The Detroit-based firm Astrohaus has been making its “distraction-free writing instruments” underneath the Freewrite identify for a couple of decade. To this point, these have all been standalone, single-purpose devices meant simply for drafting text, however Astrohaus is branching out at CES 2025. The corporate simply introduced a mechanical keyboard referred to 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 — it appears that evidently they’ve simply been working away at it this entire time. CEO Adam Leeb mentioned in a press launch that the corporate had been iterating and growing it for nearly 4 years.
Mechanical keyboards have largely turn into the area of players; the corporate wished to construct a tool for individuals who make their residing writing as an alternative. 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 quicker. That features discover and substitute, 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 lined with the intense pink joystick / button. It strikes in all 4 cardinal instructions, might be turned like a knob and may also be pressed in vertically to skip tracks, change quantity or pause your tunes.
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 steered 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.
In all probability probably the most visually placing factor concerning the Wordrunner are the 2 mechanical counters you’ll see up prime. One is a timer you should use for writing sprints or simply staying centered for a bit. Extra intriguing is the Wordometer dead-center on the prime of the keyboard. It’ll observe your phrases with its whopping eight-digit mechanical counter, and because it saves your phrase rely so long as you need, you might attempt to max it out sometime. After all, you can even reset it at any time or pause it when you don’t need it to advance when you’re chatting with associates or sending emails.
The mechanical keys are backlit and use Kailh switches; the keycaps are replaceable however the switches aren’t. It additionally has some sound dampening in-built so you should use 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 totally 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, that is heavy!” It is a thick slab of polished aluminum that matches the end of the premium Hemingway edition of the Smart Typewriter. Astrohaus founder / CEO Adam Leeb informed me that the corporate was capturing 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 rely 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 pink whenever 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, but it surely feels fairly polished and almost last to me.
Lastly, there’s the ever-present query of availability. Astrohaus is launching the Wordrunner on Kickstarter, because it has executed with most of its different {hardware} during the last 10 years. The marketing campaign ought to begin in February with early hen pricing, however we don’t know what that worth might be but. Thankfully, there’s a reasonably low-commitment technique to get one of the best worth when you’re curious. Astrohaus says you’ll be able to 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 yr. That’s a protracted methods out, however a buck isn’t a foul funding when you’re .
Replace, January 8 2024, 9:27PM ET: This text has been up to date to incorporate some hands-on impressions and images of the Wordrunner.
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