When most people think about keyboards, there’s a chance that many of them think of the regular full-sized keyboards with a number pad on the right, a row of function keys, a row of numeric keys, your alphas, modifiers, and so on. However there are keyboards of various sizes, and if you’re after something ultra portal, Kumo might be a keyboard worth checking out.
Launched on Kickstarter by TheVan Keyboards, Kumo is a 40% mechanical keyboard. As you can see in the video above, this is a very small and compact keyboard. For those following mechanical keyboard news, Kumo is the successor to TheVan’s MiniVan keyboard that was launched a while back which was also another 40% keyboard.
The Kickstarter for the Kumo will require a bit of self-assembly but it will come with all the parts you need. The PCB itself is a hotswap-style PCB which means that you can change switches on the fly simply by unplugging them and you won’t have to worry about soldering. The switches are also of the MX mount variety which means that it should be compatible with the majority of third-party keycaps in case the default ones aren’t your style.
Now as you might have noticed, a 40% keyboard lacks certain keys, such as a function and number row. These have to be accessed by pressing the Fn button that takes some getting used to. However if you are used to it and you wouldn’t mind getting your hands on it, Kumo is currently priced at $150 with an estimated delivery of January 2019.
Filed in . Read more about Crowdfunding, Keyboards and Kickstarter.