Initial forewords#

It has been a while, but I’ve now had the ZSA Voyager for a very long time, and I therefor feel qualified to give it a proper review of it.

The keyboard and I have gone through modifications, that I feel, ultimately have set it apart from the competition, and into something i truely love using, which also have help tremendously with RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury).

Backstory#

As I mention, in my initial thoughts, back in the July 2024-post, this keybord would hopefully be my endgame keyboard, as well as fit the criteria of being a way to delay RSI or even combat it. I usually spend a lot of hours in front of a computer and I’m not getting any younger. If I want to continue in my profession and sit long hours in front of a computer, I would need to take care of my body, especially my hands, neck and back.

What is the Voyager?#

On the ZSA website you will find the words:

”A powerful, low-profile, split ergonomic keyboard.”

Which says a lot, but I need more information. Let’s read what else there is on the website:

”Designed with a laptop in mind.”

That’s wonderful, what else:

”Powerful. It glows. Smart layers. Hot swappable. Columnar. It’s comfy.”

Well, the features are pleantyful, which is always a great thing, but what does it look like?

It looks beautiful and I’ve ended up pairing mine with a set of Work-Louder keycaps for a low profile and great aesthetics:

Layout#

I come from using qwerty-layout and since the Voyager has a Columnar layout, I wanted to find a more effective layout, so all the keys that I would use a lot, was closer to my homerow. I’m also using homerow mods, for an even more effective way of using the keyboard, and it took me a good month to learn using it all. My layout looks as follows and I’m using Norman-layout:

Base-layer:

Mouse-layer:

Special-layer:

Movement-layer:

Tilling-layer:

Compared to Dygma Defy#

I’ve been using Dygma Defy for a good while, before I bought the ZSA Voyager. I’m still using the Defy, but not as much as the Voyager. The Voyager lives in my backpack and goes wherever my Framework laptop goes. Below is a comparison of the Dygma Defy and ZSA Voyager keyboard:

I love using them both and each has their advantages and disadvantages.

Final words#

If you are having RSI-related issues, please do yourself a favor and stop using a keyboard that is not split and columnar. Having the keyboard split out, so you can open up your chest and forcing yourself to use a more effective layout, will greatly benefit you in the future. I cannot recommend this enough, and I know that the keyboard is expensive, but see it as an investment in yourself.