The Detroit-based firm Astrohaus has been making its “distraction-free writing tools” beneath the Freewrite title for a few decade. Thus far, these have all been standalone, single-purpose units meant merely for drafting textual content, however Astrohaus is branching out at CES 2025. The corporate simply introduced a mechanical keyboard known 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.
Freewrite
Mechanical keyboards have largely turn out to be the area of players; the corporate wished to construct a tool for individuals who make their dwelling 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 perform row has been changed by a customized set of keys that’ll make zipping round textual content paperwork sooner. That features discover and exchange, 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 perform row, however the Wordrunner has it coated with the intense purple joystick / button. It strikes in all 4 cardinal instructions, may be turned like a knob and may also be pressed in vertically to skip tracks, change quantity or pause your tunes.
Freewrite
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.
Freewrite
The mechanical keys are backlit and use Kailh switches; the keycaps are replaceable however the switches aren’t. It additionally has some sound dampening inbuilt 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 units and shortly swap between them with devoted hotkeys.
I acquired an opportunity to play with a prototype of the Wordrunner, and my first impressions was “wow, this is heavy!” It is a thick slab of polished aluminum that matches the end of the premium Hemingway version of the Sensible Typewriter. Astrohaus founder / CEO Adam Leeb advised 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 acquired 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 remains to be a prototype, nevertheless it feels fairly polished and practically remaining 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 might be but. Happily, there’s a fairly low-commitment solution to get the perfect value if you happen to’re curious. Astrohaus says you may 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 12 months. That’s an extended methods out, however a buck isn’t a nasty funding if you happen to’re .
Replace, January 8 2024, 9:25PM ET: This text has been up to date to incorporate some hands-on impressions of the Wordrunner.
Author : tech365
Publish date : 2025-01-09 02:26:05
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