I've got a bit of a problem my elbow hurts my wrist hurts my heart hurts and I'm the keyboard
guy I've tried over 200 keyboards so what's my solution when I've got random body aches how
can I solve it with keyboards yeah now my first thought was huh maybe it's my keyboard causing
the issue so I thought of a bit of a challenge I'm gonna try using only ergonomic keyboards
for the next seven days now what are ergonomic keyboards well I'm gonna be using this I'm worried
I'm worried how am I going to send emails but not only that I'll also be trying some
other ergonomic keyboards ranging from this to this all in hopes to maybe see if ergonomic
keyboards actually make my life a little bit better started to make my fingers hurt what
the hell is going on here this one's rough plastic nope that's it a new record let's go
okay so for day one I'm gonna start with the cheapest keyboard This is the Ergo docs hot
docs wait hot Docs foreign howdy hey now the ergodox is a very interesting board it's one of
the cheapest that I'm looking at today however it starts at 189 US Dollars let me just check
real fast how much that is really expensive it was sent to me for free by Kono store like six
months ago so I literally have no idea what's going on with it now as I unbox this let me set
the stage for the challenge what are ergonomic keyboards well ergonomic keyboards are keyboards
that are specifically designed with reducing muscle strain and kind of making it so if you're
typing all day your life is better now I am by no means an ergonomic expert and I did literally no
ergonomic research for this video just so you know this is just my experience not some type
of information piece now you see this keyboard and you're probably like wait it's in two pieces
and yeah that brings us to our first points our first impressions now my first impressions of the
board are what the hell is going on here this does not look like any keyboard I've ever seen
Noah can you not bite my stethoscope please now for day one my goals were just to kind of get
settled with this thing try it out do some typing tests see if I can kind of get used to using an
ergonomic keyboard I know for a keyboard like this it typically takes weeks or months to get
used to so doing it in a day is gonna be really hard you're also probably wondering if you only
have three keyboards how are you going to use them for a week well my first goal here is to
figure out which one I like the best and then use that for the rest of the week so it's a bit of
mystery for me as well I'm looking at this thing and I can see QWERTY I can see the basic layout
but I think today is gonna be really really rough what do you think is it going to be rough why are
you why are you biting me huh why are you biting me thank you now to get the keyboard working all
you have to do is plug it into itself which is easy enough and then plug it in to your computer
I mean technically I can type with it let me just let me go ahead uh it's not pressing buttons it's
pressing hot Keys oh gosh this one's rough this one's really rough it doesn't feel like any
keyboard I've ever used before and that is an initial barrier that makes it incredibly tough
but it was time for my very first typing test on an ergonomic keyboard how fast was I gonna type
uh I typically type a hundred words per minute 13 words per minute baby
so obviously something wasn't working so I decided to customize the software and the layout quite a
lot I then spent the better part of the hour doing a lot a lot of typing tests 14 baby let's freaking
but no matter what I did I just couldn't seem to get used to typing on this thing so I thought
maybe I'll swap out the switches because this board is hot swappable so I swapped out all of
the switches for some cookie doughs that I got from dankeeps and I'll have everything I use in
this video linked down below But ultimately better switches did not really solve the problems that
I was having here and now a lot of people have a lot of time on their hands and time on their
hands that they can use to learn a new keyboard layout this one though however is definitely on
the rougher side as far as the learning goes like it's got QWERTY but nothing is where you
think it is it doesn't feel good to learn let's just say that now is it ergonomic I
mean I'm under the impression that something that you're used to and can have good typing
posture at is the most ergonomic this thing however I don't really know how to approach
it like it just doesn't feel natural to me which is fine it might feel natural to some
people I am by no means an ergonomic keyboard expert or ergonomics expert but after a day of
learning this thing did it start to feel and any better at all for me as far as the typing feels
Go I mean my wrists don't feel that much more ergonomic and honestly the way I have to flex
my fingers ends up hurting a little bit more I'm just not excited about this thing it also sounds
terrible so far this thing did not feel any better to use throughout the one day that my normal
keyboard feels to use throughout the one day and it's just sacrificing a lot it's taking up a lot
more desk space I mean like maybe I can keep my elbows at a slightly better distance if all I was
doing is typing this thing just kind of sucks it's really not intuitive it's really not user
friendly some enthusiasts might super enjoy it but I had to cut using this thing on day one nope
that's it that's the final straw I'm done day one I lost day one let's move on to day two it's over
but please subscribe because I spent 35 dollars on the doctor's outfit for this one bit
Please Subscribe okay so day two let's say day one I got a little bit heated We're not gonna
talk about that we're definitely not talking about the doctor's outfit or why I had that
let's look at the cleave now this is the second most expensive option and originally I thought
it was budget but it was 250 US dollars so I'm expecting a lot from this this is an ergonomic
keyboard that looks a little bit different it's not split in half and I'm hoping that
it'll feel a little bit more familiar to me because I feel like the biggest barrier to
entry for this challenge is actually enjoying using the keyboards and so far we haven't had
any enjoyment so let's get it open and the first impressions are it wait Did that just
they sent clicky switches
in 2023
it was at this point that I realized that day two was gonna be no easier than day
one for me and that oh God there's gonna be a day three our clicky switch is more
ergonomic I guess they're tactile in a way but these do not feel good listen to this
does that sound ergonomic that's fine that's fine maybe the keyboard is going to be really good
let's just give it a chance I can't use my cable with it that's out of the woods
okay it lights up the fact that it lights up is kind of nice I mean honestly in the hands it feels
okay like it's not it doesn't feel terrible but then if you told me that this was 250 bucks I'd
be like wait I got a zoom 75 for 250 bucks and it sounds and looks like heaven and this thing is
plastic this doesn't really feel premium I mean that brings us to the wrist rest the wrist rests
feel okay if that's your type of thing and this keyboard is overall a lot more flat than I was
expecting now the feel of it is pretty terrible like typing on this thing does not feel nice
I should clarify that I'm talking about the switches here not necessarily the ergonomics
we'll talk about that more in a second these Optical switches that it comes with just aren't
that great I mean it's hot swappable so I switched it out for some Optical yellows on one switch and
it's better but ultimately for day two my goals were number one get work done and then number
two just try and get a little bit more comfortable with this ergonomic typing style also because I'm
human I needed to take breaks from work but what if I need to work while taking breaks oh no and
because I'm human I'm gonna be playing video games like humans do and I'm gonna be trying
valorent and do not make fun of how I sit or uh so the wasd works um I'm still really bad hey I
got one there's nothing that's inherently terrible for gaming here like it's fine I'm not good though
it doesn't feel comfortable now after starting to use this thing for gaming it was pretty clear that
it wasn't making me better and also that I hated the clicky switches that's my preference though
it's kind of making my wrist hurt more than normal I do I not have it like position correctly do I
need it like closer well if I move it closer then I've got literally I have no space for my mouse
yeah is it good for gaming it's a keyboard like you can use it for gaming honestly I
felt like it was making my wrist hurt like a lot more than my normal keyboard one which
isn't really a pro maybe more mileage with it like sorry to make my fingers hurt quite a lot
I'm not sure what that's about I don't know if it's because it's so flat yeah
not not great but I I'm not getting it I'm not getting it I'm I'm two days in and I'm
already feeling like I can't make it a week like I've been using this thing throughout
most of the day and all I want to do is set it down grab my other keyboard and use it instead
that's a bad sign that's a pretty bad sign now are there some merits to it sure I think if you
got used to this type of layout it might be a little bit more efficient maybe the way that
you can hold your wrists is just a little bit better but honestly to me it's just not vibing
I think day two I'm already feeling like I'm not gonna make it a week in
this challenge but let's go to day three whatever day three let's go
now with hating the outcomes of day one and two day three is where I've put all of my eggs in my
basket I'm really relying on this keyboard carrying me through the week for day three
I've got something a little bit more expensive and by a little bit more expensive I mean it comes in
a briefcase it's worth literally seven hundred dollars but it could potentially be worth it
this is the angry meow AFA which stands for like Alice something and holy cow it's already on and
it's beautiful this one I could maybe see myself using it's gorgeous it can wirelessly charge
through the bottom which is kind of insane it's machined absolutely beautifully like possibly one
of the most beautiful keyboards I've ever seen but it's ergonomic it's ergonomic this is what
we call an ALICE style layout or like technically erasu because it's got arrow keys this is the one
that I'm the most familiar with when it comes to ergonomic keyboards so this is the one I think I
could possibly make it the longest on let's give it a shot now it is wireless and as you
see it comes fully built the thing that makes this really the most unique is that it's got
a leaf spring gasket in it that makes it so when you type on it it has a really lovely bounce and
so far this is the only one that sounds or feels good to type on which I know I picked the first
two but like come on come on Ergo people what are we doing what are we doing tell me leave a comment
leave a comment what's a better Ergo board all right I'm open I'm open to it I know I seem like
a hater but maybe I could change now this thing is definitely not perfectly easy to type on but
the layout feels the most familiar to something like a typical keyboard right it is huge like a
lot bigger than my normal keyboard my normal 75 keyboard and it has less keys so for that I mean
it's not efficient if you're playing games and stuff with it you're gonna hit your mouse into
the keyboard and it's gonna hurt because these sides are just like a little bit sharp so for
that it wasn't that great now I forgot to record my first typing test of the day on this thing but
as I went throughout the day I could definitely feel myself starting to get a little bit better
with it now the other my keyboards that I used I felt like really did nothing to help me here
but I do feel like this is the easiest layout to start to learn ergonomic typing on and by the way
it sounds and feels absolutely incredible but this is the result of typing after a whole entire day
38 a new record let's go now if I stuck with this thing I definitely feel like I could get up to my
normal typing Pace but it still does feel a bit weird with the split layout to me it just feels
like why like it might be more efficient or it might be slightly more ergonomic but
I don't know it's just not connecting with me I've been doing this for three days now and I
feel like I feel like I can cut the challenge it's just not doing a lot my wrists still hurt
a little bit more like this wrist hurts quite a bit I don't know if it's because it's a raised
every keyboard is a little bit different it's just not it's not working this wrist hurts
because she keeps biting it is actually what it is this keyboard is really really cool it's
got a lot of really cool features but it just can't save the ergonomic stuff for me like I
don't get ergonomics I don't get it let me know in the comments what do you think do ergonomics
make sense are you an ergonomic person that's it that's it for me I'm ending the challenge
early mission I'm done I'm I'm sorry I can't Nola wants me to stay here though so I can't
stop recording let me just scooch my chair over uh also I was sick during making this
video so that's why it feels really jumbled uh or if I'm grumpy that's yeah Mission fate