The most recent Freewrite machine is a elaborate mechanical keyboard constructed with writers in thoughts

The Detroit-based firm Astrohaus has been making its “distraction-free writing instruments” below the Freewrite identify for a few decade. To this point, these have all been standalone, single-purpose devices meant simply for drafting text, however Astrohaus is branching out at CES 2025. The corporate simply introduced a mechanical keyboard referred to as the Freewrite Wordrunner, a tool designed particularly with writers in thoughts.

This comes greater than three years after Astrohaus quietly revealed intentions to construct a keyboard, initially referred to as the Maestro. However the firm ultimately pulled the plug on its deliberate 2022 launch, and I hadn’t heard something about it since then — evidently they’ve simply been working away at it this complete time. CEO Adam Leeb mentioned in a press launch that the corporate had been iterating and growing it for nearly 4 years.

Mechanical keyboards have largely turn into the area of players; the corporate wished to construct a tool for individuals who make their residing writing as a substitute. With out spending some high quality time with it, I can’t say in the event that they’ve hit that mark but, however there are some enjoyable concepts on show right here.

The Wordrunner has a tenkeyless design that appears acquainted at first look, however you’ll shortly discover that the operate row has been changed by a customized set of keys that’ll make zipping round textual content paperwork quicker. That features discover and change, undo and redo, paragraph up and down in addition to again, ahead and reload keys. I’d be upset about dropping media controls from the operate row, however the Wordrunner has it coated with the intense purple joystick / button. It strikes in all 4 cardinal instructions, could be turned like a knob and may also be pressed in vertically to skip tracks, change quantity or pause your tunes.

On the opposite aspect, you’ll discover three customizable macro keys with the cutesy names “zap,” “pow” and “bam.” They’re programmable for something you may want, however Astrohaus recommended utilizing them to launch particular writing apps, changing textual content to title case or inserting the date. I don’t but know what I’d use them for, however having customizable keys is a table-stakes function for many fanatic keyboards so I’m glad to see them right here.

Most likely essentially the most visually hanging factor in regards to the Wordrunner are the 2 mechanical counters you’ll see up high. One is a timer you should utilize for writing sprints or simply staying centered for a bit. Extra intriguing is the Wordometer dead-center on the high of the keyboard. It’ll monitor your phrases with its whopping eight-digit mechanical counter, and because it saves your phrase depend so long as you need, you may try to max it out sometime. After all, you can even reset it at any time or pause it if you happen to don’t need it to advance when you’re chatting with buddies or sending emails.

The mechanical keys are backlit and use Kailh switches; the keycaps are replaceable however the switches aren’t. It additionally has some sound dampening in-built so you should utilize it with out subjecting everybody round to you overly loud key clacks (this can be a plus or minus relying on how you want your keyboards). As for connectivity, the Wordrunner makes use of Bluetooth or USB-C, and you’ll pair the keyboard with three completely different gadgets and shortly swap between them with devoted hotkeys.

I bought an opportunity to play with a prototype of the Wordrunner, and my first impressions was “wow, that is heavy!” It is a thick slab of polished aluminum that matches the end of the premium Hemingway edition of the Smart Typewriter. Astrohaus founder / CEO Adam Leeb instructed me that the corporate was taking pictures to make this keyboard really feel like a premium, restricted version with the end even when they’re planning for it to be a part of the everlasting portfolio.

Whereas I did not get to strive the Wordrunner hooked as much as a pc, I nonetheless bought to see the mechanical Wordometer flip over after I began typing. It is fairly satisfying to see it depend up as I wrote an imaginary story on it, and there is a small LED that is inexperienced when the counter is turned on and purple once you flip it off. The keys and journey all felt nice, and the joystick was equally a stunning tactile expertise — I am trying ahead to utilizing it like a quantity knob for media. Leeb says that this keyboard continues to be a prototype, however it feels fairly polished and almost ultimate to me.

Lastly, there’s the ever-present query of availability. Astrohaus is launching the Wordrunner on Kickstarter, because it has performed with most of its different {hardware} during the last 10 years. The marketing campaign ought to begin in February with early chook pricing, however we don’t know what that value can be but. Fortuitously, there’s a fairly low-commitment solution to get the very best value if you happen to’re curious. Astrohaus says you possibly can place a $1 reservation for precedence entry and the absolute best pricing, with plans to ship the primary batch of keyboards earlier than the top of the yr. That’s an extended methods out, however a buck isn’t a foul funding if you happen to’re .

Replace, January 8 2024, 9:27PM ET: This text has been up to date to incorporate some hands-on impressions and pictures of the Wordrunner.