I'm just switching to Colemak. This very moment- I've changed the android keyboard to colemak, switched the keys on keyboard, switched layout to Colemak in my exercises settings and .. unfortunately, the exercises are the same as if they were for qwerty, like... f-j, d-k pairs etc... Well.... Update: it's so hard to go against the grain!!! Fortunately, I was only about 40WPM, so it's not too late? PS now i see the keybr has exercises tailored for different layouts! Cool!!!👍💪
Your reviews and observations are great in all videos, but you never show how to actually type on a keyboard, how the fingers fit on a given layout. What is the advantage of the used stagger, the thumb key positions and sizes, key caps… That is really missing! More people should pay attention to that IMO.
They actually do sell a Q14 Max layout wrist rest thankfully. Once this comes into stock though, I'll probably pick it up. I think I'll really enjoy the left sided num pad. You won't have to intrude on your mousepad space and push your numpad ontop to still have the center of home row somewhat right in front of you.
I have a Piantor Pro, Advantage360 (wired), and Dygma Defy (wired)...the Defy is by far the best, I love the build quality, MX keys, lots of thumb buttons, the software has been great, I've had no issues. I use the bottom row of thumb buttons to momentary toggle layers, that seems to be less cognitively stressing than toggling layers on and off. I also like having on more row of keys relative to the Piantor, again less cognitively taxing due to less layer switching...
Thanks for sharing, always great to get new ideas to try out my keyboard layouts. Any chance of a video on what software tools/utilities you use, pretty sure to you will have some gems I haven’t used before 😊
Yea I’ve been asking to get proper hyper key support for years for my raise. Also ZMK/QMK is obviously the way to go at least offering it as an alternative for people who are serious about their keyboards. It’s way less buggy and offers so much more. Not having it feels like you spend a lot of money on something you are then not allowed to fully use. Kind of like a shareware keyboard ;)
I appreciate the detailed video. I’m also a developer and considering a low profile split keyboard. Mostly out of curiosity I suppose. I have several custom keyboards that are standard layout. I don’t have any RSI issues and I’m not a VIM enthusiast. It’s fun to learn about either way.
Ben or anyone whom this may concern. Have you found any workflow or layout that incorporate a mouse mode well ? I am running a moonlander I use Neovim and have vimium in the browser but sometimes a mouse is the only tool for the job. Never found a layout or way of using mouse mode that sat well with me and I see a lot of ergo keyboard influencers still use a mouse regularly so maybe its an impossible dream.
Thank you so much for giving the Dygma Defy a second try! So happy that you're getting along 😊 We're working on a new version of the firmware that has improved setting for the home-row modifiers. It's in Alpha testing but it should be out in a few weeks. Next will be improving the Superkeys so you can have Hyper on hold and other things 😅 We chose not to go with QMK or ZMK due to the limited connectivity options and for how complex it is for a normal user to access the advanced features. For example, the visual configurations of QMK such as VIA are quite limited in features compared to Bazceor. It's not as great for super advanced features, but it's much easier for newcomers 😊 Thanks again!
@@piersolenski4145 More settings to control when the hold function is triggered. If you roll your keys a lot you might get accidental holds. It doesn't affect everybody, so it's not like your missing something if you don't have that issue.
Please please please add the ability to set which keys can activate the home row functionality which is common in other frameworks! For instance I only want my home row mods on one half to activate if I’m pressing a key on the other half! This limits the missfires a lot!
In my experience it’s very convenient to use the bottom row to access layers. For a couple of months I had both homerow mods and the left bottom row filled with dual function keys on my Defy. However, this led to way too many typing errors. After removing the dual function keys on the bottom row, these errors immediately were 90% reduced. Hopefully the upcoming firmware update and eventually timeless (homerow) mods will reduce the errors to near-zero and allow me to use the left bottom row again for dual function keys. P.S. I use the ‘Caps lock’ key for copy/cut/paste: tap = copy; double tap = cut; hold = paste. It works very well for me.
Please just don’t turn the keyboard off, unless you need to go somewhere with it. If you shutdown the computer / don’t use the keyboard, it will go into “sleep” mode, and won’t use any battery, you don’t have to turn it off Great video, thank you for your review 😊
Day 1 of learning Colemak. I am using keybr to teach me slowly. So far I got to the letter T which is the 7th letter from the left and can write about 15 wpm which is the bottom end of what the app supports. I type about 60 - 70 wpm on QWERTY. So 15 wpm so is actually a nice start. So far it doesn't mess at all with my mental map of my QWERTY layout at all which is great. I hope it stays that way. I really like the Colemak layout a lot. The letters are distributed in way that makes so much more sense. And I believe once I get used to it, that I will do less typos. I have seen people doing calcs on the effort you make on different layouts. And this one has come out on top as one of the most efficient ones to use. Once I learned this pattern I will try out an orthogonal linear keyboard. That might even help me further with accuracy. If you got any recommendations for such a keyboard I am all ears.
You don't like it - we get it. But please stop indirectly calling whoever likes LEDs "a teenager", I feel insulted 😂 I love your reviews btw, thank you so much for your content ❤
haha i got my glove80 by following your videos (am a junior...) and literally am planning this week to get the kinesis signature version the only thing am still confused is when it comes to electronics in theyr website between pro bluetooth and smartset i dont really undertand. i want to have connected most of the time via usb and when i want with bluetooth... and i am 'little concerned' also about how is going to feel because some years a go i had an accided and my left thumb is still kind of hurts if i use it all the time. in my glove its right when is the backspace and the enter is on the right side so am trying to see and evaluate hoping is not going to impact my thumb somehow. But in the end really thank you for all your reviews, they are extremely to deep and i feel them very honest. As i told you i got my glove because of you an totally am not regrete it. i just want also to try kinesis because i had a prev mechanical keychrone was very heavy and i felt more connected and i hope kinesis will be the same. THANK YOU
I've been using the MX Switch of the Sofle for 2 years now as my daily driver. I'm currently building the Choc version mostly just to try out the Choc switches in a familiar form factor so I was interested in the review when I saw it come across my suggested videos.
I agree, I would love to see Keychron make an ortholinear split (something like a Sofle or maybe something with more pinky stagger in a similar sort of format to a Kyria or Elora) I would definitely buy one if they did, especially with the increased stagger. I do have a Q6 max, but I'm much more proficient on a split now than a standard board. But I'll probably still use it for the odd thing from time to time because it's just so dang nice.
The double B key is because some people hit B with the left hand while others use their right, since with the stagger it's pretty equidistant either way. With the split there, it would force you to use the one the keyboard decides for you; so some alice and arisu boards do it on each split to allow you to use whichever is more natural to you. It really is the BBest design for that key on this sort of layout.
@@jamesminshall4601 A decent amount of Alice specific sets will include 2 B caps because of this. And those that don't, many have extra generic 1U caps that can be put on the B you don't generally use (and since you don't normally use it, on a programmable keyboard, you can bind it to something else)
For the alternative layout issue there is a solution, it's only adding a bit of additional costs to the board but if you want this to be your 'end-game', it is possible, Barebones Q14 Max and Signature Plastics SA-P keycaps, they have Colevrak kits with even Colevrak Pro for variations of alternative layouts supported.
I have the Q8 I believe. 65%, no numpad no f-keys, Alice layout. I love it. Was fun to build, and sounds great. It has been my daily driver for about a year now.
Its odd that the space bar configuration is not symmetrical, but the one without a function row is. Like different teams made them. Keychron does have a proper split board, it is also really tall. Hoping for a split low profile.
Most front end developers that started, as I did, in the late 90s as ‘webmasters’ got into it by accident so I can’t say anything about official computer science degrees or courses. But the path/style I took, I would likely take again. Build things. Any things. Whatever piques your interest. And keep doing it. Somewhere along the path it will be useful to read a few books/watch a course. But if a book/course doesn’t speak to you, try another, and don’t assume it’s your lack of understanding (different teachers and styles suit different people). Start working alongside smarter people as soon as you can. Be humble, work hard. Repeat. 👍
Thanks for putting this video together. I'm looking for a portable keyboard similar to my home keyboard, the venerable Maltron 3D! The glove80 looks really good, but alas, I think it's going to be too large to fit in my bag. Also do you know if the batteries are easily replaced?
I just got a v10_max some weeks ago, fully agree with all things mentioned in the video. I like to mention though, that it is totally fine to run "plain" QMK on the boards. Keychron provides their own fork of the qmk_firmware on their GitHub. For the wireless boards, one just needs to checkout the "wireless" branch, otherwise 2,4 Ghz and Bluetooth won't work. It's even possible to combine a custom QMK firmware with via (which I currently use because I'm too stupid to find out how macros work in plain QMK). A feature I really, really like is that you can easily pair it to multiple devices (3 in default, 4 if changing the QMK code) and then just switch between them, which makes my "multi computer" consultant job way better. Also the "hardware Win/Mac" switch just changes the "starting layer". If you are a poweruser and want to use all four layers, just switch to the "Mac setting" and define toggles for the layers above 0.
tx for the vid! Wish this pad was just seperate and attachable to either side somehow. Although, not really looking for keyboards untill I financially recover from my on-the-way dygma defy :))
I think this would be awesome for my usage. I’m right handed and never touch the keypad but if it was on the left I think I would use it all the time for cad programs.
Really great reviews! Currently trying to figure out what ergo mech keyboard to get - I've budgeted enough for one and I think it's a worthwhile investment, but it is a lot of money - So I've been pretty obssessive about researching them. Stuck between the moonlander + tenting kit, or the voyager. Kind of in decision paralysis. I know it's all so subjective and personal - And at the end of the day only I can really make the most educated purchase for myself - But, if you read this: What would you suggest for someone who can't afford to "make the wrong purchase." - Or, I guess, what would you say is the "safest" buy between the moonlander and voyager? I am a typing enthusiast, I am a programmer, I'm ready to learn and struggle for a while with a new layout and thumb clusters - I love keyboards and typing - I'm mainly doing this for my health (preventing RSI and general typing fatigue), but also just for a new toy.
If you are coming from a conventional keyboard, Moonlander will be easier because you’ve got more keys. But the reality is there is no right or wrong definitively, and you might need to buy, resell, and buy again before buying one that really suits you. Then again, you might buy one and it ticks all your boxes. But don’t say I didn’t warn you 😉
Sounds awesome! Just so you know, you can also use the keycap puller to remove the switch! Just use the other end of the tool that you used for the keycap, grab the switch from the sides, and voilà!
Kinda shitty that you can’t return the 360 if you get the signature series, I don’t like either of the switch options in the non signature ones so my only option is something non returnable that I’m not sure I’ll even like and it’s $500…
Is there a more in-depth "how to" for this software anywhere? Video would be great but I'll take whatever I can get. I've read a few things on GitHub and on ZMK in general but this is all new to me and a video of someone walking through the options and how to set them up would be greatly appreciated.
I love the Corne-ish zen~ I heard about them right before R3 and picked up 2 of them! (Thank goodness, since they won't be making any more and I am worried about ESD and such) Def. my favorite keyboard of all time, I just wish it was a production keyboard I didn't have to worry about, instead of a boutique custom~ I did buy a ZSA Voyager recently for that reason, and I'm excited to be able to use the choc switches and keycaps I found for both^^
Raycast is where it’s at. I find it so much better than Alfred it’s absolutely fantastic. So much easier to setup than Alfred too. Raycast works with Rectangle but does it on its own I find. I find it totally indispensable.
I find Raycast slow in comparison. It is also compromised from an information security point of view; making calls back to Raycast servers. The infosec department of my workplace disallowed it on that basis
@@benfrainuk I came to make the same comment about using Raycat, but I agree the fact that the pro version of Raycast is $8 a month and it's constantly phoning home is less than amazing.
