With so many keyboard options available on the market, it is sometimes difficult to know which one is the most suitable for you, especially if you are new to the gaming environment and want to get started. You have probably heard that there is a keyboard format called 60% , so below we are going to tell you what this format consists of, what it is used for and why you would want to want one.
There are many keyboards, and despite the fact that the standard format is always the same regardless of the layout of the keys, within “PC keyboards” we can generally find different variants, such as the “tenkeyless” TKL keyboards that come without numeric pad and considered compact. However, if TKL keyboards seem compact to you, wait until you see the 60% keyboards that we are going to talk about next.
What is a 60% keyboard?
A 60% keyboard is so named because compared to a standard keyboard, it has literally 60% of the keys. Thus, if a normal keyboard usually has between 102 and 105 keys, a 60% keyboard usually has 61 or 61 nothing more.
As you can see, on a 60% keyboard, a large number of keys are dispensed with: in addition to the numeric pad on the right, the directional cursors, the text movement keys that are above and even the function keys ( F1-F12) (although the ESC key does not appear in the diagram in the image above, they actually do have it, located at the top left, next to 1).
Therefore, as you can imagine, having fewer keys implies that the user has less functionality at hand. Therefore you are probably wondering, why then do I want a keyboard in this format?
What are these types of keyboards for?
The key is the small form factor: a keyboard with almost half the keys than a normal one takes up considerably less space and many people prefer it to be that way, but surely you do not know that the origin of this format is the gaming world.
Many players, especially professionals, get fatigued during long or competitive gaming sessions. Fatigue can be caused by many things, but in general it is simply that the player’s configuration is not conducive to their physical well-being. Using a 60% keyboard can help with shoulder and wrist pain because its small form factor allows the gamer more freedom to adjust the position of the keyboard without colliding with the mouse.
Imagine that you have to support a weight of 2 kg with your arm extended: surely your arm will tire much earlier than if you hold the same weight with your arm closer to your body. The idea is the same, since a 60% keyboard allows the user to keep the arms closer together, something that may not seem like a big problem, but keep in mind that it is the natural state of the arms when they are at rest, and maintain the arms. Arms at rest is crucial for comfort.
In addition to the aforementioned, gamers also found that using a keyboard with the “right keys” avoids many unintended keystrokes. The theory is that the fewer keys you have, the lower the probability of pressing the one you shouldn’t, right? Well, this theory is a reality in this type of keyboard, and that is why they are manufactured and many gamers, especially professionals, prefer them.
Now, this type of keyboard is very good for greater comfort and for use essentially in games, but when it comes to using them for other purposes it is true that the functionality that is dispensed with is missing. Therefore, this type of keyboard could be considered almost as a gaming keypad rather than as a keyboard itself, since they are useful for playing and writing, but the rest of the functionalities are very much missed to be able to work and in general make a normal use of the keyboard on a PC.
