Keyboardio Atreus

Kind of hard to use

I recently tested out the Keyboardio Atreus, and unfortunately, it was the first keyboard that didn't quite work out for me. The main concept behind this keyboard is its compact size - it's notably smaller than a MacBook keyboard. It's designed as a unibody split-style keyboard, but this approach came with some significant compromises.

The layout was particularly challenging for me to adapt to, mainly because it lacks outer pinky keys that are common in other ergonomic keyboards like the ZSA Voyager. The designers seemed to take a principled stance of reducing pinky finger usage, but I really missed having those extra keys. Another major change was the removal of the number row in favor of bottom-row keys, which felt counterintuitive to my typing habits.

One interesting discovery was that due to its unibody design and sufficient weight, it worked surprisingly well with ultra-light switches (Chikawa 28g). I could even balance and type on it while resting it on one leg - a neat party trick that wouldn't be possible with split keyboards.

While the build quality was solid and the software worked fine, the ergonomics just weren't there for me. The keyboard forced me to bring my hands closer together, which went against the whole point of split keyboards allowing for better shoulder positioning.

Pros

• Compact and portable design

• Solid build quality

• Works well with ultra-light switches

• Good configuration software

Cons

• Lacks outer pinky keys

• No dedicated number row

• Forces hands close together

• Awkward thumb key placement