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

Only ergonomic gaming keyboard I’ve found, love how much you can adjust it to fit you. Recommend tenting but I just have a book in the middle to produce the same effect haha. Switches feel nice!

This keyboard seems to need a good bit of power. I had a physical KVM switch and the switching was around 5 seconds before the keyboard was available for use. Now, I am running the KVM through a Dell monitor and the darn thing takes up to 20-30 seconds before it is available to use. Pretty frustrating, especially since I reached out to the company and their answer was yeah, we have that issue too. :/ I am getting a powered USB hub and am hoping that the constant power to the keyboard via the hub will keep it warm and ready to go when I switch the KVM....fingers crossed. Waiting for 30 seconds for a keyboard to work is mind numbing. Update:. It worked! The powered USB hub made all the difference!

I got this and a vertical mouse and together they have alleviated my severe forearm pain. This keyboard allows me to not have my wrists bent out at 45 degree angles all day and night. Now I can have then in front of my shoulders (well, a little inside because theyre also lifted and tilted). As a bonus, the many many macros let me store common work commands that is used and saves a lot of keystrokes.

I ordered the version with Cherry MX Silver keys/switches. It feels great and not clicky like the number pad I ordered to go with it. It was awkward at first because I have muscle memory with my old keyboard. The missing number pad is both nice because my mouse is closer and hard because I used it all the time. Now I have a separate number pad with more functionality, and Im liking it too. Build quality is great. I really like that I could remap keys. I quickly remapped the PG UP, PG DN, and END keys to match my laptop keyboard, so I didnt have to relearn everything. The macro keys on the left are handy too. I want to be able to map applications to keys, not just record keystroke patterns, though. Hoping this is possible with the software. I miss having a button for the calculator, notepad, etc.

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.

Purchased this keyboard around Dec 2019. It worked flawlessly for almost 2 years. Used very little for gaming, 99.9% of the time for work, about 6-8 hrs/day. Very comfortable, especially with the KINESIS Lift Kit (Tenting for The Freestyle Edge). Yes, there are other keyboards from the same manufacturer, including some more formal models designed for work (without those playful RGB lights), and even less expensive... But backlight was one of my requirements, and -at least when I first ordered mine- the gaming versions were the only backlit options (with the RGB thing), so... After almost 2 years of use, one of the LEDs was not working as it should. The keyboard itself still worked, but there was an issue somewhere. Way past the return window, but it was still under Kinesis 2-year warranty. Amazon customer service didnt help much, besides suggesting that I could contact the manufacturer, which I did. 24 hours later, after a brief exchange of emails, they provided an RMA number for returning the defective keyboard. In the meantime I ordered a new one from Amazon (I needed a spare anyway). Sent the old unit to Kinesis for repair or replacement. A couple of weeks later I received a new keyboard from them. Considering that we are still in the middle of a pandemic, I think that that was a very reasonable time frame, and overall an excellent customer service. Thank you, Joey Luckey at Kinesis Corporation.

Im 33 years old and i started to game again about 2 years ago - but when I picked up some of my more favorite games, twitch shooters, i was getting a lot of pain in my wrists. I was using a Corsair K95 and a SteelSeries mouse. Switching to this keyboard and my new mouse alleviated most of the stress and it makes sense because my desk is really non-negotiable in terms of changing. Its a bit pricey but its also good for FPS gaming because you can put aside the other half of the keyboard and you dont have to go purchase a smaller form factor keyboard, i have huge fingers and i dont need a tiny little keyboard. I recommend this to both people looking for relief as well as enthusiasts as it has solid RGB lighting, a sidearea on the left hand of extra keys to program - super cool and handy, easily customizable and programmable macros... onboard software - which is great when you are like me and utilizing a switch between two computers - the preferences are onboard so it works across platforms. As I write this review I realize there are more and more things I like about this keyboard, if you have the extra cash - go for it - you will not regret it. I will retract a few stars because of the premium aspect of the niche product id like a steel body option. It just makes sense especially if you are going to travel with it. I do appreciate the thick woven cable insulation but definitely do not particularly like all the plastic material for the body.

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]

This is a review after a month of almost daily use. First I had an adaptation week or maybe a bit longer, but after that I feel amazing typing on this keyboard. I can have my hands well positioned, separated and tilted (because I purchased the tilting kit separately) and its a nice comfortable experience. I have the mouse in the middle of the two halves and it works well enough. The build is all plastic of good quality except the palm rests hinges, those seem a bit wobbly and it gives the impression they could break with time, but maybe they dont. The palm rest cushions are made of plastic and I think they would improve substantially if they were made of cloth, specially with sweating in the summer. The Cherry MX Blue switches work well as expected. I give it 4 starts because although its a great keyboard I had to purchase the tilting kit separately. This is a problem because I couldnt find the one designed for palm rest and I had to manually saw a part of the kit to make it work. Otherwise I would have bought the correct one but it wasnt in stock. This problem would be solved by including tilting accesories that worked regardless of palm rests being installed or not. I dont think it would entail a super complex design to do that, ot would work if they just included the regular kit with a foldable tilting support on the palms too, it would be just a plastic leg. And if Kinesis doesnt want to bundle the keyboard with a tilting kit at least unify both compatible kits with 1 model compatible with 2 modes like I suggested. Itd a shame that such great product has to be a pain to set up with tilting. But besides that, I love it.

I got this because I have been experiencing more issues from having my arms angled inward to type. I work as a software engineer and have been switched to full-time from home, so buying 1 keyboard I could use for work and for play (I have a gaming PC) was necessary for me to alleviate my pain. First, the good: This 100% helps the shoulder. I needed to move the two halves further apart than a simple split would do, so I went for this as a test, mostly, hoping it would help, hoping I wouldnt need to go even further up the price chain, and hoping it would be enjoyable to type on. It most certainly is. Anyone who does regular computer usage and suffers from having their hands so close together will almost guaranteed feel relief from using this. The whatever: I dont think its exceptionally different to type on than my former Logitech G910 but I am NOT a keyboard Enthusiast like some people. I do sometimes hit keys I dont mean to (usually its the period when I hit the space bar). I have short fingers. Its not a huge issue. The keys arent too loud but feel good to type with. I can tell when Ive fully pressed a key at least 95% of the time. Sometimes I make mistakes which I do not think are the keyboards fault. The bad: I really dont like the approach for managing macro keys. I get the point of it, to have it all on-board in the keyboard, but. The approach of mounting and ejecting the drive sometimes confuses Win10, and it fails to eject, or gives me an error after appearing to eject correctly, always leaving me wondering what just happened. I am carefully following the provided directions, but it seems not very user-friendly. Im guessing power users might be more ok with it. It begs the question, for this price point, do they expect power users? I use this on a USB switch so I can swap it between my work macbook and my PC. I experienced a very strange issue where an area of the right half of the keyboard was not working properly (a single press of the m key would type a series of letters, for example). I found it really clunky to figure out how to reset the thing (internet sleuthing to find an answer, their site/documentation is not as easy to navigate as Id hoped), and then to actually reset requires finger gymnastics of holding down 3 keys and plugging the keyboard in again. I dont know a single person who plugs a keyboard into the front port of a PC, so for anyone on a desktop/not a laptop, you are going to have to contort your body around to hold 3 keys down while plugging something in anywhere. It was a pain. I have no idea why it happened, it just was borked after waking up from sleep one time. If this happens too much, or at a time when Im trying to hop into a work meeting, this will probably make me buy a new keyboard from another brand. Overall, Im glad I bought it because pain = no work. I needed a split keyboard. Its good for that. I can type a lot without lots of struggle or errors. I dont love the macro key support. The process to mount it, set it, save/eject, is slow and clunky if youre hoping to configure a lot of macros or edit/tweak what youve done. The idea of doing it all without software is fine, but again feels outdated or hyper specialized to me. Average people will expect to have a software interface (which is provided, and I use), not just handle everything from keystrokes alone. I feel like someone whos that into macros for gaming is going to get a higher priced keyboard, or a keypad specifically for that, anyway.