Glove80 vs Kinesis 360

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

Glove80 vs Kinesis 360, Which One to Buy?

which to get depends on you

Glove80 is bluetooth, with low-profile switch. Super light weight. comes with a nice carrying case.

Kinesis 360 comes in 2 versions. Wired vs bluetooth (the Pro version). They look exactly the same, but entirely different in how easy to program the keys. (they use different firmware.)

Glove80 Kinesis 360 Pro Kinesis 360 Wired Kinesis Advantage 2
bluetooth / wired bluetooth bluetooth wired wired
super light switch option 35g, low-profile ๐Ÿ‘ 35g ๐Ÿ‘ 35g ๐Ÿ‘ 45g
full sized function keys โœ… no no tiny buttons
on-the-fly key programing no no โœ… โœ…
appearance โ—† ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿ‘ โ—†
one piece or two two two two one
portable comes with a carrying case ๐Ÿ‘ โ—† โ—† โ—†
cost (as of 2024-01) $400 $480 $450 $340

My Preferences

Typing Comfort and key Resistance

For me, the most important thing now is light linear switch, such as 35g activation force. So, the Kinesis Advantage2 Keyboard is out.

On typing, i prefer the Glove80 over Kinesis 360. Because Glove80 got low profile keys, and i got 35g light switches. I also have 35g switches on my Kinesis 360, of normal height. Which is also very good. But between the two, the low-profile wins.

Price

Kinesis Advantage2 Keyboard is the cheapest. But if price is really a concern, i'd go with X-Bows Knight Keyboard. Far cheaper, but except no dish surface, no tenting.

Full Sized Function Keys

What about full sized function keys F1 to F12? I need them. And only Glove80 has them, but by default just F1 to F10. But, these days i have a fancy macro keypad, the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard V2, so i do not need function keys as much. But if you are only going with just one keyboard, Glove80 is best here.

Wired vs Wireless

For wired vs wireless, on my desktop, i want wired, no bluetooth, because bluetooth always have minor problems of interruption, and battery charging annoyance. But for the keyboard i use at bedside, it must be wireless. Because i constantly need to connect to my mac laptop and Windows laptop.

One-piece vs two-piece?

I actually prefer one-piece. I don't much care about adjustable tending, or adjustable distance of separation. I don't like the extra wire connecting the two parts, nor if they use bluetooth. Two-piece also get me fidgeting position problem, and hard to put in a backpack.

Which is most portable?

Glove80 comes with a special designed carrying case, free. It is the most portable.

Dish Surface Keyboards