Wai Hon's Blog

Niz Micro 82 Keyboard Review

2021-12-04

For many years, I’ve used full-size keyboards, but they’ve presented a couple of recurring ergonomic problems: the mouse feels too far away from the typing area, and I often find mouse movement to the left restricted when it hits the keyboard. These issues have led me to explore smaller keyboard layouts. The legendary HHKB is one I’ve heard about, but I’m concerned about adapting to life without dedicated arrow keys or relying on navigation like hjkl.

The Research

After some research, I concluded my two requirements:

  1. 75% layout
  2. silent switches.

75% is a fairly new keyboard layout. There are not many choices in the market (which might be a good thing).

Finally, I picked Niz Micro 82 (35g) because:

  1. It comes with electrostatic capacitance (EC) switches. I would like to try them.
  2. It provides the option to have no RGB lighting, which is a negative feature to me, even if I can turn it off.
  3. It has good reviews on the Internet.

The 75% Layout

The 75% layout gave more room for the mouse and solved my original headache. I can reach the arrow keys at a shorter distance and get rid of the INS key that I don’t use but mishit occasionally.

However, there were issues in the first week:

  1. I could not locate the arrow keys accurately.
  2. I could not hit the right shift key accurately.
  3. I missed the Numpad.

I wondered if I should get a less aggressive keyboard like a TKL. Fortunately, issues 1 and 2 were gone after a month. My muscle memory has adjusted to the new keyboard.

The EC Switches

The 35g EC switches are incredibly silent and comfortable to type. The “silent red” is the closest Cherry MX switch to it, IMO.

I sometimes misfired a key while “placing” my finger on it in the first two weeks. The problem disappeared gradually with time. It has not happened in the last two weeks!

Conclusion

Overall, I much prefer this 75% EC keyboard to my old 100% Filco Ninja Majestouch-2 (Brown Switch).

The primary challenge is the loss of the Numpad’s ability for simple one-handed number touch-typing. This isn’t easily resolved. Potential workarounds include simply getting used to the new layout, leveraging Fn key combinations for numbers, custom reprogramming the keyboard, adding a standalone Numpad, or adopting a split keyboard setup with a Numpad in between.