00:00:00
so it's been well over a year since I
00:00:02
did my initial review of the glove 80 I
00:00:04
think my review came out in November of
00:00:08
20123 it's now March of 2025 so that is
00:00:12
more than a year but I also switch back
00:00:15
to the Voyager for a little while and
00:00:18
even though I really enjoyed that
00:00:19
keyboard and that keyboard still has a
00:00:21
special place in my heart I still had
00:00:24
issues with RSI and so I I switched back
00:00:27
to the glove 80 and at this point it has
00:00:30
been over a year even though there's
00:00:32
been some chunks broken up in there such
00:00:34
as when I switched to the digma defi to
00:00:37
do a review for that keyboard but I
00:00:39
guess my point is that overall I have
00:00:42
used this keyboard well the glove 80 cuz
00:00:45
I guess I also have this one I just have
00:00:46
keyboards coming out of the Shadows at
00:00:48
this point but my point is that I've
00:00:50
been using the glove 80 for well over a
00:00:53
year at this point as my daily driver so
00:00:56
I just wanted to talk about some things
00:00:58
that you might not notice uh until
00:01:00
you've used the keyboard the glove 80
00:01:03
for a longer period of time so long-term
00:01:06
comfort and ergonomics that's like one
00:01:08
of the the top things with this keyboard
00:01:10
I've said multiple times that I believe
00:01:12
this is in my opinion the most ergonomic
00:01:15
keyboard that you can currently find on
00:01:17
the market at least for keyboards that
00:01:19
have traditional key switches like you
00:01:21
know you find on the glove 80 and not
00:01:23
something like the data hand or the Sal
00:01:26
board or the Master Forge or the car
00:01:28
recorder I'm still waiting to get my
00:01:29
Master Forge that I ordered last June
00:01:33
almost coming up on it seems like a year
00:01:36
by the time I receive it it probably
00:01:37
will be closer to a year since I ordered
00:01:40
that keyboard but this is not about the
00:01:41
Master Forge this is about the glove 80
00:01:44
so yeah even in the last couple weeks
00:01:46
that I've been testing the cribis and I
00:01:49
talked about the cribis a little bit in
00:01:51
my last video and talked about how
00:01:53
awesome this track ball is and that the
00:01:55
track ball could honestly be the thing
00:01:59
that gets me to switch from the glove 80
00:02:01
to to the cribis and just make the
00:02:04
cribis my my daily driver but even with
00:02:06
that said when I have gone back to type
00:02:10
on the glove 80 which I've done like a
00:02:12
couple times prior to uh recording this
00:02:15
video I did some typing on it and the
00:02:17
the experience is just is night and day
00:02:20
even with the cribis being having a
00:02:23
concave key well going back to the glove
00:02:25
80 is like I I can't quite Des Des cribe
00:02:30
just how much more comfortable this
00:02:32
keyboard is and I know there are third
00:02:34
party Solutions you can get to like add
00:02:36
a trackpad or I think even maybe a track
00:02:39
ball definitely the trackpad I noticed
00:02:41
that one back when I made my review of
00:02:43
the glove 80 but it's a thirdparty
00:02:45
solution and honestly I've not
00:02:46
researched how how this is done but I'm
00:02:49
pretty sure like I I'd have to imagine
00:02:51
that you'd have to access the GPO pins
00:02:53
on the microcontroller in order to
00:02:56
install that that third party solution
00:02:58
for the the the trackpad which you know
00:03:01
has some risk involved although you know
00:03:03
I do have two glove 80s so if I mess up
00:03:06
one of them then I still have the other
00:03:07
one but on top of potentially damaging a
00:03:10
good keyboard by accessing the GPI op
00:03:13
pins that voids the warranty on the
00:03:15
board so if anything else happens to it
00:03:17
that is of no fault of your own then uh
00:03:20
you're kind of out of luck so maybe a
00:03:22
future project and that that would be
00:03:24
really fun in my initial review video
00:03:26
one of the things that I was pretty
00:03:28
critical of was the tenting mechanism
00:03:31
that they have on the the glove 80 and
00:03:34
yeah that that still stands in fact if
00:03:36
anything I I became more frustrated by
00:03:39
the the tenting as time went on in my
00:03:42
review video I mentioned that mounted
00:03:44
had become my preferred setup and when I
00:03:47
said that I spoke too soon because like
00:03:50
honestly like that is still something
00:03:52
that I want to work but there were some
00:03:54
hurdles that I just I could not get over
00:03:57
in particular having the the mouse just
00:03:59
like way too far away from you because
00:04:01
when you mount the keyboard on your
00:04:04
chair it it pushes you back further away
00:04:06
from your desk and unless you have some
00:04:09
kind of uh like platform or something to
00:04:11
the side of you where you can hold a
00:04:13
mouse then like there's no way around it
00:04:16
the fact of the matter is is that you
00:04:18
know we we have to use mice and there's
00:04:20
some people that um use the the the
00:04:23
mouse keys on the keyboard and like no
00:04:27
no thank you don't want to I just no
00:04:30
that's that's not for me I I kind of do
00:04:32
just want a proper pointing device and
00:04:35
mounted made that really difficult but
00:04:38
yeah like going back to just the the
00:04:39
whole tenting mechanism like you you
00:04:42
have to screw these these legs on and
00:04:45
you have to get the the leg Heights like
00:04:47
just right and and they're they're not
00:04:49
the same lengths either like you see
00:04:50
that this leg uh right here is shorter
00:04:54
than this one right here which is a
00:04:56
different length than this one if the
00:04:58
camera will stop focusing on my face but
00:05:01
the point is that it's like it's so
00:05:03
finicky to like deal with the legs and
00:05:06
get them just the the right length at at
00:05:09
just the right angle that I like that I
00:05:11
don't want to touch it once I set it up
00:05:14
and it was it just it felt
00:05:15
disincentivizing to experiment with
00:05:17
different setups and because it was so
00:05:20
hard to experiment with because I would
00:05:22
have to take the legs off and then put
00:05:24
on the the mounting plate and screw
00:05:26
everything back on to attach the
00:05:28
mounting plate and then when I was done
00:05:31
experimenting and needed to you know get
00:05:33
some actual work done because my my back
00:05:35
was killing me from reaching up and
00:05:37
using my mouse all the time I had have
00:05:38
to unscrew all the legs take the plate
00:05:40
off put the legs back on tighten
00:05:42
everything down make sure it was the
00:05:43
right length and yeah can can you tell
00:05:46
that I am I'm not super happy with with
00:05:49
the mounting solution I might be being
00:05:52
too hard because most people uh let's be
00:05:54
honest are not going to to mount their
00:05:57
keyboards to their chair and and once
00:05:59
you do get the the right adjustments on
00:06:02
it then it is good however there is kind
00:06:04
of another problem with that this was
00:06:06
not meant to be a big long rant on why I
00:06:09
I don't like the the mounting system on
00:06:12
this keyboard I I'm just passionate
00:06:14
because I care but if you've been
00:06:16
looking into the glove 80 you may have
00:06:18
come across some people expressing
00:06:21
concerns about uh how the the keyboard
00:06:23
slides around on the desk and it doesn't
00:06:26
just stay in one spot I believe in large
00:06:29
part that is due to improperly adjusted
00:06:32
legs on the keyboard because if you get
00:06:35
one of these legs adjusted just a little
00:06:38
bit off then that can make it start to
00:06:41
slide and if you get the adjustment just
00:06:44
right then you'll see that it it won't
00:06:46
slide around and I actually had this
00:06:48
experience where I I went into the
00:06:50
office usually I work from home and at
00:06:52
home my desk has a like a faux leather
00:06:56
mat on it where the keyboard usually
00:06:58
stays perfect ly fine perfectly still in
00:07:01
in the spot that I want it to be in but
00:07:03
this was not the case at my desk at work
00:07:05
and on that particular day I didn't
00:07:09
bring my little spanner wrench thing so
00:07:12
that I I could adjust the legs and my
00:07:14
keyboard was sliding around the the desk
00:07:17
at my office like crazy and it it was
00:07:19
driving me crazy and I couldn't do
00:07:22
anything about it because I didn't have
00:07:25
the stupid little wrench to adjust the
00:07:27
legs but with all that said that still
00:07:28
would not have dissuaded me from using
00:07:31
this as my daily driver because it has
00:07:34
solved so many other issues for me with
00:07:38
uh helping manage my RSI that is totally
00:07:41
worth the tradeoff and I think that kind
00:07:43
of sums up my experience with this
00:07:46
keyboard not the horrible bad stuff but
00:07:50
this keyboard has been very much like a
00:07:53
utilitarian device for me where the like
00:07:56
the Voyager that keyboard it it like
00:08:00
makes me want to type on it it it's it's
00:08:03
like it's it's a fun experience the same
00:08:04
thing with the the moonlander uh right
00:08:07
there like the moonlander is a really
00:08:10
fun keyboard to type on and then the the
00:08:12
digma Defy is also like it's great the
00:08:15
RGB on that thing is is is it's really
00:08:18
cool it it makes me want to use that
00:08:20
keyboard in fact I I haven't mentioned
00:08:23
this uh because I haven't been uh making
00:08:27
a lot of videos lately but I have
00:08:28
actually used the digma toy uh probably
00:08:31
I've put in hundreds of hours on that
00:08:34
keyboard and I know that for sure
00:08:36
because
00:08:37
um I may have had a little bit of um a
00:08:42
gaming problem uh and got addicted to
00:08:45
some video games and yeah that that
00:08:48
keyboard was definitely an enabler for
00:08:50
me and I have the proof that uh because
00:08:52
when I did play games I was on that
00:08:54
keyboard and uh not going to share my my
00:08:58
stats from from Steam but yeah great
00:09:00
keyboard for playing video games on this
00:09:03
one not so much but other than that the
00:09:06
the whole tenting mechanism thing I have
00:09:09
very few complaints about this keyboard
00:09:11
but a lot of Praises okay there there's
00:09:14
one more thing that that bugs me and it
00:09:16
has to do with the these little rubber
00:09:19
pads on the bottom of the feet and I
00:09:21
also have this problem on the the
00:09:23
moonlander where over time these little
00:09:26
pads they would start to to slip off and
00:09:29
as they did that like they they fill up
00:09:31
with Gunk and they don't stick very well
00:09:33
like this just this foot this rubber pad
00:09:36
came off super super easily and I
00:09:38
remember talking about this in my review
00:09:41
of the the moonlander as as well but you
00:09:43
can see uh that like that foot right
00:09:46
there it it looks super gunked up and
00:09:49
like over time it just started to to
00:09:50
peel off and Gunk up with stuff but it
00:09:53
would just it would be nice to to have a
00:09:56
more robust solution something that that
00:09:59
would not require them sending you with
00:10:03
with with extra pads that I have
00:10:06
honestly gone through quite quickly okay
00:10:09
I've actually been using them for other
00:10:11
stuff uh such as the the bottom of the
00:10:14
the cribis so uh yeah that's not totally
00:10:17
on them oh speaking of which I I should
00:10:19
not I should not talk about this because
00:10:21
this is for the gloating not the cribis
00:10:24
but can can can you we just take a
00:10:26
moment to uh appreciate this what I have
00:10:28
here this is a quick release plate so
00:10:31
that I can have this keyboard mounted
00:10:34
and I can easily switch between having
00:10:36
this keyboard just sitting on my desk
00:10:38
and pulling it off and grabbing the the
00:10:40
other half of the the quick release
00:10:42
system which I totally stole from the
00:10:45
the glove 80 and putting it on there and
00:10:48
then taking this clamping it to to my
00:10:50
desk or to my chair or whatever um still
00:10:53
working out some Kinks here it's a
00:10:55
little harder with the crib disc because
00:10:57
there there's cables going everywhere
00:10:59
because the the two halves are not
00:11:01
connected via Bluetooth and it's not
00:11:03
battery powered so I have to keep it
00:11:04
plugged in and basically I am just a a
00:11:07
sad sad person who is trying to make a
00:11:10
dream come alive but I'm part of the way
00:11:12
there with having the quick release
00:11:15
Plate System thingy integrated into the
00:11:19
the the the thing I I'm I'm past using
00:11:22
technical terms here anyway um yeah
00:11:25
let's see what else has changed over the
00:11:27
last year I still do not use Moo's uh
00:11:31
layout configurator that they have for
00:11:33
the glove 80 I was not super impressed
00:11:36
with it when I I used it back in
00:11:39
November of 2023 and I honestly I
00:11:42
haven't really looked at it so I I don't
00:11:44
know it could be light years better and
00:11:46
be the the most advanced keyboard layout
00:11:49
configurator that they've ever created
00:11:51
and I I honestly would not know because
00:11:54
I just used this other third party
00:11:56
solution that works with zmk and I've
00:11:59
been really happy with it plus it has
00:12:01
dark mode but one thing I can say has
00:12:04
definitely improved is the documentation
00:12:07
that Mo Ergo has for the keyboard
00:12:09
because there's a lot of things about
00:12:11
this keyboard that like you just
00:12:13
wouldn't think you would need to know
00:12:16
about a keyboard the the glove 80 like
00:12:18
it is geared toward power users so it's
00:12:21
not something that you just typically
00:12:24
pull out and start using like it does
00:12:26
require some setup and the documentation
00:12:28
I have when I made the review of the
00:12:31
glove 80 was a giant PDF it was like I
00:12:36
don't remember how long like 30 pages of
00:12:38
of just dense information but it looks
00:12:41
like they've improved this by a lot and
00:12:43
if you go on their website their
00:12:45
documentation is searchable and it's
00:12:48
friendly to use like it looks good it's
00:12:50
presented more nicely it's broken up in
00:12:53
good sections and yeah a lot of high
00:12:55
price for them for actually going in in
00:12:59
focusing on making that user experience
00:13:01
a lot better but all of that aside I I
00:13:03
do have to admit that you know over time
00:13:05
you settle on what you want your layout
00:13:09
to be and and you spend less and less
00:13:11
time going into the configurator and and
00:13:13
making a change and reflashing your
00:13:15
keyboard and going through that whole
00:13:17
Dance and yeah over time it it just
00:13:19
became something that I didn't have to
00:13:21
think about which was kind of nice but
00:13:23
at the same time I do wish that it was a
00:13:26
little easier to do experimentation
00:13:29
ations just like on the-fly kind of
00:13:32
stuff uh with making changes to your
00:13:34
layout and that's not something that
00:13:36
some of these keyboards that are like I
00:13:39
said geared more toward power users it
00:13:41
it doesn't really lend itself very well
00:13:44
for that use case so in in that regard
00:13:47
like it it's it's totally fine it is a
00:13:50
potential frustration but it's not a
00:13:52
deal breaker if you're in a profession
00:13:55
or you know do a job where you're doing
00:13:57
a lot of typing and feeling discomfort
00:14:00
from RSI or even debilitating RSI then
00:14:03
like I I don't think you can get better
00:14:05
than this keyboard but if you're not in
00:14:07
that demographic and you just want like
00:14:09
a a good keyboard then I would totally
00:14:12
recommend like go going for the the
00:14:14
digma defy which which is really nice
00:14:17
because you can make those changes
00:14:19
pretty much on the fly like as soon as
00:14:20
you make the change in the software that
00:14:23
change immediately takes effect on the
00:14:25
keyboard which is is really nice or
00:14:27
there is of course the Voyager which is
00:14:30
still like such it it's like it is it's
00:14:33
a great keyboard and part of what makes
00:14:34
it a great keyboard is the great
00:14:37
software you can't make on the flight
00:14:39
changes like you can with the digma defy
00:14:41
but you still can make changes a lot
00:14:43
easier and the user experience is way
00:14:46
more friendly than trying to do the same
00:14:48
thing on the Cav or the the cribis or
00:14:52
the the Cali 42 which is up there or the
00:14:55
the Kinesis Advantage 360 pro which I I
00:14:58
complained about
00:14:59
quite a bit and honestly I I was
00:15:01
probably too harsh on them because uh it
00:15:03
just seems to be a category of of
00:15:06
keyboard where if you want to get the
00:15:08
most out of the keyboard you really you
00:15:11
kind of have to go write your own layout
00:15:15
in in code and and compile it on your
00:15:17
computer or go the route of of waiting
00:15:20
and excruciating like 3 minutes for a
00:15:23
GitHub action to run on your repository
00:15:26
when you push a change to the repository
00:15:28
there are definitely trade-offs that you
00:15:30
need to consider when looking at one of
00:15:32
these types of keyboards so do I still
00:15:34
think that the glove 80 is worth it here
00:15:36
in March of 2025 and the answer is
00:15:40
absolutely and I'm not I don't have an
00:15:42
affiliate link I'm not getting paid to
00:15:43
say this like this is such a comfortable
00:15:47
keyboard and unfortunately it it still
00:15:50
is quite an investment to get one of
00:15:52
these keyboards because it is a niche
00:15:54
market these keyboards do tend to run
00:15:57
more expensive than just like a cheapo
00:15:59
keyboard that you can get off of of
00:16:01
Amazon but you also don't get a keyboard
00:16:04
like this because you're just checking
00:16:05
out the the latest fad you do it because
00:16:08
you're investing in your long-term
00:16:09
health for a career that you you rely on
00:16:13
your fingers for and I'll end by giving
00:16:15
my wish list for this keyboard if there
00:16:18
were to be like a a version two of the
00:16:21
glove 80 I've seen this set a lot in
00:16:23
comments and other places on the
00:16:25
internet I would love to see a keyboard
00:16:28
with a smaller layout that still has the
00:16:30
the concave Key Well the the function
00:16:32
keys we we we can get rid of the
00:16:34
function keys and I would say the same
00:16:36
thing actually with the thumb cluster I
00:16:39
would kind of like to see a more compact
00:16:41
version of the glove 80 like a glove 80
00:16:44
light that doesn't have the function
00:16:45
keys and has fewer thumb Keys cuz there
00:16:49
there is kind of that like little shelf
00:16:51
right there where the the top row is
00:16:53
just a little bit higher than the the
00:16:55
bottom row of the the thumb cluster and
00:16:57
I think I could honestly do with just
00:17:00
three keys on there just don't pull a
00:17:02
voyager and only have two keys on the
00:17:04
thumb cluster as much as I adore that
00:17:07
keyboard the the two keys on the thumb
00:17:10
cluster just like oh come on like I wish
00:17:13
it was three but yeah I I I digress the
00:17:16
the other thing that is on my wish list
00:17:18
for the glove 80 would be to have a
00:17:20
bigger battery and I'm speaking from
00:17:22
ignorance here I for for all I know zmk
00:17:25
is like some really power hungry
00:17:27
firmware that uh know does something
00:17:30
with RGB that just makes it it die
00:17:32
faster I don't know I kind of doubt that
00:17:34
though I I bet I bet it just needs a
00:17:36
bigger battery and and I say that
00:17:38
because the the digma defi up there that
00:17:41
thing can last with the RGB for both the
00:17:44
underglow now now I can't think of what
00:17:46
what it's called but this this underglow
00:17:49
as well as this underglow under the keys
00:17:51
I know there there's a name to
00:17:53
differentiate the two but the the point
00:17:55
is that like this can be a a full
00:17:57
brightness and last for an entire
00:17:59
workday but in my review video I
00:18:01
mentioned that this thing when I had the
00:18:05
RGB brightness on a really low setting
00:18:09
it still died after like five
00:18:12
hours five hours like I don't know a
00:18:15
bigger battery come on already talked
00:18:17
about the uh tenting mechanism I I just
00:18:20
I feel like there is a solution out
00:18:24
there where the the tenting mechanism
00:18:27
works well enough for the majority of
00:18:30
the population but isn't quite as
00:18:32
frustrating to use and I totally get why
00:18:34
they did it because this is like very
00:18:37
much optimizing for being able to have
00:18:39
the the best angle the most ergonomic
00:18:42
setup that you can get but I I just feel
00:18:45
like you know if if we're looking at
00:18:47
like a a pedo front or poo curve or
00:18:51
whatever that is you know
00:18:53
multi-objective optimization there
00:18:55
there's got to be a spot on that that
00:18:58
curve of
00:18:59
efficiency where you can optimize for
00:19:03
convenience and ergonomics or ease of
00:19:06
use it just feels like they way over
00:19:08
optimized for having the the most
00:19:11
ergonomic setup that you possibly can
00:19:13
get and I think I'm probably beating
00:19:15
this point to to death so let's move on
00:19:19
to another thing that I've already
00:19:21
mentioned which is the integrated
00:19:23
trackpad or track ball this is something
00:19:25
else that I would love to see uh in in
00:19:29
or or try out with the Nia create and
00:19:32
some of you have been asking about that
00:19:34
keyboard if I'm going to review that
00:19:35
keyboard and the the fact of the matter
00:19:38
is it costs almost
00:19:41
$1,000 for the keyboard and when I'm not
00:19:44
sure if it's you know going to be like
00:19:47
my forever keyboard and I don't make
00:19:50
that much money from this YouTube
00:19:51
channel like it's it's a really steep
00:19:54
price for me to to get that keyboard
00:19:57
unfortunately so it remains on my list
00:19:59
of a keyboard that I really really want
00:20:02
to try but it'll have to be sometime in
00:20:04
the future but regardless the idea of
00:20:07
having an integrated pointing device in
00:20:09
the keyboard just it it makes so much
00:20:12
sense like why why have we not been
00:20:14
thinking about this already I mean okay
00:20:16
yeah I I know why we haven't been
00:20:17
thinking about it because it just I mean
00:20:19
okay split keyboards are
00:20:21
already it's its own little world but
00:20:25
putting a a track ball inside of it is
00:20:28
Maybe maybe pushing it a little too much
00:20:31
for some people I may maybe I don't know
00:20:34
but having tried it with the cibus like
00:20:37
h i I keep I keep talking about this I
00:20:39
keep coming back to this because it it's
00:20:42
just it it's like duh like why why have
00:20:46
we not been thinking about having
00:20:49
integrated pointing devices and
00:20:51
keyboards it it makes so much sense and
00:20:54
I know people have been thinking about
00:20:56
it but it's definitely not a thought
00:20:57
that enters the the mainstream
00:21:00
Consciousness so like I've said many
00:21:02
times already I I know that there is the
00:21:04
third party solution but it would be
00:21:07
really great to see a first-party
00:21:09
solution from moero for some kind of
00:21:12
tracking device that you can attached to
00:21:15
the glove 80 or just come out with a
00:21:17
different version of the glove 80 that
00:21:19
has this amazing key well but an option
00:21:22
to integrate a a pointing device into or
00:21:25
onto the keyboard and then the the last
00:21:28
thing the last last uh wish list item in
00:21:31
this uh part of the video that's
00:21:33
becoming much longer than I probably
00:21:35
intended it to be is a more refined
00:21:38
mounting system these are all basically
00:21:40
just ideas solutions that that I I want
00:21:43
to see for the things that I was
00:21:45
complaining about but yeah the the
00:21:47
mounting system while it is possible it
00:21:50
it just it doesn't feel good it it feels
00:21:53
unrefined and it could just it could be
00:21:57
so much better even just having
00:21:58
something like if you know on the the
00:22:00
bottom of the the keyboard I don't know
00:22:03
if it would be possible but if you could
00:22:05
have like little cutouts in there that
00:22:07
are compatible with the the arctis Swiss
00:22:10
plate if I'm saying that right this
00:22:12
thing right here it's got a name I'm
00:22:15
pretty sure it's a arctis Swiss plate
00:22:17
then yeah like that that would be that
00:22:19
would be great and there's there's space
00:22:21
there's space on there you could get it
00:22:23
in there and just like integrate
00:22:25
something like directly into the body of
00:22:27
the keyboard just to to make mounting a
00:22:29
little easier I I don't know I I would
00:22:32
appreciate it all the weird people like
00:22:34
me who want to have a a chair mounted
00:22:38
keyboard we would appreciate it okay
00:22:40
anyway that wraps it up for this video
00:22:43
if there was something I didn't cover or
00:22:45
a question you have that I didn't answer
00:22:47
then you know put it in the comments and
00:22:49
I will do my best to answer you before I
00:22:54
you know lose interest after a couple
00:22:55
weeks and then I totally forget about
00:22:57
this video that I you know ever made
00:22:58
made this video but you know if if you
00:23:00
do relatively soon then I'm sure I'll
00:23:03
I'm I'm I'm sure I'll get around to it
00:23:05
and with that confidence inspiring
00:23:06
speech uh I hope you have a good day
00:23:08
thanks for tuning in and uh yeah I'll
00:23:11
see you in the next one
