Piraty / txt


Review: R-Go Split ergonomic keyboard

TLDR

I used the R-Go Split for roughly 3 years, until the micro-usb port broke for good.

Overall, I can recommend it as a good and cost-effective (at least in the space of spit/ergonomic keyboards) keyboard for those who want to dip their toe into the space of ergonmic hardware without investing too much, be it regading money or learning aspect.

How It Began

Ever since RSI became a part of my life, i optimized my posture during work. This involved acquiring my first split keyboard.

After skimming the market i settled for R-Go Split by r-go-tools with UK layout.

Pros

Magnetic Mount Of Both Halves

Parts can be joined via magnets to optionally use it in non-split way if necessary.

Slim Design

10mm height in total (top of keycap to rubber feet).

low profile case, key travel is low.

Easy To Learn

due to:

Cost-Effective

relatively low cost.

currently about 120$, which is low end of ergo keeb spectrum. I don’t think there are split keyboards cheaper than this.

Cons

Weak Micro-USB port

During 3y i unplugged the keyboard’s usb cables nearly every day, which makes roughly 1000 unplug cycles per usb connector. It started to get flakey after about 2y.

Case is not screw mounted (I assume it’s glued, but i didn’t check in detail).

Some Keys Are Weird

pgUp/pgDown by default are on fn-layer and thus very awkward to reach (or example, page-scrolling in terminal Shift + FN + 3 are all left-hand keys) This made me invent 1 2 a tap-hold navigation layer on the CAPS key (tap=Esc, hold=arrows on right-hand’s home-row), which is very convenient and proved very effective until today, even on traditional keyboards. I didn’t know the term “tap-hold” back then though.

Undecided

Rubber Dome Switches

Rubber-dome switches were not an issue for me back then, and if you dislike them it’s still two-fold as they contribute to the low profile, yet come with their mediocre key press characteristic.


  1. https://github.com/Piraty/dotfiles/commit/447de6bf7221a8696292254418d3154b849da88f 

  2. https://github.com/Piraty/dotfiles/commit/513ac277c59e9e1fc69a85a738c9e8c06e79bd29