The resurgence of mechanical keyboards in the past decade has unlocked several possibilities previously thought challenging, or impossible to implement, and ergonomic keyboards squarely fit the bill. They're a niche within a niche, taking the basic principles of ergonomics followed on assembly lines and industrial workplaces, and applying them to typing apparatus, hopefully for a more comfortable approach. The vast majority of the ergonomic mechanical keyboards you can buy or build today don't claim medical benefits or advertise designs based on medical research, but they share a few core concepts that should, in theory, alleviate strain from typing for eight to 10 hours every day.

I was recently sent a revolutionary new ergonomic mechanical keyboard by a new brand called Naya, which ticks a lot of boxes for Mac users. The Create is a low-profile split mechanical keyboard with a custom tenting frame and column-staggered keys aimed at Mac users with a black and silver metallic construction. It comes ready to plug and play, and stands out from all its rivals, thanks to an assortment of four swappable modules that power the halves of the keyboard. This unique keyboard permanently changed how I view the ergonomic peripherals segment in more ways than one.

Ergonomic keyboards don't follow a set template

The science is sketchy, but promising

My pet peeve with ergo mech boards is how almost all of them make small and seemingly logical changes to the standard staggered keyboard layout used internationally, but there's little scientific evidence and study that backs up the efficacy of these methods. Typing on a keyboard and using computer mice is widely attributed to causing carpal tunnel, wrist fatigue, ulnar deviation, and repetitive strain injuries in the thumbs and finger joints. Yet, it's a catch-22 situation where there perhaps aren't enough ergo board users to justify studying their efficiency clinically, and potential adopters may not consider the option, citing the lack of clinical evidence.

In the seven years I've spent building mech boards, I've used my fair share of super-compact keyboards that operate on the premise that reduced hand and finger motion reduces strain and injury, while making you faster. I've also used self-proclaimed ergo boards like the Lily58 that sports a columnar stagger like the new Naya Create, supposedly better suited to the varying lengths of your fingers. While the argument of whether it's worth retraining years of muscle memory to use an ergo board refuses to die or reach a conclusion, mainstream brands have tried replicating the idea with examples like the Logitech Wave, and Microsoft Surface and Surface ergonomic keyboards. Boards like the Kinesis Advantage take an even more adventurous approach with the keywell design that's apparently better suited to the natural mechanics of our fingers that trace an arc with the fingertips when bent around a joint, instead of a straight line.

Each option is nothing like the other, and that possibly helps the argument that ergo boards may be total snake oil. However, throw a mouse in the mix and integrate it into the user experience of a keyboard, and you might be onto something. You see, reducing the range of motion needed to operate a computer makes sense the moment you try it, and the Naya Create does just that, with brilliant execution.

The Naya Create solves a comfort problem

But other concerns arise

Ergo mech boards cobble together any assortment of design features like a split layout, stagger, tenting, and keymaps to deserve their tag, but I can count examples with integrated mice on my fingertips, and the Naya Create has three ways to do it. It shipped to me with a trackball, a trackpad, and a dial with a trackpad in the center. A Space Mouse-style 3D cursor device was in development when this device was shipped to me. The board is fully programmable, including the four buttons surrounding the trackball, and every gesture on the trackpad. The configuration software is so detailed. I enjoy programming custom functions, like volume adjustment when the trackball is twisted.

While such granular flexibility is certainly welcome, the Naya Create helped me realize the importance of proper positioning of these mouse modules. While it makes sense to have them on the shorter inner sides of the board, I might have appreciated the design if the trackpads stayed level. Also, I found that reaching for either mouse module is just as disruptive to the typing rhythm as reaching for a conventional, discrete mouse. There's no way to use any of the modules with your thumbs, and touch typists must lift their forefinger off the homing keys.

Perhaps it wouldn't be such a hurdle if all the modules were exactly as tall as the keycaps, but that would've kneecapped the Create's exemplary portability. The current low-profile design sits so close to the desk it doesn't even need a wrist rest for comfortable typing, and that would be sacrificed to make keycap tops as tall as the modules. This keyboard also demonstrated the importance of tenting in typing. While the clusters you hit with either pinkie finger stay parallel to the tabletop, the main alphas (letter keys) are rotated outwards, reducing the scissoring of my forearm bones, which could cause injury and carpal tunnel.

The Create folds flat, and the modules must tilt inwards so the alphas hinge outwards, ending up in an uncomfortable position where you'd need to stretch your thumb to reach the module, or use it with the sides of your forefinger. This results in a design that's comfortable to type on, but challenging to mouse around with.

Ergonomic keyboards are worth the hassle

While I don't stand to benefit from convincing or deluding you (whichever you may choose) to believe that ergo mech keyboards are more comfortable to type on, the expectation is only reasonable considering how much some of them, like the Naya Create, cost. Moreover, anyone making the switch cannot ignore the learning curve involved and the week of agony where muscle memory is challenged as you learn to type on a new layout.

The effort involved in learning a new layout is significant and worthwhile, but only for the right keyboard. Granted, you cannot go all-out, and switch from a typical banker's keyboard to an ergo in one fell sweep without losing your mind. I went through a gradual transition, first to a split 60%, then a column-staggered split with the same number of keys, and finally to a board like the Create with tenting. It takes time and patience; money cannot buy. This certainly isn't an experience you can straightaway buy into, like home networking upgrades or a gaming PC rebuild.