Introduction

A little over five years ago, I had helped introduce the Truly Ergonomic keyboard brand to a wider audience. The Canadian company was dedicated towards making an ergonomic typing solution that was also a one-piece unit, as opposed to the split keyboards that have since become the rage when it comes to higher-end ergonomic mechanical keyboards. It's now 2022 and Truly Ergonomic has updated its design with something that looks familiar and yet so different at the same time. Today we review the new Truly Ergonomic CLEAVE, and thanks to the company for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp!


The Truly Ergonomic CLEAVE takes up where the previous keyboard left off in retaining a custom columnar key layout but tweaking it further to now have two distinct halves, rather than a central key column as before. There are also keys arranged to make for de-facto thumb clusters too, albeit we still do not get customizable tenting/tilting here as with the likes of the ZSA Moonlander we saw last year. The integrated wrist rests are in place here as from the original, although the case appears to have gone on a diet resulting in floating keycaps and an exposed aluminium alloy body. Then there's the part where we now have optical switches, thus ensuring there is a lot to cover in our review which begins with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

The form factor of the Truly Ergonomic CLEAVE necessitates a product box that is more square-ish than the usual rectangle. This results in a large and flat box that may catch you unaware when you first take it out of the even larger shipping packaging itself. The product box is fairly clean, with a white base that allows for a contrasting render of the product on the front along with the company logo and product name, as well as confirmation of the use of optical switches here. There are more illustrations of salient features on the back and more certification information is seen on the sides. There is a double flap in the middle to help keep the contents inside in place during transit.


Open the box and you will see the keyboard right away inside a plastic wrap to help keep it pristine and dust-free. It comes surrounded by two shaped foam pieces and more cardboard at the top and bottom so I have no complaints when it comes to product packaging. Underneath the keyboard is a handy user guide (online copy here) that goes over setup, pre-programmed functions, and user controls as it pertains to the product. Be sure to keep this handy as it is a lifesaver in the absence of any software drivers. Truly Ergonomic also provides a few other accessories here which do not include a detachable cable, given the CLEAVE goes the same route as its predecessor with a fixed USB cable. Instead, we get a combination keycap puller and switch remover tool that adopts the metal wire form factor I prefer over the two-piece, cheaper ring-style pullers. There are also four additional switches matching the ones on your keyboard to help you with self-maintenance in case any switches don't work as expected—an extremely rare occurrence I must add! These have blank keycaps on them which can be used on the keyboard too, or enterprising users may end up converting these into keychains/fidget switches.