How the Anne Pro 2 Mechanical Keyboard Completely Changed My Workflow
And why I probably won’t be replacing it for any other keyboard anytime soon
Disclaimer: Although I’ve had a marvelous experience with my Anne Pro 2 so far, I’ve seen numerous reports of people having problems with it, mostly firmware or Bluetooth related. I nearly bricked it once but managed to “bring it back to life” by plugging the cable while holding the ESC key and reflashing it with the firmware. Most problems with it seem to be solvable by installing a recent firmware or/and turning it on and off a few times. But as always, your mileage may vary.
Before I start with the things that made me fall in love with Anne Pro 2 I have to mention a few things:
— I’m a developer. As such I like to adjust as much as possible of my keyboard to suit my coding needs.
— I like to tinker with things. And it’s probably easier for me to save my keyboard from a near-brick experience. And to put it on one.
— I’m a VIM user. So getting a 60% mechanical keyboard was like the next logical step down that rabbit hole.
Anne Pro 2 (AP2 from now on) can be an amazing keyboard for different types of users (including gamers) but I find it to be most useful for developers (compared to other mechanical keyboards). And that’s because of its amazing customization capability. So let’s get started with what I believe is it’s best highlights:
Usual Mechanical Keyboard Goodness
Anne Pro 2 is a true mechanical 60% keyboard and as such it has the usual features that come with it:
— Compact form factor. In my opinion, the beauty of a 60% keyboard is removing all the keys that are far from the home row and allowing access to their features with modifiers that are easier to reach. That way, whatever you want to do with your keyboard, it will be close to one of your hands. Link to more info on mechanical keyboard layouts on the end of the article.
— RGB backlight. This is mostly useful to the ones who like shiny cool effects or those who have to look to the keyboard to type — with a quick visit to ObinsKit software you can have a disco-ready keyboard or a simple single-color backlit keyboard.
— Mechanical switches. Want your keys to be as click-clacky or as smooth as possible? You can order an Anne Pro 2 with Kaihl, Gateron or Cherry MX. Whatever tickles your fancy. I have Gateron browns on mine and I love them (and my coworkers don’t hate me for bringing it to work, so that’s a huge advantage over blue switches and the like).
— Freedom to change keycaps. One of the advantages of mechanical keyboards is that they are highly customizable. Don’t like the built-in keycaps? Change them all.
But most of those features, though amazing, can be found on most 60% keyboards. Let’s check what makes it different.
Wired and Bluetooth Modes
Truth be told, other mechanical keyboards have a Bluetooth mode, but it’s still not as common as the other features above. To me, it was a huge deal because my employer currently wants to keep the workplace as wireless as possible, so my keyboard being able to work wireless was a must. In my experience both modes work pretty well. Though if you want to use if for gaming I’d recommend using it wired.
In my experience both modes work pretty well. Though if you want to use if for gaming I’d recommend using it wired.
The quality of the Bluetooth mode depends a lot on the device you’re plugging to (if you’re using a cheap dongle, for example, you might often face repeated keys and delays) and most likely will be a little less responsive than the wired mode. But I found it better than all the other Bluetooth keyboard devices I tried.
And it’s pretty useful whenever you want to reduced the amount of cables around.
Two Layers of Complete Customization
This one was the main reason I bought the AP2 over other similarly priced keyboards such as the Geek GK61, for example. When I realized that it has two layers of customizable functions over the single layer of customization I’ve seen on every other keyboard out there I immediately decided to go to the AP2. I haven’t regretted it ever since.
It may not sound like much if you’re not the type of person that likes to tinker with keyboard layouts or optimizing your workflow as much as you can, but to someone like me, it’s the difference between having a decent keyboard and reaching a level of productivity I didn’t consider achievable before. And since it’s all programmable you can use the ObinsKit to map each key on each layer to whatever you want it to. And not only that but you can map any key you want to be FN1 or FN2.
And since it’s all programmable you can use the ObinsKit to map each key on each layer to whatever you want it to. And not only that but you can map any key you want to be FN1 or FN2.
If you’re a gamer, for example, you likely use the keyboard with the left hand while your right hand is on the mouse. You can map FN1 on the Caps Lock key and map keys such as Q,E,R,Z,X,C,V to number keys that are hard to reach with the left hand (such as 6,7,8,9 and 0) and map FN2 on the tab key to use the same keys to have access to function keys (such as F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11 and F12). Basically, you can map every key to be accessible with only your left hand that way.
As a developer I’ve “set myself free” from the arrow, navigation and function keys with the use of VIM — so while on VIM I usually don’t need the FN1 and FN2 layers. While away from VIM, though, I often had a hard time doing simple tasks such as fixing a typo without both the arrows and the navigation pane. So now I map the arrow keys to the HJKL on FN1 and the HOME, PAGE DOWN, PAGE UP and END keys on FN2. I’ve also mapped the FN1 to the the Windows Key and the FN2 to the caps lock key — that way I can toggle them with my left hand. That way while I’m typing on anything that doesn’t have a “VIM Mode” I can still do basic things such as going to the previous word, select until the end, go back to the start of a line, etc — all without having to move my right hand away from the home row.
This kind of flexibility (more than one FN layer) is something I’ve only seen on 40% keyboards (which I find a little too restrictive for my needs).
To make it all even more amazing (especially if you’ve never used a programmable mechanical keyboard before) is that the ObinsKit software is used not to activate these custom keys, but to allow you to apply your custom layout on the keyboard’s firmware. After applying it, no matter where you plug it into, it will have all the custom functions you’ve mapped. That’s why I now bring my AP2 everywhere — after mapping my ideal setup on my home PC I can connect it on my employer’s desktop, my wife’s notebook or even my cell phone (through Bluetooth) and on all these devices I’ll have all my custom keys mapped and ready, with no need of additional software whatsoever on these devices.
That’s why I now bring my AP2 everywhere — after mapping my ideal setup on my home PC I can connect it on my employer’s desktop, my wife’s notebook or even my cell phone (through Bluetooth) and on all these devices I’ll have all my custom keys mapped and ready, with no need of additional software whatsoever on these devices.
The Tap Key Function
Before I start that, one important thing has to be explained about the tap key — it only activates the “tap” function if it’s the only key pressed — that is, if you press it simultaneously with any other key it will activate the default function the key has. That makes it impractical for the built-in tap layout the AP2 has — having arrow keys on the bottom right Shift, FN1, FN2, and Ctrl keys. Point is — if you’re gaming there’s a lot of chance you’ll be wanting to press and hold these (which doesn’t activate the tap until released) and if you’re typing you’ll often need to add the ctrl, shift of both modifiers (which will make the tap not be triggered). So the “default” use of the tap is kind of pointless.
But it can be really powerful if used with “not-so-often-modified” keys such as Caps Lock and ESC. I usually map ESC to the Caps Lock key because I nearly never use the Caps Lock Key and I use ESC a lot. But even though I use ESC a lot I rarely use it with any modifier (such as ctrl-ESC or anything like) so I map the Caps Lock key to FN2 (so I can activate that layer to use the keys on my right hand) and set to ESC on the tap key. That way I have both a functional and easy to reach ESC key with a practical and quick to reach FN2 layer. On a single often wasted button.
I have both a functional and easy to reach ESC key with a practical and quick to reach FN2 layer. On a single often wasted button.
Conclusion
And that settles it — after having bought the AP2 as my first mechanical 60% keyboard, I can’t see myself coming back to full “standard” keyboards anymore. And until another 60% keyboard with a similar feature set as the AP2 emerges, I will probably stick to it.
Useful links