During these eleven months of waiting, the customs law here in Turkey changed numerous times. Because the keyboard cost more than 150 euros, I could no longer withdraw it from customs, and I had to arrange a company specialized in importing goods from customs. After some time preparing notarized documents and paying almost %50 of the base price I paid for the Advantage2 360 Pro, I received it last week. I spent the followings: Importantly, this thing is big. And it's not just wider than most keyboards people use nowadays: it's significantly taller than any other keyboard I've encountered. It's so tall that it doesn't fit in the standard keyboard desk trays I've found. The Kinesis keyboard has the full range of function keys, but they are not much easier to reach than on any other keyboard. For almost two decades, the small function keys were rubber domed atrocities that served their purpose, but felt really cheap, especially when compared to the bank-breaking mechanical key switches used in the rest of the keyboard. In the Advantage 2 iteration these keys are now also mechanical, but while appreciated, this does not genuinely make a world of difference.

How can you improve a design that has been out for almost 20 years? (The Advantage was released in 2002, which is also the current design of the Advantage2). People who used the Advantage2 loved their keyboards, most of which were nerds and geeks. They want more customizability, a sleeker and cleaner design that adapts to the latest trend. But they want all these without compromising on the well-established Design of the original Advantage2. After countless delays and waiting for almost eleven months, I received it last week. Unboxing & Accessories Inside the keyboard's box came four accessories: two braided USB-A to USB-C cables, a bridge connector to create the illusion of an Advantage2, and additional spare keycaps. A couple of comments on these accessories:

One-touch, onboard key remapping so you can customize the layout to suit your typing style and preferences

Turns out, they are much happier. Mine certainly are. All the system modifiers that normally require wrist rotations (Control, Alt, etc.) are in the thumb cluster on the Advantage 2. Because of this, your other fingers almost never leave the main cluster of keys and you get to type with more rhythm. It's hard to describe how amazing it is to not reach out for extra keys with your pinky so often. Bridge: The bridge is plastic and flimsy, and I didn't open it all. After all, I bought the Advantage360 mainly because I wanted to adjust the gap between the two halves. So, the bridge defeats the purpose. A connector could be helpful if you want to use it on your lap. But after you get your Advantage 2, there is quite a bit of key mapping you can do. If you want, you can rebind keys directly from the keyboard. It will then save off the modifications to its internal storage device and have it available to use going forward. I personally moved all the arrows keys around to one side of the keyboard, but left the rest of the keys untouched. It was extremely easy and intuitive to switch keys from the keyboard itself. One question I had in mind was whether Bluetooth would introduce any lagging. But it works surprisingly excellent. The keyboards wake up from sleep immediately, and you barely feel any latency. It works like it's wired. There was only one issue that I've seen recently. I restarted macOS, and I couldn't type because Bluetooth was disabled. Somehow, plugging a cable into my Advantage360 also didn't work out. I wasn't sure whether it was a Firmware issue or a limitation of ZMK. I'll update the blog post if I find out the main reason. Advantage2 vs Advantage360 With the all-new SmartSet Programming Engine, Advantage2 features powerful programming tools designed to let you customize the keyboard to boost your productivity.I realize that this question has been asked (and answered) a few times before in various form but still - Anyone prefers the Advantage 2 over the 360 and if so why? In time I guess we will see non US versions of the 360 as well, but it seems that could be some time for that and patience might not be my best ability. The Advantage2 features low-force Cherry MX Quiet Red mechanical key switches, the rubber function keys (found on the original Advantage) have been replaced with Cherry ML low-force, tactile mechanical key switches, and our signature home row keys are in the new Kinesis Blue.