This split ergonomic keyboard looks like it’s ripped right from Starfield
Source: The Verge added 05th Sep 2023Ever wonder what it might feel like to be an astronaut who’s concerned about avoiding carpal tunnel while working their nine-to-five desk job? Now there’s a keyboard to help you live that fantasy.
ZSA is today releasing another Space Age-looking mechanical keyboard: the $365 Voyager. Like the similarly priced Moonlander Mark I before it, the ZSA Voyager is a split ergonomic keyboard. It’s designed to relieve some wrist and shoulder stress by allowing you to type with your hands further apart than traditional boards, fine-tune the height and tenting angle of each side, and reduce the overall amount of movement necessary to type. But what’s unique to the Voyager is just how short and compact it is for an off-the-shelf keyboard.
The Voyager uses Kailh Choc low-profile switches for an overall vertical height of only 1.6cm from base to keycap top — about half the height of the Moonlander, which uses standard MX-style switches and keycaps. The keycaps are doubleshot PBT shine-through keycaps made by Tai Hao, and they’re exclusive to the Voyager (there are other shine-through Choc keycaps, but they’re laser-engraved ABS and will wear out faster). Like the Moonlander, the Voyager has adjustable feet to set the height and typing angle you prefer, though the Voyager’s attach magnetically to the bottom, while the Moonlander’s screwed in to the sides.
The Voyager in white gives me some strong spaceship vibes.” data-nimg=”fill” decoding=”async” src=”data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7″>The Voyager in black, with its US-en keycaps (shift symbols on number keys).” data-nimg=”fill” decoding=”async” src=”data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7″>The Voyager in black with “blank” dot keycaps.” data-nimg=”fill” decoding=”async” src=”data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7″>All Voyager kits come with these 36 additional keycaps for some customization.” data-nimg=”fill” decoding=”async” src=”data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7″>
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Image: ZSA
The Voyager’s 52 keys are arranged in a columnar ortho-linear layout that’s meant to require fewer diagonal finger reaches, and it has a steel backplate that is easily opened for repairs or user customizations. ZSA’s graphical configurator software also allows for easy programming, with up to 32 function layers and support for macros, shortcuts, and remapping.
This is strictly a wired keyboard
Of course, part of how this keyboard is able to be so small is that it’s a wired-only affair. There’s no Bluetooth or 2.4GHz wireless here — ZSA is deliberately wireful. That means there’s no need to make space for batteries. ZSA includes three lengths of USB-C cables with each keyboard to try and match most people’s setup needs — though you only get one interconnect cable for bridging the Voyager’s two halves.
Image: ZSA
The Voyager is hot-swappable and comes prebuilt with your choice of linear red, tactile brown, or clicky blue switches and in a few key setups: USA (with shift symbols on the numbers), International (with no shift symbols), and Blank (dots instead of alphanumeric legends). Each Voyager kit comes with a carrying case, a two-year warranty, and 36 extra keycaps for a little customization. ZSA is also selling an $89 tripod mounting kit for ultimate spatial freedom (you can see an example of a tripod-mounted Moonlander in this Reddit post).
ZSA continues to be all-in on ergonomic keyboards, as the Voyager is the third split keyboard in its current lineup after the Ergodox EZ and Moonlander. While the mechanical keyboard hobby is wildly popular and more quality boards are being offered at aggressively lower prices, split ergo models remain a niche within the niche, with a few fetching astronomical prices and many of the others requiring a healthy dose of DIY — we’re talking busting out a soldering iron if not printing your own circuit boards. In that sense, the Voyager is a pretty compelling option. It’s far from cheap, but it’s one of very few prebuilt low-profile split ergo boards. And it sure is pretty.
media: 'The Verge'
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