Sitting folded over your laptop all day like a tech-savvy hunchback of Notre Dame clacking away at the keys, your back isn’t the only thing that suffers when you work from home. Your wrists can start to get sore and uncomfortable, too. When we spoke to ergonomic expert and physical therapist Dr. Scott Weiss, he said that the right keyboard and keyboard placement can relieve stress on your wrists and prevent long-term chronic issues. “Too much wrist flexion can undoubtedly cause pain and nerve compression,” he says. That flexion typically comes when someone doesn’t have the right ergonomic setup: “Your elbows need to be about the same height as your keyboard, and your arms should be hanging comfortably from the side of your body,” explains Carrie Schmitz, a certified health coach and the wellness and ergonomic-research manager at Ergotron. “What you need to do is position the equipment in relation to your body in such a way that you’re not in some sort of an awkward posture.” With Schmitz’s and Weiss’s advice in mind, we spoke to five experienced WFH professionals about their favorite wireless keyboards.
Best overall keyboard
Two of the four experts we spoke with recommend Logitech’s keyboards, specifically the Craft Advanced. It’s a full keyboard with space for arrow keys and a side numeric pad, but what makes it most unique is the crown — a dial at the top of the keyboard that allows you to quickly scroll up and down a page. You can also set it to do different functions based on your needs. Sara Dietschy, a tech YouTuber and video creator, says, “If you’re in Excel spreadsheets, it’s easy to scroll around. And for me, with video editing, I’ve assigned that wheel to making the video timeline bigger and smaller.” Dietschy says it’s a great feature for all types of users: “If you have 25 tabs open, like we all do, you can use that wheel to shuffle between all the tabs.” Matt Workman, a cinematographer who has worked on music videos for Justin Bieber, 50 Cent, and Diddy, also enjoys using the wheel. “You can spin to scroll down a page or map it to whatever you want. It just gives you tactile control,” he says. Plus, “the travel on the keys is nice and pretty quiet.” The Craft Advanced has backlit keys, and it can pair with up to three devices, so if you’re on your iPad, laptop, and phone during the day, you can seamlessly switch among them. Its battery should last up to a week.
Best wireless keyboard for Apple owners
“I currently use the standard Apple keyboard that came with my iMac,” says Nicole Young, a photographer and author who’s worked from home since 2007. “It’s the only keyboard I have used since I have been working from home full time.” Young says that any Apple keyboard will do, but she prefers this full-size keyboard with arrow keys and a numeric keypad. Tony Larson, an IT professional who frequently works from home, almost exclusively uses the Apple Magic Keyboard. “They look nice, and I like that I don’t need to provide my own batteries for them,” he says. Plus, “the feel approximates what you’re used to on your laptop.” Tyler Stalman, a photographer and podcaster, has used a few keyboards but “always comes back to the Magic Keyboard,” he says. Because “the angle of my wrist feels right,” it’s less tiring to type. He also notes that “the way that the keys press down and bounce back is very responsive. It’s reliable, and although we’ve had Bluetooth for years, not all Bluetooth devices are created equal, and some of them do disconnect. Apple keyboards just really integrate well with the hardware.”
Best less-expensive wireless keyboards
If you like the look and feel of Apple keyboards but want to save a bit of money, Stalman says the Satechi is a good option. It has a USB-C charging port and a battery that lasts up to 80 hours. It can also connect to up to three devices at the same time.
The K380 is a compact keyboard that I’ve used for almost a year. It can easily connect to as many as three different devices, which means I can quickly switch from typing on my iPad to my laptop. It has a slim and compact profile, meaning the K380 doesn’t take up too much real estate on my desk. The curved keys barely make a sound when I type, but they still feel responsive. I haven’t had any major issues with the Bluetooth connection. It takes two AAA batteries that can last up to two years.
Best ergonomic wireless keyboard
According to our colleagues at the Verge, the K860 is “a product with comfort and stress reduction in mind that still looks and feels like a high-end, professional product.” Although “there’s no rechargeable battery and no integrated backlight for the keys,” as the Verge says, it’s still a comfortable keyboard that is designed to prevent any physical damage to your wrists and arms while working.
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