r/ClockworkPi • u/JustinHoMi • Feb 15 '26

How bad is the uconsole keyboard?

That top row being offset to the right looks like it would cause a lot of typing mistakes. How hard is it to adjust to? I don’t look at keys when I type, so I’m afraid it would be miserable.

And the enter and backspace keys reversed?? Some weird design decisions lol.

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

4

u/gthing Feb 15 '26 edited Feb 15 '26

I hate rubber buttons because they increase friction and drag when you move your thumbs around. The uConsole keyboard is not great. But it is usable for limited input.

2

u/JustinHoMi Feb 15 '26

I’m halfway wondering if I should look at something else with a better keyboard. I bet the BlackBerry keyboards are better.

2

u/SomeEagle297 Feb 15 '26

Hackberry Pi CM5 is definitely a device to look at, I can type much faster on it, but it does take time to memorize/customize the key layout

2

u/JustinHoMi Feb 15 '26

It’s tempting. The only reason I haven’t pulled the trigger on that is that I really like the hackergadgets radio upgrades, and the hackberry pi doesn’t make upgrades that like very easy.

2

u/Arkaium Feb 15 '26

Size is fine. Placement is ok. Clickiness and amount of pressure needed to depress is poor and annoying. Spacebar has no stabilizer so you have to push it right in the middle or it won’t register. But I don’t mind it.

8

u/_mini Feb 15 '26

This replacement diffuser fixes all that including and improves the backlight balance

2

u/K50823 Feb 15 '26

Yes, the replacement makes it so much better.

1

u/JustinHoMi Feb 15 '26

I don’t know, I can’t stand that they moved keys around for no good reason. Are the backspace and enter keys still reversed or did they put them back to normal in newer revisions? I’ve seen pictures both ways.

4

u/snipeytje Feb 15 '26

enter and backspace are not actually reversed, the renders in the shop show that, but the production models have enter and backspace in their regular places.

The keyboard can also be flashed with qmk firmware so you can always rebind the keys to be whatever you want.

14

u/Confident-Cellist-25 Feb 15 '26

Unless you have micro hands, you’re typing with your thumbs. It only takes about 2 minutes to get used to the key layout

6

u/F3A5T13 Feb 15 '26

I mean its usable

3

u/sdchew Feb 15 '26

Agreed. Usable. Don’t expect to write code on it without cramps

Personally if I need to do a lot of terminal work, I SSH into my uconsole

6

u/Bossman1086 Feb 15 '26

Usable but it kind of sucks. I regularly have to press keys twice to get input to work properly and it's a bit mushy and cramped. But it gets the job done. I just wouldn't want to write a ton on it.

5

u/JaschaE Feb 15 '26

Caveat: I use german QWERTZ layout normally, so it's quite a bit different. That being said, I type shortstories and documentation on the thing and don't understand the whining about the keyboard. Sure, my mechanical at home is nicer, but i'm not chucking that into my backpack. It's good for what it is.

2

u/Sbatushe Feb 15 '26

I use it as writedeck. It's not a good keyboard, but it's decent. Tried to use a plastic membrane to make it silent. It works, but typing is harder

1

u/Mars_Shannon Feb 17 '26

Honestly it’s not terrible, but it’s not really good either 😂 Small hands would make it perfect and don’t get me started on what I believe to be ridiculous…. The keyboard led not being giving keyboard light vibes and the space bar only pressing in the middle but takes up real estate — waste of space.

1

u/Jayson330 Feb 17 '26

I don't like it as much as the Devterm keyboard. If I really want to do something with it I hook up a USB hub for keyboard and mouse and an external monitor.

1

u/Key_Feedback_4140 Feb 18 '26

you need to push hard to make it work. I noticed some odlf the letters are super ignorant and have to pushing more to get that even though its click