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At first glance it’d be easy to mistake the Ficihip multifunction mechanical keyboard for a full-fledged PC (or cyberdeck). But it’s really more of an all-in-one PC accessory featuring a mechanical keyboard and a built-in touchscreen display. Hook it up to a computer and you get extra screen space and support for keyboard and touch input.

First launched last summer through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign last summer, the Ficihip multifunction keyboard is now available from Amazon. It’ll cost you though.

The Ficihip multifunction keyboard has a retail price of $389. It’s currently on sale for $30 off when you clip an on-page coupon, but that’s still a hefty markup over the $210 promotional price during last year’s crowdfunding campaign.

Ficihip equips the device with a 12.6 inch, 1920 x 515 pixel ultra-wide display with a 60 Hz refresh rate and support for 10-point multitouch input (or single-point touch when used with macOS hardware).

It features a 71-key mechanical keyboard with RGB backlit keys, user-replaceable key caps, and backlighting with support for adjustable color and brightness.

It looks like the switches are also user replaceable, with the keyboard using K2 Gateron switches and supporting blue, brown, and red key switches… but  it’s unclear from the Amazon product page which style comes pre-installed.

You can connect the keyboard/display to a computer, smartphone or tablet using a USB-C cable. There’s also a USB-C to HDMI adapter for use with systems that have HDMI output but don’t support video out over USB-C.

The keyboard also has two additional USB 2.0 Type-A ports that allow you to use it as a hub for connecting a wired mouse, storage devices, or other accessories (as long as high-speed data transfers aren’t a priority).

The whole thing weighs about 3 pounds and measures about 13.2″ x 9.2″ x 1.2″. There’s also a kickstand at the back that gives you the option of tilting the keyboard so the back is a bit higher than the front (which may make typing more comfortable and the display more easily visible).

If you’re looking for something a little slimmer with more physical keys, and don’t mind foregoing the mechanical keys, there’s also a 91-key model featuring laptop-style keys. The Ficihip K1 Multunction Keyboard has a retail price of $359, but it’s also available for $30 off when you clip an on-page coupon.

This model has the same 12.6 inch display, but features a slightly more compact design, weighing about 2.3 pounds and measuring about 14.1″ x 9.2″ x 1″.

Update: Commenter ishotjr picked one up from Kickstarter and reports that the keyboard largely delivers on its promise… but for the most part backers didn’t seem to be able to choose which key switches they received and Ficihip hasn’t been particularly responsive to support requests.

via BoingBoing

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18 replies on “This $389 mechanical keyboard has a 12.6 inch touchscreen display built-in”

  1. Given that it says that it has 3 kinds of switches “to choose from” you’d think there would be options to select from on the product page.

    1. As far as I know, all Kickstarter backers received blue switches regardless of what they requested. I’m guessing that’s what these will ship with.

  2. I own this keyboard and am typing this comment from it now. I’ve been very pleased with it, although the plastic screen lens/cover has been bowing away from the chassis since I got it, and my attempts to contact them about that went unanswered. Moreover, it seemed like other Kickstarter backers fared far worse. As far as I know, nobody got their choice of switches (I chose brown, but I believe only blue were shipped) and plenty of folks never got anything. Communication was poor throughout, and I was amazed when mine arrived to be honest. I would strongly recommend that people look at the comments on Kickstarter before ordering. $389 is a lot to spend on a keyboard, knowing you are unlikely to get any support if something goes wrong. That said I love mine and if the company could improve their support/comms would recommend it wholeheartedly. USB-C doesn’t work with my Linux machine but does well on every Windows and macOS device I’ve tried – even Android (though I couldn’t only get it to mirror vs. extended desktop). It comes with HDMI/USB cables as well for connecting to non-USB-C devices like SBCs. I’m really pleased with it, but live in fear of something going wrong and knowing I will get zero support. Feel free to ask me anything about it! 🙂

    1. Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad to hear that the keyboard/display largely does what it’s supposed to… even if the non-existent support makes it sound like folks probably shouldn’t actually buy one unless they’re willing to lose $359 if they run into any issues.

      1. Spot on in my opinion. My one other quibble is that the touch screen calibration has a habit of resetting, so you’ll end up effectively tapping on your main screen until you remember where the re-calibration settings live and can coerce the pointer back to the keyboard’s own display.

        All of this Model 100 and Z88 talk has me curious to try a cyberdeck idea later today once DHL arrives – I’ll send you pics if it works! 😀

  5. Meanwhile some people question the usefulness of a second monitor. Don’t show them this. haha

    1. It is my third monitor on this machine and 7th on my desk. I use it for things like music and messaging where I want quick touch access/reference. 🙂

  6. why this is FAT?!
    we have 21 century, Kailh Choc V2 Blue Switch or similar small or other ,

    add power and … how long this keyboard work without external power?

    1. They have one with laptop style switches. It actually has more keys.
      There’s no battery in either case.

    2. The problem with Kaihua’s Choc switches is that nobody makes decent keycaps for them, they all look like absolute trash.

  7. Another great solution looking for a problem to solve?

    Apple’s touch bar on MBPs comes to mind, it seemed great at first, it turned out to be forgettable at best (and down-right in the way at worst).

      1. I have the TRS-80 Model 100 and Z88 – the difference is that those are real computers, whereas this requires a host device for power and compute. The DevTerm would be closer to a modern 100 – I have that too and it’s fantastic! 🙂

        1. In that case, it’s a regression. And it’s a shame, I thought it was a full-fledged computer. I’m waiting for one

Comments are closed.