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For years, people have used the traditional keyboard on their computers for different purposes, with gaming being one of them.
Gauging the popularity of keyboards when it comes to playing games, companies decided to manufacture specialized keyboards that gaming enthusiasts would use exclusively.
Needless to say, they became extremely popular with gamers for whom the regular keyboards were not good enough.
After a few years, one hand gaming keyboards came into being. These serve the same purpose as the standard gaming keyboards but are far more convenient to use.
Here is a look at the eight best one-hand gaming keyboards available today.
If you don’t have time to read the complete article, check out our favorite products below.
There are a certain number of criteria you need to consider before buying a one-handed gaming keyboard.
We’ve prepared a list of the important aspects below to give you a deeper understanding of what makes a one-handed gaming keyboard a good choice for different needs
These two types of keypads are common in both full-size gaming keyboards and one-handed gaming keyboards.
When you press the buttons on mechanical keys, they activate (the switch underneath them activates when you press them).
In the case of membrane keys, however, the keys only work when an electric signal passes through them. Professional gamers prefer mechanical keys to membrane keys because there are fewer latency issues with the latter.
It is important to feel comfortable using a one-handed gaming keyboard. This will help you improve your gaming performance.
You can enjoy hours of pain-free gaming by upgrading your keyboard to a more ergonomic design.
Gaming keyboards with ergonomic designs have support for the wrist, well-placed keys, and a curved surface that matches your natural hand shape.
Gaming and your work life can be greatly aided by having your hands and shoulders comfortable.
Wireless functionality gives you mobility and a gaming keyboard with wireless functionality is a huge advantage.
Bluetooth connectivity allows you to position the keyboard anywhere, even from 10m away.
With older devices, many wireless gaming keyboards include a USB Bluetooth dongle that can be used to enable and enhance the wireless connectivity
We are sure you’ll agree that gaming keyboards should have backlighting as a primary selling point.
Some gaming keyboards offer unlimited customization options for backlighting, while others are limited. The latter have pre-programmed backlighting modes.
If you’re a serious gamer, you should consider a gaming keyboard that offers at least some customization options for backlighting.
The better the gaming experience, the more programmable keys you have. Before you buy a gaming keyboard, make sure to check its number.
You should ensure that the switch type is checked before you buy a one-handed gaming keyboard with mechanical keys.
Three types of switches are typically included in mechanical gaming keyboards:
Gaming keyboards with linear switches are preferred by gamers because they produce no sound and are easy to use. Tactile switches can be hard, and click-type switches make the click sound.
The Redragon K585-BA keyboard is completely made up of plastic. That said, it is strong and has proven itself to be durable. This is one of the top one-hand gaming keyboards out there.
It has 7 fully programmable macro keys consisting of multiple commands and is equipped with an easy activation process.
There is also a rapid-fire button that serves as a weapon during high-intensity war-based games.
With Redragon K585-BA, you get a keycap puller, switch puller, along with five dust-proof blue-colored mechanical switches, also known as OUTEMU switches. You also get a Type-C cable, which is around 1.2-meter long.
The wrist-rest in the keyboard is made up of magnets and gets attached to the keyboard easily. It provides adequate comfort to your hand as you move your fingers around the keyboard.
There are two USB connections that offer full-power support. You can charge your phone while completing long gaming sessions of your favorite game.
The backlight consists of two colors – red and blue. You can change the different lighting profiles by pressing the FN and Spacebar keys together.
There is an option of disabling it if you feel it is taking your focus away from the game. It comes with a full key anti-ghosting feature and is programmable.
This combo comes with an M721-Pro RGB mouse, which offers 16.8 million LED color combinations. There are ten programmable buttons in this mouse and five memory profiles with a unique color for easy identification.
Very comfortable to use and the layout of the keyboard makes it user-friendly.
If you want to save space, you can detach the wrist-rest that comes with this keyboard.
It is cheaper than most one-handed keyboards manufactured by popular brands like Rayzer and Delux.
Though you can reduce the brightness of the LED colors on the keyboard, you won’t be able to set a static color.
There are certain one-handed keyboards that are designed to be portable, and the Redragon K585 is one such keyboard.
It does not have any unnecessary keys and comprises the ones you need the most to play games. You find all the action keys strategically placed in one specific part of the keyboard.
The USB pass-through port has been positioned in a way that enables you to use the mouse, headset adapter, and other USB devices without getting interrupted while playing the game.
The OUTEMU Blue mechanical Switches offer you a tactile rhythm that you can play the game with and score points easily.
You get 7 macro programmable keys that offer multiple commands which are easy to activate and workaround.
You can choose to allocate single or multiple keystrokes to any of the 7 macro keys. This will help you save up on time while playing a game. It has 5 RGB backlit modes that offer various colors and lighting effects.
The wrist-rest pad is made up of magnets and can be easily attached or detached from the keyboard.
Since this is a slightly large device, make sure you have enough desk space to accommodate a mouse or other accompanying devices as and when needed.
Can be carried along anywhere owing to its portability.
The build quality is excellent and offers value for the price.
Macro programmable keys are quite far away from the fingers and are hard to reach.
This one-handed gaming keyboard has managed to gain a lot of popularity among a wide spectrum of gamers, although it was made for a niche market. It has 25 programmable buttons along with a directional suite and a full RGB lighting suite.
The number of keys you get here is almost a quarter of what you will get in a full-sized keyboard, but that is not an issue as the 25-key gaming keypad is enough to fulfill your gaming needs.
It is an ideal keyboard for the most dedicated and hard-core gaming enthusiasts who can work with twenty-five keys.
If you are fine with playing your favorite games with a small-sized, programmable keyboard, then the Razer Tartarus V2 Gaming Chroma keyboard would prove to be a great device for you.
The ergonomic design of the keyboard is quite fascinating – it has four rows with five keys on every row, except for the bottom row, wherein you get a scroll wheel in place of the fifth key.
There is an eight-directional D-pad, a circular button, and a thumb button that serves the purpose of a space bar.
The keys feel soft on the fingers and do not make a lot of noise.
The lighting profile can be changed easily.
It boasts of a very good design.
The software it runs on is slightly complex to work with.
The price is a little high, especially when one compares to other one-handed keyboards in this segment.
The first thing which you notice about Razer Nostromo one-handed gaming keypad is its strikingly gorgeous design.
With its ergonomic design and bright lights, it seems like the device has arrived right from the future.
The palm rest, which comes with a rubber finish, would fit hands of different sizes and has two positions – one which is closer to the keys and convenient for smaller hands and the other which is a little far.
The keys are strong, non-slippery, and are made keeping in mind the frequency with which gamers will use them.
A braided USB cable is attached to the device, the quality of which is in sync with that of the gaming keypad.
Though the joystick is detachable, you might want to have it attached to the keyboard all the time as it has a nice, smooth feel to it.
It has 14 programmable keys, which have been labeled nicely and placed in proper order. The backlight shines brightly, and one can see the labels on the keys properly even when the lights in the room are switched off.
Works as a good handy little gamepad mainly for MMORPG gaming.
Has an outstanding ergonomic design, which makes the device a lot more appealing.
The absence of numeric keys is an issue as many games require numeric keys for different functions like changing weapons, etc.
If you like to play games for hours at a stretch, you must have a good resting pad to give your palm the necessary comfort as you move your hand across the keyboard.
With this one-handed mechanical gaming keyboard, you get a large palm rest area, which helps considerably in reducing stress on the hands and providing them with adequate rest when needed.
The one-handed gaming keypad is small, mechanical, and backlit. It is well-packaged hardware with a refined design.
The LED backlight, which can be adjusted easily, is one of the best you can see in any gaming pad. Observe it in a dim-light or darker environment, and you will notice the effect.
The gaming keypad is compatible is most Windows-based operating systems and MAC OS X. You can change lighting patterns, but you get only one color scheme to stick to.
You cannot have one uniform color on the one-handed gaming keypad.
One thing you need to bear in mind while purchasing it is that it does come with a supporting app, and hence you cannot reprogram the keys to change their function.
Reasonably priced, offers fabulous wrist support, and is easy to carry around.
The keystrokes don’t make a lot of noise.
This keyboard also works on PS4 and Xbox One.
The build quality is not that great and some users have complained about keys not working properly.
The USB cable is quite short.
This 35-key mechanical keypad is marked with labels in different colors, which brings certain dynamism to its looks. Though there are more keys than the average one-hand keyboard, the labels never fade and will guide you well.
You can operate multiple keys simultaneously while playing a game as all the programmable keys have independent features and have been programmed to serve multiple keypresses in one go.
The mechanical keyboard has been tested on a wide range of games and has worked equally well in each case.
The whole keyboard is made of high-quality plastic that would last for a long time. You can change the backlight modes according to your mood using the FN key in different combinations.
It does not require a driver and is compatible with most Windows and MAC operating systems.
The “W, A, S, D” keys feel soft on the skin of your fingers, and the function keys have been placed strategically on the side to operate easily.
It has a curved button layout, which helps you move your hand easily. It comes with a wired LED mouse that has 6 buttons. The mouse has four different LED colors that change automatically.
versatile and works wonderfully on most games.
The lighting effects are cool and pleasing to the eyes.
You can change your mouse backlight color whenever you want.
Very big when compared to other one-handed gaming keyboards.
One of the hurdles which a gamer faces in his early days of using one-handed gaming keyboards is finding the right keys.
This keyboard by GameSir has thoughtfully placed the keys where it would be easy for the gamer to identify and use them while playing a game.
Unlike a full-fledged keyboard, this one is compact and has only the keys which are necessary for a gaming enthusiast. The overall shape may not be attractive, but the dynamic RGB backlighting is very appealing.
Here is a keyboard that can also be used for playing games on your cell phone. The only thing you would need there is a mouse.
It is compatible with Windows PC (7 or above), Android (4.4 or above) and Mac OS, iOS (7.0 or above).
There are 29 blue-key switches topped with a unique key layout that helps you make further optimizations on the device.
The keyboard is made up of twenty-nine cherry MX mechanical keys which are very convenient to use and respond extremely fast to touch. The look and feel of this keyboard make for a sturdy, high-end piece of gaming hardware.
Can be used to play games on PC as well as on smartphones.
The inbuilt 2000 mAh Li-ion battery allows you to use the keyboard without plugging the USB cable.
Not suitable for wireless PC gamers.
Some keys don’t work with some of the games.
The wrist rest of the Razer Tartarus keypad deserves a special mention as it is one of the most comfortable ones you will find along with a one-handed gaming keypad.
It is also very sturdy and durable. The one-handed gaming keypad has 15 programmable, customizable buttons and a directional stick which can either work as a four-way or an eight-way directional stick, depending on your preference.
Most users do not pay a lot of attention to the cable attached to the keyboard, but the fact is that it is very important. Razer Tartarus keyboard comes with a strong braided cable that is long-lasting.
There are 8 different keymaps that give you the scope to customize the one-handed gaming keypad in 200 different ways.
In simple terms, it is equal to having 200 buttons on this little device to use. It uses synapse 2.0 software and can save a vast number of gaming profiles, macros, and other data in the cloud.
The wrist-rest is not detachable, but you can move it up and down marginally to adjust it according to the position of your hand.
It also has a very durable braided fiber cable that, along with a gold-plated USB connector, results in a longer life span when compared to standard rubber sheathed cables.
The wrist rest offers excellent support.
An eight-way directional stick adds precision.
The thumb button/space bar at the bottom is very sensitive and flips easily.
A one-hand keyboard is essentially a no-frills gaming pad that provides you with all the necessary keys and buttons to play games on and keep the unnecessary or unimportant elements away.
Most of these are portable and you can easily put one of these in a small bag and head to a friend’s place to play and battle it out with him in a favorite game.
With time, gaming keyboards have become more and more sophisticated and have evolved as per the ever-changing dynamics of the gaming world.
These are high-quality hardware products that look great and serve the purpose well.
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