Zergotech Introduces the Zergotech Freedom: Aussie-based Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboard

[VSG]

Well, introduces to yours truly at least! The Zergotech Freedom has officially been out since April 2020, but anything before March this year might as well be a parallel universe. The Sydney-based company has thus been also seeing a hard time getting the word out on their take on the ergonomic, split mechanical keyboard design. Developed in collaboration with another Sydney-based design company, Boost Design, the Zergotech Freedom has since won the Red Dot product design award and, as of the time of this post, the Australian Good Design award. These design awards specifically call out the two features that interested me as well, in the form of the patented sliding palm rests that ensure your palms are always supported when needed only, and the semi-orthogonal key layout that should theoretically lower the learning curve when going from a more-traditional staggered column setup to the parallel columnar setup usually employed in such keyboards.

The Zergotech Freedom otherwise ticks off just about every feature I expect to see from a split ergonomic keyboard in 2020, including the option of different tactile, clicky, and linear feedback mechanical switches from Kailh, multi-OS compatibility with a programmable interface to customize key mapping on the different layers of the keyboard, tilting and tenting of the keyboard halves for ergonomics, as well as the ability to go with blank keycaps out of the box if desired. What is different here, apart from those palm rests aforementioned, is the inclusion of O-rings to make the keyboard quieter, as well as the provision of a 75% keyboard for discrete key functionality. This means that the learning curve will be even lower, although the foot print occupied by the keyboard is higher than contemporary offerings. The Zergotech Freedom retails from $339 US, the pricing being another thing in common with other such keyboards, and one that I want to get my hands on to see if the pricing is justified.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Vayra86]

Red Dot Awards... lol. They hand those out like candy, and even add the marketing flavor text for you.

Is TPU a marketing site now? The piece reads like it. Please let me know, because I'm not funding marketing. 339 is normal for a keyboard? I see.

 

[VSG]

Red Dot Awards... lol. They hand those out like candy, and even add the marketing flavor text for you.

Is TPU a marketing site now? The piece reads like it. Please let me know, because I'm not funding marketing. 339 is normal for a keyboard? I see.

It's an interesting new product for me (who reviews keyboards here, if you haven't noticed) so wanted to share it with others. Of course all news is marketing to an extent, and the pricing is in line with other such keyboards, as opposed to "normal for a keyboard".

 

[Vayra86]

I did notice, obviously, that you do this. I'm just hoping for neutrality is all. But listing a slew of nonsensical awards is not doing that any favors. Its getting dangerously close to parroting marketing, when I read that all sorts of alarm bells start ringing.

 

[VSG]

I did notice, obviously, that you do this. I'm just hoping for neutrality is all. But listing a slew of nonsensical awards is not doing that any favors. Its getting dangerously close to parroting marketing, when I read that all sorts of alarm bells start ringing.

Those awards is actually how the company contacted me to begin with, so I figured I'd write this up on the day of the embargo of that last award to make it new news with info on the product, instead of copy-pasting the PR about the award and nothing else. Skipping the award bit would mean it would just be about a product that is 5 months old

 

[Assimilator]

$200 for a keyboard is ridiculous; this is extortion. The bottom line is, the product is a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard that's been sliced in half - no amount of "design" or special palm rests will change this fact.

For $339, they could at least use Cherry switches instead of knock-offs...

 

[micropage7]

its too much, especially then the market is filled by many pretty known brands

 

[Deleted member 24505]

How much...............................

 

[Caring1]

No excuse for this ridiculous profiteering considering it is locally made.
This is a blatant money grab.

 

[Vayra86]

I guess in the parallel universe of niche keyboards this is normal. At least, this is what we've been told.

Not falling for that nonsense though. Its a hunk of plastic with some odd design choices and knockoff switches. That are fine, by the way. But still knockoff.

At 339

 

[Dammeron]

"Enter" instead of "Space" under the left thumb - who designed this?

 

[zergotech]

Friends, Zergotech here. Firstly, thanks to VSG and TechPowerUp for posting about us. This is simply an announcement of a new brand and product which is in line with past product announcements posted on this site. This award has provided a suitable segue to introduce the Freedom keyboard.

To provide a bit more colour about the keyboard.

The Freedom is primarily an ergonomic keyboard that is built on the sliding palm rest feature. Sliding palm rests provide the same ergonomic benefits as hovering your hands while typing, without tiring your arms. The keyboard comes with a plethora of other features including:

- Three integrated key layouts
- Fully programmable with 15 macro functions – all on-board, with no software
- Interchangeable fixed palm rests
- A split design with four in-built keyboard positions
- Embedded mouse
- Switchable between operating systems and language standards
- A unique semi-orthogonal design to keep as much familiarity as possible with standard keyboards
- Tempered and textured glass slider bay, and an overall premium build quality.

Regarding the key switches, we believe Kailh switches are not only among the best in the market, but Kailh has serviced us with custom key switches that we have spec’d. We chose the box switches to reduce key wobble and spec’d the switches to remove any ‘ping’, which Cherry also suffers from. We intend to broaden our switch range with time.

Editors who have personally reviewed the keyboard have genuinely loved it, and our customers have absolutely felt the benefit of the sliding palm rests. You can read these on our website. Ergonomists, ergonomic product resellers, and occupational therapists can all attest to this ergonomic innovation.

We have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars, and 2 years, to research, prototype and produce this keyboard. It took a great team of industrial design, electrical design, and firmware engineering to produce a product that earned the highest accolades in the world of design – achievements we are thoroughly proud of. It is a great day for our team and hope to continue reading our positive customer feedback about the improvement in their typing pain.

We intend to provide TechPowerUp with a unit for their independent review, and hope they can provide further insight into the keyboard from a power user perspective.

Until then, Safe Typing!

Zergotech Pty Ltd

 

[TheLostSwede]

Red Dot Awards... lol. They hand those out like candy, and even add the marketing flavor text for you.

Is TPU a marketing site now? The piece reads like it. Please let me know, because I'm not funding marketing. 339 is normal for a keyboard? I see.

Your actually pay to get one of those. It's just a "design award" anyhow, has nothing to do with functionality.

$200 for a keyboard is ridiculous; this is extortion. The bottom line is, the product is a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard that's been sliced in half - no amount of "design" or special palm rests will change this fact.

For $339, they could at least use Cherry switches instead of knock-offs...

So you know what it costs to make moulds for something like this?
I guess not.
So as a startup, you're going to have to charge a fair amount over the competition to make that money back, especially when you make a niche product.

 

[Jomale]

- Three integrated key layouts
- Fully programmable with 15 macro functions – all on-board, with no software

- A split design with four in-built keyboard positions
- Embedded mouse
- Switchable between operating systems and language standards




Zergotech Pty Ltd

Hello, in case of confined to bed: your keyboard can be split to 2 parts, so left and right side of the bed is possible? Are the keycap for german-qwertz layout configureable?

 

[zergotech]

Hello, in case of confined to bed: your keyboard can be split to 2 parts, so left and right side of the bed is possible? Are the keycap for german-qwertz layout configureable?

Hi Jomale. Yes the keyboard is split in 2 parts which can be separated up to 50cm apart. The layouts are configurable in any language and we will have the German-Qwertz key prints on the key caps available in the next 2 months or so.

 

[AltCapwn]

I feel like those complaining about the article hasn't read the article.

I haven't seen the sliding palm feature anywhere for a keyboard and it does seem very interesting in the context of an ergonomic keyboard .

Would love to test it. Yeah the price is premium, but ergo keyboard are not known to be cheap first of all, and those features are quite unique.

 

[Vayra86]

Friends, Zergotech here. Firstly, thanks to VSG and TechPowerUp for posting about us. This is simply an announcement of a new brand and product which is in line with past product announcements posted on this site. This award has provided a suitable segue to introduce the Freedom keyboard.

To provide a bit more colour about the keyboard.

The Freedom is primarily an ergonomic keyboard that is built on the sliding palm rest feature. Sliding palm rests provide the same ergonomic benefits as hovering your hands while typing, without tiring your arms. The keyboard comes with a plethora of other features including:

- Three integrated key layouts
- Fully programmable with 15 macro functions – all on-board, with no software
- Interchangeable fixed palm rests
- A split design with four in-built keyboard positions
- Embedded mouse
- Switchable between operating systems and language standards
- A unique semi-orthogonal design to keep as much familiarity as possible with standard keyboards
- Tempered and textured glass slider bay, and an overall premium build quality.

Regarding the key switches, we believe Kailh switches are not only among the best in the market, but Kailh has serviced us with custom key switches that we have spec’d. We chose the box switches to reduce key wobble and spec’d the switches to remove any ‘ping’, which Cherry also suffers from. We intend to broaden our switch range with time.

Editors who have personally reviewed the keyboard have genuinely loved it, and our customers have absolutely felt the benefit of the sliding palm rests. You can read these on our website. Ergonomists, ergonomic product resellers, and occupational therapists can all attest to this ergonomic innovation.

We have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars, and 2 years, to research, prototype and produce this keyboard. It took a great team of industrial design, electrical design, and firmware engineering to produce a product that earned the highest accolades in the world of design – achievements we are thoroughly proud of. It is a great day for our team and hope to continue reading our positive customer feedback about the improvement in their typing pain.

We intend to provide TechPowerUp with a unit for their independent review, and hope they can provide further insight into the keyboard from a power user perspective.

Until then, Safe Typing!

Zergotech Pty Ltd

I'll stop whining Thanks for the insights and info, will look forward to its review on TPU.

FWIW, I've been using Kailh Browns and they were enjoyable to type on. If you can get them custom made from them, that's pretty neat.

But those cringe worthy awards... Just let the product speak for itself IMHO

 

[rhaehnel]

I've owned more than a few mechanical keyboards and, most recently, the Ergodox ez. Cost wise, the Freedom is in line w/ other programmable mechanical keyboards and, while the Freedom isnt quite as programmable as the Ergodox, it's programmable enough for my needs and i like the fact that it has more physical keys that are easily reachable. The big "feature" that did it for me is the sound and feel of the Freedom. I use the brown switches and they have a fantastic feel and sound that is far more premium compared to the Ergodox ez which sounded thin and plasticy in comparison. I had only ever used Cherry switches in the past, but Kailh made an awesome first impression. After using the Freedom for a few weeks, i was shocked at how bad the ergo(cherry brown switches) sounded and I just couldnt go back(I'm aware that the overall sound is the sum of the parts and not just the switches, but they do play a big role in it).

The ergodox does have some advantages with the hot swappable switches, led backlighting and advances programmability(tap and hold in particular), however, I found the Freedom to be a better keyboard overall, so i sold my Ergodox and kept the Freedom.

 

[zergotech]

To see the keyboard in more detail visit www.zergotech.com