KINESIS Gaming TKO Mechanical Keyboard Barebones Kit | Standard 60% Hotswap Layout | White Metal Plate| Dual-Zone RGB | Detachable USB-C | Optional Split Space Bar | US/ANSI

Overall, I like the many features this keyboard has to offer. However, I wouldn't say I like that the shorter segment of the split spacebar is in the center. I would have preferred it to the right as it took some time for my thumb to get used to this.I like that all of the subfunctions of the keys are on the front side of the keycaps and are easy to read. As for my typing experience, I wasn't expecting much. This keyboard has red linear switches and performs as expected. However, the keyboard is not as quiet as I would've liked, but it's nothing that a little "modding" can't fix.I like the ergonomic features of this keyboard. The ability to "tent" from left to right or right to left is excellent for gaming. I also appreciate the positive (inclined front to back) and negative tilt (inclined back to front). This provides a more comfortable, ergonomically friendly option when keyboarding on a desktop versus a keyboard tray below the desk surface.

Really rely good qualit

This keyboard has numerous design problems. You'd have to be an engineer to design something this unintuitive.First off, in order to configure the keyboard, you have to use the SmartSet features by holding down the SmartSet key, Right Shift, and pressing some other key. To indicate whether the feature was turned on or off, another key blinks 4 or 2 times like morse code. You have to remember what 4 blinks means and what 2 blinks means. But guess which key blinks? The one under my thumb! Which means I have to be careful to press this key on the edge so I can see how many times it's blinking.Next, this keyboard has different RGB settings, but it doesn't have per key settings. That means I can't do something like have my Caps Lock key change color to indicate that Caps Lock is active. But get this. This keyboard does have a Caps Lock indicator! They decided to put it down by the middle spacebar, where it's difficult to see, and they also put a Game Mode indicator down there, so now I have to remember which is which.And about that RGB lighting, it can't be dimmed. It's always full force, 100%, in my face. Or off. I opted for off. Because with the RGB at 100%, the reflection in my monitor is distracting. Not cool.

I have quite a lot of experience with hotswap boards now, having a Massdrop ALT, CTRL, and Carina, Keychron K2, Preonic, Ergodox EZ, Planck EZ, and Keyboardio Atrius. Most of these boards are far more expensive than the Kinesis.The things that really impressed me with the Kinesis:- The stabilizers are amazing. I don't expect stock stabs to be any good, but these have no rattle to speak of.- The case itself has hardly any ping when typing, which gives it a quality feel / sound (personally I still want to install sound dampening material to make it feel more solid - still feels hollow).- The keys are programmable without needing any software. (QMK is powerful but not user friendly)- It remembers what profile you are using (huge pet peeve with Massdrop boards resetting profile on reboot)- It comes with a carrying case. This is really nice considering the price point- You can use a full space bar if you want to use custom keycaps. The triple space bars aren't in super common sizes- It supports 5 pin switches, i.e. you dont have to clip those plastic legs on your expensive switches and the switch is more stabilized on the pcbMissed opportunities:The main reason this board even got on my radar was the triple spacebar. Custom layouts like these are fairly uncommon on hotswap boards. I was hoping to have the ability to change layouts simply by holding one of the spacebars. You can do this by binding a spacebar to the function key, but that's just one layer. I was really hoping for at least two, and since it already has a function key, the value of the triple space bar starts to become less clear. Sure you can bind one of those spacebars to a key that's note conveniently close to the left hand (M to open your map or something), but I am not seeing this as a game changer.Unclear Benefits:The ability to tilt this in many different ways is cool (especially horizontal tilting), but I haven't really found a use for it. It's not a big enough difference to me to say, use 0 degree for typing, and then tilt the right side up for gaming when I am using it one handed. I just keep it at one angle at all times.Servicing the Sockets:Ive swapped out switches more times than I can remember, and the reality of these sockets is that they can have issues over time. Mechanically, the legs of the switch must make contact with two pieces of metal on the socket, and one of the most common failures is that over many swaps those pieces of metal flex and the gap becomes large enough to where a leg no longer makes contact with both sides and the switch stops working. On my Massdrop CTRL and ALT, reaching the sockets is super easy. You just flip it over, take out some screws, pull the back off, and there they are. On the Kinesis, this is a little more involved. You need to take 16 keycaps off to access the screws which are on the top of the board rather than the back. I think this was an aesthetic decision to make this thing look more unibody (hiding the screws), but it does make socket maintenance a little more inconvenient.

The TKO is a 60% keyboard with only 61 keys. The primary use of this keyboard is for gaming with a focus on customization and ergonomics to make it stand out from the other keyboards in this category.This model uses Kalih Box Switches instead of MX Cherry, which is a bit different than what you expect.MX Cherry Red -> Kalih Box RedMX Cherry Blue -> Kalih Box WhiteMX Cherry Brown -> Kalih Box BrownThe Kalih Box Switches simply feel amazing to type with. I ordered the Red switches, and immediately felt a level of comfort that I have never experienced with MX Cherry Red. I remember my first experience with Cherry Red, they ended up hurting my fingers while typing which then converted me to use Cherry Brown. I do not experience this discomfort with Kalih Box Red switches, they are much more comfortable for my fingers to type on, where MX Cherry Red was like a hard surface, Kalih Box Red are like a soft mattress.This is a keyboard that feels like it is worth the money.A feature that was carried over from the Freestyle Edge RGB, you can customize the color profile and key mapping of the TKO through a series of text files that are built into they keyboard. While Windows and MacOS software exists, I am a Linux user. Having the level of control for the keyboard lighting, macros, and profiles built into the keyboard memory through .txt files is cool. I am not left out simply because I use Linux, rather, editing text files through Linux is par for the OS.**2023 Update**This keyboard is now my primary keyboard for all my computers. I did not expect this, but the 60% layout is nice after getting everything customized and working the way I like.If you are not aware, 60% keyboards heavily utilize a function layer (Fn) to get access to all keys that a 100% keyboard has. Being able to have a quick and easy way to switch between the primary layer and the Fn layer is very important to use 60% keyboards at the speed of their bigger brothers.For example, there are no inverted T arrow keys for navigation, rather, the expectation is to switch to the Fn layer then use "I" for up, "J" for left, "K" for down, and "L" for right. To get easy access to these keys on the Fn layer, I setup the center spacebar key to be a Fn switch, so that I hold the middle spacebar with my left thumb, then use my right hand to get access to those arrows keys. After using this for a few days, it became second nature and my typing speed is about the same as using dedicated arrow keys.Having access to DEL is also tricky with this keyboard on its vanilla settings. Normally, you would need to hold the Fn key with your right thumb and press the backspace key to access "Delete" with another finger on your right hand. With the center spacebar mapped as a Fn switch, I can also access the delete button without needing a custom macro setup, left thumb on the middle spacebar and right finger on the backspace key. That center spacebar remapping made the TKO very useful over the almost two years that I have owned it.The most annoying key is tilde ~. On Linux, this is a very important key to have access to. To access this key was very weird, the Fn key needs held down to enter the Fn layer, then one of the "Shift" keys needs held down, then you can press the "ESC" key to enter a tilde. That makes three keys that need pressed to enter one character, and using it frequently in Linux, this become tiresome. The remedy was to make a macro where the right shift key and ESC key, pressed together, prints tilde, ~~~.The reason for showing my problems and solutions, is to show why 60% keyboards a enjoyed. They are made to be customized for their lighting profile, key mappings, and macros.Other people I know who own 60% keyboards also state this as one of the reasons that they like this tiny size. The restrictions need you to innovate on how you use the keyboard, and then that makes it something unique to you, rather than the same thing everyone else owns.**End 2023 Update**Last, the namesake of KINESIS is that they offer ergonomics as their primary focus of keyboards and mice. Under the keyboard are four stands, one on each corner that have two levels of height. This allows tenting of the keyboard to have it angled with the right side higher, rear higher, left higher, or even front higher. The intention is that if you are gaming, then your left or right hand will be in a more natural position, angled appropriately, while your other hand is on a mouse. Most keyboards only come with two feet to adjust the rear of the keyboard.For gaming, this keyboard is fantastic. The feel of the keys, the ability to adjust the keyboard layout and colors through editing text files, and the ergonomics make this stand out. I would recommend this keyboard if you are in the market for a 61-key, 60% keyboard. I am interested is seeing what Kinesis-Gaming does next.