ERGO K860 Split Ergonomic Keyboard review: Comfort at any angle

I've got bad typing habits. I oftentimes find myself slouched down, hunched over, or otherwise mashed into a ball when I'm sitting at my desk. I know how I'm supposed to sit. I even have an ergonomic stool. But inevitably, I end up slouching, which I know is going to end up doing my back a number in the future.

The ERGO K860 by Logitech is an ergonomic split keyboard that keeps your wrists and arms from moving around too much, and is designed to help you sit up straight in the best possible position for your arms, wrists, and even back and legs. The curved keyboard also has an upward slope right where you would normally rest your hands, which means less travel, less movement, and less strain on your body.

I've been using the ERGO K860 for about a month now, and find that it really helps me keep my body in its ideal sitting position, and it's also giving me a bit of typing retraining (because I've got lazy typing habits, too).

Bells & Whistles

ERGO K860: The features

The K860 is a split ergonomic keyboard with a unique curvature in the middle, which allows users to keep their hands and wrists mostly in their natural at-rest position while they are typing. The keys are split apart at a slight angle with the bottom rows furthest apart and the top rows practically next to each other, but also set at an angle.

Where the K860 stands out from others is its wavelike curved design, which starts where the keyboard splits and rolls downward toward the end of the keyboard. It's similar to Microsoft's Sculpt without the open design.

It has a standard keyboard arrangement with additional custom keys for macOS and iOS, as well as a number pad and row of function keys.

There is a wrist pad attacked to the keyboard designed for comfort, so you don't have to keep your wrists high off the table in order to type. Instead, you simply rest your hands where you might on a table anyway, and watch while your hands almost mold to the keys in front of you.

There is also a kickstand underneath the keyboard that you can flip up when you're standing or sitting at an angle to allow for better wrist angling. It keeps that wrist pad angled upward so you can rest your wrists in their natural position at different angles. It works especially well with standing desk positioning.

The K860 supports Logitech's Options software, which allows you to sync your special keyboard shortcuts across all of your Logitech keyboards. You can set certain buttons to perform specific tasks in applications, customize keyboard shortcuts for any action, and switch between your computers.

Like a worn-in shoe

ERGO K860: What I like

I absolutely love the sloping design of the keyboard. It's so much more than just a split design. My hands really do naturally lay in the position that the keyboard is designed for them to sit.

The kickstand on the underside of the keyboard fixes what other sloped ergonomic keyboards haven't really been able to figure out. You have the option of angled heights instead of a single bulky raised base, or worse ... no angle option at all.

The research team at Logitech always goes above and beyond, when it comes to design, and this keyboard has hundreds of test subjects worth of data backing its creation. That's part of why it was so easy for me to start typing fast with a completely different keyboard layout. It felt awkward for the first few hours, but by the end of the day, I was typing practically at my normal speed, and within a couple of days, was typing as if this were the keyboard I'd always used. That is, except for the "B" key, which I soon realized I'd been tapping with my right hand instead of my left. I have touch type training, but clearly let my lazy habits get the better of me. I'm actually getting much better at touch typing on my standard keyboard because of the retraining I've gotten on the K860.

The thing I like best about the K860, however, is that it was also designed to keep your entire body aligned and in its optimum positioning, not just your hands and wrists. I find myself automatically sitting up straighter, keeping my knees in front of me, and generally having better posture, which is great for my productivity and my physical health.

Bounce Bounce

ERGO K860: What I don't like

In addition to allowing your wrists to sit at an ideal resting angle, key response is important. Coming from the low profile and speedy response of the Magic Keyboard, I find the response on the K860 to be lacking.

Key travel and feel is great, but I found that I have to use more force to press the key than I want. I should also note that the keys feel a bit springy, which adds lift to where my fingers actually end up after pressing one. This extra finger work could prove to be annoying to some people.

I really wish this keyboard had an option that didn't include a number pad, or actually that included a totally separate number pad. By extending the keyboard length by adding a tenkey pad, it means I have to reach further than is comfortable in order to reach my mouse. This, for me, was fairly uncomfortable at first. It took a few extra days to get used to it.

Bottomline

ERGO K860: The conclusion

I love the look and form of the ERGO K860. It's comfortable, reduces wrist strain, and looks better than most ergonomic split keyboards.

The keys need a little pressure to react, but they feel great to the touch (rounded edges and a concave design). I really hope Logitech considers offering a version without a number pad for those of use that don't need the tenkey pad. I feel the additional length compromises your wrist and arm positioning when using a mouse or trackpad.

Overall, however, I definitely recommend the ERGO K860. My posture, my wrists and arms, my back and legs, all feel much better having been typing on it for more than a month now.

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