When it comes right down to it, wrist-friendly computer keyboards aren’t the first thought to cross the adrenaline-fueled mind of a gamer. No, pixel warriors are too busy buying energy drinks and ordering takeout pizza. Messy desk filled with snacks, they’re texting their buddies about their new nVidia GPU and wondering whether 12GB of VRAM is enough to play Cyberpunk 2077 on the new curved ultrawide 4K monitor sitting pride of place on their desk.
While that’s not a mistake, as such, gamers need to check out the best ergonomic keyboards for gaming, too. Sure, the WASD keys can be mechanically solid and ultra-clicky. The keys can flash in different color patterns and cause an electric vibration to buzz at the back of tired retinas, but the gear also needs to prevent wrist fatigue and hand cramping. That being said, glitzy RGB backlighting and comfort don’t need to be mutually exclusive features. Why can’t a gamer have it all?
The following collection of critically acclaimed ergonomic keyboards will step up your game, offering a cool blend of functionality and style. With no more compromising between insane PC setups and a pain-free wrist, you’ll not only dominate your next game session, you’ll do it without regretting that all-night binge. No more aching hands. Think on that while guzzling the remains of a can of Red Bull.
Best Ergonomic Keyboards for Gaming – Our latest recommendations
Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT
The Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT, a responsive mechanical keyboard with RGB backlighting and Cherry MX keyswitches, may not split in two like some of the finger-tapping gear on this review, but our three computer gaming reviewers had to add it to our best ergonomic keyboards for gaming list as our opener due to its wrist supporting leatherette pad and traditional form factor. The keyboard duos coming up in later sections of the review are amazing products, but there’s something comforting about a classic layout.
Sitting down to run the Corsair K95 through its gaming paces, the textured hand rest was several inches in height and felt comfortable. It’s not a cheap product, nor is it skinny, so expect it to conform to the shape of large man hands and slender girl wrists alike. Focusing more on the keyboard, there’s no split angling of the keys, but their solid mechanical action felt satisfyingly responsive when shooting down enemy squads. The 19 zone edge lights flashed as we bashed the keys and ran through various RGB light patterns, programmable via Corsair iCue software.
Gamer feedback – It’s hard to let go of our opener; the Visor setting flashed a band of lights back and forth, like Cyclops of the X-Men was illuminating the keys in rainbow hued lights. A swift flick over to the Rain color profile concluded the fun part of the test. Other backlighting profiles can be seen in action on the product webpage, by the way.
The Corsair K95 RGB Platinum gaming keyboard is made of anodized aluminum, and the keys are built to endure severe button mashing. Function-wise, six programmable macro keys sit in a column to the left, then there’s a USB pass-through connector and a rolling media volume control, too. Tough yet wrist-comfortable, Corsair makes the first splash onto our best ergonomic keyboards for gaming review.
Razer Huntsman v2 Analog
Shadowing our opener, the Razer Huntsman v2 analog earns its ergonomic credentials by providing a plush cushioned wrist support just below the fully backlit, conventionally shaped keyboard chassis. The manufacturers have also gone all out to make the pad part of the overall product form factor, adding a band of lighting to its bottom edges. Magnetically attached and well padded, the leatherette rest is designed to sidestep the kind of wrist fatigue that can accumulate after hours of gaming.
The Razer keyboard kicks our review into overdrive. Our lead reviewer has a gaming rig that’s fully outfitted with Razer gear—making us wonder whether we’re paying him too much—and was quick to point out the appeal of the design. The dual-step actuation analog switches hidden below the robust PBT keycaps reduced gaming latency to zero, with Rapid Trigger resetting each key press in a fraction of a second. As any successful gamer will tell you, it’s these fractions of a second that make the difference between victory and gamer fail.
Gamer feedback – Let’s not forget the Chroma RGB backlighting and dynamic keyboard color-keyed underglow that’s compatible with 150 games, delivering immersive feedback during in-game events. For instance, is your health low, armor used up? Then the keyboard will glow red or flash a warning, letting the gamer know, in the most unobtrusive way possible, that its time to reload and find a health pack, fast. We used Razer Synapse to manage all of these settings, key bindings, etc.
Protected from frustrated button mashing by a sleek aluminum matte black top plate, the Razer Huntsman v2 Analog gaming keyboard can display 16.8 million vibrant colors in and around the keys. Extra features to expect include multiple keybindings, macro recording programmability, USB 3.0 passthrough, and four additional, multi-functional keys, plus stylishly rounded multimedia controls, as mounted on the top right of the panel. Of course, the magnetically attached plush leatherette pad is also on hand, easing hand fatigue.
Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB
Another way to reduce hand fatigue when engaged in an epic gaming session is to split a keyboard in two. Human arms aren’t meant to press together and face head-on with a conventional keyboard, at least not for long periods of time. By splitting the chassis, the two separate sections can be more naturally angled, positioned to accommodate a slightly bent arm or wrist joint position. That, in a nutshell, is what the Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB is all about. That, and greased lightning fast gaming, of course.
Doubling up on this promise, after we positioned the two keyboard halves on our benchmark desk, our staffer sat down and placed her hands down, fingers ready above the backlit WASD keys. Two padded wrists rests hugged her skin, relaxing stretched tendons. The 20” linking cable, connecting the two keyboard sections, wasn’t stretched, but that might change if a larger reviewer sits down and adjusts the setup to fit their wider reach. Split keyboard gaming, it seems, is a naturally ergonomic choice, offering levels of elbow-jutting comfort that a traditionally shaped keyboard can’t quite match.
Gamer feedback – Expect 16.8 million color RGB backlighting. The various color profiles and lighting patterns are managed by shortcut keys or the Kinesis SmartSet App. A 4MB onboard memory chip stores keybindings and customizations, as held in nine different programmable game keys. Physical macro buttons can be found at the top of the right hand segment, which might slow a lefty down a touch, but with a 1ms response time, we figure gamer reaction times won’t be affected.
The durable Cherry MX switches and well engineered key caps shrugged off all of our gaming fury, so long-lasting functionality is guaranteed. The SmartSet Programming Engine also proved itself invaluable mapping different functions as different games were loaded. Additionally, a flight simulator enthusiast in our midst, we were told that the split design was handy for adding HOTAS. For that ultra-realistic aircraft piloting feeling, Hands On Throttle and Stick flying is best. Ergonomically speaking, the angled keyboard sections and wrist pads would be great for a long simulated Boeing 747 flight between Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia, let’s say.
Ergodox V2 Backlit
Most gaming keyboards boast backlight pattern profiles and millions of dazzling colors. Taking a different route to gaming comfort, the split-build ZSA Ergodox V2 has earned its way onto our best ergonomic keyboards for gaming list by virtue of its hugely configurable features—so customizable, in fact, that you could probably use it to launch a spaceship, but let’s stick to gaming.
Cherry MX switches are listed on the configuration page, either linear or clicky. We chose linear, as a typewriter-like click during a sniper shot in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the last thing a focused gamer needs. Our other layout settings—for those interested—were a black finish, glow keys, and the black tilt kit. Black wrists rests, wings, complemented this split keyboard setup. All that was left was to set the separate two halves at shoulder width.
Gamer feedback – No surprise, it was the finite customization of every key that drew our reviewers magnetically to the Ergodox EZ. Fingers fell naturally on the two halves, thumbs followed, landing intuitively on the dual thumb clusters. And since this is a comfort-focused review, that was the first question we asked of our tester, ‘Is it comfortable to play with?’ With fingertips dancing, thumbs always close to their dedicated key clusters, fatigue was never an issue.
PBT key caps fitted and Cherry switches operating silently, the responsive switches do keep game avatar movements fast and on-point, but it’s not an ultra-responsive piece of kit, not a dedicated gaming keyboard like the Razer or Corsair products. As such, the fast evening gaming stretches you play on are moderately fast, not super accelerated. However, done with a game, you can switch to a productivity workload in the evening with very little effort. This is all down to the virtual layers and key mapping, carried out via the open-source QMK app. Expensive and tough, the ErgoDox is ergonomically designed and incredibly versatile.
Roccat Vulcan Max II with AIMO RGB
Still unreservedly focused on ergonomics, the Vulcan Max II AIMO RGB keyboard has a detachable translucent palm rest. Our tester attached the transparent soft plastic and watched it absorb and project multi-colored light down—at double the refresh rate of most systems—towards his desk. Serving double duty, it created an appealing desktop light show while also relieving strain and tightness from our gamer’s palm and wrists. On top of that, the clear keycaps gained extra contrast, which was good news for sore but still stubbornly alert Call of Duty warrior eyes.
A Cortex Arm processor is buried under the durable aluminum plate and toughened Titan II switches. Speaking of, the switches delivered precise input strokes and had a mere 1.4mm actuation range, taking even more strain out of our reviewer’s character moving hand. Linear and swift to lower, the keycaps were also quiet and featured some of the finest low latency performance we’ve seen. On the negative side, though, the texture on the keycaps felt a little rough to the touch. To get even more functionality out of them, you’ll need to press the Easy-Shift + key on the left, at which point you’ll unlock a second function layer and a score of key programming features, too.
Gamer feedback – The palm rest did feel a little hard, but that might be by design, as harder plastics provide more support. Still, it would’ve been nice to have a softer, plush material comforting our player’s hand while he battled furiously past enemy troops. Other than that, the precise key actuation helped relax tight finger muscles, and the sleek aluminum top finish provided ample cool metallic skin support. We were also digging the light show, slipping down the ergonomic pad and translucently projecting the many changing hues onto seemingly rainbow-shaded wrists as tendons flexed and flailed during a particularly grueling marathon combat level.
For software control of the 32-bit microprocessor, Swarm II manages keyboard binding and lighting. Macros can also be stored here, but there are five assignable light patterns located physically on the product, plus 24 multi-function keys and various function indicator LEDs. Media controls also reside on the top right of the aluminum panel, which seems to be the default spot for placing such controls. Wearing a headset, we could reach down and turn down the volume without pulling eyes away from an ongoing conflict with a level boss. All-in-all, both ergonomically and performance-wise, it’s an excellent computer accessory, a keyboard built to withstand 200 million key presses, according to the marketing brochure.
Razer Ornata v3 Tenkeyless
The massive wrist rest attached to the Razer Ornata v3 Tenkeyless gaming keyboard opts for a foam cushion interior, sheathed by a soft leatherette skin. It lined up well against the 31mm high backlit keyboard, eliminating wrist pressure points and keeping fatigue at bay while we ran a handful of games over our benchmarking desktop computer. Each time our immersed staffer stabbed down with a finger, Razer mecha-membrane switches recorded each input accurately while the 8 zone Chroma RGB lighting flickered around his palm.
The ABS material forming the keycaps has a UV resistant coating, which felt like a thoughtful addition, one that cut down on general wear and tear. Deeper down, the switches shifting with dedicated snap under the keys provided a decent amount of feedback, clicking with a slightly cushioned dip that might make the tenkeyless gaming accessory sound a little delicate. On the contrary, the mecha-membrane is extremely durable. As for player control during intense action scenes, Razer Snap Tap quickly interpreted prioritized key presses when two buttons were crunched down.
Gamer feedback – Our article assigned reviewer took a break to download the Razer Synapse App. It was by pulling up this application that he configured light profiles and color patterns on the Chroma RGB backlighting. Again, we were looking at 16.8 million colors of cascading light, an RGB illuminated suite of four extravagant effects. We tried out Breathing and Spectrum Cycling before eventually settling on Wave. It didn’t look overly bright, which might have been partially due to the lack of numpad keys.
Some users like having those extra keys, while some, ourselves included, don’t mind if they’re left out. If you don’t care about numerical keypads, this ‘tenkeyless’ gaming keypad is certainly worth considering. Our reviewer did make one interesting observation at this point, regarding ergonomics. Without the numpad, the rest of the keys felt like they flowed from edge to edge on the keyboard, giving fat fingers more room to float over gaming controls. Between that and the ergonomically designed wrist pad, we felt this accessory deserved a place high on our best ergonomic keyboards for gaming review.
Upgrade Your Gaming Lifestyle
If wireless connectivity has been eating away at you as you read through this post, don’t worry too much, there’s a good explanation for the bias towards wired gaming keyboards. Truth be told, most pro-grade gear is going to be wired. All of the lights, the microprocessor, onboard key mapping storage and more, it takes power to keep all of these parts purring along. Wired gear is therefore preferred, although you certainly can find wireless gaming keyboards on any online marketplace
Other considerations include the ubiquitous wrist rest, often detachable, and split chassis builds. The cut-in-half design lets players place their keyboard halves at more natural angles, eliminating strain and write fatigue. It’s not just wrists, either, elbow joints can develop painful tendon issues if hours are spent working, or gaming, in an unnatural posture. We thought the Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB did a fine job of independently accommodating right and left hand positions, even leaving room for other unwieldy accessories, such as big flight simulator joysticks and gaming mice, many of which feature polling speeds in excess of 1000Hz.
Just as a final note, the best ergonomic keyboards for gaming don’t always advertise their finest fatigue reducing features. Sure, a wrist rest and split build are excellent traits to consider, but then there are other, less obvious fatigue-minimizing attributes to research. Minimal actuation distances are one, with a key traveling a small distance before a corresponding action takes place. Then there are low profile keycaps and better spacing between keys. All of these subtler features—and the bigger ones as well—should be weighed before cutting a deal, taking it home, and plugging that keyboard for gaming into your computer. All that being said, we’re done and dusted, off to play some games—time to put these ergonomic keyboards to good use, after office hours, of course.
