Hotswap
Ergonomic
Mechanical
Super compact
Until you see an Atreus in person, it's hard to comprehend just how compact it is. But don't let that tiny package fool you. This is a real mechanical keyboard, with full-travel keyswitches mounted in an anodized aluminum plate and the same generous 19mm key spacing you'll find on a traditional desktop keyboard. Inside, it's powered by the same chip that's inside an Arduino Leonardo. It's completely customizable and comes with firmware source code, as well as a graphical configuration tool.
Hotswap
Ergonomic
Mechanical
Super compact
Couldn't load pickup availability
Speed Copper Tactile
Kailh Speed Copper switches have an early actuation point and a nice tactile feel.
BOX White Clicky
Kailh BOX White switches make a satisfying click when you press them. Don't get these if you work in an open-plan office.
BOX Silent Linear
Kailh BOX Silent Linear switches are whisper-silent with a smooth keypress. They're great for gaming and steno.
No switches
If you love the Atreus form-factor, but want to install your own MX-mount switches and have a favorite keycap set already picked out, this is the choice for you. This keyboard comes with no switches or keycaps.
Kailh Speed Bronze
These 50g switches are lightweight, tactile, and clicky. All "Speed" switches feature an early actuation point, which means that your computer notices your presses sooner.
Kailh Noble Yellow Switches
These heavier 65g tactile, clicky switches are incredibly satisfying to press, but aren't dead silent.
The standard keycaps shipped with the Keyboardio Atreus are black, laser-engraved keys in the XDA profile. They're made out of PBT, a high-quality plastic beloved by keyboard enthusiasts for their resilience. The standard F and J keys installed on the keyboard include homing bars, but we also include extra F and J keys without homing bars with each Atreus.
The firmware powering all our keyboards, Kaleidoscope, is open source and freely available on Github. If you want to build complex macros, add in joystick emulation, change how the Atreus speaks USB, or make keys do things we haven't thought of yet, Kaleidoscope is where you'd start.
Kaleidoscope is incredibly powerful, but we've done our best to make it newbie-friendly. We built it on top of the Arduino core, to make it easy for folks who aren't familiar with embedded development or C++ to be able to do amazing things. At the same time, you're not restricted to the Arduino IDE when working with it. If vi or Emacs is your weapon of choice, everything's set up to build from the command line using standard tooling.
Kaleidoscope supports all the things you'd expect, like layouts stored in EEPROM, serial communications, full NKRO, mousekeys, and crazy USB tricks. Most new features can be added to Kaleidoscope as plugins, of which we have many already.
QMK, another popular open-source keyboard firmware also fully supports the Keyboardio Atreus.
Unless you're buying the 'barebones' model which comes with neither switches nor keycaps, your atreus comes fully assembled with your choice of several different kinds of switches.
All of our switches are made by Kailh, one of the best switch makers in the world. Kailh rates all of these switches for at least 70 million keypresses.
The Keyboardio Atreus features hot-swap sockets designed to let you remove the switches with a standard keyswitch puller (not included) and replace them with just about any MX-style switch, no soldering or disassembly required.
Very. At just 24.3 x 10 x 2.8cm (9.6 x 3.9 x 1.1 inches), it's easy to bring your keyboard with you everywhere.
To get a better sense of just how compact the Keyboardio Atreus is, you can print out this PDF:
Downloadable papercraft Keyboardio Atreus
(Make sure your computer is set to print things at actual size, rather than shrinking or stretching them to fit on a sheet of paper. It should fit on a standard sheet of A4 or letter / 8.5"x11" paper.)
Thanks to its customizable layout and layers (that work just like your laptop's "function" key, but better), the Atreus can fit far more than 104 keys of functionality in to just 44 keys. Read an introduction to the Atreus layout.
Until you see an Atreus in person, it's hard to comprehend just how compact it is. But don't let that tiny package fool you. This is a real mechanical keyboard, with full-travel keyswitches mounted in an anodized aluminum plate and the same generous 19mm key spacing you'll find on a traditional desktop keyboard. It connects to your computer or tablet over USB.
The Atreus’ layout puts all the keys in columns aligned to your fingers, so you never need to stretch or twist to reach a key. The keys are the same size as on a regular desktop keyboard, but they're laid out in a much more compact way that matches how your hands work. Everything you need is easy to reach.
The Keyboardio Atreus fits all the same functionality of a 104 key Keyboard into just 44 keys. The secret? Layers. With up to nine customizable layers available, you have access to every key you need (and then some), and can assign them where you want them.
With uniform DSA keycaps, you can customize your Atreus' physical layout just by popping off the keycaps and rearranging them.
From there, just open up Chrysalis, our free online configuration tool and tell the keyboard where you want each key. Dvorak, Colemak, or the layout that you just invented are all just moments away.
So…Is the Keyboardio Atreus your type?
Don’t be fooled by the number of keys, this is fully functional, wrist health friendly alternative to a tenkeyless/65 format keyboard. I’ve swapped the keycaps, switches, cable multiple times to suit my mood and I love this tiny keyboard more by the keystroke.
I first looked into the Atreus when I was looking for a travel alternative to my Model 100. I’m really used to the thumb based meta key layout and the build quality that Keyboardio has delivered with the model 100s and this keyboard does not disappoint.
Extremely solid, minimalist construction. It's all very polished-feeling, from swapping keyswitches (Brown to Pink for me) to doing keymap updates in Chrysalis. The wooden tray/palmrest is very nice as well, though I swapped out the silicone feeties for more numerous and grippier ones.
It was my first isolinear keyboard and it took some practice to really "feel right", and then a bit more to make some of the key chords feel natural. Once you've got it, it feels amazing to type with *very* minimal hand movement.
My first mechanical keyboard, and one that fits seamlessly with my hands :D , the layers were a learning curve but very much worth it when someone goes "what on Earth!"
I highly recommend the palmrest with it which gives the perfect tilt.
I'm a software developer, I use my keyboard the whole day. It took a while to really get used to it (6-9 months), quite a challenge.
Things improved when I started to "listed to myself", looking where my fingers wanted to go and reconfigure the keys accordingly. Over time the adjustments became smaller and rarer. Now it feels natural, although sometimes I get "out of sync" with it and really need to pay attention to what I do.
I use also regular and laptop keyboards, it's only then that I realize how big movements I've to do on them and to reach the mouse. Eventually I'm always happy to come back to my Atreus.
The application to configure the keyboard is excellent, you can realize most evil tricks although I actually remain on the simple and intuitive side of things. Intuitive for me, that is.
I went also through an evaluation round of alternative switches, really funny and interesting experience although I eventually confirmed my initial choice of ultra silent and light ones. I had no idea of how personal, even carnal, typing could be.
It's a good investment and I'm extremely satisfied by the pay off.
Had this keyboard as my daily driver for about 6 months now and really like it. Feels very solid and have had no problems travelling with it.
Have it set up with Miryoku keyboard layout just to keep things interesting.
