I had been waiting to do this review ever since I saw news of the Moonlander last year, but between COVID, the chip shortage, especially of the STMicroelectronics MCU used here, as well as the Moonlander being extremely popular in sales, I had to wait. Paying customers come first, and in a way that already tells me that this is a selling product where the feature set outweighs the cost for many, which the active community making hardware mods as well as software layouts further confirms—always a good thing for a small company that clearly does not relish economies of scale.

With the ErgoDox EZ from four years ago, we saw a lot of novel options that are still barely being adopted by other split keyboards today. The ErgoDox EZ Shine came in at $325 then, having included accessories that otherwise cost more when purchased separately. There were many SKUs then, and ZSA has decided to keep things simpler here with two color options, but then introduced hot-swapping switches with ten switch options to further add complexity to the Moonlander versions. I do miss the blank keycap option, and the adoption of the irregular keycap design on the thumb cluster modules means you are unlikely to get aftermarket support for the Moonlander to begin with.

There are several improvements with the Moonlander over the ErgoDox EZ, Shine or otherwise, and it is also a far superior keyboard to other ergonomic implementations at lower price points, split or otherwise. The portable nature coupled with the soft case is quite nice, and the ability to move the thumb cluster based on your hand size is so good I can't believe this is not a standard option with all such split keyboards. USB Type-C for the keyboard connectivity is also nice, as is full backlighting support. The folding wings are great as well, although slightly wider would have been better. You do lose the feet on the extreme left and right sides, with ZSA allowing add-on feet instead, including on the back.

The Moonlander comes into a market that is no longer new to such keyboards, with several other options having come out in the last few years. That said, I struggle to think of any that have the overall feature set and appeal of the Moonlander, which is why the $365 price tag still feels justifiable. While clearly based on the sales and community support, there are still some issues which get put under a microscope when asking for $365, even if that includes worldwide shipping. I appreciate the innovations and award as much, but some software improvements at least are required before I am happy to wholly recommend it to someone looking for an ergonomic keyboard experience. While a rewarding experience, just make sure you are in it for the long run since the entry barrier can be steep.