KINESIS Gaming Freestyle Edge RGB Split Mechanical Keyboard | Cherry MX Linear Red Switches | RGB | Ergonomic | Detachable Palm Support | Fully Programmable | TKL | Available Tenting

I bought this primarily for the split keyboard design, and I love this aspect. Im never going back to any other sort of keyboard. Moreover, the keyboard looks great. The chromatic backlighting is also a good aspect of the keyboard. BUT The ease with which you can set macros is a drawback. You do this by pressing the Macro button. Which is right next to the Profile button used for switching the backlight settings. Which you cant see if you are typing in the dark relying on the backlight settings, because the special keyboard keys have no backlighting. My point is that it is VERY easy to accidentally press the Marco key. Ive hit it by accident several times, a bottle of aspirin falling over has hit it, my cat has hit it ... And when it gets hit, you will suddenly have a macro of whatever you are typing linked to, say, the S key. And then you cant type an S anymore, because this initiates a macro text dump. Try even searching the web for this problem without needing to type an S. So as long as this macro is in place, your keyboard is no longer functional. You should be able to solve this problem in a few ways: the SmartSet app, a soft reset, a hard reset. Lets go over these: The SmartSet app seems like the best course, since you may have actual macros you want to keep, and resetting the keyboard will nuke those along with the one you want to get rid of. To use the SmartSet app, you have to pair your keyboards internal flash drive with your computer. To do that, you are told to press the SmartSet key + f8. But this doesnt work. So you cant pair your keyboard to your computer. So you cant use the SmartSet app to do anything. Strike 1. Next, the soft reset. This clears the macros off one profile, but not all of them. To do a soft reset, you must hit SmartSet key + Shift f12. But this doesnt work. Hitting these keys will simply not do anything. The soft reset isnt an option. Strike 2. And the hard reset. This one resets the keyboard to factory default, so youll get rid of the macro that is preventing you from using the keyboard, and everything else, if you have any macros. For this one, you press SmartSet key + f12 while plugging the keyboard into the computer. This one does work. About 1 in 50 times. So you have to do it over and over and over and over and over ... and eventually it will work, and you can use your keyboard again. Id like to disable the Macro key entirely, which may be possible via the SmartSet app, but since the SmartSet app doesnt work (or rather, the keyboard flash drive pairing key sequence doesnt work), I cant use the SmartSet app, so I guess Ill never know. In sum, the Freestyle Edge RGB keyboard is excellent for its ergonomic design, very good for its RGB lighting (the special keys should be lit too), BUT doesnt give you the macro functionality it promises: accidentally set macros can and will render the keyboard useless until got rid of, and two out of the three ways of fixing the problem just dont work. So be warned: if you get this keyboard, you WILL have periodic incidents where the keyboard stops being usable due to bad macros, until you can manage to clear them, which is a long and frustrating job of work. UPDATE: The one option that prevents the keyboard from destroying itself with its own macro function stopped working. No hard reset either. My keyboard is now unusable since several critical keys now trigger macros instead of their correct function and there is NO WAY to undo this. Here are five right-arrow strokes to demonstrate: 55555 Yes my right arrow key is dead forever, because it is the number 5. Dont buy a keyboard that is build to destroy itself.

Ive worked in IT and software dev my whole life so Ive been gradually refining whats important to me. Up until recently, the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard has been my go-to, but the unreliable membrane keys and 2 year shelf life made me search for more. I cant use a non-split or rotated keyboard without serious strain in my wrists and arms. I also need a properly positioned wrist rest and optimally have adjustable tenting. With the tenting accessory, this checks all the need boxes. The RGB is beautiful, subtle, configurable, and easily turned off at a button press. The cable between the halves is properly cable managed and extendable for your needs (even if the very nice braided wire is a bit thicker than my preference). The sound and feel of the switches is incredible. There are macro buttons and remapping and profiles and more that I havent even scratched the surface on. The only things I wish this had (which are HUGE asks) are are rotary encoder for things like volume, thumb clusters / layers like a QMK firmware, and low profile switches. But when it comes down to it, Im obligated to build my own custom keyboard at that point (which Im working on). Just some comparisons, it sounds and feels like a DasKeyboard (which I cant use because they dont split, but I love them otherwise). Its as comfortable to type on for my weird ergo membrane keyboards. The Cloud 9 Gaming keyboard just like this that has built-in tenting and a rotary encoder sounded hollow and resonated springs and vibration if you brushed up against keys, like nails on a chalk board - this one sounds like an actual high-quality keyboard. Ive tried to type on an Ergodox EZ but without properly angled wrist rests angled with the tenting, it caused more strain than helped with ergonomics (again, building something custom to fit me better but still). In any case, I could stop my keyboard journey here and be completely happy. Thanks for making such a great keyboard I can pick up at a store like this, Kinesis!

The w and the s keys simultaneously, and randomly, would quit working on my first one. Ive had bad switches before, and that happens, but never two at the exact same moment, so I didnt immediately suspect hardware. Sure enough, cycling the keyboards profiles would bring the keys back for a few seconds. Clearing the keyboards memory (with shortcuts on the keyboard) would bring them back for a few seconds. But theyd always fade back out... indicating this isnt just a switch needing to be replaced, but something within the components of the keyboards PCB/electronics. If it wasnt for this, and the fact the tenting hardware was $20 and separate - and looks like something you could easily 3d print, Id give it 5 stars. As a unit, its amazing. Ergonomics are perfect, especially with the aforementioned tenting accessory. Wrist pad feels great - I ended up throwing out my old one after this one came with its own. I adore this keyboard. I just dont trust it, yet. Few months later update: this ones still doing fine. no repeating keys, no issues. still easily my favorite keyboard, ever. Id love if they had a less glitzy LED splattered version with less crap to go wrong, but whatever. The split design has been fantastic for ergonomics, and Im quite addicted to it. Typing on anything else feels quite unnatural. The key positions DO take some time to adjust to, but once thats done, its just nearly perfect. A slightly cheaper, Cherry MX, non-64 trillion useless color version would be nice, but whatever. Raising from 3 to 4 stars.

I type faster and make less mistakes with this mechanical keyboard. The split design is comfortable (despite a wrist injury) and the satisfying sound says, “I am getting Lots Of Work Done.” It is great except for one thing: the illuminated keys don’t live up to the advertising. I wanted the illuminated keys because the keyboard is on a drawer under the desk, resulting in much of the keyboard being in shadow, plus I do have to look at the keys when using special characters such as “%” or “{“. The special characters that I need to light are exactly the characters that do not light. The photos that Kinesis uses to sell this keyboard misrepresent how the illumination of the keys actually looks. One of those photos is attached. Also attached are more photos—two showing how the keys look when illumination is on, and the other showing how the LED is positioned under the key cap. After this investigation I’d be surprised if ANY mechanical keys available today can be made to illuminate both characters because parts of the mechanical key (metal and otherwise) are opaque, and the light can’t get around those parts to illuminate the second character. Maybe a design change for future keyboards would be adding a second LED light for the other half of the key. Cool if that circuit were activated by the “shift” key… So the choice seems to be either crisp/accurate/more fun mechanical keys that don’t illuminate completely, or mushy/membrane keys that do illuminate completely. Next Ill try an LED light strip to stick on the underside of the desk above, and turn off the keyboard lights.

Ive been a satisfied owner of the previous (original?) Freestyle Edge. I bought the new RGB Freestyle Edge for a second computer. Its basically the same keyboard except for two things. First, this one has programmable RGB. I didnt think I would care for RGB, but its grown on me. Second, the Fn keys have been shifted to the right in order to accommodate a physical Esc key. The Scrlk key has been removed and is bound to the Del key as a secondary action. This makes it a tad difficult to go back and forth between the two keyboards. I basically have to look down when using a Fn key. As for Esc, I reprogrammed the big << key to function as Esc in order to mimic the old keyboard. I really like the flexibility to configure the keyboard. You can edit a text file that is stored on the keyboard. It is accessed by pressing a combination of keys. This will make the keyboard appear as a mountable drive on the computer. You then open the folder and edit the file with any text editor. This works on Windows and Mac. I havent tried Linux. You can also reprogram keys directly on the keyboard using the Remap button. As for the keys, I have weak fingers, so I like low force, quiet keys so I went with the Cherry Red.

Pros: Split-keyboard RBG Lighting Multi-function Macros/Keys Mutilple selections for type of keys Built-in wrist rest Stable Cons: Tenting kit is extra $$$ Tenting only has two levels (low and high) Ive used a variety of split keyboard designs over the years (including the recent CloudNine C989M) and Im in love with this keyboard. This is also my third Kinesis to date. Kinesis has gone to great lengths to improve on its past designs, incorporating elements from gaming keyboards, such as lighting, macros, swappable keycaps, and swappable key mechanisms. This means that you can configure the Freestyle Edge to suit just about any preference, including swapping the caps for Mac buttons instead of Windows. Even the key mechanisms themselves can be swapped for a lighter or heavier feel. My only criticism is that they dont include the tenting kit in any of their keyboards, adding a $30-50 charge to an already expensive keyboard. And the tenting kit is a MUST. Without it, you lose the ability to raise or tilt the keyboard and some of the more ergonomic advantages of a natural wrist-hand position. Advice: if you have hand or finger injuries that make typing for long periods difficult, get the low-weight keys. Your fingers will appreciate the rest.

Glad to see these are now available. For months at the beginning of 2021 they were unavailable. I have two of these; a cherry brown at home (my first one) and a cherry red at work. For an expensive keyboard like this, its tough choosing the right cherry switches without being able to try them out. Many reviewers of mechanical keyboards advise getting the cherry brown switches for the subtle tactile feedback and relatively quieter key presses compared to the louder cherry blue switches. The Reds are recommended for gamers. After getting the cherry brown keyboard, I liked it so much I wanted one for work. At the beginning of 2021, when there was no supply, Amazon had one used cherry red version and I ordered it. Being used it was unfortunately missing the normally included palm rests which are very necessary when using the tent kit. Before returning it, I was able to try it out to asses the cherry red switches before ordering a new one when they became available. For me, I like the cherry reds better and heres why. Cherry browns. Coming from a conventional membrane keyboard, you probably dont realize it but you normally push the keys all the way down until they bottom out. Fortunately you bottom out into a soft squishy rubbery material (the membrane). When you first type on a mechanical keyboard, youll do the same and bottom out your key presses. This is part of the clackiness of a mechanical keyboard. The key is literally physically contacting the board, plastic on plastic with no soft cushion. The cherry brown switches provide tactile feedback or a bump towards the end of the key travel so you can actually stop pressing down when you feel the bump and before the key bottoms out on the board. Its kind of cool to realize you dont have to press so hard and so far down to actuate the key press and this should allow you type faster and lighter since you can be more efficient, but you have to train yourself not to type so hard. If you are a hard typer and bottom out the keys anyway, you may not even notice the subtle feedback of the cherry browns because the bottom out feel is much stronger. There is a crispness when typing with the browns similar to the cherry blues that you dont get with the cherry reds or any standard membrane keyboard. Cherry reds. Nice and smooth. When transitioning from the cherry browns to the cherry reds, the first thing you notice is that the keys seem easier to press. Second, you immedeately realize the difference in the tactile feedback the browns provide. There is certainly no issue typing with the cherry reds and it feels more like a traditional non mechanical keyboard. I appreciate what the cherry browns have taught me that I dont have to push down so hard or so far, but the main reason I prefer the reds over the browns is that I feel less tired typing on the reds. They claim its the same actuation force between the reds and the browns, but to me typing on the reds just feels easier. The tactile bump of the browns is like a small percussive force on your fingers joints that adds up over time and you can feel it. If youre young and virile and want the feedback, the browns are great. Or go for the blues and strut your stuff and let everyone around you know you are a mechanical keyboard aficionado and they should respect your authority. But Im glad I made the choice of cherry reds for work where I do most of my typing. I just dont need the extra percussive force on my fingers. I dont think there is any downside to the cherry reds, I can type just fine. The browns and blues just let you know that you have a mechanical keyboard and give you a different feel than what a traidtional keyboard or laptop can provide and you may enjoy that. The KINESIS GAMING Freestyle Edge RGB Split Mechanical Keyboard itself is great. One of the main reasons I chose this keyboard is to remove the number pad on the right so my mouse can be closer to the midline for better ergonomics. I am much more comfortable working with this configuration. I do miss the number pad at times, but the trade off is worth it. I do have the second layer programmed as a number pad, but every number pad is ortho-linear where the keys are directly above each other. Even color coding the keys and extinguishing the lights on surrounding keys is still not the same. Most people will choose 7, 8, and 9 to stay the same which makes u, i, o = 4, 5, 6 and j, k, l = 1, 2, 3. But to match a number pad, 0 (to the right of 9) becomes your plus key, and for me this is hard to get used (the key says 0 and there is a plus key two more keys over) and space or M (or both) becomes 0. The fact that the keys below 7,8,9 are diagonal and to the right just isnt quite the same. And the j key has the bump, which is now the number 1 key vs the bump on the number pad is the on the 5 key. If you can get used to the layout without looking its better. At home I dont have space for a number pad, but at I work I do and I place it above the keyboard. Ive just started using the real number row above the letters more and more. The second reason I wanted this keyboard is for the illuminated keys. If the microsoft natural 4000 keyboard had back lit keys, you wouldnt be reading this review and I would have right arm pain with my hand further out to the side. Nothing is better in a low light environment than back lit keys. And Ive really enjoyed color coding the keys to my liking. You can soften the brightness of the keys by choosing a softer color. I use browns, oranges, and reds so the keyboard is easy to look at in low light. The third reason I wanted a keyboard like this is for on the fly macro programming. Back in the late 90s I had a keyboard that let you program extra keys on the keyboard and it was awesome for short term repetitive tasks. This keyboard shines in this area. While you can put a macro on any key, this keyboard gives you 8 keys on the left side for easy programming and easy access. You press the macro button at the top above the fn keys, press the key you want to program, type whatever you want including spaces, returns, multi key presses (ctrl-shft-end), etc. then press the macro key again to finish. Then bam you have a repeatable set of key strokes for editing that spreadsheet youre working on. Its great! Dont want to accidentally press that macro key and have that complex macro do all kinds of crazy stuff on another important document or spreadsheet? Press macro, the key you just programed, and macro again... macro erased. I did have to burn one of the macro keys for the function layer (fn) toggle (press it once and release to toggle to the function layer, press it again to toggle back vs the built in FN button that only toggles to the funciton layer while your holding the key down). There is an oversized Kinesis key in the upper left next to ESC, the perfect location for fn toggle, but strangely enough, fn toggle is the one thing you cant program that key for. You can but it prevents you from programming macros with the macro button. Its a bug in the software they dont care to fix. So I just programmed the big kenesis button as another ESC key and I used the macro 7 key as fn toggle just above the fn key. I also reprogrammed F2 and F3, which I never use, with volume up and down, which is already printed on the key. F2 and F3 are then on the function layer if I need them. ## edit 12/9/2022. I still use macros all the time, but sometimes the macros are too fast for the program you are using. For example your macro involves entering info into a popup dialog box, that delay for the dialog box to appear takes time and the macro can speed past and now you are out of sync. You can fix this by slowing the macro down or by adding delays, but you have launch VDRIVE and edit the macro in the keyboard gui keyboard application. Its not that big of a deal, and you can change the settings to globally slow down macros, but I thought it was worth mentioning as it does take time to deal with. The palm rests are super comfy and coming from a microsoft ergonomic keyboard the tent kit is a requirement. Im happy with the middle setting of 10 degrees and I spread the keyboard out until its comfortable. Last thing, I did O-ring both keyboards. I bought these silicone O rings https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HMMGHL4 and this key puller https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TAUJDJK and it very noticeably reduced the clackiness of the keyboards. So it becomes quite the investment of keyboard, tent kit, O ring kit and a little time to install the O rings, getting used to the layout, programming the lights and other layers. But in the end, I think its worth it. Keyboard, Monitors, and Mouse are your main interfaces to the machine. Make them count. ## edit 12/9/2022. I still love both keyboards and use them daily without issue. While it could be valuable using keyboard layer switching for particular software like gaming, adobe, or video editing, I find myself never using the fn layer toggle. At home I use a KVM switch to switch between several computers. I cant launch the VDRIVE (F8) when plugged into the dedicated keyboard port on my KVM switch (because the VDRIVE button turns the keyboard into a USB key and the KVM switch only wants to see a keyboard). But I can access VDRIVE if I plug the keyboard into the shared usb port on the KVM switch, but then I cant use the keyboard commands to change computers because the KVM switch is looking for those commands on the keyboard port. So fast macro tuning using the VDRIVE keyboard app is out when using a KVM switch (and I would imagine most KVM switches operate this way). In order to change keyboard settings or edit a macro, I have to be determined and change USB ports on the KVM switch, launch VDRIVE, make the changes and change back the USB port. You dont have to shutdown the computer to change ports but its painful enough that it prevents me from making changes at times. I dont do this very often and havent for months. But in the beginning, you will probably be making frequent tweaks to your setup to dial it in. Just wanted to share my experience with the KVM switch Im using. Siig SIIG CEKV0612S1 4x1 USB HDMI KVM Switch https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G88PRUK/

Lets get this straight: Right now, the Kinesis Freestyle Edge is the best relatively-conventional ergonomic keyboard you can buy. No exceptions. Yes, its expensive, as keyboards go. But it is tentable, adjustable, programmable, comes with your choice of three types of Cherry mechanical keyswitches (not cheap Chinese knock-offs) and actually useful palm rests. Its solidly constructed and has the good key feel youd naturally expect from Cherry switches. It is customizable in many ways, almost all of which can be done right on the keyboard itself, but if you prefer to do it from a configuration application, Kinesis has you covered there as well. (The Smartset app, available for MacOS or Windows, does everything you can do directly from the keyboard as well as a few things that you cant.) The Edge RGB adds fully addressable RGB backlighting, for the loss only of the Scroll Lock key which honestly NOTHING EVER USES ANY MORE ANYWAY. Like the Caps Lock key, I dont know why it still even exists on modern computer keyboards. Its no longer relevant, and its no pain whatsoever to lose it. I mentioned MacOS above. Yes, you can use this keyboard with your Mac. To do that, youll need to do two things: 1. Youll need to order and install https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B085PWG291/, a set of four replacement keycaps for MacOS. 2. To make the keyboards actions match the new key caps, youll have to remap four keys, swapping the left and right Windows keys with the left and right Alt keys. ALT on the PC and ALT/OPTION on the Mac send the same key code, and WIN on the PC sends the same key code as the Macs COMMAND key, but their positions on the keyboard are swapped. Remap each WIN to ALT and likewise each ALT to WIN, and youre good to go. (This is easier and less confusing to do from the Smartset app.) Every time you run it, the Smartset app will also check to see if your keyboard needs any firmware updates. YES, THIS KEYBOARD GETS FIRMWARE UPDATES. Updating firmware is simplicity itself: Copy the update to the keyboards firmware folder, unplug the keyboard, plug it back in, and thats it. DONE. Your grandmother could do it, after you show her how the first time. So what makes this better than all of those $20-$60 ergonomic keyboards? Well, bluntly, theyre all cheap, dumb crap with no adjustment, no programmability, and with cheap, bad membrane switches (and usually with even cheaper screen-printed keycaps). Theyll wear out quickly under heavy use, and theyll never approach the key feel or tactile feedback of a proper mechanical key switch. Why is tactile feedback important? Because it prevents you from damaging your hands by hitting the keys harder than you need to. So if you have any semblance at all of RSI issues, and you want to protect your hands and wrists, buy this keyboard. Seriously. Im not kidding here. Your hands and wrists will thank you forever. UPDATE ====== Since writing the above Ive bought a third of these, for use with a work-issued Mac. If youve ever typed on a recent Mac keyboard, you know why. The first two are original-version Edges, one with Red switches, one with Brown. For the RGB I went back to the Reds because I think I slightly prefer them. All three have silicone damper rings installed. I personally give the RGB color control on the Edge RGB a resounding meh. I do NOT like the changes to the keycaps; shifted keys are upside down, which is to say, the shifted character is BELOW the unshifted character, not above it or to its right. This can be confusing. I have never seen any other keyboard do this, EVER, and it is a BAD IDEA. It doesnt even work well with the illumination, as the light is mostly blocked from the shifted character. Kinesis should change it back. Since they are standard Cherry keycaps, you could of course work around this by replacing the keycaps with a more conventional set of backlight-compatible Cherry keycaps. But on a $200 keyboard, you shouldnt HAVE to.

I have several wrist/thumb issues and this keyboard has been tremendous. I havent fully explored everything it can do, just added the lifts to get the right tilt angle for me (order them separately - not expensive) to angle the keyboard for me and I was good to go. So much less pain and discomfort. Highly recommend

This keyboard is very nice, the nicest one Ive ever owned, and also the most expensive! For the price this keyboard costs, Im very disappointed that I could not tent the two halves right out of the box. I expected the lift kit would be included for that price, but was shocked to discover that it cost an ADDITIONAL $25! That robbery should not be tolerated, and so Ive deducted a star from what otherwise would have easily been a 5 star product. For gaming and computer power users, this keyboard is fantastic! Highly versatile and infinitely programmable with pretty lights under each individual key makes for a sublime typing experience. The only thing I found lacking was the missing number pad and the lift kit that I mentioned above. Also the plastic feels a little flimsy on the wrist rests, but so far that has not been an issue... just have to be gentle with them if youre taking them on and off.