Kinesis Freestyle 2 keyboard
I've had the opportunity to test drive and evaluate many keyboards over the years, but the Kinesis Freestyle 2 is the keyboard I depend on for my personal everyday use. The most obvious features are the split and tented design. Split keyboards separate the primary keyboard at the T-Y, G-H and B-N key pairings; tented keyboards slope up toward the middle. Standard keyboards require you to internally rotate the shoulders and pronate the wrists. If you put your elbows at your sides and your hands out directly in front of you with thumbs facing up, your shoulders and wrists are considered to be in neutral position. If you move your hands closer together, toward the midline, your shoulders become internally rotated. If you rotate your hands so that the palms face down, you are pronating your wrists. For many people, the internal rotation of the shoulder and pronation of the wrists that is required when using a standard keyboard is not going to be an issue. However, for some people this positioning could be problematic. For example, if you have a wide frame with shoulders set far apart you might find it difficult to hold the arms in an internally rotated position because you would need to internally rotate your arms more than a person with a narrower frame in order to reach the middle of the keyboard; or if you have suffered a wrist or forearm injury you might find it difficult to hold the wrists in a pronated position. Even if you do not have a particular reason to require a split or tented keyboard design, the argument could be made that this design is more ergonomic just by virtue of the fact that your shoulders and wrists are closer to neutral when using such a keyboard.
The standard tether wire on the Kinesis Freestyle 2 allows for up to 9" of separation between the two halves, which is more than sufficient for most users. For users with particularly wide-set shoulders, or perhaps for those who wish to place the mouse in the middle, between the two halves (more on this later), there is an option for a longer wire that allows for up to 20" of separation between the two halves. The keyboard can also be set up in a splayed configuration rather than a true split configuration. To tent the keyboard you will need the V3 or the VIP3 accessory. The V3 accessory allows you to set the keyboard at three distinct tenting angles, 5°, 10°, and 15°, with no wrist support. The VIP3 accessory has the same tenting angles but also has wrist supports as part of the accessory. Personally, I am not a fan of wrist supports (for more on this, click here). My recommendation to maximize the benefit of this keyboard is to use it in a split configuration with the V3 accessory for tenting.
Another major feature of this keyboard is the fact that it does not have a numeric key pad on the right side and that the navigation keys (arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down, etc.) are reconfigured to take up less space. On a standard keyboard the navigation keys usually take up three columns, and the numeric key pad takes up another 4 columns. This adds a fair bit of extra length to the right side of the keyboard, which requires you to have to reach quite far to the right to use the mouse. This lateral reach with the right arm is a common cause of right shoulder, shoulder girdle and upper back injury. A compact or mouse friendly style keyboard such as this one, where the numeric key pad is absent and navigation keys are reconfigured to take up less space, will reduce the incidence of such injury by bringing the mouse closer to the midline thus reducing lateral reach. The space between the Caps Lock key on the left and the Enter key on the right is called the 'primary keyboard'. Most of us will spend 90% or more of our typing time on the primary keyboard. Seeing as we spend most of our time using the primary keyboard, proper positioning of the keyboard should be such that the G-H keys line up with the midline of your body. Lined up this way, your arms will meet directly in front of you with your hands in proper QWERTY typing position. In the comparison below, the yellow line represents where to center these keyboards to your body; the space between the red lines is where you would be able to put your mouse when using a mouse-friendly keyboard. The reduced profile of a compact keyboard allows you to place the mouse closer to the midline and to avoid reaching too far to the right for the mouse. Click here for a more in-depth discussion of this. Obviously the more you separate the two keyboard halves the less of this benefit you will have, however, the benefit is still clearly evident.
Another great option with this keyboard is to place the mouse in between the two keyboard halves. In this configuration, the two keyboard halves end up in a position whereby your arms are just about in neutral position to operate the keyboard, and the right arm is in a central position when operating the mouse. I've made this recommendation numerous times for individuals suffering with right shoulder, shoulder girdle or upper back pain secondary to mouse use, with great results. It might take a little while getting used to this layout, but the reward can be life-changing.
There are a few other features of this keyboard that are certainly worth mentioning:
On the left side of the keyboard there are eight Office hotkeys which, depending on the nature of your work, can be real time-savers. For example, if you cut, copy and paste repeatedly throughout your workday, having single key strokes available to perform these actions can drastically reduce your exposure to repetition, and thus reduce risk of injury.
There are two main types of keyboards: mechanical key switches and membrane key switches. The Kinesis Freestyle 2 keyboard keys operate as a type known as a membrane key switch. Click here for a more detailed discussion of this. Generally speaking, from an ergonomic standpoint, mechanical key switch keyboards are the better option, although this is often also just a matter of preference. The great thing about this keyboard is that it is a membrane key switch keyboard, which helps keep the cost down, but has the feel of a mechanical key switch keyboard. For many users with fingertip pain, switching to this keyboard from a true membrane key switch keyboard has helped to reduce their symptoms by reducing the hard end-point feel of each keystroke. If the preference is for a true mechanical keyboard, Kinesis does offer such a beast, the Kinesis Freestyle Pro, which is also fully programmable and customizable.
Lastly, the Ascent accessory allows you to tent the keyboard even further, from 20° up to 90°! While this is not necessary for most users, it can be a great solution for those people who cannot pronate their wrists easily (palm down position), whether due to fracture, arthritis, surgical fixation, or other mechanical causes.
Final verdict: this keyboard is an absolute gem. From it's feel, to functionality, to versatility, it checks all the boxes. If you are in the market for a split and tented keyboard design, a compact mouse friendly layout, and you're not overly dependent on the numeric key pad, you'd be hard pressed to find a better keyboard.