Packaging

At this time, the only place to get the ErgoDox EZ is via their website and thus shipping is a factor here in the packaging segment. I received two separate packages- one for the keyboard, and the other for the wrist rest we will take a look at shortly. The keyboard box shipping packaging was average at best, with no packing material outside of the product box but the box itself doing a good job of keeping the contents inside safe. Said box is extremely clean with an illustration of the keyboard on the front and the company website on the back in a black and white color scheme. Open this box and we are greeted to a dual compartment chamber with cables in the front and the rest in a plastic clamshell.

Accessories

The ErgoDox EZ, as with most other split keyboards, requires two cables- one to connect the two halves, and the other to connect the keyboard to the computer. The latter is a male to male mini-USB to Type-A cable in white to go with the color scheme of the Shine special edition, and the former uses a male to male TRRS connector on either end. A TRRS (tip, ring, ring, sleeve) connector is borrowed from the phone/audio jack world and I personally would like to see this replaced with USB, say, Type-C as soon as possible. I understand why they went this route, however, as the original Erogodox design uses the same design and any change from the known design would have risked not getting the trust of people funding a campaign. That said, the company and product are now fairly well established so this should be on their list of things to be changed/updated. While you are at it, go USB Type-C for both interfaces as mini-USB is not really that popular anyway.

The clamshell opened reveals a printout of the default layout and the two pre-programmed layers for the keyboard as it arrives out of the box. Yes, the ErgoDox EZ is fully programmable with multiple layers and having a printout of the default layout was a very nice touch. I attached this to the side of my monitor and it helped cut down the orientation time, and get used to touch typing the keyboard a lot quicker than without. The inclusion of this printout is being rolled out to every new customer/order from the near future.


There are shaped compartments in the clamshell for the keyboard halves, and a smaller compartment in the middle for some more accessories. A plastic ziplock bag here contained six washers and two replacement keycaps. The keycaps are doubleshot ABS in white with black legends from Signature Plastics- possibly the best keycap manufacturer in the world now. These two, F and J, have small nubs on them to go along with most keyboards that have F and J marked physically to aid in touch typing. Note that you only get these if you go with printed keycaps, as there is an option to also get non printed keycaps as well which in turn are made of PBT plastic instead. So if you are comfortable with touch typing and willing to spend some time programming the layout, go with the PBT non printed keycaps.


One of the novel additions from ErgoDox EZ to the ErgoDox design is their tilt/tent kit. This is a set of three, per half, aluminum legs with spring-loaded finger-tight screws. They come pre-installed on the keyboard, although you might want to remove them and add in the washer in between if you so desire. The washer adds in a smoother turn to the legs and allow a lock at any position, as opposed to step-wise positions from the regular setup. There is a rubber foot on each leg, and this is white on the Shine to go along with the color scheme. The regular editions have a black feet and are an optional purchase.


The final set of accessories included with the Shine, and also an optional purchase for the regular editions, are the Wing wrist rests- another unique feature from the ErgoDox EZ team. These are a set of two contoured solid silicone pieces, and the Shine version is white to go with the color scheme again. However, this does mean that the tacky surface attracts dirt and grime and remains visible on the white background easily. Being silicone, it is a simple wash and wipe away from clean again but it remains a compromise.