The Freewrite Wordrunner is a brand new mechanical keyboard for writers

For all its charms, the Freewrite Alpha works greatest as a primary draft machine greater than anything. Astrohaus sells a number of standalone writing units relying on the shape issue you are on the lookout for, however moreover Postbox, a web based instrument for organizing and downloading work you have written on a Freewrite system, it hasn’t actually tried to the touch the revision a part of the writing course of.

At CES 2025, the corporate is partnering with Kickstarter to do exactly that by launching a completely new product. It is known as the Freewrite Wordrunner, and it is a mechanical keyboard made with writers in thoughts and designed to work with desktop computer systems, tablets, and telephones. The keyboard is launching on Kickstart this yr, however here is what we all know in regards to the Freewrite Wordrunner to date.

The Freewrite Wordrunner is the mechanical keyboard designed for writers

The tenkeyless design sports activities some distinctive expertise

At a look, the Freewrite Wordrunner most likely shares many similarities with the keyboard you may have already got in your desk. Every key swap on the tenkeyless (with a perform row however and not using a quantity pad) aluminum design is backlit and purpose-built to be satisfying to sort on, in response to Astrohaus, as all mechanical keyboards ought to be. It might probably connect with a number of completely different units over Bluetooth, and shortly swap between them with a keystroke. It even has a built-in wrist relaxation to maintain typing comfy, and ideally a bit extra ergonomic.

The massive distinction between the Wordrunner and the Keychron keyboard I am utilizing proper now could be every part else it has, based mostly on what Astrohaus sees as an untapped a part of the keyboard market. As the corporate explains in its product announcement, the mechanical keyboard house has boomed in the previous couple of years, however even with all of those new great keyboards, there hasn’t been one which caters to writers particularly. The Wordrunner is an try to try this, constructing on Astrohaus’ expertise making keyboards for its standalone writing units.

So what does that truly imply? Among the many Wordrunner’s distinctive options are a redesigned perform row, new macro keys, a pink joystick for controlling media playback, a built-in timer for monitoring writing sprints and one thing Astrohaus has dubbed the “wordometer,” which is principally a mechanical phrase counter. The corporate initially tried to launch the Maestro, its tackle a mechanical keyboard, just a few years in the past, however with out a few of these distinctive options. “The largest distinction from the Maestro to the design at the moment is that there is an onboard counter for phrases and for the timers,” Colin Butts, Astrohaus’ Head of Advertising and marketing, shared with me in a briefing. Butts says Astrohaus thought of utilizing a display screen for a few of these options — the staff is a fan of Work Louder’s Nomad [E] keyboard — however as soon as the thought of a “Wordometer” got here up in a gathering, it was too charming to disregard.

Freewrite / Pocket-lint

Phrase rely on the Wordometer is persistent until reset, however the entire thing seems deliciously tactile based mostly on the renders Astrohaus shared. The imaginative and prescient right here, if this all works, is that by offloading a few of these utilities onto your keyboard, you possibly can have an excellent cleaner and extra distraction-free interface to write down in, whether or not it is Scrivener, Craft, or Google Docs.

Butts wasn’t capable of share if the Wordrunner’s distinctive perform keys like discover, exchange, undo, or redo would have the ability to be reassigned to their unique roles as soon as the keyboard launches, however the macro keys — Zap, Pow, and Bam — will likely be. That provides you much more flexibility when it comes to how you employ the keyboard.

Worth, Kickstarter launch date, and availability

The Freewrite Wordrunner’s Kickstarter marketing campaign launches quickly

Freewrite / Pocket-lint

The Freewrite Wordrunner is launching on Kickstart in February and hopes to ship the ultimate model of the keyboard to backers by the tip of the yr. Astrohaus has labored with each Kickstarter and Indiegogo to launch merchandise previously, however selected Kickstarter this go-around, partially, as a result of it wished to assist the keyboard get some additional publicity at CES.

There isn’t any value out there for the Wordrunner but, however backing the keyboard on Kickstarter (with its attendant dangers) will get you a lower cost on the very least. Should you’d desire to go the standard route, you may also make a $1 reservation on the Freewrite web site to lock in one of the best value attainable when the Freewrite Wordrunner is out there to order instantly from Astrohaus.

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