Types of Keyboards – A Guide

What are the different types of keyboards? What’s the right one?

We used to have almost no choice when it came to computer keyboards. Now we have so much choice that making a decision is almost overwhelmingly difficult.

If you ask someone to identify three white objects, it may take them some time, even causing some sort of stress response. But if you ask them to identify three white objects you would normally find in a fridge, the task becomes much easier. 

This article aims to cut through the seemingly endless nonsense associated with the types of keyboards and use cases. Let’s get to a simpler way to process the choices.

Types of Keyboards – Overview

If you google “different types of keyboards”, the first thing that comes up is an overview of different keyboard types that is not only laughably inaccurate but also misleading.

There are 12 types of keyboards that appear. However, it doesn’t take an expert to notice that at least four of these types must be capable of applying to one keyboard.

If I chose to get an ergonomic keyboard, it would invariably have a QWERTY layout. It would be either wired or wireless. Depending on this, it would either have USB, Bluetooth and/or wireless connectivity. These are not different types of keyboards. No wonder normal people battle to identify the right type of keyboard for a particular purpose.

Aside from some silly novelty types of keyboards – practically speaking, there are only two types of keyboards. These are mechanical keyboards and membrane keyboards.

Mechanical keyboards use key switches that each have their own mechanism to send signals directly to your computer’s CPU. In membrane keyboards, the keys lie on a multilayered, pressure-sensitive, rubber membrane that sits over a circuit. When you press a key, the circuit registers the information before sending it to the CPU.

Which one is better? It depends on what you want to do with it. Gamers have always tended to prefer mechanical key switches because, technically, they’re more responsive, more durable, and capable of customization. Typists tend to prefer low-profile scissor-switch membrane keys.

Browse: Best Gaming Keyboards | Typing Keyboards | Tablet Keyboards

Types of Keyboards – Use Case Typing

The advent of the scissor-switch mechanism in membrane keyboards has rendered the speed argument a little ridiculous. Why? To benefit from the difference, you would have to be reacting far quicker than most human beings are able to.

The durability argument still somehow stands, however, and mechanical keyboards are easier to clean and easier to customize.

That said, just because something is easier to clean doesn’t mean that people make a habit of cleaning their keyboards. I’ve typed well over a million words on my scissor-switch membrane keyboard, and it still works the same as it did the day I bought it.

When it comes to typing, low-profile scissor-switch membrane keyboards are, in my humble opinion, far superior to their mechanical counterparts.

Why? Travel and actuation. These keys have almost no travel to the point at which a keystroke is registered (actuation). The keys bounce back instantly. They’re also silent.

In practical terms, what this means is that the act of typing involves less work. Thus, it’s quicker and causes less fatigue. I’m a writer, and I type roughly two thousand words every day. That’s 730,000 words a year, which equates to roughly 3,431,000 keystrokes (excluding spaces). So I need all the help I can get.

Can a low-profile mechanical keyset deliver the same results? Technically… Yes. But with a lot more noise. Some people like the clickety-clack you can get from mechanical types of keyboards, but the majority of those people aren’t full-time writers.

Linear mechanical switches are quieter than mechanical ones. However, they are not as quiet as membrane switches. Also, even the low-profile ones aren’t that great for typing because linear switches don’t provide any form of feedback at the point of actuation.

Types of Keyboards – Use Case Gaming

I still use a mechanical type of keyboard for gaming. Why? I like the way it feels, and I like the pretty lights. To be fair, the ‘customization’ aspect of these types of keyboards most often occurs at the point of purchase.

You can choose your mechanical switch type depending on what games you play and how you prefer your keystrokes to feel. This is important, so I’m prepared to venture the opinion that mechanical types of keyboards are an all-around better choice for gaming.

Broadly speaking, you get three main categories of switch type: Linear, Tactile, and Clicky – each of which has its own specific characteristics.

Linear switches travel up and down without resistance at the actuation point, which typically sits in the middle of the travel of the key. Although some switch brands differ slightly, the standard is 4mm travel and the actuation point sits at 2mm. This is usually the same for all switches, except ‘low-profile’ ones (used mainly in gaming laptops).

The lack of resistance at the actuation point is good for speed of depression. Even though most Linear switch users bottom out the keys when playing games, it’s important to them that the actuation happens before the bottoming out occurs.

This style of switch suits the FPS player as their games don’t require as many actions per minute (APM) as MOBA or RTS games. They require super fast actions and don’t need any feedback because they typically bottom out the key before moving on to another.

Tactile and Clicky switches both give you feedback at the actuation point. This helps with achieving high APM. It enhances the speed at which you’re comfortable with moving on to the next key. Tactile switches give you a feeling on actuation. Clicky switches deliver feeling along with sound. They both make a noise, but the Clicky one is just louder.

What about optical, optical analog, and magnetic switch types? These are still classified as mechanical switches. They’re more durable because they rely on fewer moving parts, and they’re technically faster than ordinary mechanical switches.

But that’s frankly an oversimplification. Even though they’ve been around for some time, their use case is highly situational. Most games still don’t support them completely, and they’re no better than traditional mechanical switches, yet.

Key Layout – A Keyboard Type?

The industry standard is QWERTY. It’s been around since 1878. The reason for this layout had nothing to do with how natural or intuitive the pattern was to use for typing.

Everything had to do with the fact that they needed keys that would ordinarily be used in sequence to be as far apart from one another as possible. This was to prevent jamming, which occurred when keys that were alongside one another were hit in succession.

In fact, the QWERTY design is far from optimal. But we still use it because that’s what people who were switching from typewriters to computers at the end of the 20^th century were used to. It would have been a difficult transition if the layout had changed. Even now, we resist moving over for the very good practical reason that re-learning to type is difficult. The theoretical gains in efficiency from the other layouts are marginal, at best.

There are various options out there, but the best competitors to QWERTY are undoubtedly the DVORAK and COLEMAK layouts. Dvorak was invented in 1937, and was the only real competitor until 2006, when COLEMAK was developed. Theoretically, COLEMAK is currently the most ‘optimal’ layout, but honestly, for most people, it isn’t worth making the transition.

However, to be clear again, these are key configurations, not types of keyboards!

If you do choose to move away from QWERTY, your options are relatively limited. You’ll likely have to get yourself a mechanical keyboard and swap the keycaps around once you’ve made the necessary adjustments to your computer’s input settings.

This isn’t that difficult, but if you have your eyes on a really awesome membrane keyboard for typing, chances are that the keys aren’t swappable, and short of getting an overlay (which is clumsy), you’re a bit stuck for choice.

Reading Tip: Learn how to type faster, or browse our list of the best typing programs. You may also like browsing the best dictation software or voice-to-text apps to increase work productivity.

Types of Keyboards – What About Connectivity?

Once you’ve decided on a type of keyboard and key layout, you should consider connectivity. Gamers tend to like wired keyboards for the obvious reason that running out of batteries in the middle of a game is less than ideal. Most serious gamers don’t tend to worry much about mobility and clutter. Having a cable isn’t something that bothers them. That’s why wireless mechanical gaming keyboards aren’t as ubiquitous as you’d expect. 

They’re still relevant, though. If you have a hardcore gaming laptop, you’ll want a keyboard to go with it, despite the fact that it comes with one built-in. Why? Because it makes more ergonomic sense to do so.

Chances are, you’ll want to raise the machine up off the surface of the desk, and you’re also likely to plug the thing into a large monitor when you’re using it at home. A wireless type of keyboard is useful to avoid clutter in this scenario, and it’s slightly more mobile.

If you choose to get a wireless type of keyboard for gaming, you’ll be far more interested in true wireless connectivity than you will be in Bluetooth. Why? Aren’t they the same?

No! Wireless is a different technology. It requires a USB dongle to interface between the machine and the keyboard. It isn’t as effortless as simply using Bluetooth and freeing up a USB port, but it’s faster and more reliable. This is what gamers want. So make sure you opt for a type of keyboard that either has both forms of connectivity or just wireless. Bluetooth is perfectly fine (even preferable) for simple typing use, but not for gaming.

The problem with wireless mechanical keyboards for gaming is they have catastrophically poor battery life – mainly because they have pretty flashing lights and all sorts of cool effects. Luckily, they have rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, so you don’t have to purchase shares in Duracell. But you will end up having them plugged into a power source often, which kind of misses the point of them being uncluttered by wires.

The Logitech G915 TKL Gaming and Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini are perhaps the best in breed here, not only because both of them offer super-fast wireless tech, but because neither of them are full-sized boards, so they’re relatively easy to carry around.

For a typing keyboard, the considerations are somewhat different. For a start – running out of battery power in the middle of writing something isn’t nearly as catastrophic as it is when you’re in the middle of a high-paced multi-player game. Also, these types of keyboards tend not to have flashing lights and various battery-draining functions. They don’t run out of power as frequently. Although many of them still come with AAA batteries and may rather last years, not hours.

I use a wireless scissor-switch membrane keyboard (the Logitech K780) for typing. The AAA’s last well over a year, and I use it over a Bluetooth connection. If I wasn’t bothered about battery life and needed better mobility, I would be using a Logitech MX Keys Mini. But the K780 is a joy to use, and I can’t really complain about having to change the batteries every 18 months or so.

Types of Keyboards – Mobility Factors

Hunching up over a laptop at a desk can certainly be bad for our eyes, posture, hands, wrists, neck, and just about every physical attribute we hold dear. Most of us accept that having a separate keyboard and mouse is a necessary evil. The same set of considerations applies equally to tablets that are used for anything other than browsing online shops or playing games.

Moving the device further away from you than an economy class tray-table is a good idea, and raising the monitor up off the work surface is an even better idea – but this can only be achieved if you use separate peripherals.

It makes sense to use wireless components here. For laptops, it’s more convenient than having cables strewn about the place, not to mention the fact that finding more than one USB port on a modern laptop is almost unheard of. For tablets, it’s mandatory. 

So what is the main consideration here? Form factor!

Within each category and type of keyboard, you get different form factors, and this relates to the size and shape of the keyboard. Because there’s a fairly standard minimum size for adult human hands, it’s not practicable to reduce the size of individual keys on a keyboard below a certain dimension.

So size differences in keyboards are achieved by removing keys, and reducing the gaps between different blocks of keys. The most common sizes other than a ‘full-size’ keyboard are 1800 (or 96%), TKL (or Tenkeyless or 80%), and 60% keyboards. You get all sorts of other sizes, but these are the most common.

In an 1800 board, they simply squash the number pad, arrows, and middle function keys into a smaller space. This achieves a fairly impressive size reduction, but it isn’t much smaller than a full-sized type of keyboard.

In a TKL board, they cut off the number pad, which saves an appreciable amount of space. It isn’t a block of keys most users really miss. So it’s a decent trade-off.

People who are most likely to use the number pads on keyboards are data capturers. Interestingly, the research suggests that most data capturers prefer to use the number pad with their left hand whilst scrolling down using arrows with their right. So most of them buy separate num pads to put on the right-hand side of their keyboards anyway.

That said… there is an ingenious solution to this employed in the Mountain Everest Max keyboard. You can remove the number pad and re-attach it on the right-hand side.

In a 60% board, they go even further by removing the function keys above the number keys that run along the top, as well as the arrow keys. This makes the board much smaller, but you’re losing a fair deal of functionality.

Good examples of 60% boards are the Razer Huntsman Mini and the Corsair K65 Mini. Interestingly, there aren’t really any standout typing boards with a 60% form factor. But, the MX Keys Mini is roughly the same size as a 60%, even though it’s technically a TKL.

My typing board is essentially an 1800, and it’s considerably more compact than my full-sized gaming keyboard. This saves space on my desk. But I don’t need the number pad, so a TKL would suit me even better.

Wireless or not, fitting a full-size or 1800 keyboard into a laptop bag is impossible, even with a 17-inch gaming laptop bag. If you want mobility, having a TKL board is a complete no-brainer. I don’t think it’s necessary to go down to a 60%, unless it’s for a tablet. But even then, having function keys that double up as multimedia keys can still be useful.

So what are tablet keyboards? Just a wireless keyboard with Bluetooth, that has a lip at the top to cradle your tablet. My Logitech K780 is technically a tablet keyboard, even though it has a rather large 1800 form factor. It has Bluetooth and a lip to hold the tablet. 

Do I use it for typing on a tablet? No. So I can’t tell you how good it is at this function, but I think that if I did type on a tablet, I would rather use the tablet’s cover to stand it up further away from me – unless I was using it on a plane. This means that I could use any Bluetooth keyboard, and I would probably go for TKL board instead.

Types of Keyboards – Ergonomics

What is an ergonomic keyboard? These types of keyboards allow you to position your hands in such a way as to offer better ergonomic support and reduce the risk of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). They’re often split in the middle and force better hand and arm placement, as well as optimal wrist-tilt angles.

These types of keyboards do work, and once used to them, they’re a joy to use. I’ve found that using a very low-profile scissor-switch membrane keyboard works fine to prevent RSI for me. But I also used a Microsoft Ergo keyboard and loved it.

Modern scissor-switch ergonomic keyboards like the Logitech ERGO K860 are amazing pieces of kit. However, the K860 is also a little on the cumbersome side. Even though it’s wireless, it isn’t exactly mobile. Still, those types of keyboards compel attention, especially if you type a lot, and you’re prone to RSI.

I’ve suffered from RSI a few times, and it’s seriously unpleasant. To be clear – each time I got it, I was typing on a mechanical gaming keyboard with high-profile keys.

A lot of gaming board manufacturers try to address this with raised wrist rests, and it does alleviate the problem slightly. But I remain skeptical when it comes to very high-profile keys that actuate halfway down their travel and require a strong actuation force.

Types of Keyboards – Summary

In the final analysis, there aren’t as many types of keyboards as the internet would have you believe. There are two types of keyboards, with various sub-categories that warrant consideration.

Choosing a key layout that differs from the standard QWERTY pattern limits your options severely. It is probably only worth doing if you have an unshakable urge to break away from the standard. 

The importance of connectivity is largely tied to mobility and is honestly rather superficial in most use cases. If you’re willing to sacrifice a bit of tidiness on your desk for the benefit of never having to worry about battery life, connectivity is frankly a non-issue.

A wireless keyboard for gaming is pointless unless you want ultra-clean mobility. Bear in mind that it’s likely to stay plugged in most of the time anyway because the battery life is woeful, and leaving the thing unplugged isn’t worth the risk of it dying mid-game.

Form factor, on the other hand, is very important when it comes to mobility, not to mention space.

What’s the best typing keyboard on the market currently? Probably the Logitech MX Keys (or the MX Keys Mini if you need space). The Logitech ERGO K860 is a clear winner on the ergonomic side, even though it’s so massive.

What’s the best-wired keyboard for gaming on the market currently? That’s an impossible question to answer. It’s like asking what the best sports car is. It depends on a massive array of considerations far more complicated than mobility, switch type and connectivity, and is insanely subjective.

My favorite though is the Corsair K95 Platinum RGB XT because I need left-hand macro keys and this is by far the best keyboard that offers these. The SteelSeries Apex 7 is a monstrously good wired gaming keyboard, as is the Razer Huntsman V2.

What do you think about our perspective on the different types of keyboards? Please let us know in the comments below. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Further resources: Guide to Switches | Ergonomic Keyboards – 2 | Keyboard Technology – 3

Words: Jonathan S.