I wouldn’t say I’m a mechanical keyboard fanatic, but I do like to have a keyboard that looks nice and is enjoyable to type on at my desk. So without waxing poetic for 1,000 words on what I’m using, I’ll just get to the details you’re actually curious about 😋

The Keyboard

I’m using a Vortex Race 3 keyboard, which costs a kind of shocking $139, but is made of metal, sits very solidly on the desk, and ships with whatever version of Cherry MX keys you’d like. I like brown switches, which makes me a heathen to some keyboard enthusiasts, but whatever, I think they’re great.

I also love how low this keyboard sits. I’ve tried several other mechanical keyboards over the years and so many have much taller bases which means my hands need to hover way over my desk to use it, or I need to get a dreaded wrist rest, which I truly despise. This combo of quality and low profile is surprisingly hard to find.

While this keyboard works great, I am hoping to change this one day. It’s wired, which is annoying in general, and it uses micro-USB for its connection, which is more and more inconvenient by the day. If you have any suggestions for a good, similar keyboard that’s either wireless or uses USB-C, I’d love to hear on Twitter!

The Keycaps

I’m using the Infinikey Amalfi Keycap collection, which have a pretty dramatic look, and I really love.

It’s kind of weird to talk about keycaps because so often specific caps are limited runs and are only available for a short period of time. For example, I bought this keycap set in August 2020 and it just arrived yesterday, April 16, 2021. That’s 8 months ago, and as far as I can tell, that’s the only time these keycaps will be on sale.

So while I am shoring some fun photos of these keycaps, you’re likely not going to be able to get these exact ones. Instead, I’d suggest looking for a set that matches your personality…and happens to be available for sale right now. I bought these from the Key Company and they have a bunch of nice-looking keycaps, keyboards, and more, but there are also tons of other companies who do this and you can explore places like /r/mechanicalkeyboards for inspiration and links to nice products.