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

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.

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.

Programmer here, writer of design docs, etc. Not a gamer. My old Microsoft Natural 4K encountered some coffee one day, and I had to get another ergonomic keyboard. This was one of the few ergonomic & mechanical keyboards on the market; one of the extremely few from a reputable company. I chose the Blue variant, along with the lift kit, etc. This keyboard is very nice. I do miss the curvature of the MSN4K, but other than that, it provides almost the same experience. The feedback provided by the Blue keys is much nicer than most of the membrane keys on the market; I dont regret purchasing it at all. I did have a customer support issue (PEBCAK, turns out), and their Twitter rep was very helpful. I appreciate that, a lot! The RGB system is mostly tacky, I found a reasonably pleasing pattern. I havent gone deep into the macro system: its not something I care about generally speaking. I do note that the split design is a bit funky, I have to adjust both sides of the keyboard just so, or I wind up with a host of illegible characters. The primary ergonomic issue with this keyboard is the location of the arrow keys; my hands have to force down to manipulate the arrows. Ive appropriately remapped my editors to handle key actions, but its pretty frustrating having keys that arent sustainable to be regularly and at speed. I anticipate that this will be my daily driver for a long time.

I have been using a Microsoft Sculpt which I have liked but they always crap out on me. My latest MS Scuplt keyboard crapped out after just 4 months. I was in the middle of a meeting where I needed to be typing into a document that I was sharing and it was awkward to have to switch out the keyboard in the middle the meeting. This keyboard had high marks for ergonomics and thought I would give it i shot. I like the idea of having my arms out straight in front of me as opposed to scrunched and huddled over a single integrated keyboard. It feels much more natural. However, flip side, it is messing with my brain a little trying to get used to remembering which keyboard to hit, if that makes sense. I actually play piano and am a touch typist so the notion of hands operating independently isnt a foreign concept. But still -- for typing, it is still a little discombobulating. However, Im confident Ill adapt. I went with the brown switches because the red were unavailable and it seemed based on my typing style, that these might be more akin to what Im used to -- typing with purpose! However, these are loud... much louder than I expected. So loud, in fact that Im going to have to go back to wearing a headset during conference calls so as not to cause interference with the speaker. I do like the wrist rest -- very comfortable. However, after spending so much on the keyboard itself, would it have killed the manufacturer to throw in the riser system? I guess that will be my next purchase. The cables are heavy braided cord and build quality feels solid. Wish it was bluetooth so that I didnt need to have a cord on my desk but thats life. I dont game so not really going to be using those capabilities too much. Also, the funky technicolor backlighting is not really my taste. Hopefully I can make it just a regular color. My touch-typing accuracy has gone down -- getting my fingers lined up on the home row is critical. However, once again, hopefully, this will bounce back once I have more hours with the keyboard. [LCAR]

The good: The build quality and feel of the keyboard was nice. It was all plastic but solid. The cord was long enough and felt durable. Over all it feels like a nice $100 mechanical keyboard. You pay extra because it is split. The bad: I injured my right hand from working on a computer too much. I got this keyboard to try and work through the pain. It feels better than a regular keyboard but there is still too much pain. For this reason I returned it and got the more extreme Kenesis Advantage 2. The advantage too is gradually giving me the pain relief I sought.

Working from home all day then turning around and gaming most nights on the same computer with a normal keyboard pretty quickly leads to pretty severe shoulder and back tension issues. Bought a pair of these keyboards to improve the ergonomics of our day to day lives, and man what a life saver they have been. Within a day or two we were both totally used to the split keyboard layout and our backs and shoulders stopped hurting at the end of the day. Would highly recommend to anyone who uses a computer many hours a day. Well worth the investment. Pros: + Ergonomics + High quality materials, real cherry switches, nice thick wrist rests that hold up over time and dont sag when the keyboard is angled with the optional accessory (see cons below) + RGB lighting is nice, if a bit limited on options + Programmable keys are awesome, and being able to create macros on the fly without needing to open the software is a nice touch + Multiple profiles can each have separate lighting and macros assigned to them Cons: - Updating the keyboard is a bit of a convoluted mess. You have to hit specific key combinations in specific orders, download and rename files to specific naming conventions and put them in specific folders. Its manageable to anyone whos tech savvy and their website has pretty thorough instructions, but it just seems like a royal pain compared to most things that are just Would you like to update your software? Yes/no - The layout of the home, end, page up, page down, insert, print screen keys are VERY different from a standard keyboard. As a programmer, it is taking me a long time to re-learn the positions of these keys that I use ALL THE TIME. - Media controls are mapped to the F keys plus the FN key, so you pretty much need two hands to use them (FN is the far bottom left key, for reference) - The software is a bit clunky. Programming more complex macros can be accomplished, but it has a decent learning curve. The RGB options are pretty limited compared to other software out there like Corsairs iCue. - The tenting accessory (sold separately) is honestly just trash. I reviewed it separately, but TL;DR it wont stay standing at its highest setting. - Both the Red and Brown switches are definitely not silent. Even after painstakingly putting rubber gaskets on every single key on both keyboards, they are still loud enough to hear several rooms over with the doors closed when you are really typing (80+ WPM). This isnt Kinesis fault, thats just mechanical switches for you, but its something to be aware of if you are used to typing on a membrane keyboard (much quieter).

I love this keyboard - I have a Kinesis Advantage keyboard at my office for general work and it has really changed my life as I can type all day without any discomfort. For home use - which includes work as well as some gaming, I needed something more flexible, though. This keyboard is perfect for the job. During the day its comfortable and flexible. I got the brown keyswitches which are tactile and great for typing. When I want to play a game that uses the mouse I can move the right half of the keyboard out of the way and I have much more real estate (and better ergonomics) than with a single, full-sized keyboard. I am using the tenting adapter (what they call the lift kit) on its lowest setting and I really like it. Im only giving four stars because the lift kit should really be included. I think its basically required to use the keyboard properly.

There are not many split-staggered, TKL, tentable, RGB-backlit, mechanical keyboards, and if thats what youre looking for, this is absolutely the top of the heap. The wrist rests are really comfortable, youre getting the consistent Cherry MX quality that the switches promise, NKRO works very well (I upgraded from the Microsoft Sculpt which I also quite liked, but had *several* un-pressable key combos that actually practically limited the functionality and I have seen _zero_ of that with this board), and the remapping functionality is absolutely world class; software available but not required, lots of profiles, lots of custom keys, macros, scriptable via plain text files... really there is no better keyboard from that perspective. But the case is fairly pingy even after I installed O-rings, it seems like theres no foam or anything keeping the switch springs from reverberating mightily, the split spacebars are an incredibly weird form-factor (3.5u) so custom keycap sets are not usable, the double-shot ABS keycaps get worn and shiny after only a couple of days, the forehead is inexplicably huge, theres no wireless functionality, the tenting kit is sold separately (and it REALLY should be included, for how much this costs), and the layout places the modifier keys *way* underneath your thumbs so youll probably want to remap at least one spacebar to avoid making a cramped claw gesture on every hotkey. So if youre a mechanical keyboard enthusiast this is an intriguing model for a few reasons, but you should expect to have to *heavily* mod it to get anywhere close to enthusiast-grade typing feel regardless of switch type. Plus, you know, no hotswap. Overall Id still say 4 stars because its almost exactly what I wanted, but its a little disappointing that it is not more premium in terms of sound and feel (ahem, PBT keycaps with a softer edge next time plus some case foam and maybe a weight please Kinesis) at this price point.

One of the engineers reviewing the Kinesis keyboard said it worked well for writing, and it had the qualities I was looking for, though I was wondering if something labeled for gaming had some special qualities making it unusable for other purposes. Fortunately, that was not the case. The lighted keyboard and being able to see the letters and numbers in low light and at night when I write was of special appeal. It is still fairly new to me, and I am going with the default changing color scheme, which I like. At some point I plan to try programming individual keys to make it easier to find the right place to put my hand, as too often I get gibberish from faulty hand placement. But that is happening less and less often, as I get a better feel for the keyboard each passing week. After a dozen years of mostly using a laptop keyboard, it took some time getting back to what reminds me a bit of the typewriter keyboard type of key response which I used to love. As some reviewers note, there is a sound, but after a day or two I got used to it, and now mostly like it, as it is the typewriter keyboard sound without the banging of the keys against a platen. One reason I chose this particular keyboard was that the two halves separate, which works for me ergonomically and is a better fit for a cramped desktop space than the horizontal keyboard that came with my new ultra-compact desktop unit. First thing I did was remove the wrist rests so the keyboard could fit in a space with only 8 inches. Indeed, being able to remove the wrist rests was a key selling point, along with the separability of the two keyboard halves and the lighting. Every week I use this keyboard, I like it more and more.

I am a remote worker and type a lot. A LOT, loads of reports, facilitation, notes, diagrams.... I really hated this keyboard initially, but after three days, I got more used to it. I began typing faster and even saw ways I can utilize the macros to optimize to daily flow. BUT, the keys are loud! I cannot be off mic during calls, which not feasible for the facilitator of a meeting or even a key participant...so sending it back. I did a lot a research and this makes sense...I would say for productivity A, just get BROWN....bluh bluh...look it up! Just consider typing noise, if it is an issue...this is not the best option. I type loud, I guess and this made me sound profoundly louder.