Performance

As I mentioned previously, I did not find the default layout perfect for me. As such, I used the Layout Designer to change a few things - swap Enter and Right Control, for example. It was all fine and good until I realized not all keycaps can be swapped around. The OEM profile means keycap sculpting is a very real hindrance to using keys that are elsewhere, even if they fit. Then there is the part where some simply do not. The Shift and Control keycaps are identical and can be swapped around, and Enter and Backspace are another identical set that can be swapped around, but you can not swap a Control with an Enter, for example. The angled and V-shaped keycaps are all of different sizes, aside from the aforementioned Enter and Backspace keycaps, so you have a programmable keyboard where you have to now rely on touch typing instead of the legends on the keycaps themselves. Similarly, it is best to stick to the same OEM profile row if swapping keys around, and this does not help much either if you want to try out some layouts, such as Colemak, which I have come to realize to be a much more efficient than QWERTY. A non-sculpted keycap profile would have helped a lot here.

The Kailh Brown switches were okay in terms of consistency in actuation force and travel, with a tension gauge used to measure an average actuation force of 43.9 cN at 2.08 mm as measured by a set of calipers. The average Cherry MX or Gateron Brown switch did a lot better in my tests, but the ~2.5% average deviation is not as bad as it sounds since there were not many outliers and the standard deviation was low. The tactile bump is not very prominent, as with Cherry MX/Gateron Brown switches, so you either love it or you do not.


As always, the sound of a keyboard is based on more than just the switch type. So when comparing sound clips, consider the keyboard as a whole. In this case, I have provided an example sound clip of me typing on the Truly Ergonomic Keyboard sample at ~82-85 WPM above. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile switches. I did bottom out here, although it is definitely possible not to do so if you practice.


Full N-key rollover PS/2 and six-key rollover USB is available and both work fine here, as demonstrated by Aqua's test, and no key chatter was detected using Switch Hitter. This will come as a relief for those who were put off from reviews of the older models that had a lot of chatter with keystrokes repeating, and sometimes not at all registering.

Regarding the actual ergonomics of the keyboard, arguably its biggest selling point, I have only good things to say. I do not have the largest of hands, so the size of the keyboard was already more of a plus point to begin with. It was evident that Truly Ergonomic has done their research and the ortholinear layout of the keycaps combined with the angled columns helped me position my hands and wrists naturally. The lack of the tent/tilt feature did hurt, however, as my work setup would have strongly benefited from it. As more and more people get into larger displays for monitors, and with keeping eyesight level with the monitor being a higher priority for me, I had no choice but to align everything to it and not the keyboard. As such, I went back to the ErgoDoz EZ Shine which allowed for more freedom in customizing the keyboard to my specific tastes. Does this mean the Truly Ergonomic Keyboard is not for everyone? Not at all. As a reviewer of keyboards, I use more traditional layouts more often than not, and it was a pleasure using this in the 5-6 weeks I did. No wrist pain, no muscle ache - if you are looking for relief from those, this keyboard should be on your short list.