The best thing I bought this year: a portable mechanical keyboard

21 hours ago 3

As a writer, I instrumentality the tools of my commercialized comparatively seriously. I’m not brainsick capable to driblet $3,600 connected a keyboard, but I besides find typing connected a MacBook for extended periods of clip profoundly unsatisfying — and distracting. So this spring, I started looking into distraction-free penning setups, which included an e-reader / writer and a mechanical keyboard.

I started with the Boox Palma 2 due to the fact that its E Ink surface and constricted connectivity could marque it a coagulated distraction-free solution if paired with a bully keyboard. After a batch of research, the keyboard I settled connected was the NuPhy Air60 V2, with the company’s heaviest tactile Moss switches and the gorgeous NuFolio lawsuit successful “nostalgic tan,” which is truly much of a bold yellow.

Now, I americium nary connoisseur of mechanical keyboards, but I find the Air60 V2 to beryllium delightful to benignant on. Its low-profile keys don’t person the aforesaid question and feedback arsenic my regular keyboard oregon my vintage IBM Model M, but it is inactive an tremendous betterment implicit my MacBook’s scissor power keyboard. The Moss switches connection decent-enough thock, but they’re not truthful large that I would debar utilizing the keyboard successful public. It mightiness beryllium a spot overmuch for a quiescent cafe, but I’ve sat and worked connected articles and abbreviated stories portion seated astatine a barroom and decidedly didn’t consciousness self-conscious astir it.

The quality to brace it with 3 devices means I tin determination the NuPhy betwixt my idiosyncratic laptop, my enactment laptop, and the Boox with ease. It besides comes with a 2.4GHz wireless dongle, but I’ve had small request for it.

I often bring the Air60 with maine to get immoderate penning done connected quiescent nights erstwhile I’m bartending. (Come spot maine astatine Flagship Brewery Tuesdays and Thursdays.) If I request to usage my laptop, the Air60 is designed to acceptable perfectly implicit a MacBook keyboard portion leaving casual entree to the trackpad. But much often I’ll bring the Palma 2. The NuFolio acts arsenic a basal arsenic good arsenic a keyboard cover, and the Palma’s flip lawsuit hangs perfectly implicit the top, creating a bully small self-contained penning setup that is perfect erstwhile I don’t privation (or need) entree to the internet.

I adjacent crook to it astatine location sometimes. When I decided to commencement penning fabrication again for the archetypal clip successful astir 20 years, I installed Obsidian connected the Palma and, paired with the Air60, it became my go-to. As idiosyncratic who often relies connected timers to enactment connected task, I recovered the NuPhy and Palma a panacea for my attraction struggles. Part of that is due to the fact that I really look guardant to typing connected the Air60. The feel, the sound, adjacent the colour strategy are each profoundly satisfying successful a mode that nary laptop keyboard could ever be.

It’s not a cleanable solution. The 64-key layout is large for portability, but it tin beryllium a spot cramped — I marque a fewer much errors typing connected the Air60 than I bash connected a much generous keyboard. And its shallow space tin beryllium a spot uncomfortable for extended periods of sitting astatine a desk. But it’s really cleanable with a lasting table (or a bar) oregon adjacent portion resting successful your lap.

I wasn’t definite that the NuPhy was going to beryllium a omniscient usage of my constricted funds erstwhile I bought it earlier this twelvemonth (I was conscionable implicit a twelvemonth heavy into unemployment and relying connected diminishing freelance assignments). But 9 months later, it’s go an indispensable portion of my penning routine.