Ergonomic designs have never been as important as now. We’re spending more time than ever sitting down in front of screens, especially if you’re a gamer.
For PC gaming, your gaming keyboard plays a major part in the ergonomics of your setup. You’re going to be pressing buttons hundreds of times every day, keeping your hands and arms locked in the same position for hours on end.
This kind of repetitive strain can do some serious damage even if you don’t notice it. Over time, you might notice that your fingers aren’t as flexible or fast as they used to be. That’s a result of not using an ergonomic keyboard.
Depending on how many hours you play per day, this can actually deal a major blow to your gaming career. It can stop you from playing competitively as it’s going to take a few milliseconds off of your reaction time, which really does make all the difference in the world.
Rather than suffer through seeing your wrists get destroyed, you can choose from one of our three affiliate links where we point out the three best ergonomically designed gaming keyboards on the market right now.
KINESIS Gaming Freestyle Edge
Starting off with an RGB lighting split design keyboard, this model comes in two halves that are programmable and individually moveable, allowing you to position both your WASD key-set comfortably without being restricted to moving one full-size keyboard.
For longer sessions, gamers are able to move each of the switch key modules to shoulder-width apart, helping to relieve strain and keep your posture straight while gaming or typing.
The switches on the keyboard are Cherry MX Blue mechanical keys that give that tactile feedback that gamers know and love for providing a fantastic typing experience.
The KINESIS Freestyle Edge is a 100% programmable keys plug-and-play, making it just as easy to set up as any old standard keyboard. This, combined with the ergonomic split design, makes this one of the best ergonomically driven options on the market right now.
It’s a little heavy price-wise considering its lack of features, but the build quality of the keys and ergonomics of the keyboard make it more than worth it.
Pros and Cons of the KINESIS Gaming Freestyle Edge
Pros
- Being a split keyboard makes it more flexible and versatile keys than even wireless keyboards.
- You get full customizability regarding where you want your wrists and fingers to sit on the board. This lets you change your position regularly, preventing pain from repetitive strain.
- The keyboard features Cherry MX Blue mechanical keys. These keys are exceptionally well made and have a phenomenal tactile response on par with top-range Logitech board model options.
- The mechanical switches and keys on this split keyboard are fully customizable.
Cons
- The price of this keyboard is a little high for a gaming model that isn’t brand-name like Logitech or Razer.
- The RGB lighting is a nice touch, but that should never be something that a keyboard manufacturer uses as a selling point as KINESIS does here.
- While the keyboard can support your wrist and fingers, the split wired design might not be for everyone.
The KINESIS Freestyle Edge RGB is Tried and Tested for Full Palm Rest Support
The KINESIS Freestyle Edge isn’t like other ergonomic gaming keyboards. It uses a split keys layout that gives it more flexibility over standard wired designs, all while losing no feedback speed thanks to the quality of the Cherry MX keycaps.
This is one of our top picks purely because if a user can deal with the split wire, then they can get something out of this keyboard, whether that’s a break from wrist pain or a new and unique gaming experience.
Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 Mechanical Keyboard
Razer’s BlackWidow series is gaming royalty as far as the gaming keyboard world is concerned. Each generation of hardware that Razer pumps out improves massively over the last, so you’re guaranteed to always find a market leader with BlackWidow mechanical keyboards.
While not traditionally an ergonomic keyboard line, Razer has adapted its BlackWidows to feature a wrist rest that does more than enough to provide ergonomic support to what is already one of the best gaming keyboards ever made.
This wrist support allows players to use the gaming keyboard for a considerably longer amount of time than other models, even once that pride themselves on ergonomic designs.
You get this level of ergonomics without sacrificing any of the features or performance that ergonomic keyboards typically cut back on in favor of comfort.
Pros and Cons of the Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2
Pros
- Razer has been leading the mechanical keyboard market for years now. The design team brings that experience and expertise to this model.
- Regardless of the wrist rest and ergonomic aspect, this is among the best gaming boards in general. The fact that it’s also one of the best ergonomic gaming mechanical keyboards is a bonus.
- The keyboard has five dedicated macro keys with audio and USB passthrough, as well as 10 key anti-ghosting.
- The mechanical switches that Razer uses on this keyboard are award-winning and durable for 80 million clicks.
Cons
- The BlackWidow Chroma V2 mechanical keyboard is a professional gaming piece of hardware, meaning you’re going to be paying professional prices.
- While being one of the best ergonomic keyboard designs around, Razer doesn’t particularly focus on this aspect of its design.
The Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 Mechanical Keyboard is Built for High-Level Gameplay
This gaming keyboard is not for the faint of heart. It’s full of software and features that blow other keyboards, wired or wireless, out of the water.
The switches that each key uses are tactile and worthy of review in and of itself. It requires little to no force to push down on the keycaps, giving the user a faster response time than almost any other keyboard available right now.
You’re not going to be using mechanical keyboards like this in the office, but it is going to be a massive upgrade to your gaming layout.
Corsair K100 Ergonomic Keyboard
This keyboard is a setup from the BlackWidow, coming in at a slightly higher price but with reviews to match it. It has upgraded software, key switches, and four times faster input than any wireless or wired keyboard to come before it.
This mechanical keyboard has a detachable wrist rest and dedicated media controls, making this one of the most comprehensive keyboard packages you can get right now.
There are two different options when it comes to the programmable keys you get on this keyboard. You can either go with Cherry MX Brown/Silver or an optical keys design. Both of these deliver phenomenal performance and don’t play a part in the ergonomics of the keyboard, but the optical switches are slightly faster and cost more.
Out of the three keyboards we’ve looked at in this review, this is the most intense. Everything from the RBG lighting to the USB has been optimized to transfer data from the keyboard to the computer software as quickly as possible.
Even Corsair’s switch choice for this keyboard screams quality, making every single keypress smooth and responsive. The inclusion of a media control center on top of all that, along with the ergonomic design, puts a nicely wrapped bow on what was already one of the best ergonomic keyboards ever made.
Pros and Cons of the Corsair K100
Pros
- Out of the three ergonomic keyboards we’ve looked at, this one has the best gaming performance. It utilizes Corsair’s software and cutting-edge design to deliver speeds faster than any wired or wireless keyboard to date.
- Even the rubber dome keys on this keyboard are quality and are guaranteed 100 million key-strokes.
- The inclusion of the media control panel was unnecessary but appreciated.
- The choice of switch type is also a nice option that consumers have.
- This keyboard has one of the greatest number of positive reviews out of any keyboard or mouse ever made.
Cons
- This keyboard is expensive, especially when you consider you have to buy a mouse, as well.
The Best Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboards on the Market
Okay, that covers three of the best keyboards on the market right now. Every single key and switch on these keyboards have been purposefully designed to blend ergonomic performance with gaming performance, giving you the ability to play better for longer.
Some of these keyboards come with additional features like a lift kit of negative tilt key types, but all of that is secondary to the combination of comfort and speed that you get from each one. At the end of the day, that’s what’s going to determine you’re gaming performance.
Just remember that you’re going to need a USB 3.0 slot to fully take advantage of this hardware, and don’t forget to buy a mouse.
There are plenty of ergonomic mouses out there, too, so get yourself a full ergonomic setup if you can. This is going to save you a lot of issues in the future, especially if you spend hours at a time playing games.
