ErgoDox Review, an Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboard via Massdrop

Closing 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.

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.