Svalboard
Ranked 9 of 13 split keyboards by recommenders
People recommend it as a comfortable ergonomic keyboard that helped their hands, with built-in trackball or trackpoint options. It takes more training to learn, and it costs a lot.
People recommend it as a comfortable ergonomic keyboard that helped their hands, with built-in trackball or trackpoint options. It takes more training to learn, and it costs a lot.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Eased hand pain after trying others
“The Svalboard with just the old default QWERTY based layout was enough to save my hands after having tried pretty much every ergonomic keyboard out there.”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Arno's Engram Keyboard Layouts” “the Svaalboard has been my saviour”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Arno's Engram Keyboard Layouts” Built-in trackball or trackpoint options
“A very exotic option is the Svalboard, which is available with both trackball and trackpoint configurations.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig” “I really dig that the trackball is just under your hand.”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “My coworker's 36 key Corne open-source keyboard setup” Strong choice for DataHand replacement
“If you want a DataHand replacement, take a look at https://svalboard.com/ . Costs an arm and a leg, though.”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice” “Don't let your dreams be dreams; there is the Svalboard Datahand”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “Multiple Mouse Cursors in Wayland”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Requires significant training to learn
“If you want something really comfortable try a Svalboard, but it requires more training.”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “typ.ing” Expensive price
“If you want a DataHand replacement, take a look at https://svalboard.com/ . Costs an arm and a leg, though.”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice” Barebones feature set
“The one I bought is veeery barebones”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Pebble Round 2 – The Most Stylish Pebble Ever”
Other split keyboards people recommend
The four most recommended other split keyboards, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MoErgo Glove80 | 29 | 3 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Kinesis Advantage | 29 | 6 | 83% | 8 | 18 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| ZSA Moonlander | 27 | 12 | 69% | 6 | 5 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| ZSA Voyager | 17 | 1 | 94% | 5 | — | Approved |
| SvalboardThis page | 8 | 1 | 89% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
9 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“For 'thinking not typing' Svalboard takes the biscuit.”
“If you want something really comfortable try a Svalboard, but it requires more training.”
“If you want a DataHand replacement, take a look at https://svalboard.com/ . Costs an arm and a leg, though.”
“Don't let your dreams be dreams; there is the Svalboard Datahand”
“The Svalboard with just the old default QWERTY based layout was enough to save my hands after having tried pretty much every ergonomic keyboard out there.”
“the Svaalboard has been my saviour”
“A very exotic option is the Svalboard, which is available with both trackball and trackpoint configurations.”
“The one I bought is veeery barebones”
“I really dig that the trackball is just under your hand.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.