ZSA Moonlander First Impressions
Published on , 570 words, 3 minutes to read
As I mentioned before, I ordered a ZSA Moonlander and it has finally arrived. I am writing this post from my Moonlander, and as such I may do a few more typos than normal, I'm still getting used to this.
The Moonlander is a weird keyboard. I knew that it would be odd from the get-go (split ergonomic keyboards have this reputation for a reason), but I was surprised at how natural it feels. Setup was a breeze (unbox, plug it in, flash firmware, type), and I have been experimenting with tenting angles on my desk. It is a very solid keyboard with basically zero deck flex.
I have a fairly complicated keymap that worked almost entirely on the first try. Here is a more user friendly visualization of my keymap (sans fun things like leader macros):
My typing speed has been destroyed by the change to this ortholinear layout.
Before I was getting around 70 words per minute at best (according to
monkeytype.com), but now I am lucky to hit about 35
words per minute. My fingers kinda reach for where keys are on a staggered
keyboard and I have the most trouble with x, v, . and b at the moment. I
really like having a dedicated : key on my right hand. It makes command mode (and
yaml) so much easier. The larger red buttons are a bit odd to hit at the moment,
but I imagine that will get much easier with time.
Each key has a programmable RGB light under it. This allows you to get some really nice effects like this:
However brown colors don't come out as well as I'd hoped:
I am not sure how I feel about the armrests. On one hand they feel a bit cold (context: it is currently 1.57 degrees outside and I'm wearing a hoodie at my desk so that may end up being the cause of this), but on the other hand i really hate typing on this without them. The tenting is nice, I need to play with it more but the included instructions help a lot.
I still have a long way to go. I'll write up a longer and more detailed review in a few weeks.
Expect to see many more glory shots on Twitter!
As an added bonus, here is the if err != nil key in action:
Facts and circumstances may have changed since publication. Please contact me before jumping to conclusions if something seems wrong or unclear.
Tags: moonlander, keyboard