The integrated plate is so popular that even the company behind one of the most high-end custom shells for the HHKB, Norbauer’s “Heavy Grail” case, designed and manufactured a custom injection-molded plastic plate instead of using individual switch housings.
Coding layout
Photography: Henri Robbins
The biggest advantage of any HHKB is the layout. Right out of the box, this keyboard is designed to be intuitive and efficient for coding. The function key is easily accessible by the right little finger and the control key has been moved from the corner to replace the caps lock key. The functional layer underneath was also custom designed.
The most jarring part of the layout will probably be the lack of keys in the bottom left and right corners, but those keys are (supposedly) missing for a reason. In theory, it’s difficult to reach your little finger all the way to the corner while still keeping your hand on the finish line. Instead, the only key remaining in this row is the smaller Alt key, which can be reached more easily by the little finger or thumb. While I don’t necessarily agree with the choice to leave the corners blank, the trade-off of an immediately accessible Control key is worth it, and hidden corners have become iconic enough with the HHKB that getting rid of them would be almost blasphemous to the community that has grown up around this keyboard.
The new Control key location is also extremely useful in video games. Crouching (assuming you don’t immediately remap Crouch to “C”) is much easier, and in games like Helldiverse 2calling up support items will be just a little quicker when you don’t have to reach your little finger all the way to the bottom corner first.
Neither the switches nor the polling rate are particularly effective for gaming. The keyboard only operates at a polling rate of 125 Hz, which is functionalbut falls far behind much cheaper gaming-oriented keyboards. The switches, being fairly slow tactile switches that take a long time to return after being pressed, won’t be the quickest option by far. However, if you’re primarily focused on casual gaming or aren’t concerned about lightning-fast responses, the Type-S will pair quite well with just about any gaming mouse to create a passable gaming experience.
Passionate keyboard
Photography: Henri Robbins
One of the advantages of the HHKB is its extensive secondary market. Topre switches have a long history with enthusiasts, and countless different modifications have been made available over the years, such as rubber domes with increased tactility, replacement sliders for installing standard Cherry MX keycaps, and even entire replacement shells made of aluminum and brass. These modifications can allow you to fine-tune your HHKB to your personal tastes, but they all have the same drawback: taking apart a Topre keyboard isn’t easy. And I say this as someone who has been working on these keyboards for years.
