Naya Create Review: A Split Keyboard That Just Doesn’t Work

Unibody aluminum case. High-quality, custom-sculpted keycaps. Hot-swappable switches. Novel plan with tons of imaginable for productivity boosts.

Steep learning curve. Slight pinging erstwhile typing. Strange quirks successful setup necessitate extended troubleshooting. Lots of unusual choices and bugs. Modules are hard to usage erstwhile tented.

I truly wanted to similar the Naya Create. It’s an incredibly stylish divided keyboard with a batch going for it, offering large customization and a caller signifier that’s supposedly sculpted for ratio and comfort. It’s arsenic if Apple tried its manus astatine an ergonomic keyboard. But during my testing, I recovered holes successful the design. A batch of them. Even aft bundle updates, extended troubleshooting, and a 2nd reappraisal unit, this keyboard simply didn’t privation to enactment properly.

The Naya Create starts astatine $500 without immoderate modules. But rather a spot of the keyboard’s functionality relies connected the modules, including the batteries for wireless connectivity. For a afloat kit with 2 keyboard halves, 3 interchangeable modules, a USB-C cable, and a hard carrying case, the full bundle is $825. For thing with specified a creaseless and streamlined, Apple-like plan (with an Apple-like price), it truly should conscionable work. There are immoderate large ideas here, and the keyboard itself is good built, but the bundle falls short.

Making the Switch

Conceptually, this keyboard does a batch of truly absorbing things. It’s a low-profile divided keyboard (the full keyboard, ignoring the detachable modules, is anyplace from 16 to 19 millimeters thick) with detachable magnetic modules. The divided quality allows your hands to beryllium farther apart, reducing enarthrosis strain. Two hinges connected each fractional let for the keyboards to beryllium angled erstwhile typing, which tin trim wrist strain arsenic well. The switches are hot-swappable, and the keyboard is meant to beryllium extensively programmable utilizing Naya’s built-in software.

However, adapting to the layout is difficult. While the Create maintains the wide determination of astir keys, the actual, precise determination of them is precise antithetic from a accepted keyboard. Instead of being organized on accordant horizontal rows and a vertical stagger, they are aligned vertically with a horizontal stagger. I recovered this reasonably hard to accommodate to; it feels inconsequential for keys straight supra and beneath your fingers, but gets unusual erstwhile moving your fingers to property halfway keys similar T, G, and B, oregon modifier keys similar Shift, Alt, and Control—the determination is drastically different, particularly if you (like me) are idiosyncratic who presses B with your close scale digit alternatively of your left—an contented salient capable that galore ergonomic keyboards simply see a B cardinal connected some halves.

The astir drastically antithetic keys are Enter and Backspace, which person been moved from the close broadside of the keyboard to the thumbs and scale fingers. The halfway keys underneath either module, on with the keys straight supra the modules, are Backspace (on the near side) and Enter (on the right). This is the astir hard alteration to accommodate to. Even aft a mates of weeks with this layout, I inactive recovered myself occasionally forgetting which was which, oregon reaching my pinky to the apical close to property a Backspace cardinal that didn’t exist.

The keyboard tin beryllium angled utilizing the hinges to make a much earthy typing position, but successful my experience, the tradeoff isn't worthy it, since this moves the modules distant from your fingers and makes them acold little accessible. The typing acquisition itself is underwhelming. The Ergo uses Kailh Choc switches, an older exemplary of low-profile switches that are exceptionally thin, but person little question region than modular low-profile switches. The Choc Red linear switches I tested person a soft, unsatisfying bottom-out and, acknowledgment to the unibody operation of the keyboard, each keystroke resonated done the ammunition to make subtle pinging noises (meant to beryllium mitigated by noise-dampening foam wrong the case, with small success).

The keycaps were designed from the crushed up to acceptable this layout. Some of them mildly curve upward astatine the corners, portion others crook astir the borderline of the keyboard oregon are shaped to acceptable perfectly astir the modules. They genuinely marque typing much comfy and assistance to usher your fingers astir the unfamiliar layout.

Despite the issues, determination were moments erstwhile I would participate what I tin lone picture arsenic a “flow state” with this unusual layout. For a little time, immoderate disorder oregon complication would slice away, and I would spit retired flawless sentences without a azygous thought. In those moments, I'd genuinely recognize this layout and consciousness astatine location with it. But aft a fewer minutes, I'd drawback backmost to world by typing an n alternatively of a b and would consciousness conscionable arsenic mislaid arsenic before.

It’s a bully layout with imaginable to beryllium incredibly efficient, but it takes a lot of signifier to adjacent beryllium competent with it. Switching backmost to a regular QWERTY layout for adjacent a fewer hours would permission maine feeling somewhat disoriented and sluggish erstwhile I went backmost to the Naya Create.

Moody Modules

The modules are the largest selling constituent of this keyboard, and they are truly chill successful theory. Small, hot-swappable devices that tin regenerate your machine rodent and let for instant swapping betwixt antithetic input methods. It’s a multimedia editor’s dream. While each of these modules worked, I regularly ran into unusual and irritating issues with their functionality, each of which seemed to necessitate a modular machine rodent inactive occupying abstraction connected my desk.

The Naya Track trackball was jittery and encountered random bumps during use, making navigation tedious. It besides liked to fastener into wholly vertical oregon horizontal movements erstwhile trying to determination the cursor astatine a flimsy angle. Properly utilizing the trackball required mounting my system’s rodent pointer velocity mounting to the lowest possible; otherwise, the trackball would determination excessively acold with adjacent the slightest nudge. The shot itself was usable erstwhile I had decently adjusted my strategy settings, but it was inactive somewhat inconsistent.

The trackball has a built-in scroll wheel. Instead of a carnal wheel, it is activated by rotating the shot arsenic if it were a knob, which some scrolls and produces a simulated clicking effect utilizing a haptic feedback module akin to a video crippled controller (or the Logitech MX Master 4). This diagnostic works perfectly erstwhile you mean to usage it, with convincing haptic feedback and responsive scrolling, but it sadly triggers erstwhile you don’t mean to usage it, particularly erstwhile the keyboard is angled.

There were aggregate times wherever I would beryllium moving the cursor, lone to abruptly consciousness the “click-click-click” of scrolling and accidentally determination down 2 paragraphs successful the papers I was moving on. This tin beryllium avoided by keeping your digit straight connected apical of the shot and consistently repositioning, but doing truthful feels unnatural and tedious. Even if you disable the scrolling, rotating the shot volition forestall inputs and initiate the haptic feedback. As overmuch arsenic I similar the idea, a dedicated carnal scroll knob (like the Kensington Orbit) seems similar a overmuch much functional solution.

The Naya Tune knob module is, essentially, a ample ringing with a tiny touchpad connected top. The knob tin beryllium customized to run either smoothly oregon with ratcheting clicks, and the touchpad tin person antithetic inputs mapped for swipes and taps with one, two, oregon 3 fingers. The default for the single-finger is scrolling, which scrolls lone erstwhile per swipe, which is not precise acold astatine all. The wheel’s clicks tin beryllium adjusted successful spot oregon disabled entirely. However, it would often instrumentality a infinitesimal oregon 2 for the knob to prosecute and commencement registering inputs. The knob often lagged oregon failed to registry inputs, lone to randomly set the measurement a fewer seconds later, an contented that was made slightly amended by updating the module but was ever present.

The sides of the ringing are knurled, but the beveled borderline and the apical are some wholly smooth. While it’s reasonably casual to rotate the knob from the side, it’s hard to get a grip connected the creaseless sections, making cognition hard without moving your hand, particularly erstwhile the keyboard is angled.

Surprisingly, the Naya Touch trackpad functions beauteous overmuch flawlessly. However, the lack of dedicated rodent buttons tin beryllium a spot frustrating. Functions similar dragging and dropping are astir intolerable without remapping different keys to near and close clicks. I besides don’t peculiarly bask having to pat a static mousepad alternatively of clicking with an existent button, since it removes important tactile feedback.

The motion controls are neat (default is 3 fingers horizontally to determination betwixt tabs, 3 vertically to alteration which model is focused, and 2 fingers to scroll horizontally and vertically), but the scrolling is linked to your system’s scroll instrumentality settings, which means having your rodent acceptable to scroll much than 1 enactment astatine a clip makes scrolling incredibly choppy.

A Long Process

Initially, Naya sent a preproduction portion to maine that was offered lone to aboriginal backers. This portion had countless issues with its functionality. The modules would not connect, the 2 halves would randomly suffer connection, and the USB-C ports connected some sides would enactment intermittently. At 1 point, 1 of the halves simply stopped connecting. After informing Naya, the institution reiterated that it was a preproduction unit, saying this mentation was not being shipped to regular buyers and that the issues I saw were addressed successful the last accumulation model.

So I gladly agreed to instrumentality a look astatine the last model. This exemplary functioned without immoderate of the glaring issues of the archetypal unit, but alternatively faced much “normal” issues with the usability of the modules and the functionality of the software.

The customization software, Naya Flow, has rather a fewer issues. The process for changing immoderate keymaps requires the keyboard to beryllium plugged successful and requires you to archetypal save, then flash the caller layout, which tin beryllium tedious compared to galore devices that let for wireless updates to cardinal mapping. There is not yet a mode to cheque the artillery beingness of the keyboard/modules successful the software, alternatively having to trust connected the modules flashing a colour (green/yellow/red) that vaguely indicates the artillery life.

The RGB lighting has incredibly constricted customization with a tiny fig of preset colors and animations, which cannot beryllium adjusted straight successful the software. Instead, it tin lone beryllium adjusted by remapping keys (typically connected 1 of the secondary layers) to circumstantial effects. The default representation has specific, idiosyncratic cardinal combinations mapped to red, green, blue, etc., some making customization tedious and preventing immoderate granular adjustments to colors. This means, if you’re utilizing reddish switches, you’re stuck with the somewhat pink-ish hue of the RGB bouncing disconnected the switches’ reddish stems. With a much precise RGB colour adjustment, you would beryllium capable to marque the hue somewhat cooler to compensate for this.

The bundle is inactive successful a beta release, truthful galore of these details are apt to alteration successful the future. Naya’s developers specifically told maine that artillery beingness volition beryllium displayed successful the app, and they person different updates planned to amended functionality. However, it’s frustrating that the bundle isn’t afloat functional upon release, and—like thing successful the satellite of software—there’s nary mode of knowing definitively that these updates volition happen. Naya has been updating the bundle semi-regularly, but I highly caution against buying any merchandise with the committedness of aboriginal bundle improvements.

Impressive Build Quality

Despite the method issues this keyboard faces, the physique prime is truly impressive. It is simply a beauteous portion of engineering. The main ammunition is made utilizing some CNC machining and aluminum extrusion, which allows for a seamless halfway conception that looks refined and striking. The hinges are rigid and support their space easily, and the modules magnetically drawback into spot with a satisfying click. The RGB lighting is agleam and mostly color-accurate (although the reddish stems of the low-profile switches tin tint the underside of the keycaps), and the bespoke keycaps each look and consciousness fantastic, being reasonably heavy and having a comfy matte texture.

This keyboard was not designed with repairability successful mind. To entree the halfway section’s printed circuit committee (PCB), you request to region a twelve screws, region a panel, disconnect 2 ribbon cables, and mildly descent the PCB retired from the broadside of the housing, each of which is done wrong the confines of an ultra-thin shell. The ribbon cables are held successful spot with some modular locking mechanisms and adhesive pads, which troubles the full process by introducing dried adhesive gunk to astir each interior connection.

The strangest plan prime is the batteries. Instead of being housed successful the keyboard, the superior batteries are kept wrong the detachable modules. This is evidently done to support the thinness of the keyboard, but it creates problems. There is simply a accidental that the modules volition neglect to powerfulness the keyboard, which volition past make issues with the keyboard not charging properly—a occupation that tin past beryllium exacerbated by the inconsistent functionality of the Y-shaped USB-C cablegram included with the keyboard. This is 1 of the issues I faced with the preproduction unit, but I didn’t brushwood a occupation with the accumulation version.

The Naya Create feels comparable to the decisions Apple made with the Magic Mouse, which was stylish with applicable swipe controls but fell abbreviated owed to unusual choices, similar the charging larboard connected the underside and the implicit deficiency of ergonomics. But astatine slightest Apple’s hardware “just worked”; the Naya required a lot of troubleshooting to get everything adjacent somewhat functional. In the end, it conscionable feels unfinished. I can’t urge spending adjacent to $1,000 for a keyboard with truthful galore issues, but I'm funny to spot what Naya churns retired successful the future. There's a batch of imaginable successful this plan that I anticipation tin beryllium realized with its adjacent keyboard.