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The best mechanical keyboards
By Kimber Streams, Dan Frakes, and Ryan Whitwam This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer's guide to the best technology. When readers choose to buy The Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. If you spend most of your day typing, a mechanical keyboard can be a worthwhile upgrade: Mechanical keyboards are more durable, responsive, comfortable, and customizable than other types of keyboards. The best for you depends a lot on personal preference and what you're using it for, but after spending months testing 31 top-rated keyboards with a four-person panel, we unanimously agree that the WASD Code 87-Key is a great place to start because of its fantastic key feel, build quality, and elegant design.
The best ergonomic keyboard
By Melanie Pinola This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a list of the best technology to buy. Read the full article here. Of the dozen ergonomic keyboards we've tested since 2014, the Microsoft Sculpt Ergo is the most comfortable model for most people. It's the only one to meet all of our ergonomic criteria, including a separate number pad and support for both negative tilt and vertical "tenting." The Sculpt Ergo's manta-ray-like design puts your hands in the most natural and comfortable position for long bouts of typing, and it's a solid wireless keyboard with keys that are crisp and satisfying to press.
Which keyboards are worth buying?
When you consider how much time we spend in front of our computers, how we interact with them should be a key concern. That said, unless you're a gamer or programmer, you probably haven't done much shopping around. Last month, we took a look at some of the best gaming keyboards that have come out recently. Now, we turn our gaze to some newer models designed for uses other than playing your favorite PC games -- including ones for work, controlling your home theater and portable units you can carry around in your bag for typing on the go.
Matias updates the Tactile Pro to version 4, announces Mini Tactile Pro keyboard, we go hands-on (video)
We've written a few love-notes about Matias' mechanical keyboards before, which is why its CEO had to take out a restraining order. But even the threat of legal action couldn't prevent us from sharing the news that the company has updated its coveted Tactile Pro and swelled the range to include the Mini Tactile Pro. Both units come with a three-port USB 2.0 hub, while the portable version now has a secondary connector cable that you can keep stowed in your laptop bag for satisfyingly noisy typing on the go. The flagship will cost $150 and is available today, while its dinky equivalent will be available later this month for $130. Interested in learning more? Join us down town after the break.
Matias' new Mini Quiet and Laptop Pro bring silent mechanical keyboards to road warriors (update: hands-on video)
Remember that unheralded Matias keyboard that we spotted at the FCC a few weeks back? Well, it transpires that it was one of a pair of units for those who want tactile typing on the go -- but without encouraging the death-stares of their fellow commuters. The (wired) Mini Quiet Pro for PC and Bluetooth Laptop Pro for Mac are tenkeyless units that use the same modified ALPS "Quiet Click" switches that we found on the Quiet Pro. The Mini Quiet Pro comes with a three-port USB 2.0 hub and a spare cable that you can tote around in your laptop bag and will set you back $130. The Laptop Pro, on the other hand, gets a high-capacity battery that the company promises will last half a year between charges and will cost $170. Both are available to pre-order now for delivery in February.%Gallery-175398%
Unknown Bluetooth Matias keyboard pops up at the FCC, is probably the quiet type
We're always keen to peek at Matias peripherals when it's got new ones to share, but this time the introduction comes via the FCC, which appears to have tested and deconstructed an as-yet unannounced keyboard. This reduced model lacks a numpad -- apart from the page up and down keys -- and if the color scheme and command / option keys weren't clear enough hints, the draft user manual within the filing confirms it's meant for Macs. While it connects via Bluetooth, there's a trio of USB ports around the top edge for plugging in a mouse, charging the internal battery, or juicing other hardware. Matias' Quiet Pro mechanical offering bears the model number FK302Q, so we have good reason to assume this new keyboard is a mini variant, given it's known as the FK303QBT in the FCC's docs (Q for Quiet, BT for Bluetooth). As it's been OK'd by the US regulators, we expect an official reveal of the keyboard, alongside a PC-targeted sibling, pretty soon.
Matias Quiet Pro review: a mechanical keyboard with less clickety-clack
Keyboards aren't always high on the list of considerations for folks buying a new computer or looking to upgrade an old one. Some may be more likely to splurge on a high-end monitor, or cram in as much RAM as possible. For this writer, though, the keyboard is one of the most important components of a computer, if not the most important. For the past 10 years or more, that's meant a split-design ergonomic keyboard in the vein of Microsoft's Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 -- at least when not exclusively using a laptop. That style certainly takes some getting used to, and is always guaranteed to start a conversation, but it has some clear benefits for comfort (not to mention the well-being of your wrists) over the long term. More recently, however, that old standby has given way to a mechanical keyboard with a traditional design -- the Matias Tactile Pro 3, specifically. A split-design mechanical keyboard would be ideal, but those are unfortunately quite a rare breed. While a something like the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 has advantages over your average keyboard in terms of overall comfort, it still feels like a regular keyboard. That is, it's slightly mushy and generally less tactile given its use of a rubber membrane for the keys instead of the individual switches found in a mechanical model like the Tactile Pro. As anyone who's used both can attest, the difference is immediately noticeable. With a good mechanical keyboard, you don't have to worry about a key press not registering; the keys have more spring to them for a crisper feel and (here's the contentious part for some) they make more noise. It's not a typewriter-level racket, but there's a good chance you'll be frowned upon if you're sharing a desk with someone, or are trying to take notes while on a conference call. It's that potential issue that led Matias to try something different with its latest keyboard -- one that it claims is the world's quietest mechanical keyboard. Did it deliver? Read on to find out.
Matias Quiet Pro silences the mechanical keyboard
The feel of a mechanical switch keyboard is something much sought after in a certain segment of the technical world. The resistance of the keys as they travel, the spring back to their original positions -- these are things that touch typists value, always chasing after the ultimate keyboarding experience. It's something of a secret group of fellow travelers. "Oh," one says, with a raised eyebrow and a knowing nod. "You prefer ... the mechanical switch." For years, I've been buying Matias. My initial USB 2.0 was a gateway drug. It felt so much better than the cheap keyboards I'd been typing with. Soon, I needed more -- I needed better. It wasn't long until I was haunting back alleys in search of the ultimate typing high. The Tactile Pro. Matias' premium keyswitch technology offered the kind of responsive clickiness my mechanically trained fingers had been longing for. One premium-priced Matias followed another, as it became my typing choix de poison. But like other habits, it came with a price. The sound. The unbearably loud sound -- the audible track marks of a Tactile Pro "user." Soon others began to drift away. They tried to be tactful. "It's not you, it's me. I'm just not good with loud noises." Or they would ask, "Maybe you could type after we get off the phone?" Some were simply honest. "I refuse to suffer through CLACKITY-CLACKITY-CLACKITY when the two of us are brainstorming." There was nothing to do but stand my ground. "But... but... I need my mechanical switches. I need the type-feel. I need my Matias." In response, there were sad looks, sighs and resignation. It seemed a hopeless situation. I would surrender my keyboard when it was dragged from my cold, dead, highly-muscled fingers. That is, until Matias announced the new line of Quiet Pro. Available for both Mac and PC, the US$150 Quiet Pro is the methadone of the mechanical typing world. Created with new "Quiet Click" mechanical keyswitches, the Quiet Pro balances feel against sound, providing a softer typing experience without overly sacrificing tactile feedback. I received my review unit, and immediately put it to work. Although not a quiet keyboard in any sense of the real-world meaning of "quiet," compared to the Tactile Pro, the Quiet Pro is a gentle rill of a stream next to the raging Mississippi. There are, of course, sacrifices. The key travel isn't as crisp, isn't quite as clean as the Tactile Pro. The bounce back feels slower, a little more muffled. But when juxtapositioned with other keyboards, the Quiet Pro is clearly mechanical. It stands well above the experience you get from standard keyboards. It's, after all, a Matias. The Quiet Pro is ideal for office scenarios, for teleconferencing, and talkcasts -- situations where data entry must be "social," and where concern for other persons' well-being must take precedence over the perfect typing high. It's a really good keyboard, too. It has excellent bounce and a nice clicky feel. If it weren't for my side-by-side testing, I might not even have noticed how the perfection of the Tactile Pro ever so slightly takes away the blue ribbon from the excellent performance of the Quiet Pro. Nearly anyone who loves the mechanical experience will value the sound / feel balance the Quiet Pro offers. So how quiet exactly is the Quiet Pro? The video below demonstrates the difference in sound levels. All in all, the $150 Quiet Pro represents an excellent entry in the mechanical keyboard arena and a wonderful innovation for anyone who has to balance sound against key feel. Recommended.
Matias Quiet Pro claims to be the 'world's quietest mechanical keyboard'
Canada's Matias Corporation has made something of a name for itself with its tactile keyboards, but those have primarily appealed to those who also enjoy (or at least accept) the sound of a mechanical keyboard in addition to its feel. The company's hoping to bring a few more into the tactile fold with its new Quiet Pro, though, which it claims is the "world's quietest mechanical keyboard." That, Matias says, comes without any sacrifices to tactile feedback, and is said to be the result of more than two years of work. As usual, the keyboard comes in both PC and Mac specific models (all-black and silver & black, respectively), each of which boasts three USB 2.0 ports and laser-etched keys with beveled keytops as opposed to the increasingly common flat variety. Not surprisingly, you can also expect to pay a bit of a premium over your average keyboard -- each model will set you back $150, with US models available today (UK, German and Nordic versions are promised for January). Interestingly, the company says it is also planning to sell the new switches it's developed to other companies for use in their own keyboards, and even to hobbyists interested in going the DIY route. Additional details on that are promised soon.
Matias Tactile One, SlimOne hands-on (video)
We already covered the announcement of the new Matias tactile-keyboards but couldn't resist descending into the show floor in order to get a quick hands-on with the Canadian-made kit. The USB-powered boards contain a Bluetooth module and a physical button (with a blue LED) that you can switch between typing on your desktop and wirelessly to your device. The "Island-Style" SlimOne replicates the look and feel of the current Apple island-keyboard, but with scissor keys, which pleasantly resist your fingers. The '90s style Tactile One forces your hands to readjust back two-decades, but the mechanical board was a joy to use, with no lag between typing and it appearing on a compatible phone. After the break we've got a short video where we learn that retro keyboards can send people into such a frenzy that they forget to type the word "movie" correctly. Sean Buckley contributed to this report.
Matias One: hammer out an iPhone masterpiece on the best keyboard of the '90s
Between touch-screens and rubber-backed keyboards, we're getting further away from the tactile, mechanical keyboards we grew up with -- except for gamers, who have embraced mechanical keyboards for the improved response times and, of course, the great noise they make. Canadian peripherals maker Matias is adding to its line of Apple Extended Keyboard-inspired typing-decks with the Tactile One: with Bluetooth iPhone control. Imagine how fast (and how noisily) you'd be able to hammer out a text message on one of these things, because it's all we can do right now. A Mac / PC edition will be available in April for $200 and you can pre-order it from the store right now. There's PR after the break, if you really need some clicky-clacky convincing.
Matias Slim One keyboard at CES
Yesterday I got a chance to chat with Steve McGowan of the Matias Corporation about one of their new products, the Slim One Keyboard. It's a fabulous idea, really: Take the form factor of the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and give it a button in the top right that says "iPhone". You've got your iPhone on a dock or syncing, and you get a text message. Hit that magical little iPhone button, and boom! Your keyboard is now bluetoothed up to your iPhone so you can reply to that text, then a second press of the iPhone button disconnects from your iPhone and your typing goes back to your computer. If the name sounds familiar, Matias has previously made waves with their Tactile One keyboard, which uses switches like the Apple Extended Keyboard II used, so it is a very responsive (and clacky) keyboard. You can see a demo of the Slim One Keyboard in the video below. It is available in Mac and Windows flavors for the iPhone.
Matias makes room for your smartphone on an otherwise vanilla keyboard
We can't count the number of times that we've longed for our Insert, Home, Page Up, Delete, End and Page Down buttons to be replaced with an angled slab of plastic, but obviously we're in a pretty small minority. Matias has just issued its USB 2.0 keyboard + smartphone stand, which essentially carves out a slice of keyboard real estate for your phone to sit, though no passthrough USB cable / iPhone dock connector is provided for charging. The purpose? To put all of your mobile apps right at your fingertips, because keeping said phone on your desk is just completely and utterly unacceptable. Oh, and did we mention that the layout itself is nothing special? If you see something we don't, feel free to part with your $49.95 and smile while thinking "I told you so." Update: Documentation about the keyboard indicated that "custom keypad and trackpad apps" could be loaded on to "control your Mac," which certainly makes this more appealing, but unfortunately details on that are scant.
Matias' Tune Blocker alleviates the need to ever push "cancel sync" again
If hitting that "Cancel Sync" button in iTunes is just too terrifying of a task, the Tune Blocker from Matias is here to save your day. For the low price $24.95, you get the three-foot cable which allows you to toggle between data syncing and charging only modes. For another five bucks, you can score another three-feet of mouseless anti-syncing bliss, or you could just take the economical high road and stick to the included cable that comes with your iPod or iPhone out-of-the-box and save your cash for a much more useful purchase later on.
