Standard keys have managed to make a keyboard that is anything but standard.
Split ergo is a form factor that I’ve personally never been interested in.
It’s always held a pretty niche space in the hobby probably primarily due to the learning
curve needed.
Today, standard keys sent out their TWS keyboard, so we’ll be able to see whether or not going
split is worth it, and if it’s something you should genuinely consider.
I’ve recently been favoring boring cost-effective packaging.
And before you say, Kelvin, this is massive copium, it’s cause of some conversations
I’ve been having with vendors.
Packaging costs are much more expensive than people think, especially in the switch market,
and extravagant packaging can easily add unnecessary dollars onto price tags.
So while I do love novelty, plain cardboard like this does just fine, and shows commitment
to a digestible price.
Hidden under here are two cables for each board section, a small screwdriver, and our
small bits, including bottom feet, extra screws, and a wireless dongle.
The TWS is a split ergo keyboard.
We have a primarily plastic and rubber case and a hotswap south facing PCB that has no
daughterboard.
This runs on proprietary software which can be used to configure key and knob mappings.
Naturally with a split, we have no layout options, and also only an integrated plate.
The TWS will come in either black or white, and will range from $139 to $159.
So this build has no stabs, making our lives a lot easier.
I’m going to throw in these stock DD switches, because when in doubt of the sound profile,
you can’t really go wrong with DDs.
Now I’ll install MT3 Susuwatari, and I actually cut my finger opening the plastic MT3 cases,
so be careful with the sharp edges.
And lastly, I’ll open each side up and connect the battery.
Let’s take a listen.
The sound ends up being kinda scratchy and pingy, which I haven’t really experienced
a whole lot with stock DDs.
With the density of the case and the integrated plate, this board is definitely going to lean
towards the higher pitched and duller side.
This also means that there’s no real room to play around with, and you can’t even
really foam the board since the space inside the case is pretty much nothing.
The only real bet here is tape modding, but I’m not sure the audience of this keyboard
is going to be looking at optimizing sound in the first place.
For a workplace or productivity keyboard, slapping some silent switches in here would
be the best bet.
As for feel, there isn’t a whole lot to comment on with an integrated plate.
It’s stiff, but certainly not sharp feeling as the top case is still plastic.
I would attribute it to something between the feel of FR4 and aluminum.
The only real way to change the sound or feel is going to be to swap the switches and keycaps,
and long pole is definitely going to play a pretty big part in this.
So if you want something that doesn’t feel as sharp, I would avoid long pole and also
start looking at switches with slow or progressive springs.
As for the design, it’s fairly basic.
We have a top case and bottom case structure, with the bottom case also including an angled
rubber piece that houses the battery.
There’s also a pretty accentuated seam between the two.
The USBC port for each side is offset a little bit towards the general middle, although the
only real use for these is to update firmware and charge the sides.
On top, we also have a knob and LED screen on each side.
I like how each sides battery is displayed on the screencreen, although it tends to fluctuate
a lot so I’m not sure if it’s entirely accurate.
It’s also kinda funny that the left screen displays number lock and capslock when the
board doesn’t even have keys on the top layer to control either.
The ability to customize these screens will be added to the proprietary software later,
and I think at this point, screen configuration is something VIA should be supporting, as
I’ve seen more and more keyboards start to include them.
The left knob controls volume and the right knob controls scroll by default, but these
are of course, configurable with the software.
Neither is incredibly smooth or consistent for that matter, and since great rotary encoders
arent exactly hard to find in the hobby, I’d definitely like to see these improved.
It also doesn’t seem like there’s a power switch, only a sleep timer, which can definitely
be annoying if you’re going certain periods without typing and have to wait for the boards
to wake up again.
Also, material quality of the cases is a point of worry for me.
There’s some very obvious inconsistencies and scuffing on the plastic and rubber areas,
and this really shouldn’t be happening.
Since the scuffs tend to show up as white, I’m not sure if this is really going to
be an issue for the white cases, but it really depends on the texture of the plastic being
used.
According to the website, these boards are acrylic.
I’ve definitely seen some high quality acrylic implementation, so I know it can improved.
However with this construction, the boards do end up being very light, and paired with
wireless capability, make them a great portable option.
The 2.4g wireless capability, which is the main selling point of this board, is stable
as projected.
I did have one drop where the right side got a little bit stuttery, but as far as I’ve
been using it, that’s really it.
I’m not exactly sure how it’s being implemented, since both sides need to be somewhat synced
together.
It’s kinda irrelevant when it comes to changing layouts and key functions, however, since
everything does have to be plugged in for it.
The default layout is kinda strange, and I had to remap it to add a space on the right
side and the enter key, as neither were assigned at all.
As for battery, the life seems to be really long.
According to their website, it’ll last 75 days granted you type for 2 hours a day, and
this seems to be about right.
So now it’s time to talk about the layout itself.
Initially using it is very difficult, and my typing speed tanked.
However, the layout is super comfortable and adjustable as you can move and turn both sides
individually.
After using it for about a week, I still find it kinda hard to use, and don’t think I’ll
personally be able to adopt the board into my setup.
The height of the MT3 keycaps isn’t helping as it does end up being kinda tall, but of
course, you can use any lower profile like cherry or DSA depending on your preference,
and of course, if your sets can comfortably support the strange layout.
Overall, I think it’s hard to justify practicality here.
There’s simply too many keys missing, forcing you to use layers to access simple functions.
There are splits with more keys, so this isn’t really an issue with the form factor as a
whole.
But even then, there’s definitely a learning curve if you haven’t used split before since
key spacing is slightly different from alice or arisu.
For the features, however, I think the price of the TWS is really fair, although in today’s
super competitive market, I wouldn’t really call it budget.
You can get something like the qk60 now starting at just 150, and with a wireless PCB, doesn’t
come out to be a huge price difference from the TWS.
But if ergo split is your thing, the TWS is a super fun and unique choice.