Today we’re going to get into wrist rests for mechanical keyboards, but I guess it also
applies to other boards.
We’ve got some wrist rests from Glorious PC Gaming Race.
They come in these simple black and white boxes.
And we have 2 soft foam ones, and 1 wooden one.
Plus they come with these nice logo stickers.
Ok so first of all, I haven’t really been a wrist rest type of guy.
Mainly because it takes up space on my desk, and gets in the way when I like have papers
in front of me and I need to write or draw something.
So I don’t have the most experience, but I have used my homemade one on and off.
One of the main aspects of ergonomics is the natural positioning of the body.
And what wrist rests aim to do is to provide a more natural position for the wrists.
And this is where wrist rests are a kind of compromise.
Naturally, our wrists should be something like this.
And if you hover when typing, then you’re set.
And that’s the recommended position for typing.
However due to laziness, many of us just rest our wrists on the table when typing.
However probably the main factors that encourage this behaviour is the height of your table
and the height of your chair.
We’ve all seen these types of diagrams.
And this is all dictated by the furniture being used.
So if our table is too high, we’re more likely going to position our wrists on the
table.
If it’s at the correct height, it’s just naturally easier to hover.
And that’s the compromise.
I’ve seen people completely dismiss the ergonomic value of wrist rests, because it
does discourage hover typing.
However on the other hand, it’s a good thing for people who don’t correctly type.
So therefore it’s a good thing, since it completely changes the angle of your wrist
from a very bent position, to a more natural position.
Another thing I thought I should bring up are the flip up feet.
These basically make it easier to reach the top keys, however this is only the case when
your wrists are planted.
But as we can see, it just worsens the angle of our wrists, so this is considered as an
ergonomic no no.
So I’ll start with the foam ones.
The ones that I have here are full sized lengths for standard 100% keyboards, but they do also
come in a tenkeyless version, and a compact 60% / 75% version.
These have a smooth cloth surface exterior, with a foam core interior, which they describe
has a medium firmness.
And I guess that’s accurate, and I like the feel of it.
It shouldn’t be too soft and spongy or your wrists will sink too low.
And it just provides that nice soft support under your wrists, instead of the usual hard
surface of your table.
There’s a stitched frame to prevent the cloth from fraying, and it’s lined with
a rubber base to keep it steady on the desk.
Plus we also get the somewhat large branding on the right hand side.
The build is what you expect.
It’s just foam with cloth around it, but it’s done cleanly.
They do state that it does require a week or two of use to break in.
When I first got them they were bowed, and still after like 3 weeks they’re still quite
bowed.
These come in 2 heights which is an important factor.
We have the thick one which is 25mm thick.
And the thin one is about half that at 13mm, but I measured to be at least 5mm thicker
than that, but I guess it still has to be broken in more.
First thing we have to take into consideration is the keyboard itself.
First of all, if it’s not mechanical, then it will most likely be quite thin, so perhaps
the thin version would be better.
At first I found the thinner one to be more comfortable.
It provides a slightly elevated platform, which eases the wrists a bit.
Plus the softness added to the comfort.
But also I think I found it comfortable because it wasn’t too far from my normal position
without a wrist rest, so the change wasn’t drastic.
The thicker one at first felt too high for me, and was a drastic change.
But the more I used it, the more I appreciated that extra height.
It does make for a much more neutral position for the wrists, being also higher than the
wooden wrist rest as well.
But it does take a bit of time, because my muscles were just too used to slouching back
down.
However I do feel that the positioning of the keyboard is more important.
If we’re resting our arms on the table, the greater height of the wrist rest is kind
of sudden, and the the keyboard goes downwards after that.
With the thinner version, it’s more gradual, and was easier to get used to.
But I think it’s worth putting in the time to adapt to the thicker one.
Now to the wooden one.
This also comes in the various lengths, however this is the only thickness it comes in.
It’s made from American white ash which is a cheap and common hardwood, and it naturally
looks something like this.
But it comes in 2 different coated colours.
This one is the onyx black colour, which is a very dark brown, and there’s also golden
oak which is more orangy and shows off the grains more.
And I just much more prefer the look of wooden wrist rests in comparison to foam ones.
In the bottom corner their logo seems to be laser etched, and this time they didn’t
put the text there.
The wood grain does make it look a bit weird, but of course every wooden wrist rest is different.
The wrist rest is nicely made.
The finish is smooth, but we can still feel the grains of the wood.
The edges are only slightly rounded, so perhaps it should have been just rounded a touch more.
The rear edge is chamfered quite a bit, and I guess it more easily matches different keyboards,
since they’re all different heights.
On the bottom we have these channels.
And this is just because wood expands and contracts in different weathers.
We also get 2 large rubber feet that are actually quite thick at 3mm.
So there’s basically 3 main shapes for wooden wrist rests.
First is just a flat profile.
Then we have an angled single line profile.
Then we have this, which is a combination of both.
This type of shape allows for a steeper angle.
It’s a very comfortable shape, where that slope grabs the bottom half of the palm.
While comfortable, there is still some bending of the wrist, but it’s definitely reduced.
The angle change halfway isn’t obtrusive to me.
It’s right at the spot where you don’t really feel it.
While wood is of course harder than the foam, it’s not a hard surface, where the smoothness
of the finish contributes to the softness.
So out of the three, which one do I like the most?
I much more prefer the look of the wooden wrist rest, and the golden oak one looks quite
nice.
However the thick foam one grew on me, in how it really does put my wrists higher, making
it very similar to a hovering position.
If you have several boards of varying sizes, then it would probably make sense to go for
the compact 60% one, since that’s where we use the keyboard mostly anyway.
Overall, I’m a believer in dedicated wrist rests.
I’m now using them in an on off kinda situation, where if I’m just typing, I’ll bring it
out, because I do value my desk space.
I guess it depends on how you’re positioned relative to your keyboard, and how you type.
So it’s good for some, and bad for others.
Regardless, they’re a cool looking accessory to complement your mechanical keyboard.