🚨 WARNING 🚨 Hyper Opinionated article!
If you’re a software developer and we ignore the software side then there will be 3 major components that will makeup the central focus of your “hardware” aka the “tools of the trade”. These are your computer, monitor, and your keyboard (mouse I hear you say? sorry we don’t do that here! Vi/Emacs or GTFO)
In this post we’re going to focus specifically on the keyboard, this is the hardware that we directly interact/interface with the most out of the three core hardware components. You could even say this is the real “machine/human” interface.
Because a keyboard has so many variables and options, this creates an explosion of near endless possibilities and this in turn means we have a huge number of makes and models to cater for everyone and every taste.
In this article I’m not going to try and convince you that my specific choices are “better” than other options, this is because I don’t really care for opposing opinions and as the title clearly states, this is my hyper opinionated view and you're free not to listen!
The first thing I’m going to immediately dismiss is “wireless” keyboards, this is because I’ve used them for a long time and I absolutely hate them for a couple of reasons. First they often come with a specific dongle (unless you opt to use bluetooth) which you can easily lose and that’s flipping annoying. Second is that they’re often powered by batteries (although I believe some of the newer ones can be recharged if plugged in). Finally latency, yes I’ve actually experienced this.
After a few years of using wireless in anger I chucked my wireless keyboard in the bin, fed up with replacing batteries (or having to make sure they’re charged up) or losing the stupid dongle, and the random jerky latencies was the final straw. Since going back to wired, I’ve never looked back. Cable is reliable, cable just works and gets out of your way. Stop being a hipster and just use wired for a stress free and rock solid reliable latency-less performance.
The second thing I fell in love with is mechanical keyboards, initially I thought it was all nonsense, but when I started getting into gaming, around the same time I got fed up with wireless I thought I’d take a chance with mechanical and it’s been the best decision I took. At first I cringed because of how loud it sounded, however this is only short lived. I can’t really describe the feeling, but I know that nowadays after years of using mechanical, I simply can not use anything else without feeling sick!
Is mechanical for you? I don’t know, I don’t care. But give it a try for a few weeks and if you haven’t been converted over then sure fine go back to your “normie” keyboard! But I suspect you won’t be able to!
OK enough chit chat! you’re now intrigued (maybe triggered), perhaps you want to enter into the elite ranks of senior burnt dev’s world and you wanna know which keyboard to buy?
Well you’ve come to the right place! and I’m not gonna bury you with a “top 5 best keyboard” gimmicky horse manure, no sir here I’ll cut all that out and present simply two options: a budget option and a “middle of the road” price option. Mind you it’s my view that both these options are fantastic in their own price category (hence why I hand picked them).
LTC Nimbleback, the best wallet friendly 65% mechanical keyboard
If you’re just getting into the world of mechanical keyboards and you’re not a keyboard fanatic and you’re worried about your wallet, then simply put the Nimbleback is probably the best 65% mechanical keyboard that you will find very very hard to beat. At this price point it has some features that are normally found on the much higher end of the keyboard world.
It has hot swappable keys with options for blue, brown, and red switches. The layout is standard ANSI. And the switches are “north facing”. Interestingly it also has a built-in USB hub so you can plug in your USB accessories if you so wished (could come in handy if you didn’t want to reach all the way to your PC to plug in a thumb drive, say for example).
The Nimbleback has “shine through” RGB lights and it just looks stunning and a beautifully designed keyboard that is all white that makes it stand out as a real head turner.
A few minor things to keep in mind however, it has limited reprogrammability (it’s only available on Windows booo! 😭) and the build could be a little better. The typing isn’t as smooth as higher end more pricey keyboards (but then again it’s still damn good for the price). To be honest these are minor things and nothing that is a real dealbreaker (unless these things are something you’re specifically looking for).
At around £55-£60 the LTC Nimbleback is the keyboard I would immediately recommend when you’re starting your journey into mechanical keyboards. You can also get the 75% as well as full size if you can’t live without the number pad.
Keychron V1, the best “all” rounder 75% layout mechanical keyboard
The Keychron comes in a couple of different options as part of the “V series”' that include the compact 65% all the way up to full size.
The Keychron simply punches way above its weight class with features and specifications that easily rival keyboards costing twice as much! The Keychron V1 costs around £90-100
It has hot swappable keys, completely re-programmable across all operating systems (including Linux, yes!). It has doubleshot PBT keycaps and the layout is both ANSI and ISO. The switch options are the “K Pro Red”, “K Pro Blue”, and “K Pro Brown”.
This keyboard is built really well and feels very robust, so it scores high on the overall build quality. Yes of course that doesn’t mean you should go around smacking people over the head with it or use it hammer in nails!
Typing is a very nice experience and the ASMR fans will love the sound it makes when typing. The switches are south facing and you also get hypnotising RGB backlighting as well.
The V1 comes with a toggle on the back so that you can switch between layouts. It also comes with both Mac and Windows keycaps in the box. If you don’t want the keys you can also purchase the “barebones” version that is cheaper and doesn’t come with the keys of course.
If you want to get “professional” however and are super serious then you can step up to the Keychron’s top tier the Keychron “Q1 Max” that has fancier switch options for the “pros”. The Keychron V1 can be a nice and gentle gateway to more expensive and extreme keyboards.
Conclusion
Both the LTC Nimbleback and Keychron V1 are fantastic wired mechanical keyboards to begin your journey into this amazing world. Of course if you really want to deep dive further, although I personally dislike Reddit as I think it's a hive mind infested bot network there are still some really good information available if you're willing to hold your nose over at r/MechanicalKeyboards