March 10, 2026

Ergodox EZ -- Other keyboards

Ergodox is not the only game in town. Of course ZSA also offers the Moonlander and Voyager.

Iris

I have seen a couple of mentions of the Iris keyboards. Unlike the Ergodox, which is thick and encourages tenting, the Iris are thin and low profile. They are also minimalist, which attracts me. But they are fairly expensive.

By my count, these have 56 switches. Compare this to 76 switches on the Ergodox.

The Iris CE is the "compact edition". They suggest the LM if you want a low profile keyboard with normal key spacing.

You can buy these as a kit and save some money. They use Kailh "Choc" switches, which are low profile (half the height of standard Cherry MX switches). You can get them in brown (tactile), red (linear), or white (clicky).

Keychron

This outfit makes a variety of quality keyboards.

They have a confusing and vast variety of products, and their webpage is a train wreck that I find virtually useless.

Some searching took me to their Q11 which they label as 75 percent mechanical. How is it 75 percent mechanical? I take this to mean that 3/4 of the keys are mechanical, but that is apparently not what they mean. It means they include 75 percent of the keys that the standard "monster" keyboards with numpad and such have. You can also select a 60-65 percent board that ditches the function keys (exactly what I would choose).

It looks like a standard straight keyboard and has a standard layout. However it "snaps apart" in the middle into a left and right half that you can arrange to suit yourself. It has 91 keys including the stupid function key row. They use their own switches. Price is $250 on Amazon. For that money, I would kick in some more and go with the Iris or Ergodox. They talk about VIA and QMK for customization. The layout is not ortholinear like the Ergodox or Iris. You can view this as good or bad -- good if you want to ease your transition to a split keyboard without retraining your fingers.

The Keychron Q8 and K11 Max are well priced 65 percent boards with an "Alice" layout. (Whatever that is). I see the Q8 on Amazon for $80 ($100 if you want "pro all-metal). The Q8 is a 65 percent Alice layout board, wired, available with or without a knob. The K11 is wireless, 65 percent Alice layout. I don't like wireless.

The "Alice layout" is their name (or somebodies name) for the "bent" ergonomic layout that I like a lot. Strangely they give you two "B" keys -- one on each side! The Q8 has a knob, which I think is stupid and useless, but that is just me.

The Keychron Q10 ditches the knob, so maybe that is the choice. No! They tricked me and just moved the knob to the left side. They are $100 on Amazon and are called a 75 percent design. It has an ARM Cortex M4 inside with 256K of flash and is 2.4 Ghz wireless (maybe). And the Amazon offerings have Gateron G Pro red switches (linear).

Alice keyboards are said to be "trendy." Jump on the bandwagon!

I ordered a Q8 on Amazon with Gateron G Pro Blue switches for $80. At some point they were selling these for nearly $200. The description:

Keychron Q8 Wired Custom Mechanical Keyboard, 65% Alice Layout QMK/VIA Programmable with Hot-swappable Gateron G Pro Blue Switch Double Gasket Compatible with Mac Windows Linux (Blue)
I avoided the version with the knob. It is fully programmable, but has few extra keys that are "handy" for alternate level shifts. I will be curious to see how I like clicky mechanical keys.

Das Keyboard

I have a Model 4C. They call it TKL (for Tenkey-less). $140 with Cherry MX brown. It is not an ergonomic keyboard. I mention it simply because I have one.

They are a Texas company, and the keyboards are made in China, so don't be fooled by the pseudo-German name. They are decent well made boards, but are not programmable. These days I would go with a Keychron Q8 with less money, pending a close look at reviews.

Kinesis

They offer various interesting keyboards that I am not digging into right now.


Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!