Introduction

If the Kinesis name sounds familiar to you, it is perhaps because of Kinesis Corporation, Inc., which was formed over 30 years ago and had extensive research and development lead to ergonomic I/O devices. Kinesis is probably best known for its Advantage2 series of ergonomic keyboards, although our own introduction to the company was via its newer gaming peripherals brand aptly called Kinesis Gaming. This brought to us the Freestyle Edge split keyboard and the TKO Tournament 60% keyboard. Today we take a look at the latest, and quite possibly greatest, from the main Kinesis brand itself in the form of a true successor to the Advantage2 keyboard.


The Advantage2 used multiple groups of contoured and curved keys placed on a single, fixed chassis. This still allowed for an excellent ergonomic typing experience, however no doubt many people preferred the flexibility of split keyboards allowing you to position them in line with your individual shoulder width, in addition to having different levels of tilt and tent on the split halves. The newer Advantage360 addresses just that and comes in two versions—there's the wired-only Advantage360 SmartSet which uses Kinesis' SmartSet program for easy customization, and then we have the Advantage360 Professional with Bluetooth or wired connectivity and backlighting support which uses open-source firmware that is not as user-friendly. Kinesis would probably say there is also a third option called the Advantage360 Signature, but this is really you being able to customize the keyboard to your desire based on the connection type/switch/keycaps on offer. Kinesis was kind enough to offer TechPowerUp a choice of either version to review, and I ended up going for the Advantage360 SmartSet (henceforth referred to simply as Advantage360 for convenience) given I am not a power user of open-source firmware and programming. Let's thank Kinesis for providing a review sample and begin our coverage with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

Don't expect a fancy unboxing experience with the Kinesis Advantage360 given the company is all about efficiency. Indeed, the shipping box is also the product box in this case as you will see Kinesis branding all around. The box opens from the sides to reveal the keyboard and other accessories right away, all of which come neatly packed and separated for added protection. A QR code leads you to this detailed online setup page that walks you through the entire process. Kinesis also provides a printed quick start guide (online copy available on the product page along with a more detailed user manual) to get you going, with the other accessories in the smaller cardboard box inside. These come labeled and packed in multiple plastic zip-lock bags as seen above.


We get the expected USB Type-A to Type-C connection cable, in black to match the black keyboard itself. Given this is a split, wired-only keyboard, Kinesis also includes a short 10" Type-C to Type-C link cable allowing you to connect the two halves as we will see on the next page. There's also a plastic bridge connector which clips onto and connects the two halves together for those who wish for a more fixed keyboard experience. We also get a nice long metal-wire style keycap puller in addition to 16 replacement keycaps, including some blanks and four macOS versions. This results in a total of 92 keycaps in the box, thus completing the entire keycap set you can purchase separately as needed.