Here’s the pitch: What if you had a keyboard with actual physical keys, but it was also a touchscreen that could display all sorts of cool shit under your fingers while you type? This is what the Centerpiece aims to be. By putting transparent mechanical keyboard switches (co-developed with Gateron, a giant in the space) over a patented screen the company calls a Laminated DisplayCircuit Glass Stack, the Centerpiece will aim to be this best-of-both worlds.
The keyboard also comes with a number of perks that are increasingly standard in fancy mechanical keyboards: an aluminum case, and “gasket mounting” for the innards, which essentially functions as a suspension system for your fingers. It’s also a trendy “65%” style keyboard, which means it retains arrow keys, but has no numpad or function row. That, plus dedicated graphics hardware to run the screen. It is, however, missing “hot swap” keys, another increasingly common feature that lets you swap out switches with no soldering required. Considering the screen, it’s not a surprise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch
As for caveats, this is the first mechanical keyboard from Finalmouse, a gaming company which has previously focused on — you guessed it — mice. And the animations it displays will be distributed through a special Steam app, where creators can charge for their work, which means plenty of opportunity for jankiness and additional cost.
Last is the price. Normies might balk at $349 price tag the Centerpiece comes with, but if anything I’d say it’s almost suspiciously low. Many much simpler high-end keyboards go for prices well above that (owning in large party to small production runs). I’d be lying if I told you I haven’t spent in excess of $349 on far less sophisticated keyboards.
But if the Centerpiece manages a flashy piece of techno-art with a pretty unique gimmick and feel good to type on, $349 would be a reasonably reasonable price for a desk-defining gadget.
But the proof is in the pudding. The Centerpiece is slated to drop in early 2023, and it all comes down to what it’s actually like to type on. But as someone who already owns too many keyboards and more beyond that, this is one I’m just itching to try.
