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Does keyboard matter for us, coders?! I tried 9, so you don't have to
TLDR; Yes! And more than you think.
At the end of 2022 I came up with a desire to invest into my keyboard. At first the intention was to become a "faster programmer", but after testing a few I soon realized how silly that idea was. Instead of drastic improvements in the speed, however, I did noticed something else. With some keyboards I was able to "bond" as soon as I touched them, while others were giving me pain. Thus, I pivoted my criteria, and started the journey of finding the best keyboard for me, while specifically caring about the following:
- Price
- Speed (note: my average is 115-125 WPM)
- Mistakes % (lower is better)
Below are the results in TLDR:
| # | Keyboard | Switches | Price | Speed | Mistakes (%) | Comfortability | Connectivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logitech MX Mechanical | Brown (Tactile) | 140£ | 100WPM | 6% | 7/10 | Bluetooth |
| 2 | Logitech G915 Lightspeed | GL-Tactile | 165£ | 115WPM | 8% | 8/10 | Wireless + Bluetooth |
| 3 | Logitech MX Keys | Tactile | 100£ | 105WPM | 4% | 6/10 | Bluetooth |
| 4 | Razer Ornata V2 | Hybrid Mecha-Membrane Switch | 60£ | 125WPM | 1% | 8/10 | Wired Only |
| 5 | Razer Hunstman V2 | Purple Switch (Clicky) | 160£ | 105WPM | 4% | 6/10 | Wired Only |
| 6 | Keychron K8 PRo | Gateron G Pro Brown Switch | 140£ | 120WPM | 3% | 10/10 | Bluetooth |
| 7 | Keychron V1 | Brown (Tactile) | 100£ | 120WPM | 3% | 9/10 | Wired Only |
🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺 And I choose..... 🎺🎺🎺🎺
Razer Ornata V2 💥💥
Pros:
- Cheap - 60£
- Comes with palm rest (super comfortable, and recommend for everybody)
- I just bonded with it immediatelly. It was easy to type, and my fingers just "listened". It was hard for me to make a spelling mistake.
Cons:
- Wired only.
Would I choose differently now? Absolutely yes. I tried Keychron lately, and they were absolutely amazing. It was just out of price range for me at the time.
Anyways, try a couple yourself. If you have friends, go and ask to try theirs, and you will realize how much difference a keyboard can make!
Update: 2023-05
Okay, so my birthday just passed, and for the first time ever I didn't bought clothes, but instead went for something what I actually want. And you guessed - it is a keyboard!
Akko 5075B Plus. It's:
- 70% mechanical keyboard
- Hot swappable PCB (allows you to change switches anytime).
- Came with Akko CS Crystal switches (tactile), but I also got Hazel Pink Silent Linear switches for office use.
Total -> 130£ (+shipping).
And it is freaking amazing!!!
Like, the benefits are huge:
- Super satisfying to type on (the deep sound is just all what you to feel fully fledge Software Engineer)
- Desk is soo much cleaner, as now I can use Bluetooth to connect up to 3 devices.
- When I get bored, I can switch from one switches to another in literally 20-30 minutes.
- Controllable RGB. I woulkd be laughed at if I were to come into office with RGB, so it's nice you can turn them off and on when you want to (or if it's annoying you in the middle of the night)