The very best keyboards for 2025

keyboard could make all of the distinction on your work setup. In the event you primarily work on a laptop computer, switching from the built-in keyboard to a wired or wi-fi keyboard could be extra snug and ergonomic whereas including performance like further keys and shortcuts into the combination. In case your day by day driver is a desktop, a keyboard might be a necessary accent that may elevate your rig whether or not you are utilizing it to work a 9-to-5 with it or play AAA video games in your free time.

However the world of keyboards is huge, and we at Engadget have tried out dozens over time together with gaming keyboards, ergonomic keyboards, mechanical keyboards and extra. In the event you’re simply beginning to consider one of the best keyboard for you, otherwise you’re able to improve from an growing old peripheral, we gathered all of our prime picks for one of the best keyboards you will get proper right here.

Greatest keyboards for 2025

Logitech

Connectivity: Bluetooth and Logi Bolt USB receiver | Dimension: Full-size structure | Materials: Plastic chassis with low-profile scissor switches | Switches: Scissor switches | Sizzling-swappable: No | Backlight: Sure, good illumination with ambient mild sensors | Software program: Logi Choices+

Logitech is aware of methods to make a strong keyboard, and the Grasp collection has been a wonderful one over the previous few years. The MX Keys S is the most recent full-sized version and it combines a low-profile design with snug keys and helpful customization instruments. It seems to be fairly modern in black, white or graphite, measuring slightly below 17 inches in width and solely 0.8 inches excessive off your desk. Its spherically-dished keys cradle your fingertips each time you press, and whereas I wouldn’t go to this point to say they completely prevented me from placing any typos on this information, the form positively helps greater than different, flatter keycaps I’ve used.

It is a backlit keyboard with “good illumination,” which simply means the backlight will kick on when your palms strategy the board and regulate relying on the lighting in your setting. I’ve a good quantity of pure mild in my residence workplace throughout common working hours, so I opted to show the backlight off — in the event you do the identical, you’ll be able to rise up to 5 months of battery life out of the MX Keys S (Logitech estimates 10 days with good illumination on). The keyboard has a built-in USB-C port for charging as properly.

Along with the low-profile design that also features a quantity pad, the largest kickers for the MX Keys S are its large compatibility and customizable options with Logi Choices+. This peripheral works with Home windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Linux and iPadOS, and it has three gadget pairing buttons so you’ll be able to join it to as much as three units directly and swap between them as vital. Logi Choices+ is free software program that many Logitech equipment use, and for the MX Keys S, it lets you customise brightness ranges and length, set good actions (one-key shortcuts you program to your liking) and extra.

The Grasp Sequence additionally features a “mini” version of this keyboard that nixes the quantity pad and $10 from the value tag. I’ve used that and luxuriate in it as properly, however whenever you’re solely saving $10, the full-sized model looks like a greater worth. Can you discover cheaper wi-fi keyboards than both of those? In fact. However Logitech’s experience on this area actually shines within the Grasp collection, and with the MX Keys S specifically because it stands out as a high-quality wi-fi keyboard with a bunch of additional options at a good worth. — Valentina Palladino, Deputy Editor

Professionals

Good construct high quality
Snug typing expertise
Logi Choices+ supplies a ton of customization choices
Works throughout all main OSes

Cons

Not the most affordable keyboard on the market
Not a giant worth distinction between the full-sized model and the mini mannequin with out the quantity pad

$130 at Amazon

Logitech

Logitech’s Pop Icon Keys takes numerous notes from the Grasp collection and interprets them right into a extra enjoyable (and cheaper) bundle. The $50 keyboard doesn’t embody a quantity pad, however as a substitute has a row on the correct facet that features 4 buttons which you can customise utilizing Logi Choices+. I’ve mine programmed to activate macOS’ mission management, open the emoji keyboard and to maneuver web page up and down, respectively. However these aren’t the one buttons you’ll be able to customise — 11 of the highest operate keys can be programmed to your liking as properly.

The Pop Icon keycaps have a slight indentation to them, although not as dramatic as these on the Grasp collection keys, and the typing expertise is a cushty and quiet one total. Whereas this isn’t billed as a journey keyboard, it’s sufficiently small to suit into an ordinary work bag or backpack, so you would take it with you with out a lot trouble.

You possibly can join the Pop Icon keys to as much as three units directly and swap between them simply, and the keyboard helps macOS, Home windows, Linux, Chrome, iPadOS, iOS and Android units. Apart from there being no possibility for a quantity pad configuration, arguably the largest draw back to this keyboard is the truth that it runs on two AAA batteries. Logitech estimates it would last as long as three years earlier than you could substitute them, so perhaps that’s a professional for some reasonably than a con. I additionally recognize that, when related to a Mac laptop over Bluetooth, you’ll be able to nonetheless monitor the Pop Icon Keys’ battery life from the Bluetooth menu.

That is additionally an excellent worth for a strong wi-fi keyboard. Logitech itself makes even cheaper ones, however the Pop Icon Keys strikes a superb steadiness between design and capabilities at this worth level. The largest query, in the event you select this keyboard, is which colorway you fancy probably the most out of the 5 choices. — V.P.

Professionals

Low-cost!
Compact design with a low profile
Snug typing expertise
Programmable keys with Logi Choices+
Works throughout all main OSes

Cons

Key journey could possibly be higher
No quantity pad

$50 at Amazon

Logitech

Learn our full information to the best ergonomic keyboards

The Ergo K860 from Logitech combines 4 useful ergonomic options in a keyboard that operates very like any customary board. The Alice break up shifts your elbows aside whereas holding your forearms and wrists lined up. The tenting raises the keys upward within the center, rotating your palms subtly towards each other. The optionally available unfavorable tilt slopes the underside edge above the highest edge to maintain the backs of your palms straighter. And there’s a palm relaxation in-built, which some discover extra snug throughout lengthy typing classes.

In contrast to different extra aggressively ergonomic boards, there’s no studying curve right here. Typing on the Ergo K860 feels so much like typing on an ordinary set of keys. The low profile, scissor-switch keys are springy and straightforward to hit. You even get a ten-key quantity pad, navigation keys and arrow buttons, all of which make it a full-featured and acquainted accent. You possibly can program the keys with Logitech’s software program, however this may seemingly enchantment most to those that simply need a plug-and-play board for a Mac or PC setup. — Amy Skorheim, Senior Reporter

Professionals

Rotated, tented keys make typing snug
An ergonomic board with no studying curve
Wirelessly connects shortly to 3 units
Hotkeys work with MacOS and Home windows

Cons

Wrist relaxation is just not detachable
Takes up numerous area

$150 at Amazon

Photograph by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Learn our full information to the best ergonomic keyboards

In the event you’re able to make a critical dedication to growing your ergonomics, I like to recommend the ZSA Voyager. I exploit it each day and, despite the fact that it’s not tremendous transportable, I introduced it with me once I labored away from my residence workplace for per week. However at first, it took me a minimum of three weeks earlier than I used to be snug typing on it. Not solely will you could reprogram the keys (and keep in mind what they do), you’ll want to make use of your fingers another way than you’re used to. For one, your thumbs will do excess of simply hit the spacebar. They’ll function the return, shift, management and even layer buttons, relying on the way you program the board.

However the ergonomic advantages are equally important. The absolutely break up board lets me open up my arms and chest. On days once I’m feeling notably tight, I’ll put the 2 halves a full foot aside. Relocating the return, command and forward-delete key to the thumbclusters saves me from shifting my palms across the board and the layers operate permits for much extra performance than an ordinary keyboard.

That mentioned, it additionally provides to the safety of my laptop, making all of it however unattainable for different folks to kind with the Voyager. It comes with magnetic knobs for the middle tenting function, however I want it got here with the choice to carry the center a bit larger. I created further carry by including rubber bumpers to the board, however for the value, it’d be good to not must MacGuyver it. Nonetheless, each time I’m pressured to make use of a daily keyboard, I really feel like I am toiling within the typing pool at Sterling Cooper. — A.S.

Professionals

Ergonomic, absolutely break up board
Programmable thumb cluster minimizes hand journey
Low profile, mechanical keys make typing simple
Compact measurement and intelligent key mapping maintain your palms within the residence place

Cons

Takes a pair weeks to relearn methods to kind
Middle tenting could possibly be larger

$365 at ZSA

Photograph by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

Learn our full information to the best mechanical keyboards

The Keychron Q Max series doesn’t come low-cost, but it surely has nearly every part we wish out of a high-end mechanical keyboard. Its full aluminum case is exceedingly sturdy, hefty and funky to the contact. Whereas its PBT-coated keycaps are on the taller facet, they’ve a beautiful texture and are sculpted in a means that lightly hugs your fingertips. There are a number of swap choices accessible, all of that are hot-swappable, whereas a double gasket-mount design contained in the keyboard offers every press a cushioned but springy really feel by default. Mixed with a number of layers of froth, these presses have a delightfully poppy and even sound.

We examined the tenkeyless Q3 Max, however Keychron presents a number of different size and layout options as properly. Every can join over a wi-fi dongle, Bluetooth or USB-C and consists of further Home windows- and Mac-specific keycaps within the field. There are nonetheless issues to nitpick — there’s a faint little bit of rattle to a few the bigger keys; you’ll be able to’t regulate the keyboard’s peak; and Keychron’s one-year warranty is fairly brief — however in the event you simply wish to purchase a mechanical keyboard that delivers a premium expertise from the bounce, this may get you there. – Jeff Dunn, Senior Reporter

Professionals

Very good typing really feel and sound
Premium aluminum case
Crisp PBT keycaps
Sizzling-swappable
Dependable wi-fi efficiency
Tons of structure choices
Knob!

Cons

A bit expensive
Keycaps aren’t shine-through and could also be too tall for some
Heavy
Slight rattling with some stabilizers

$189+ at Keychron

Photograph by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

Learn our full information to the best mechanical keyboards

We advocate the Keychron C3 Pro if you wish to spend as little as potential for a pleasant mechanical keyboard. It’s a stellar worth at slightly below $50, with factory-lubricated switches, a gasket mount, a number of layers of inside foam and different touches we don’t normally see on this worth vary. The stabilizers keep away from any aggressive rattling, and there’s not one of the pinging noise you get from many cheaper instances. All of this helps really feel snug for typing, whereas the tactile Brown switches in our check unit sound pleasantly clacky.

As with all finances keyboard, you must make some sacrifices. It solely works wired, for one, and the ABS keycaps really feel slicker and cheaper than one of the best PBT caps. Whereas the case doesn’t exhibit any critical flexing, it’s nonetheless product of plastic. You additionally must pay $10 further to get a version with RGB backlighting and hot-swappable switches — the bottom mannequin remains to be an excellent purchase for these seeking to get into the passion on a budget, but it surely saddles you with a red-only backlight and prevents you from simply popping in new switches down the highway. – J.D.

Professionals

Cheap
Great typing expertise for the cash
Programmable with software program
Shine-through keycaps

Cons

ABS keycaps are a bit slick
Wired solely
RGB lighting and hot-swappable swap price a bit bit further

$45 at Amazon

Jeff Dunn for Engadget

Learn our full information to the best gaming keyboards

The Wooting 80HE is our favourite keyboard for avid gamers due to its magnetic Hall effect switches, which might reply to various ranges of strain. This allows you to customise the actuation level of every particular person key, so you would make them extra delicate throughout quick-twitch capturing video games or extra deliberate whenever you simply wish to kind. One other function known as rapid trigger enables you to repeat inputs quicker, with out having to attend for a given key to return to a hard and fast reset level. That may be an actual boon for, say, strafing backwards and forwards extra exactly throughout a 1v1 shootout in Overwatch. You may as well tie a number of instructions to at least one key: In Halo Infinite, for instance, you would make it so evenly urgent W makes you stroll extra stealthily, whereas urgent all of it the way in which down makes you run at full pace.

Does everybody want all of this? In fact not. Any keyboard is usually a “gaming keyboard,” and nothing right here will magically make you good at video games. However for extra hardcore sorts on the lookout for any further little bit of granular management, they’ll make a tangible distinction.

The 80HE isn’t the one keyboard to supply this set of methods, but it surely stands out for getting the remainder of the bundle proper as properly. Wooting’s Wootility software program is best-in-class, making it notably simple to tweak settings and customise the RGB lighting. It can save you a number of management profiles on to the gadget. And whereas the all-plastic case isn’t the highest-quality factor on the market for $200, the inventory {hardware} nonetheless feels and sounds nice, with crisp PBT keycaps, {smooth} pre-lubed switches and a pleasingly thocky tone. – J.D.

Professionals

Magnetic switches are deeply versatile for gaming
Simple-to-use software program
Sturdily constructed
Snug for typing and sounds nice

Cons

Wired-only
A bit costly
80 % design is considerably awkward
Solely that can be purchased in batches

$200 at Wooting

Jeff Dunn for Engadget

Connectivity: 2.4 GHz wi-fi, Bluetooth, and USB-C wired | Dimension: Tenkeyless (TKL) structure | Materials: Aluminum prime plate with plastic base | Switches: OmniPoint 2.0 adjustable mechanical switches | Sizzling-swappable: No | Backlight: Per-key RGB | Software program: SteelSeries GG

Learn our full information to the best gaming keyboards

If you would like the Wooting 80HE’s gaming-friendly options in a wi-fi keyboard, we just like the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless (Gen 3). It presents a lot of the similar adjustable actuation and speedy set off instruments because the 80HE, plus a “protection mode” that makes it more durable to hit close by keys by chance and preset profiles for some widespread video games. The typing expertise is a plus as properly, with crisp and easy-to-reach PBT keycaps, a sturdy aluminum prime plate and smooth-feeling switches which might be sufficiently muffled. There’s a magnetic wrist relaxation within the field, and the entire thing can join over a wi-fi dongle, Bluetooth or USB-C.

Our essential points with the Apex Professional contain SteelSeries’ GG app. A lot of the expertise with these analog-style keyboards comes all the way down to software program, and GG is a bit much less refined than Wootility throughout the board. At $270, the Apex Professional is unquestionably on the upper finish of the value spectrum, too. Nonetheless, the app is simple sufficient to grok over time — particularly in comparison with different gaming fashions we’ve used — and the board as a complete will get rather more proper than incorrect. – J.D.

Professionals

Quick and deeply versatile magnetic switches
Helpful OLED show
Nice typing expertise
A number of connection modes

Cons

Dear
Software program is not at all times intuitive
Battery life could possibly be higher

$231 at Amazon

What to search for in a keyboard

Design

Dimension

The very first thing you’ll wish to take into account in the case of your subsequent keyboard’s design is measurement. There are a variety of various keyboard layouts to select from, however the commonest are full-sized, tenkeyless and people smaller than tenkeyless.

Full-sized keyboards, or 100%, embody a operate row on the prime and an entire quantity pad with arrow keys on the correct facet, together with all the remainder of the alphanumeric keys you’d anticipate. Tenkeyless, or 80 %, removes the quantity pad however retains the arrow keys and the operate row, lowering the general width measurement of the board by a good quantity. Compact keyboards maintain issues extremely easy by together with solely the alphanumeric keys and modifiers like Alt, Shift, Ctrl and others and so they come in several sizes like 60 %, 65 % and extra. These are the most well-liked sizes on the market, however you could find loads of different designs that embody totally different mixes of keys together with the usual letters and numbers all ought to have.

Except for measurement, there are two different massive classes that you would use to outline a keyboard: ergonomic and mechanical. Ergonomic keyboards are designed with, you guessed it, higher ergonomics in thoughts, bearing in mind the place you need to place your fingers, palms and forearms to take care of correct posture. Individually, mechanical keyboards use mechanical switches (of which there are various sorts) that differ vastly from the membrane or scissor-switch keyboards you’ll discover dominating most wired and wi-fi choices extensively accessible at this time. We’ve got guides to one of the best ergonomic keyboards and greatest mechanical keyboards, however we’ll summarize what you could learn about each right here.

Ergonomic keyboards

In the event you cope with discomfort from working at a pc all day, ergonomic keyboards might help. These specifically designed boards re-orient the keys, permitting you to carry your elbows farther aside and preserve a straighter line out of your forearms to palms. Some folks discover this refined change extra snug.

Ergonomic keyboards sometimes fall into two classes: Alice and break up keyboards. The previous is a single unit with an A-shaped hole within the middle of the keys. Cut up fashions are available two separate items which you’ll be able to organize as you want in your desk. Extra ergonomic options like tenting and unfavorable tilt could make typing really feel much more snug, and are sometimes accessible on each Alice and break up boards. Tenting raises the center of the keys up so your palms tackle extra of a “handshake” place. Damaging tilting lowers the highest of the keyboard to maintain your wrists angled downward as a substitute of again in direction of your forearms.

The best way the keys are organized on the keyboard could make typing simpler as properly. Historically, keyboards are staggered, with one row of letters barely offset from the row beneath it. Columnar keyboards organize the keys in a grid of rows and columns. This fashion takes a bit getting used to, however some folks discover it permits them to kind quicker. You may as well make the keys of some keyboards do extra than simply produce letters. Programmable boards allow you to map shortcuts and different features, which can maintain you from reaching for the mouse fairly so typically, saving you time and presumably pressure as properly.

Mechanical keyboards

Mechanical keyboards have blown up in recognition as extra folks have been thrust into creating their very own workspaces at residence. It’s simple to see why: In comparison with a standard membrane keyboard, a superb mechanical board is extra sturdy, extra satisfying to press and, most significantly, infinitely extra customizable. The very best of them normally include a worth premium, however even some cheaper fashions allow you to “hot-swap” between keycaps, switches and different supplies, letting you tinker with totally different typing sensations and sound profiles till you discover a mixture that greatest expresses your preferences.

Would you like every press to really feel deep and full or quick and light-weight? Do you want them to sound loud and clacky or nearly totally muffled? Do you like your keycaps to look subdued {and professional}, filled with RGB lights or written in an Elvish language from The Lord of the Rings for some motive? With the correct new keyboard, it’s all as much as you — the one issues actually holding you again are your creativeness and your pockets.

We’ve got a devoted shopping for information that digs deeper into the important thing elements to think about when shopping for a mechanical keyboard, so we encourage you to take a look at that for a full rundown. To maintain issues high-level, probably the most influential a part of your buy is your keyboard’s swap kind. These little mechanisms slot beneath the keycaps and customarily have the largest impact on how your keyboard feels and sounds as you kind away.

You possibly can broadly separate mechanical switches into three buckets: linear, tactile and clicky. Linear switches really feel {smooth} all the way in which down; they’re typically widespread with avid gamers since they are usually mild and quick to actuate. Tactile switches create a tangible “bump” sensation partway by means of a press; many individuals who spend all day typing favor them as a result of they clearly affirm every press with out (at all times) being all that loud. Clicky switches are functionally just like tactiles however make an audible “click on” sound to match the bump; your coworkers could hate them, however others love the full-throated sense of suggestions they supply. To be clear, simply because two switches fall inside the similar bucket doesn’t imply they really feel or sound precisely the identical. The one means to determine which swap works greatest for you is to do your analysis and, ideally, strive some out for your self.

Different keyboards have a mechanical-style really feel however are constructed on totally different mechanisms fully. The new new development in gaming-focused keyboards, for instance, is Hall effect switches, which use tiny magnets to register keystrokes and allow you to customise the sensitivity of every press. Optical switches, in the meantime, supply related performance by changing the bodily contact level of a typical mechanical swap with a beam of infrared mild. Extra lately, we’ve seen a couple keyboards launch with inductive switches, which might work like magnetic switches but use inductive coils within the keyboard’s printed circuit board (PCB) to cater to all switches collectively and don’t require a sensor for every particular person swap. We contact on a few magnetic-switch keyboards in our picks beneath, however for a fuller breakdown of this type of tech, we advocate you take a look at our devoted shopping for information to the best gaming keyboards.

Connectivity

You’ve received two choices right here: wired or wi-fi. Wired keyboards sometimes have an hooked up cable that plugs right into a USB-A or USB-C port in your laptop (or docking station), though some include cables that may be eliminated. Wi-fi mechanical keyboards hook up with your machine both by way of Bluetooth or a wi-fi receiver dongle. There’s at all times the prospect of some latency with wi-fi keyboards, so maintain that in thoughts in the event you’re choosing one up to make use of primarily with a gaming PC. In fact, you’ll solely have to fret about battery life with Bluetooth keyboards.

Trending Merchandise