X-Bows® Surfing Split Ergonomic Keyboard--PRE-ORDER I

I miss it when I have to use other keyboards

I have used this keyboard for 2 years now, on and off. It has certainly helped with my RSI issues, and is much more ergonomic for typing than a standard KB. That is the main point and praise for this KB. It works, it will help your hands.

There are a few minor things I didn't like: Middle enter button is easy to accidentally hit, delete button is mapped to backspace by default. It is also not great for gaming, as games assume standard layout and keys are spaced awkwardly for that use case, but that's probably not why anyone is buying this KB. I also regret getting the linear red switches, after trying them I would have preferred browns for typing.

Great set up and love my key boards

I own x-bows lite and now nature. I'm only sorry I didn't bought the knight/lite on my first purchase. This keyboards solve my biggest issue with standard keyboards where spacebar is too long and takes valuable space for additional thumb keys, and for that are best value for money

This is my 5th x-bows order. This one arrived smelling like cigarettes, which is concerning, but everything works great.

It's great to be back. I wish my keyboard was working as expected w/ QMK / Vial, but it isn't being recognized. I'll probably figure it out eventually...I just wish it worked already. Besides that, I love the layout and ergonomics. This is my 3rd one. First one was from Kickstarter that eventually had a switch go bad and was replaced. Then another switch went out on that one, so I soldered a switch/key from the 1st keyboard into this one, which fixed it. The I spilled coffee on it...Hopefully, I'm more careful w/ this one!

Love this keyboard! I mean, it's visually kind of hideous but it feels great to type on. :) The Gateron beer switches are a noticeable improvement over the stock browns that came with my other X-Bows keyboards. Plus with the solid acrylic case, it feels like a premium product. People sometimes complain about "cheap" feeling construction--this is the opposite!

I haven't tried the wireless operation yet, but it was super easy to set up wired. The tool they use for programming the keyboard is dead simple to use and works great.

I've been using x-bows keyboards since the Kickstarter. I decided to get the crystal limited edition due to wanting a wireless option, and because it's beautiful! I couldn't be happier with it. I had planned to pull it apart and lube the switches, but the gateron beers were smooth enough with the factory lube. The acrylic frame is SOLID, and the combination of that, the keycaps, the stabs and the switches make a pleasant thock right out of the box.

I thought I was going to miss the numpad and F1-F12 keys, but the compact ortholinear layout make entering numbers with the normal number keys super easy. On top of that, the right spacebar combined with the number keys serve as the F-keys, which is easier than a normal layout.

The x-bows layout does take a bit of getting used to, but you owe it to yourself to give it a try. I don't think I can go back to a keyboard without backspace, shift, and enter keys in the center, not that I'd want to. I'm also excited to be able to edit the key mapping and lighting relatively easily now that they've migrated to QMK firmware.

I have used a "standard" layout keyboard for over 40 years, so this layout takes some getting used to, but I am getting used to it surprisingly quickly. The layout is great and definitely reduces excess reach for keys. The silent red keys feel wonderful and are quiet enough for work. I have also remapped several keys using the QMK Configurator website and the QMK Toolkit. It is comfortable and customizable and I really like it!

I love and use my X-bows ergo keyboard so much that I wore out my first cord pretty fast. Luckily the cords are replaceable so I ordered more, unfortunately, I blundered when placing my order (selecting the wrong variety of cord) but was pleasantly surprised when I reached out and was able to have my order quickly and easily rectified! I could not be more pleased with my experience! A+ for X-Bows.

I have been using the new clear version of xbow for the last couple of weeks and its wonderful. This is the third xbows keyboard ive ordered, they are all fantastic. Well made, pretty quick to learn the layout, and very good to my wrists. I used to have very sensitive wrists and arms but with xbows my wrist pain has faded away and is now very rare.

I have this keyboard for a bit more then week, so a bit too early for any thorough review.
Anyway, I think I already have something to share. Some background first: I'm professional programmer for 30 years. Mostly using Emacs editor for my daily work. I've already had few RSI episodes, but recently it got worse: pain in my finger joints and metacarpus.

So I started to look for solution. I thought about something like Microsoft or Logitech ergonomic keyboards, but I gave up for two reasons: first, having some experience with mechanical switches I did not want membrane any more. Second: my biggest problem with regular keyboard is Crtl key, which is located as it was the least-used one, not almost-the-most... And those two models do not change anything about it.
Keyboards like EgroDox or Dygma scared me: both with price and with learning curve, which I was afraid to be close to vertical.

I tried 3 various mechanical keyboards in various layouts - but still non-ergo. The fatigue from typing was surely smaller, but, well, I expected something more.
Then, I decided to try x-bows. The selling point for me was Ctrl key placed in the middle. And the fact, that the rest of the layout looked pretty familiar.

First day... ohhhh.... it was a little nightmare... I was mistyping every single word. Typing speed dropped from something like 40-50 to maybe 15.
But this was exactly what I expected. Besides, Ctrl under thumb was such a relief...
In maybe 3 days it was much better, but still slower than before. I need to use typing-tutors to reprogram my muscle-memory.But it gets better with every day. After a week I'm back at 40-50 wpm, but still mistyping more often than I would like to. I expect I will manage to make it better with more practice.

BUT, most important thing is that I'm much better with my RSI aliment. Pain in finger joints is gone. Pains in metacarpus: much smaller and the tendency continues.
Most visible result is my left pointing finger: for a long time, I was not able to bend it to the full extent (relative to the same finger on my right hand). Now I still cannot, but the range I can bend it has significantly grown (50% maybe). I wish I did not make any pictures before, but I did not expect such significant change. Maybe red switches, which are so light to press have something to do with it. But I'm pretty sure it is not only that. Entire layout causes less fatigue when typing. The enter and backspace keys in the middle is something I like very much - despite it takes a while (a decent while...) to get used to it.

This is the most important point. Now some "less important". Build quality is excellent in my opinion. Let's hope it will be as durable as it seems to be. Key-caps are ABS, but it feels much better under your fingers than other ABS key-caps I've tried, e.g. from Keychron. No sticky, rubber-like feeling. I don't like keycaps fonts, but it has absolutely no importance for me - I touch-type: don't have to look at them.. ;)
I do like they left dedicated function-keys row and that function keys are in groups separated by small gap - like in traditional keyboard.

This keyboard has no dedicated Home and End keys. Some people seem not to notice it before purchase. For me it was not a big problem: the keyboard has QMK firmware, so you can remap keys to have home/end anywhere you want (default is F+PgUp/Down).
Besides in Emacs I'm used to use other key-combination for home/end. But for some people it may be a real pain in adaptation phase.

If you consider buying it, you must be aware that this keyboard is, by design, a compromise between ergonomic and traditional layout. For me it seems to work: it is traditional enough not to make me throw it away after 1 day fight and ergonomic enough to give visible results.

I need few more weeks to be sure, but right now I think I will not get back to traditional skewed-keyboards any more.

X-Bows is an Excellent keyboard, solved a few pains I've had when typing over time.
The layout takes a few days to get used to but after that - typing speed and comfort drastically increased.

I've ordered already x2 keyboards (X-Bows Knights, Brown Gateron Switches) for home and work usage, very satisfied from them both.
The 1 year old keyboard is missing lights on 3 keys, probably a glitch but I've enjoyed the keyboard so much so it didn't really bother me.

The wrist rest in my opinion is a must have for every keyboard purchase since there is a need to elevate the hands while typing, the keyboard is quite high due to it's metal base so fingers must be aligned on the same height of the keys - I've bought x2 of those wrist rests for home and work as well, they are sturdy and comfortable.

Using the QMK Toolbox application is an amazing companion for that keyboard, it supports higher levels of customization, specially for the centered keys which made me very productive.

All in all this is an excellent keyboard and I'll recommend it to anyone who types a lot and/or suffers from hands pains/discomfort.

Ever since I started using the X-Bow Nature Keyboard, all of the pain in my wrists have disappeared

After having some minor wrist pain I switched over to using the X-Bows. 3 months later my wrist pain is gone. I actually have ordered 3 of these totally for my 2 setups and 1 to keep as a backup.

One of my keyboards got lost in shipping and they sent me another one even though we never found the one lost in shipping. Really great product and great customer service.

Hope this company is around next time I need to buy a keyboard if my backup breaks.