Look at this keyboard – The Verge The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts. 2026-07-03T02:10:29+00:00 https://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/24101784 https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1 Antonio G. Di Benedetto <![CDATA[Hey number pad lovers, this is a keyboard we can finally agree on]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=960837 2026-07-02T22:10:29-04:00 2026-07-04T10:00:00-04:00 A top-down view of an Epomaker RT98 mechanical keyboard on a colorful desk mat with a repeating emoji pattern. The beige keyboard with multicolored keycaps has an 1800 layout with a southpaw-oriented number pad.
I’m right-hand dominant but a lefty at heart. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

I know a vocal group of people who swear by the number pad on their keyboard. And yet, for years I haven't cared about using one - until I put my hands on the Epomaker RT98. It's a mechanical keyboard with a charming retro aesthetic, a fun CRT-like screen, VIA compatibility, a nice typing feel, and most importantly, a modular number pad that can be moved to either side. It's a clever compromise in a budget friendly-ish board, allowing you to further customize your setup without losing the functionality of the coveted "tenkey."

But like many mechanical keyboards out there, it's got some unique quirks and tradeoffs.

Epomaker RT98

Score: 7

Pr …

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]]> Antonio G. Di Benedetto <![CDATA[This Ghost in the Shell keyboard makes me want to activate the hundred spidery robot fingers inside my regular fingers]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=951371 2026-06-18T09:25:18-04:00 2026-06-18T08:00:00-04:00 Two Iqunix EV63 Ghost in the Shell Edition mechanical keyboards — cyber blue (left) and shell core (right) — on a gray table top with a purple background. The colorful backlighting of the keyboards extends upwards as ghostly streaks of light, extending to the top of the image in a sweeping motion. The effect is the result of a long-exposure camera trick.
These keyboards stand alone. Complex. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Anime collaborations are everywhere, from Gundam watches and Naruto nights at Major League ballparks to just about anything Evangelion. But these Ghost in the Shell keyboards from Iqunix are some of the coolest examples I've seen of anime-inspired everyday tech. They look sick and they type and play great. At $249 they're a hefty upcharge over the regular $169 version, but that's still a decent price for such excellent build quality and unique designs.

The standard Iqunix EV63 that the Ghost in the Shell Edition is based on is a 65-percent Hall effect keyboard aimed at gamers. It's got a compact layout, an 8,000Hz polling rate, and ultra-se …

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]]> Antonio G. Di Benedetto <![CDATA[Marathon battery life makes Keychron’s Ultra 8K keyboards its best yet]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=914085 2026-04-19T23:01:29-04:00 2026-04-19T08:00:00-04:00

Keychron's expansive keyboard catalog covers everything from basic full-size mechanical boards to niche layouts like southpaw Alice or a one-handed half-keyboard for gaming. Its Q and V series are among our go-to recommendations for off-the-shelf keyboards, and the latest iterations - the Q and V Ultra models - are a straightforward upgrade to the lineup, with benefits for regular users and deep-in-the-weeds keyboard nerds alike.

I've been testing two Ultra keyboards: the Keychron V5 Ultra 8K and Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K. The $119.99 V5 Ultra is a near-full-size 1800-layout board with a number pad in a plastic case, while the $229.99 Q1 Ultra i …

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]]> Nathan Edwards <![CDATA[This DIY kit turned my favorite mechanical keyboard into my favorite electrocapacitive keyboard]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=868153 2026-02-23T12:00:43-05:00 2026-01-30T12:00:00-05:00

For my money, you simply cannot get a better electrocapacitive keyboard than the Bauer Lite with a DynaCap kit.

[Editor's note: Huh?]

You can get a nicer EC keyboard, without having to build it yourself, by simply spending $3,600 on a Norbauer Seneca. Or you can get a Happy Hacking Keyboard or a Realforce for south of $300, also without having to build it yourself, with genuine Topre switches, Bluetooth if you want it, and decent - but not great - remapping capability.

Or, for about $250, a set of keycaps, and a couple of hours of assembly, you can design a Bauer Lite in any of a zillion color combinations and use DynaCap parts to turn …

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]]> Terrence O’Brien <![CDATA[Naya Connect is a modular mechanical keyboard system for the indecisive]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=862123 2026-01-15T05:46:13-05:00 2026-01-14T16:38:30-05:00

Naya has already shipped one successful Kickstarter for a weird keyboard. The Naya Create was an ergonomic split deck with four swappable controller add-ons: a touchpad, a trackball, a rotary encoder, or a 6DoF spatial mouse. The Connect takes that modular concept, applies it to a more traditional flat keyboard form factor, and expands the ecosystem to be even more flexible. And clearly, people are into the idea, because it hit its minuscule funding goal in just six minutes.

The Naya Connect has four main components: a low-profile 75% mechanical keyboard called the Naya Type, a 24-key multipad, a six-key programmable strip, and a dock. The …

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]]> Cameron Faulkner <![CDATA[The Asus Falcata is an ambitious split ergo gaming keyboard that falls short]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=821355 2025-11-16T09:51:39-05:00 2025-11-16T10:00:00-05:00 An image of the Asus Falcata split ergonomic gaming keyboard on a bamboo standing desk.
Each half is compact, and they fit together for easy travel.

Hall effect gaming keyboards aren't uncommon. But Asus' ROG Falcata is the only one that's also a split ergonomic keyboard, aimed at alleviating wrist, hand, or arm pain. For the luxury of having it all, you'll pay $419.99, enough to buy a nice Hall effect keyboard and a split ergonomic one.

It'd be worth it if the Falcata truly represented the best of both worlds, but I'm split. As a Hall effect board, it succeeds, offering a wealth of customization options, including the ability to let you adjust each key's actuation point by as little as a hundredth of a millimeter at a time. But if you're buying it for ergonomics, like me, then maybe n …

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]]> Antonio G. Di Benedetto <![CDATA[Logitech’s latest keyboard dabbles in enthusiast features]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=810124 2025-11-05T17:16:21-05:00 2025-11-03T03:01:00-05:00 A Logitech Alto Keys K98M keyboard on a spooky-themed desk mat.
Love me some lavender.

Logitech's Alto Keys K98M mechanical keyboard is now available in North America after its initial launch in China and other select markets. The $119.99 Alto Keys K98M is an almost full-size 1800-layout keyboard, offering a slightly compact design that maintains a number pad. But what makes the K98M special for a mass-market Logitech board is that it's fully hot-swappable with standard Cherry MX-compatible key switches and uses an internal gasket mount for a semi-soft typing feel. Logitech is taking some belated cues from enthusiast keyboards.

The Alto Keys has a two-piece plastic case with a translucent top portion and opaque bottom that's …

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]]> Nathan Edwards <![CDATA[Hands on with Ursa, a new keycap option for Topre keyboards]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=809659 2025-10-29T23:07:25-04:00 2025-10-30T05:00:00-04:00 A black compact keyboard with white-on-black keycaps, on a bamboo desk.
Ursa’s classic spherical profile and centered legends dress up any Topre keyboard.

Your Happy Hacking Keyboard can finally get fresh caps.

While regular keyboards have an embarrassment of keycap options, Topre boards like the HHKB or Realforce R3 don't. They've more or less been relegated to OEM-profile PBT keycaps with dye-sublimated legends, in light grey, charcoal, white, or (recently) a few more colorful options. Something as basic as black keycaps with white legends just didn't exist for unmodified Topre boards. Until now.

Ursa is a new style of keycap for Topre electrocapacitive switches. I first wrote about them in April 2024, during the group buy, which was originally expected to ship in early 2025. Well, here …

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]]> Andrew Liszewski <![CDATA[Google Japan’s concept keyboard is inspired by rotary phones]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=793136 2025-10-06T16:20:12-04:00 2025-10-06T16:20:12-04:00 A person using their finger to turn a dial on Google Japan’s concept keyboard.
Feeling overproductive at work? Google Japan’s new concept keyboard gives you a chance to slow down. | Image: YouTube / Google Japan

Following an April Fools' Day prank in 2021 that had a delayed reveal as a result of the pandemic, Google Japan has been cooking up weird and wonderful keyboard concepts year after year. Its latest creation seems straight out of an alternate dimension where touch-tone technology never replaced rotary phones, and that functionality eventually found its way into other devices.

Instead of keys, the Gboard Dial Version keyboard features various alphanumeric characters and functions laid out beneath a series of nine dials of various sizes, including one just for the return key. To type a specific character, you stick your finger in its correspon …

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]]> Nathan Edwards <![CDATA[Norbauer Seneca review: a $3,600 luxury keyboard for the keyboard obsessed]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=659125 2025-06-16T11:52:07-04:00 2025-06-15T09:00:00-04:00
The best, and most expensive, thing I’ve ever typed on. | Photo by Nathan Edwards / The Verge

Some people can tell great wine from okay wine. They go on wine tastings, take wine tours. They tend to spend more money on wine than most.

I am not one of those people. I can tell wine from vinegar if you show me the bottle. I am just a little bit obsessed with keyboards, though.

I have spent the past couple of months typing on the Seneca, a fully custom capacitive keyboard that starts at $3,600 and might be the best computer keyboard ever built. I've also made a bunch of other people type on it - folks whose attitude toward keyboards is a little more utilitarian. My wife uses a mechanical keyboard because I put it on her desk; if I too …

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