Review: Kinesis Advantage 2

What are ergonomic keyboards anyways?

The design, usability and concept of an ergonomic keyboard are enhanced features that provide for a more comfortable (or strictly speaking more anatomically correct) typing experience.

In order to do so an ergonomic keyboard might have one of the following (or all):

• ortolinear keys: the keys are neatly stacked in line, rather than being aligned diagonally
• key wells: little depressions that account for the different length of your fingers
• wrist pads: raised palm rests for a more comfortable typing experience

Of course all these “improvements” come with an hefty premium, that companies charge not only for those upgrades but also for the higher production costs required for an “artisanal” piece, as these keyboards are hardly mass produced and are almost always mechanic. To justify this extra buck, the producers usually add even more extra features that make these keyboard more niche. These added functionalities range from improved programmability to rear mirrors (I am not even kidding now).

Why an expensive yet functional piece of equipment

I don’t know when I actually decided that I wanted to own an ergonomic keyboard. In anticipation, (and I would add “as usual”) I watched a bunch of heavily opinionated YouTube videos to finally resolve into buying one. Money is never an issue when I’m thinking of buying something that my friends find from mildly fastidious to extremely annoying.

However, the main selling point for me was that all the advantages and perks of an ergonomic keyboard can be attained only if the user knows how to touch type. Being forever in pursuit of the “right” way of doing things, I thought this could be the perfect challenge to finally polish my touch typing skills.

I have therefore decided to buy the Kinesis Advantage 2 Keyboard. Specifically I went for the model with red switches that make the typing a little bit quieter (and that of course costs extra money). This choice was made because I reasoned that I wouldn’t want to bother other people much and because red is my favorite color.

Typing with it

The first month or so with the tool itself was kind of terrible; there is no manual on how you should put your hands on it and at what angle keeping the fingers on the keys. Also, the thumb cluster is a very new idea to your brain that uses the thumb only for the space bar. To overcome these hurdles I forced myself onto it by substituting the Kinesis to my regular keyboard and therefore using it for the 10+ hours of my “computer heavy” working day.

The results were rather meager; it’s very easy to get the posture wrong, you have to retrain your muscle memory (especially copy/pasting) because now you’re doing everything with the thumb. Also the “feel” of the key caps is somewhat cheap and clunky; especially on the keys of the thumb cluster which made an infernal noise of low-priced plastic and springs (the sound of the “enter” key is the worst of all, it rebounds as if there was spring loaded). Then, little by little, I managed to gain some confidence typing on the new keyboard; I would say that in 3 months I had regained some ease while typing, however, I soon discovered that my typing speed was not improving. It took me 3 additional months and some deliberate practice to regain my usual “quickness” while typing.

One positive side effect though, is that I didn’t un-learn how to type on a regular keyboard, but actually I have improved there as well. I think this is linked to the fact that touch typing on a keyboard with ortolinear keys, forces your mind to find the right place for each finger on every keyboard. So in the end, my typing speed has finally risen.

Finally, I am not as fast as I had hoped to be with an ergonomic keyboard, but the typing experience is certainly more pleasant. Truly there is an added comfort in resting your palms on a dedicated pad, and on reaching all keys with perpendicular motion, rather than awkward crossing on the left and right.

Final thoughts

Here below the major pros and cons of owning a Kinesis, from my point of view:

What I like:

• the overall design is really build around the experience of comfort
• the “side” effects on health and posture
• the programmability, that I am not using to its full potential (but it’s a nice to have)

What I don’t like:

• it doesn’t look (and feel) premium at all
• it gets very dirty, very quickly
• if you don’t persevere, you come to a point where it’s impossible to type (both on an ergonomic and a normal keyboard)

Then, would I buy it again? Of course I would!!

Right now, there are few things that bring as much satisfaction as gliding over that ugly plastic shell at 90 wpm. But I believe this to be a state of mind, rather than an cold reasoning of what an ergonomic keyboard can do for you life.