Most keyboard reviews are about gaming. Can any of you recommend a good keyboard for coding/programming?
Here’s some criteria for selecting the keyboard:
- Comfortable keys, easy to click and write coding quickly
- Must be a bluetooth keyboard
- Prefer using replaceable batteries instead of charging port
- Full keyboard keys including function keys, arrow keys and numpad
- Size can be compact or full-sized
- Doesn’t matter if back-lit or not
- Doesn’t matter if loud or quiet clicks
- Budget around USD 50
Any keyboard you want really. Most of the time spent coding is thinking not typing.
A bad keyboard can be distracting.
Not really.
A malfunctioning keyboard sure, but that’s not what this is about.
I use a Tokonami KX450, which is not the newest but it’s the most widely available military-grade model that the average silicon shop is able to customise.
With that in mind you’ll want a uranium microreactor to really get that turbo button cranking out the keycodes (the french stuff is cheapest but ukrainian kit is worth the extra), as well as a mercury cooling solution and ideally a set of maglev keys for all the most common letters (NOT backspace; frankly you should remove that key entirely to avoid habits that damage your WPM).
Assuming you’ve got a solid pair of high-torque power gloves that should get you up to at least 20000 WPM, which admittedly won’t cut it if you’re trying to keep all the NPM dependencies up to date in a modern bank’s transaction processing software, but it’s probably enough if you’re just doing a bit of data analysis in python.
Make sure to buy one with a dedicated button for each letter you want to use. Really, I would recommend something QWERTY just for standard compatibility.
Scarastic jokes over, it literally doesn’t matter at all. Just look online for the cheapest keyboard with the features you want. Type on a cellphone touchscreen keyboard if you are so inclined. If you are typing so much that it really starts to hurt your finger joints or muscles, then you can maybe start to look at ergonomic keyboards and see if they’d be right for you. Beyond that, your time is better spent actually coding than worrying about the proper type of keyboard to use.Counterpoint, the only way you’ll be able to write efficient and clean code, that’s both terse and readable, that earns the respect of influencers and CTOs alike, is with the Happy Hacking Keyboard, Type S. It’s $300, but you’re serious about coding, aren’t you? And you’ll need some after market keycaps; the stock ones are decent – dye sub PBT – but you’ll look like a noob, you’ll need to get a few sets of colorful blanks and create a pattern from them that defines your coding aesthetic. You have a color scheme that defines your coding aesthetic, right? If not, you need to take care of that, before you even write a single line of code.
I’m just kidding, literally anything. I don’t even use one, I just use a mouse, since I’m just copying and pasting from chatGPT anyway – or, I used to, back when I was a junior dev. Now I just use a magnetic needle and a steady hand
“dammit emacs” …
I like my keychron. They make a wired one in your price range.
Many people don’t seem to have an issue but those that do seem to find relief of finger hand and wrist pain by switching to colemak layouts. That layout seems to be widely supported by systems in general.
Yep, can also recommend Keychron.
They produce wired full size boards, apparently by now even with hall effect sensors.
apparently by now even with hall effect sensors.
I don’t know what this means.
I didn’t either. Apparently they can be used in keyboards instead of mechanical switches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_effect_sensor#Human_interface_devices
Budget’s about half what it should be, but Keychron makes really great mech keyboards, you can pick a range of switches (I use Gateron Red, clicky but not too stiff; YMMV).
You should reconsider bluetooth if you can, there is lag in it, and sometimes just random disconnects if there’s interference. USB’s the way to stay fast & stable.
You should reconsider bluetooth if you can, there is lag in it, and sometimes just random disconnects if there’s interference. USB’s the way to stay fast & stable.
That totally depends on usage. We have a K12 wireless and we never had any issues with input lag/disconects/interference.
My k3 pro is a personal bluetooth jammer. If it is on bluetooth nobody in the room is able to do anything else if it connects with bluetooth. I already updated the firmware.
It is still a great wired keyboard.
I use the Logitech K120. It has all the right keys in all the right places and doesn’t piss around with useless “media functions” on the F-keys making those the default instead of F1-F12.
Programming is about thinking, not typing, so you really don’t need anything fancy. I’ve tried a couple of gaming keyboards only to find they’re flaky af and ended up in the WEEE bin far too quickly for their price.
It doesn’t meet your requirements of being wireless and Bluetooth though, but on the other hand it doesn’t have stupid lights all over it and doesn’t randomly stop working just because I forgot to plug it in so there’s that.
I have been using “gaming” keyboards for coding for ~10 years now. The only thing to be wary of imo, is keebs that have “extra customizable keys” on them and break conformity from a standard layout. Depends on the device, but Logitech will call them “G keys”, for example, and often stick them on the far left of the board, left of tab/caps/L shift. Makes life a lot more difficult if not gaming.
Outside of that, I think calling something a “gaming” keyboard is more of a marketing tactic to up the price. It’s hard to not recommend mechanical, but that sounds out of budget and often hard to do wireless/bluetooth, but personally I think mech is the top priority.
What I have seen a lot of peers do is wait to see whatever keyboard the get in office, then buy the same one for home for consistency, rather than dragging a personal one back and forth. Often companies will offer basic boards like logitech K270, K350, or K650. Not amazing, not terrible, and most likely fit in your described criteria.
I like your comment. Reasonable feedback to recommend logitech K650 fits nicely into my needs. Going to explore if there are more choice just like this keyboard.
Thanks for your insight. Gonna avoid the G keys Logitech keyboard.
Actually, I have it the other way around. I bought the same keyboard I use at home for work as well. Imagine, you have to switch employers and get a new keyboard in the office. A nightmare!
I am using a Planck keyboard (40% of the keys a regular keyboard has). This is way outside your 50,- €$£ price range, but I think, it is worth it: Fully customizable key layout and different more silent switches for work.
I never would go wireless for a keyboard that is not connected to a TV. That reminds me, that I hate the mouse I have to use at work, it is wireless! I guess I buy a second G203 for work, too (without RGB). [=
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I’d go with an ergonomic one to avoid pain on the outside of the wrists.
I might be totally wrong, but I firmly believe these ergonomic risk factors are not the root cause of these health problems, and instead they are indirect factors that are correlated with fundamental problems affecting a person’s activity.
For example, tennis elbow isn’t caused by a particular model of a tennis racket, nor is jumper’s knee caused by a shoe model. Interestingly, I stumbled upon a post somewhere in the past that pointed out that Emacs users had a higher incidence of repetitive strain injuries than vi users. One of the most basic treatments of RSI is a combination of working on the patient’s overall posture and rest, regardless of keyboard format.
If you’re experiencing wrist pain due to keyboard usage, the time you spend typing is a far more important factor than what keyboard model you’re using.
Wouldn’t wrist position be considered part of your overall posture?
Wouldn’t wrist position be considered part of your overall posture?
There are far more factors determining wrist position than the size of the keyboard, and only a very small fraction of all keyboard users end up developing any form of issue.
Moreover, I’d wager that the number of people enduring bad laptop keyboards greatly outnumber those developing any kind of RSI issue, let alone those who feel strongly enough to buy ergonomic keyboards.
It would be interesting to see how many ergonomic keyboards end up being snakeoil preying on people with more disposable money than good judgement.
There are far more factors determining wrist position than the size of the keyboard
Ergonomic keyboards are not a result of “the size of the keyboard”, but the shape. The size could be identical, it is the shape that matters.
Without any real studies on it mentioned so far you’re relying on gut feeling and logic here. Well, you mention sitting with proper posture actually helps, which is putting your body into proper alignment. That makes sense, if your neck is arched and your back is crunched all day it will eventually cause damage to your discs and cause nerve pain.
Why doesn’t the same apply to your wrists? It seems logical that keeping your wrists cockeyed all day would put strain on them, and that keeping them in alignment would reduce strain.
At the very least it seems easy to see why some people would genuinely prefer keyboards like that just for comfort. I find it hard to label as “snake oil”
Ergonomic keyboards are not a result of “the size of the keyboard”, but the shape.
I apologize for the mistake. Even though I referred to size, what I had in mind was geometry/layout.
Without any real studies on it mentioned so far you’re relying on gut feeling and logic here.
Are there actually any studies suggesting that ergonomic keyboards prevent RSI? As far as I could gather, there’s a correlation between higher RSI incidence and keyboard usage, but nothing suggests ergonomic keyboards lead to a lower incidence of RSI.
You wrote you want a full keyboard with F keys, arrow, and numpad - but it can be compact too.
What would be an example of that combination?
Try a backlit keyboard, especially for late night coding sessions. But that will likely conflict with the Bluetooth requirement. Does not have to be per key rgb; a fixed single color will be good enough.
What would be an example of that combination?
Something like Logitech K580. The keys are a bit tight with each other, but they have almost all those keys independently.
Waaaay out of your proce range, but I absolutely love the Keyboardio Model 100 . https://shop.keyboard.io/products/model-100 it’s a really freaking amazing keyboard. The palm key makes typing the brackets and braces and others so much easier.
Great keyboard. I love it.
I use a single key and morse code
I tried Logitech’s wave keys at the store and I fell in love with them. I have several custom keyboards (including a HHKB with topre keys and WASD Code keeyboard) and this puts them to shame, unfortunetly. Can pick it up for $56 USD.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/keyboards/wave-keys.html
- The shape is not those crazy ergo keyboards but the keys are very easy to reach, and you will not have to adjust to a new layout if you are comfortable with laptop keys.
- The keys have more travel than laptop keys but less than mech keyboards (on average).
- The Keys are also effortless to press but offer resistance.
- Bluetooth and if you use wireless Logitech mouse you can use the same BT receiver.
- They have them at Staples and Best Buy, so you can go and try it out.
As for programming, I found the WASD Code keyboard to be pretty customizable with their hardware switches. I can flip a switch and boom, my Caps Lock is now another Ctrl, etc. But you can do that in the OS as well. They go around $99 and you can pick different keys. Not sure if they have any wireless ones
https://www.wasdkeyboards.com/code-v3-87-key-mechanical-keyboard-cherry-mx-blue.html
a keyboard.
Hard to do on controller.
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I’m partial for the Royal Kludge RK84 for no particular reason other than it’s one of the rare small form factor keyboards that has USB passthrough. It’s a godsend if you use a USB security key, and it also helps if you need to plug in additional devices such as a USB headset.
If keychron had any model that supported USB passthrough, I’d update my recommendation.
