Our recommendations for the best, affordable, and travel friendly, portable ergonomic split keyboards.
For a while now, I’ve been on the lookout for a portable, split ergonomic travel keyboard which I can bring along to work without adding significant weight or bulk to my backpack.
While it is easy to find a plethora of ergonomic mice from major manufacturers, they don’t seem to manufacture any mobile, travel friendly versions of their ergonomic split keyboards. While companies like Logitech, Microsoft, and Lenovo all have very good variants of these keyboards, they are all relatively large and designed to be left on a desk, rather than being packed and carried around in a backpack.
I’ve scoured the internet to try a variety of keyboards from niche brands and manufacturers, to see if any of them have affordable, portable (and travel-friendly) split keyboards, which you can use out-of-the-box, and are light, with a good typing experience. This article documents the ongoing journey in finding and testing options, and we will continually update it with new findings, reviews, and recommendations.
The Best Portable Split Ergonomic Keyboards
Methodology & Requirements
We’ve formed the list of requirements based on a user who is regularly on the move, travelling between offices and client sites, and needs to carry around a portable, yet ergonomic set up, which will fit into a backpack. As a regular rider of public transport, lighter weight keyboards are preferred. In addition, this user persona is someone who primarily types out reports and emails, and while does the occasional spreadsheet, does not need a number pad.
Based on this, we’ve split the selection criteria into three categories:
Must-haves:
- Costs < USD 120: Affordability is a key indicator, and the USD 120 mark is a sweet spot balancing price, and performance.
- Comes pre-built and useable straight out-of-the-box: While soldering your own keyboard offers infinite customisability, we’re looking for something which just works out-of-the-box.
- Is mobile and travel friendly: It needs to easily fit into a medium sized backpack, and ideally be <500g (1.1 lbs) in weight. It should also be slim to avoid too much bulk.
- Feels right on the fingers: We’re big fans of the Lenovo/IBM ThinkPad keyboards, the Microsoft/Incase Sculpt Keyboard, and the old school IBM Model M keyboard. These are all examples of great keys which provide excellent tactile feel and support on your fingers. They are shaped using the right materials to prevent your fingers from easily slipping off, resulting in comfortable, accurate and satisfying typing.
- Has enough key travel: Based on the Goldilocks principle, key travel needs to be just right. Too little, and it feels like you’re typing on a plank of wood. Too much, and it feels like you’re typing on a 1960s manual typewriter. Either extreme leads to fatigue, and pain.
- Has a standard QWERTY layout: This will help to reduce the amount of retraining compared to other enthusiast keyboards. We’re not big fans of key layers, which requires users to use a combination of key presses to access basic functions. Number row keys, a dedicated escape key, and real arrow keys, are non-negotiables.
- Is a 65%-80% keyboard: This is a good balance between reducing unnecessary keys to reduce the overall keyboard size, while still allowing seamless switching from a desktop keyboard. It also means no number pad, which takes up too much space.
Nice-to-haves:
These are the requirements which would certainly be helpful, but does not push a keyboard out of consideration.
- Bluetooth: We prefer a wireless keyboard to reduce set up time when moving from site to site, and to avoid tangled wires. We'd also take Bluetooth over wireless dongle any day. Another dongle is something to lose.
- Negative tilt: This is where you can angle the keyboard forwards, so that the hands are in a more natural position. While this is comfortable, a good chair with adjustable arm rests can make up for the lack of negative tilt, by ensuring one’s fingers can hover comfortably over the keyboard.
- Tenting: This is where you can raise the middle of the keyboard higher, which is good for preventing hand pronation, or bending your wrists up when you type. While this is a nice-to-have, similar to negative tilt, good adjustable armrests can help to make up for a lack of this.
Optional:
- Mechanical switches: While this may seem like blasphemy, we do not have strong opinions about the type of switch used. As long as a keyboard meets the must-have requirements, we’ll still consider them.
- Backlighting: RGB and other backlights might be nice to play around with, but working in bright offices means they are just not required.
Reviews
Keychron K11 Pro/Max
Read Full Review: https://www.bulsuk.com/2024/04/keychron-k11-pro-review.html
Price: USD 99
Rating: ⬤⬤⬤⬤◐ 4.5/5.0 Outstanding
The Keychron K11 Pro/Max is an excellent split ergonomic keyboard, utilising an Alice layout, which is small and light enough for you to throw into a backpack and not really notice it. The build quality is solid, and if you buy the RGB backlight version, it is fully customisable and you can change both the keycaps and the switches. It has Bluetooth, making it easy to take out of your bag and use, and also supports USB-C for both wired connectivity and charging. More surprisingly, it remains affordable coming in at USD 114, and readily available directly from Keychron, or through AliExpress.
In our tests, the keyboard is responsive and the keys feel just right. I can reach around 73 WPM, which is about 10 WPM lower when compared to typing on the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard (83 WPM), but it is still pretty fast. More importantly, the keys cradle the fingers and has good travel to provide sufficient tactile feel on each keypress.
The customisation software is very user friendly, and available through a downloadable executable, or directly through a web browser. For USD 20 extra, you can also buy a matching travel pouch which fits the keyboard perfectly and looks good.
There are a few cons, mainly that the layout feels a bit cramped despite having full sized keys, with typing accuracy taking a hit at first. The Keychron K11 Pro/Max also has a positive, as opposed to a negative raiser, which reduces the ergonomic nature of the keyboard. These are minor flaws and you can easily adapt to them after a short while.
If the Keychron K11 Pro is not available, then the Keychron K11 Max has a virtually identical form factor. They key differences is that the K11 Max adds acoustic foam, supports 2 GHz wireless connectivity, but has a smaller battery.
SpiderIsland Tech Split Macro Keyboard
Read full review: https://www.bulsuk.com/2024/12/spiderisland-split-keyboard-review.html
Price: USD 118
Rating: ●●●●○ 4.0/5.0 Excellent
This is a fully wired device, and requires a cable to connect both sides, and another one from the left half into your computer. While set up time is increased by 30 seconds compared to a Bluetooth keyboard, it does mean you never need to worry about running out of battery.
While it remains portable and will easily fit into a backpack, it is naturally thicker than the other reviewed options, given the amount of key travel offered. The keys are customisable using the Bootmapper software, and the review version also has a white backlight in case you’re ever using it in the dark.
ProtoArc XK03
Read full review: https://www.bulsuk.com/2024/04/protoarc-xk03-foldable-ergonomic.html
Price: USD 50
Rating: ●●●●○ 4.0/5.0 Excellent
It selling point is that it folds in half, making it easy to throw into a backpack and forget it’s even there, and weighs only 400g.
Although it does a lot right, the form factor results in some minor gripes. The keys aren’t exactly centred, and when using it for the first week, you may end up hitting the hard sides of the keyboard. Because it’s so flat, longer typing sessions may strain your fingers as it can feel like you’re typing on wood after a while. Nevertheless, the ProtoArc XK03 remains an excellent choice if you need the smallest split keyboard possible.
Keyboards we considered, but did not review
One of the things we do is perform a paper review over the options before deciding to purchase a keyboard for review, and the following are the ones which did not pass initial screening:
NocFree Lite Wireless Split Keyboard
This keyboard looks beautiful, portable, and well designed. It even has built-in tenting, which is unique among the ones we've looked at so far. There are a key issues with the NocFree though. Firstly, the "?" key is weirdly positioned to the right of the arrow keys, inviting mistaken key presses until you retrain muscle memory. It also relies on a dongle for wireless connectivity (no Bluetooth). Finally, it is higher than our budget, priced at USD 179. This is a tempting keyboard, but we may wait until a future revision to test it.
R-Go Split Keyboard
At first, this appeared to be a serious contender, as the form factor, size, and chicklet keys all tick the right boxes. Unfortunately, the reviews on Amazon were mixed (3.2 as of Jan 2025), with many talking about quality problems and high failure rates. It is difficult to justify spending USD 125 on a keyboard which may (or may not) break in a matter of months.
ZSA’s Voyager
The Voyager keyboard ticks off most of the boxes, being small, thin, light, customisable and well-built for travel. The fact it uses slim keys, and can be tented won it extra points. However, the lack of certain dedicated keys, such as arrow keys, may appeal to enthusiasts who are looking for the most efficient keyboard layout possible, but we felt it would not be appreciated by an everyday user coming from standard keyboards. Although a beautifully designed and engineered piece of hardware, its price of USD 365 was also beyond our budget. With cheaper and just as functional options available, we decided to skip the Voyager.
Goldtouch Go!2 Bluetooth Wireless Mobile Keyboard
When looking at this keyboard, there were some glaring issues which quickly removed it from the review list. Firstly, the layout looked strange and incredibly cramped. The arrow keys seemed to be squished in as an afterthought, and the home, end, page up and down keys on the left seemed to invite constant accidental presses. Secondly, it also looks quite large and thick when folded. As portability is a key requirement, the Go!2 keyboard did not pass.
Photos
Version control
Last updated: 15 February 2025
Originally published (v1.0): 27 January 2025
v1.1 3 Feb 2025 Added notes around the Keychron K11 Max
v1.2 15 Feb 2025 Updated the Keychron K11 Pro/Max price
v1.3 28 Apr 2025 Added the NocFree Lite into the list of untested keyboards
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