Mechanical keyboards are definitely one of the most underrated pieces of technology on the planet. If you’ve used one before, you might know that they come in different sizes like 100%, 75%, 65%, and even 40% but, did you ever see a 30% keyboard?
Now, you might be thinking, “how is making a 30% keyboard even possible? and how many keys do we miss out on?”. If you’re into the tech space, you might’ve heard of Raspberry Pi Pico. For starters, it’s a microcontroller that is used in DIY projects. The Pi Pico is used as a controller in this 30% keyboard as well.
A Keyboard Without A Space Bar: 30% Mechanical Keyboard
A 100% mechanical keyboard has 108 keys, whereas a 60% has 68 keys. Compared to that, this Raspberry Pi Pico-powered keyboard has just 30 keys, ten lesser than the PiPi Gherkin with 40 keys. But, can a 30% mechanical keyboard with 30 keys satisfy your needs? The answer is obviously No.
Donald Papp of Hackday says, “This keyboard may have only 30 keys in total, but they are full-sized for comfort and don’t let the scant layout mislead you. It has more functionality than it would seem to at first glance; the entire bottom row acts as dual function tap/hold keys, allowing the keyboard to shift layers on the fly.” and thinks for some applications, smaller is better.
And it is completely open-source and remappable just like the System76 LAUNCH keyboard. Hence, it could be a great option for people who usually work with a particular set of keys like while editing or coding. The keyboard also uses something called “layer states,” which can change the “default layer” and allows you to switch between Colemark, Workman, or Dvorak keyboard layouts. If you want to know more about it, check out its in-depth explanation on GitHub while I flawlessly type this on my 100% Mechanical keyboard.
If you want us to do more articles on mechanical keyboards, let us know in the comments section below.
