The Best Ergonomic Keyboard I’ve Tried (and Other Comfortable Typing Options)

Although there are countless types of ergonomic keyboards, the most common tend to be angled keyboards and split keyboards. Slanted keyboards, often called “Alice” style keyboards In the mechanical keyboard world (named after the TGR Alice), split the alphanumeric keys down the middle, positioning the two halves at an angle to each other while keeping the modifier keys (backspace, enter, shift, etc.) in their standard positions. The angle varies from keyboard to keyboard, as does the number of keys, but the main constant of an Alice-style keyboard is that although the halves are separated from each other, the keyboard itself is not divided. There is a case in which all keys are preserved.

Alternatively, a standard split keyboard does the opposite: A standard split keyboard will keep all keys in their standard position (with no new angles) and will cut the entire keyboard in half, creating two separate halves that can be moved independently of each other. Some of these keyboards will connect the two halves with a cable, while others will connect them wirelessly. This usually allows the two halves to be tilted, moving away from each other, or using only one half (usually for gaming).

Apart from all this, there is also ortholinear keyboards. On a traditional keyboard, the keys are offset instead of aligned in a perfect grid. But with an ortholinear keyboard, the keys are aligned along this grid. While this may be harder to type at first, it theoretically allows your fingers to move more naturally, straight up and down to reach other keys instead of moving at an angle. There are ergonomic, split ortholinear keyboards, as well as keyboards that use non-standard scaling, like the Naya Create.