If you have a wireless keyboard with a touchpad that lets you control your PC from across the room, chances are it’s a Logitech K400. Framework CEO Nirav Patel is betting that you hate using it — enough to buy Framework’s spin on the idea when it arrives later this year.
He says that Logitech’s keyboard is precisely the reason he’s building a new one: “It’s that Logitech keyboard that everybody owns and nobody likes,” he tells me. “Everybody’s got the same keyboard, nobody likes that keyboard, and so we figured we can build a better keyboard.”
When I heard him say this in an interview, it was a joy. That’s partly because Patel is one of the most mild-mannered tech execs I’ve ever met, someone who never criticizes a competitor in public — and partly because he’s absolutely right. My own Logitech K400, with its squishy buttons and bulky hollow plastic build, feels like a necessary evil rather than a device I actively like.
Is Framework’s version any good? I was skeptical, because it’s based on the Framework Laptop 12’s keyboard, and my colleague Antonio gave that keyboard a “C.”
But I actually brought my own Logitech K400 to Framework’s event, and I’ll tell you right now, typing feels way better than on those old membrane keys. With Framework’s, I got over 90 words per minute in a typing test on my very first try.
Photo by Victoria Barrios / The Verge
It didn’t feel as nice as the keyboard or haptic touchpad on Framework’s new Laptop 13 Pro, and I do wish it were backlit. (It has no backlight, to be clear.) The arrow keys are just OK, with two of them half-height rather than full.
Also, I wasn’t able to try it wirelessly at the event, only wired over USB-C, as the overall wireless radio environment there was terrible. (We had a lot of trouble connecting laptops to Wi-Fi or cellular hotspots there, too.) Also, the touchpad button press hadn’t been implemented yet, though tapping to click worked fine.
Overall, it feels speedy and responsive, if not as solid and premium yet as high-end wireless keyboards and obviously not as satisfying as a mechanical one. I hope that means it’ll be exceptionally affordable — this might be the first Framework product I buy for myself! (The original Laptop 16 was a near miss for me.)
Photo by Victoria Barrios / The Verge
Patel says the company decided when building the Framework Desktop that no good couch keyboard / touchpads exist, and that the same mechanical components in Laptop 12 could fix that, just with a different dimension mousing surface. He also says Framework will release the control board so people can design their own wireless keyboards too.
That board uses a “highly power-efficient Nordic nRF54 radio and open source ZMK Firmware” to pair with up to four Bluetooth hosts at once, plus one USB-A dongle that fits in the back of the keyboard, and you can plug in a wired USB-C cable too. Plus, Framework is making an expansion card for its laptops (and Framework Desktop) that can hold the keyboard dongle flush, instead of having it stick out.
Patel says he’s announcing this one early so developers can start building accessories “like mounts for sim rigs.” Framework will release the external surface CAD files to give developers a head start, and the keyboard should ship later this year. We’re waiting on a price.
Update, April 21st: Added hands-on impressions and photos.
