Ergonomic keyboards come in all shapes and sizes, even esports-focused 60 percent designs. Kinesis, the brand behind some of the best split keyboards on the market, has one such compact keyboard: the $175 Kinesis Gaming TKO. It doesn’t contain as many ergonomic features as the Freestyle Edge RGB, but it has a few elements that you wouldn’t expect from a compact keyboard. Those features, along with a great design and quality build, help the TKO ascend to the top of a growing esports keyboard heap as an Editors’ Choice pick.
Knock ‘Em Out
With just 63 keys, the TKO is a true 60 percent keyboard. That means it’s missing keys that full-size and tenkeyless (TKL) keyboard fans consider essential, including the function row, utility keys, and arrows. Like many 60 percent keyboards, the physical keys may be gone, but their functions are still accessible through an expanded number of Function (Fn) key shortcuts. Along with media and onboard programming controls, almost every key has a secondary function that you’ll likely want to know. Thankfully, the TKO offers an olive branch to its new users in the form of sidecap legends with icons for each key’s Fn combo.
While the key cuts complicate the typing experience, they enable a compact design. Measuring 1.44 by 11.63 by 4.44 inches (HWD), the TKO isn’t the smallest 60-percenter I’ve used, but it’s tighter than many of the new gaming keyboards in this form factor, such as the Fnatic Streak65 and HyperX Alloy Origins 60. The TKO leaves more room on your desk than a full-size or TKL keyboard, so you can tilt it into a more ergonomic gaming position.
Despite removing so many keys, Kinesis found a way to add a couple new ones. Rather than using a traditional spacebar, the space in the bottom row traditionally reserved for the long, central key is replaced by three “thumb keys.” The keys are all programmed to spacebar by default. Breaking the spacebar into multiple buttons gives you room to further customize one of the most ergonomically accessible layout sections.
Even in everyday typing, breaking up the space bar button effectively creates two dedicated macro keys in the middle of the board. It’s better, I think, than creating a macro row on one side of the keyboard, and is especially useful in a form factor that may shunt your essential keys to shortcuts. Credit where it’s due: This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this feature. Still, it’s a novel and incredibly useful feature that straddles the line between flashy and practical.
That’s really the key to the TKO’s success. On the flashy side, it’s the latest keyboard to include an RGB underglow kit, a rim around the keyboard’s base and sides that reflects and lights up your desk or table. On the practical side, it’s the only 60 percent keyboard I’ve tested that has four sets of feet, giving you ergonomically beneficial setup options.
You can reverse tilt the TKO by putting two feet in front. That reduces wrist strain when you pair the keyboard with a wrist rest. In addition, you can tent the keyboard by lifting the front and back on one side. This reduces strain on your shoulder and forearm. Though I wouldn’t call the TKO an “ergo keyboard,” these features are almost exclusively reserved for gear made with that purpose in mind. Their seamless integration into the TKO suggests they should be far more common.
The TKO is highly portable, as keeping with esports trends. Not only does it connect to your PC via a detachable USB-C cable, which is basically standard at this point, the keyboard also comes with a dedicated carrying case. The hard shell case snugly holds the keyboard and cable, plus has a pocket for extra parts and a handle. I’m not sure how many people actually need a safe, secure way to transport a keyboard, but this does the job.
Driverless Functionality
Kinesis has a unique approach to keyboard configuration and apps—its products work without drivers. This is theoretically a good thing, since it means there’s one less app running in the background on your PC. Unfortunately, this makes the configuration process more finicky than usual.
To remap keys, reprogram lighting, or change settings, the TKO uses an app called SmartSet. The software doesn’t look especially polished compared to other configuration apps, such as the Corsair iCue, Logitech G Hub, or Razer Synapse, but it’s easy to make changes. Here’s the catch, though: Without drivers, you can only make changes to the TKO through SmartSet when it’s connected to your PC as a virtual drive. Connecting the “V-Drive” is a simple three-key shortcut—Menu+Right Shift+V—though you must hold the keys down for a second or two while it connects. The driverless system also requires manual saves, and you can only preview changes when you engage Preview Mode with the V-Drive connected.
You can get around connecting and disconnecting the keyboard for configuration purposes by using the TKO’s remapping and configuration shortcuts. You can load nine onboard profiles, remap keys, and create macros using the onboard remapping tools. There aren’t many changes, if any, that you must make in SmartSet. Personally, I prefer being able to see what I’m changing as I change it, so quick-change onboard programming always feels like a poor alternative. That said, I appreciate the option given the extra hoops the V-Drive imposes.
I think Kinesis has its heart in the right place, and I wish more companies kept their configuration software lightweight, but it boils down to a constellation of minor hassles that make the configuration process into a chore.
Featherweight Champ
The Kinesis TKO does a lot of things other 60 percent keyboards don’t. It has better ergonomic options, weaves extra keys into a compact design, and even comes with a carrying case. If 60 percent, “esports” design becomes the future of gaming keyboards, and it already seems to be, the TKO should be the north star that companies use to guide their evolutions in the next few years. Even at a pricey $175.00, the TKO soars as a PCMag Editors’ Choice pick for 60-percent keyboards.
