Winner:
The official nominees in the Best "other" input device category were:
Kinesis Freestyle Edge
Iris Keyboard
Elecom HUGE Trackball
Keyboardio Model 01 Keyboard
Logitech MX ERGO Wireless Trackball
The Wingnut, as voted for by the keyboard community, goes to...
Spoiler:
Iris Keyboard
The Iris Keyboard by Keebio is a split ergonomic keyboard with 4x6 vertically staggered keys and 3 or 4 thumb keys. It takes a more simplistic and portable approach to an ergo keyboard (compared to say the ErgoDox). It also can be fully outfitted with a standard key set, no special keys. Lastly it has Alps compatibility.
Each half of the board is a 4x6 matrix with the same vertical stagger as the Ergodox and with 3-4 thumb keys.
Runners-up:
Spoiler:
2nd place: Kinesis Freestyle Edge
Kinesis brought to market a fairly standard split keyboard with general retail availability. Unlike the Matias Ergo Pro, which uses Matias switches, the Freestyle Edge has Cherry MX switches and supports a huge amount of widely available caps. The included software for programming the keyboard also doesn't require any installation or user registration. It's a breath of fresh air compared to needing to register an account just to download drivers.
The Freestyle Edge is the first split keyboard designed specifically for gaming, engineered to meet the strictest standards for quality and design, with stripped out gimmicks and focus on comfort, control, and performance.
3rd place: Logitech MX ERGO Wireless Trackball
Logitech's MX ERGO is their most advanced trackball for trackball enthusiasts and consumers searching for alternatives to mice and touchpads. Delivers 20% less muscular strain compared to a regular mouse. MX ERGO features a unique adjustable hinge for personalized comfort and the latest tracking, scrolling and power management technology. Logitech FLOW™ enables effortless cross computer control.
Finally a trackball you can truly call your own. A unique adjustable hinge allows you to choose the best angle between 0°and 20° for a more natural hand position and greater comfort..
Honorable mentions:
Spoiler:
Elecom HUGE Trackball
The Elecom HUGE trackball is an excellent trackball, with more buttons than any other trackball, a large ball, fast DPI switch and comfortable grip. It's a strong competitor for the Kensington Expert Wireless. Not just an update of an existing model, but a completely different and new design from Elecom. The size is HUGE - this is one of the biggest trackballs available.
Finally a modern large ergonomic trackball, a niche that was empty for a whole decade..
Keyboardio Model 01 Keyboard
Keyboardio's Model 01 is not like other keyboards. The enclosure is milled from two blocks of solid maple that are a joy to rest your hands on. Instead of shallow, uncomfortable keyswitches, Matias Quiet Click ALPS-mount keyswitches are used. The 64 individual keycaps on the Model 01 are custom-sculpted. It comes with source code & a screwdriver. Keyboardio pushed the idea of a programmable ergo keyboard further, and delivered an heirloom-grade keyboard for serious typists.
Posted: 06 Dec 2017, 20:15
by davkol
I'd like to see the list reversed.
Congrats to 7bit for winning this category though.
Posted: 06 Dec 2017, 20:19
by Lustique
I voted for the last place (too)
Posted: 06 Dec 2017, 20:25
by Buggot
Hey, I think I am 1/1 right now! Congratulations to the winner!
Congrats to 7bit for winning this category though.
Yeah did vote for him!
Posted: 07 Dec 2017, 00:50
by codemonkeymike
yay, i nominated the winner!
Posted: 07 Dec 2017, 10:23
by 7bit
Woohoo!!!!
I hope people voted a little more for the caps than the keyboard!
Posted: 07 Dec 2017, 10:25
by cookie
Well deserved Winner, congrats!
Posted: 07 Dec 2017, 11:04
by andrewjoy
I think a prefer 2nd place so a little disappointed it did not win.
But that winner looks cool as hell.
Posted: 07 Dec 2017, 17:16
by 7bit
The Kinesis Freestyle is no innovation. It is a quite lame copy of the G80-5000!
Spoiler:
Posted: 07 Dec 2017, 17:18
by andrewjoy
They are quite different honestly.
Posted: 07 Dec 2017, 18:39
by Findecanor
Yeah, but this is not the "Innovation" category so it is OK. The best of a type of product are seldom of the first generation or even from the same brand.
I have wondered for a time why there have been so few gaming keyboards in "unsaver"-like layouts: tenkeyless with macro keys on the left side. The four dedicated layer/programming buttons above the function keys is also an improvement on the rubber-dome keyboard.
I think it was a bad choice to go with blue backlighting through - they should have chosen white. I have seen lots of complains that it isn't RGB but these days if a keyboard is RGB then people also expect the backlighting to be programmable and that would have added some complexity.
I hope people voted a little more for the caps than the keyboard!
Send the man a wingnut!
Posted: 07 Dec 2017, 19:25
by Compgeke
Findecanor wrote: ↑I think it was a bad choice to go with blue backlighting through - they should have chosen white. I have seen lots of complains that it isn't RGB but these days if a keyboard is RGB then people also expect the backlighting to be programmable and that would have added some complexity.
I agree on that, I would rather white over blue. In addition, the factory backlight was way too bright. They released a new firmware update shortly after I got mine to allow the backlight to be dimmer.
Congratulations to the winner!
