CharaChorder Lite is now available for anyone to order via the company's online webstore, reports TechPowerUp. This compact keyboard enables input in chords made up of words and phrases – not just individual letters. Using this input device can bring up your typing speed to 250 wpm and beyond, according to the device designers.
Kickstarter backers of the CharaChorder Lite project started to receive their keyboards only a fortnight or so ago. The project was wildly successful, gaining multiples of the funding target in a very brief period, and ending up over 1000% funded.
You might ask why would a tech enthusiast who reads Tom's Hardware be attracted to a 'lite' version of a product. The answer is that the CharaChorder Lite isn’t a smaller version of the original CharaChorder, but uses the custom input device technology shoehorned into a familiar keyboard form factor.
The original CharaChorder is a rather otherworldly input device using a dual array of 3D 5-way tactile switches – but it is claimed that those who master it can achieve 300 wpm.
The CharaChorder sales pitch is that the drastically different original input device with associated learning curve can get you to 300 wpm. Meanwhile, the much more familiar feeling CharaChorder Lite can get you to 250 wpm or so, which is still as fast as the average person can read and comprehend the printed word – and thus qualifies the claim of typing at the speed of thought.
Chords on the CharaChorder Lite are performed just like those on a musical keyboard – you press several keys at once. An important part of this typing experience is facilitated via the software. There is a training app and chord manager app which allows users to input chords, any key combo, and match them to words. Sometimes you might want to rely on obvious chords such as mashing w+o+r+d at about the same time to input 'word'. If you fumble on a normal keyboard your input would come out as 'owrd' or another erroneous combination, not so here. It is also possible to mash shorter keyboard combos to input longer words – a macro kind of functionality. The device designers assert that if a user were to learn chords for the 100 most common words, that would account for half of what most people will type from day to day.
A CharaChorder Lite is claimed to have a regular selling price of $299. Kickstarter backers will have managed to get a device for $150. For a limited time the makers of this input device are allowing anyone to order a CharaChorder Lite for $199. Please note that the estimated delivery time is currently two to three months after receiving your order. Buyers may also be liable for import tax and duty.
If the original CharaChorder or the new Lite model is too left-field for you, or you can't be bothered to wait up to three months for a new keyboard, please check out our guides detailing the Best Gaming Keyboards for 2022: Mechanical, TKL, and More, and the Best Wireless Keyboards for 2022.
