Closer Examination

The Truly Ergonomic CLEAVE is quite unlike anything else in the market today—especially now that the older Truly Ergonomic keyboard is discontinued. I'd say it's closest to a 75% keyboard in that it still provides you dedicated Fn keys and arrow keys while omitting the number and also combining the arrow key cluster with the alphanumeric key section. But this would be doing it injustice, given there are 91 keys here, actually more than you would get on the standard 87-key TKL form factor which is theoretically larger. Perhaps I should have said longer instead given the CLEAVE is wider than usual and makes use of this to provide 6-7 rows depending on how you interpret the bottom rows. This increased key count as well as the non-split nature of the keyboard differentiates the CLEAVE from the typical ergonomic keyboard too, so it's best to treat this as its own entity.

Truly Ergonomic has gone with an aluminium alloy frame and an ABS plastic case that make for a relatively low profile chassis together, while still feeling extremely sturdy. The contrast of black with the speckled gray/green that the company calls Space-Gray also provides a nice touch here and then we get to the palm rests—not wrist rests, mind you—at the bottom which are the same comfortable foam-filled PU pieces I liked on the predecessor. The absence of a top case panel piece, which is purely a design choice, allows the keycaps to be floating and this also helps Truly Ergonomic to put out a re-designed key layout, based on findings and customer feedback over the past 5+ years. We still get a columnar layout of keys in two segments angled with ergonomics in mind but then there are modifier keys placed towards the bottom at the middle to work as thumb clusters. These are heavily-used keys including Space (two of them here), Enter, Shift, Delete, and Backspace that are within reach of your thumbs and/or index fingers rather than a stretched pinky. There are also a few program-specific keys we will get to later on, but suffice to say that there will be a learning curve here given lots of keys are not where you would find them on a more typical keyboard. The keycaps predominantly have single-legends placed in the top center, with the number key row having the universal secondary legends alongside the primary ones. Then we see some keyboard-specific legends underneath as on the Fn keys, and I will also mention the font used is consistent, clean, and well-sized given the backlighting feature aboard.


Turning the keyboard around, we see the usual certification badge in the middle of the ABS case that comes shaped as the keyboard itself for a small Easter egg. There are no keyboard feet here for additional elevation options and we instead get five large rubber pads to help prevent the keyboard from sliding around on your desk. Note the fixed cable jutting out the middle here and also the three cable routing options integrated in the plastic case. These come with nibs to help secure the cable in place depending on which one you go with, providing better cable management whether you have a mouse alongside the keyboard to the left or right. Choosing either left or right channels also allows for the keyboard to be placed directly below a laptop or tablet too. These channels are correctly sized for the cable itself to where I am fine seeing the generic PU insulation used here without any fabric braiding/sleeving employed—there should not be any durability issues over the years simply from the materials used. The cable, all black to match the keyboard, is the usual 6 feet in length and terminates in a USB Type-A connector that requires at least a USB 2.0 port on your PC for power and data alike.


A look from the side shows the built-in elevation of the keyboard, which I would classify as a low to medium profile and can benefit from the integrated palm rest here. The CLEAVE also uses a customized keycap profile that uses the OEM provides as a base but then tweaks things further as we saw on the previous Truly Ergonomic keyboard too. Indeed, one of the largest changes is some keys and columns are taller than others to account also for how your fingers are not all at the same height when naturally resting. Some of this execution can feel especially strange and results in untested aftermarket keycap compatibility, but note that you would not want to change over from the stock keycaps until you are extremely comfortable with touch typing on the CLEAVE. It's a shame then that the keycaps—after having removed some easily using the provided keycap puller tool—end up being thin ABS with laser etched legends. While it helps with backlighting support, as seen above, these would pick up signs of use sooner rather than later, and is a compromise you will have to be aware of. Truly Ergonomic does say there is a UV coating to help mitigate these issues.


The Truly Ergonomic CLEAVE is an optical mechanical keyboard in that it uses optical switches throughout. At the time of launch it appears that the switches came with the company's own branding on them. But retail units such as this review sample are clearly using Outemu optical switches with the company clarifying that the pandemic would have resulted in delays and increased costs to the adoption of custom first-party switches. There are three options available in the form of the Outemu Optical Red linear switch, the Outemu Optical Brown tactile switch, and the Outemu Optical Blue tactile + clicky switches used here in a north-facing orientation. The larger keycaps still end up using modifiers and we get unlubed plate-mounted stabilizers that don't feel great if you are used to better quality stabilizers.


The switch remover tool is handy to remove the hot-swappable switches off the PCB, although I will note that these switches are some of the hardest to get out and require more force than you'd think. This might also be why, despite the walls around the stem that are meant more for dust and spill resistance but also can help with keycap stability, I noticed the keycaps were wobbling more than usual. Perhaps it's the thinner ABS used on the keycaps, or perhaps it's simply tolerance issues on this combination. Removing a switch also provides a good look at the hot-swap socket complete with the SMD LED here, allowing for other compatible optical switches to fit in here. The replacement switches from before make more sense now and you could also go with a custom switch configuration whereby you have, say, tactile switches for the alphanumeric section and linear switches elsewhere.