with the keyboard halves centered and close together in front of your body, yes, raising the middle and canting them would be desirable -- and of course you could add some foot rests to accomplish this. But if you move them apart so that you basically reach straight forward from your shoulders, it's far less of a concern. One thing I definitely think you need to try before drawing any more conclusions is to use a keyboard that doesn't have a staggered layout. The staggering was basically a factor of the time when it was first created, as it helped them to get the keys and mechanical levers together. With modern keyboards having replaced typewriters, there are far fewer moving parts and size and spacing can be as large or small as you want. I'm now using that Goldtouch Go!2 I mentioned in the final paragraph, and let me tell you I'm already very much missing the orthogonal layouts of the previous three keyboards.