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I don’t normally trust Amazon-only electronics brands whose names consist of randomly generated characters, but when Gizmodo first reported on Ficihp It caught my attention when it came to the K2 mechanical keyboard. This quirky keyboard has a huge built-in smart screen on top of the keyboard for increased productivity. Think Apple’s very hated Touch Bar, but set to 11. Divisive controversies piled on the Touch Bar. After all, this keyboard is clearly more gimmick than function, and I wouldn’t expect to see anything in the wild. The screen itself is intended to be used as a secondary display for smartphones, not a function key bar.
However, there is room for this device in everyday use, especially for gamers and those involved in creative work such as music production. Imagine yourself in Red Dead Redemption II receiving messages and replying to them directly from the keyboard. I can see this being useful for some people.
The screen of the keyboard is a 12.6 inch touch screen HD panel. It puts out a respectable 60Hz. It’s as if Fagomfer, the maker of the Ficihp K2, glued a fully functional tablet on top of an RGB-backlit mechanical keyboard and called it quits.
And the tablet really is what this screen is. It opens up a world of functionality. You can pull down frequently used Photoshop functions and place them on the keyboard with the tap of a finger. Alternatively, you can use OneNote or Apple Notes to take notes during a video conference call by placing it on the display. Or you can simply play the game on the monitor while your boss sees you hard at work on the phone. you understood.
The screen has some disadvantages. For starters, it only has a 10-point touchscreen display, and only if you’re using Windows. This means you can only tap 10 places on the screen. It won’t be registered anywhere else. It gets worse if you’re on a Mac, because now you only have a center-aligned touch point. This pretty much limits you to one app.
Also, the $390 Ficihp K2 is impractical. You can get a cheaper keyboard and a second monitor for less. Of course, you lose portability, which I guess is what they want. Or do they just want to show Apple how to use the keyboard touchscreen properly?
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