FAQs

On 1 October 2023, we announced the Glove80 Revision 2, which is an update of our popular Glove80 to make it even better.

The major change is the inclusion of Glove80 Travel Case.

Yes you can!

If you prefer not to connect to a computer or other host device using Bluetooth LE, you can directly connect to the host computer. No drivers are required.

The two halves of Glove80 communicate with each other using standard Bluetooth LE, which is a broadly used wireless protocol with decent security provisions designed in. The two halves of Glove80 are pre-paired at the factory, and physical access is required for the re-pairing of the two halves.

Details:

1. The two halves communicate via standard BLE, and not proprietary wireless protocols (unlike for example Logitech’s proprietary 2.4GHz wireless)

2. The controllers use the Nordic nRF52840 microcontroller, which supports BLE 5.x

3. The two halves are pre-paired with each other at the factory

4. To re-pair the two halves, physical access to both halves of Glove80 is required to remove the pairing configuration. This can be done via:

a. On each half of Glove80, erase the flash memory of the Nordic nRF52840; or

b. On each half of Glove80, initiate a special key combo during the bootloader execution to remove the BLE pairing information

5. The BLE stack is part of Zephyr OS (on which ZMK is based), and is open-sourced and therefore available for audit.

Glove80 is designed to be lightweight so that it is easy to carry the best ergonomics with you while on the go. Despite its lightness, once Glove80 is set up, it is highly stable. The lightness does not impact its stability, thanks in part to the extremely low center of gravity.

Premium quality should not equate to heaviness; in fact, it is more challenging to miniaturize a product while maintaining its quality. However, humans have a strong subconscious association between weight and quality, to the point that some manufacturers even add unnecessary metal weights to their products to counteract this impression. We prioritized portability by reducing the weight of Glove80 without compromising on its strength. For comparison, Glove80 weighs 580g, while its closest competitor weighs around 1450g.

Glove80 ships with white semi-translucent MCC-profile POM keycaps, which are specially designed for Glove80.

If you prefer you should be able to substitute with other low-profile Choc v1 compatible keycaps (such as MBK and MBK Convex) designed for "choc-spacing".

MCC profile is specially designed to suit the ergonomics of Glove80.

Here are some advantages of MCC profile keycaps in the context of Glove80:

1. Due to its cylindrical profile, MCC makes it easier to slide up and down within one key column. This means fewer finger movements and less effort.
2. MCC profile is better suited for resting on and pressing the thumb keys (as for both you are using the side of your thumb, not the finger tip like with the other keys).

Regular MBK and other dish-profile keycaps have a "ridge" on all edges which "gets in the way" when doing the above.

MBK Convex also works well for Glove80 thumb keys. MBK Convex is best for chording (like one does on steno keyboards), but it obviously won't guide your fingers along their column like MCC.

Glove80 is designed so that your hands are "self-homing".

Because each row is at a different angle, you very quickly become able to tell exactly where your hands are positioned on the keywell by feel without needing differently shaped homing keys to locate the home row.

Additionally, not having homing keys means that all the keycaps are repositionable, which means that you can rearrange them to match your layout if you want to use Dvorak or Colemak or something else.

However homing keycaps can be useful as a learning aid while you get used to Glove80. Revision 2 Glove80 comes with 2 x MBK blank keycaps which serve well as homing keycaps. The Glove80 Upgrade Kit also includes 2 x MBK blank keycaps.

In addition, we do sell pairs of (unlabelled) MCC homing keys or MBK homing keys that you can buy separately.

Glove80 comes with white translucent MCC-profile keycaps. Here is a summary of the key design reasons:

1. Hiding the LED indicators under the keycap allows Glove80 to be as compact as possible, and as minimal-look as possible.
2. Glove80 offers multi-BLE-device capability, which benefits from the ability to indicate which devices are paired, which are active, and which is currently selected. Ability to indicate these status would be useful for people intending to use multi-device-capability.
3. Glove80 offers through ZMK multiple layers. Most people would have one long-duration layer, but some people might have multiple (such as a gaming layer + standard layer, or a programming layer + word layer, or a layer for each language). Ability to indicate which layer is active is useful if you have multiple long-duration layers in your layout.
4. Glove80 is battery powered with 2 batteries. Battery status is useful if you are not permanently wired.

So in summary to cover all use cases, it should be self-evident that we need a reliable mechanism to convey the useful status. Given our design, we offer white translucent keycaps as the standard.

However there are some users who may not use all the above features, and therefore status indication is much less important to them. In such cases, if they prefer black keycaps, we are offering an add-on option (with caveats) for black opaque keycaps.

However since black opaque caps would not satisfy all the intended usage scenarios of Glove80, they are not and will not be offered as a standard option.

Design is all about finding a reasonable compromise between all the conflicting design goals.

Our first versions had 82 keys. One of our key objectives is to be able to easily bring the ergonomics of the concave key well with us to meetings and on the road. We decided to remove the two keys so that we can reduce the height by 10 to 12mm, which makes a big difference in portability.

However we recognize that some people want to have F11 and F12 on the primary layer (by default they are on a secondary layer). F11 and F12 keycaps are included in the Glove80 box. So if you want to have physical F11 and F12 keys, please just remap the keys using the Glove80 Layout Editor and replace the keycaps.

Unlike many other keyboards, Glove80 is designed to facilitate the easy interchange of keycaps. Every key uses the same keycap profile.

With 80 full-sized keys, Glove80 has more accessible keys (with minimal hand movement) than any other ergonomic keyboard on the market.

Glove80 comes with an innovative tenting system to adjust to the angle that is most comfortable for your wrists:

- Continuously adjustable

- Works with a wide range of tenting angles up to 35 degrees or more.

- Each Glove80 comes with extra pairs (16mm, 35mm, and 45mm) of longer threaded rods

- You can buy longer standard threaded rods off-the-shelf for even higher tenting angles. 

- Adds no height to the keyboard when tenting is not used

The Glove80 tenting design looks simple but results from years of testing and refinements. 

We have built and tested many different tenting systems. We eventually settled on this design because this is the only tenting system that fits all our requirements:

1. A tenting system must not add height to the keyboard when unused, so as to not compromise the ergonomics on a standard-height desk
2. From our user testing, we found the optimum tenting angle for each individual is often only within a one to two degree range. That is, for the best ergonomics, we needed a robust mechanism for finely-adjustable tenting rather than a step approach.
3. Works with and without palm rest
4. Supports a wide range of tenting angles

As a further bonus, this tenting system supports custom mounting innately. If you unscrew the feet, each leg contains an M4 screw stud, which lets you easily and strongly bolt the keyboard to surfaces like our acrylic mounting plate.

For lower angle tenting, it is not necessary to screw down the legs for traveling: you can safely keep them at your chosen height, especially if they are fixed in position with the included nuts. The Glove80 Travel Case accepts tenting of up to 15mm.

For high angle tenting with the separately-included long threaded legs it’s easier to pack the keyboard with the feet removed, so what we recommend you do is that once you’ve found your preferred tenting position you ‘lock it in’ by attaching M4 lock-nuts to the threaded legs at the preferred position, which lets you easily screw the legs back in to just the right height. You should be able to get M4 nylock lock-nuts in any good hardware store or AliExpress.

With this approach, you can very quickly and reliably detach and reattach the legs and feet to create the perfect high angle tenting while on the road.

Every Revision 2 Glove80 ships with a Glove80 travel case.

The Glove80 Travel Case is also available as an add-on.

If you are experienced typing on keyboards with keys arranged in columns, such as Ergodox or Kinesis Advantage, the learning curve is short. It is primarily a matter of adapting to the new layout. To shorten the transition you can customize the Glove80 layout to simulate the keyboard layout you are familiar with.

If you have no prior experience typing on keyboards with keys arranged in columns, it will take some time to relearn. Most typists tell us it is a well worthwhile investment for long-term comfort and health benefits. Many typists start to get familiar with the layout within hours. However true mastery will take a few weeks to fully relearn muscle memory.

A common transitioning recommendation is:

• Initially start with 30 to 60 minutes of practice each day on a practice application (such as www.keybr.com and similar)
• When the typing speed reaches 40wpm, it is a good time to switch to full-time use

Glove80 does not have hot swap sockets for key switches, as hot swap sockets are unreliable with a curved keywell. The 4 choices of Kailh Choc key switches cover the four most popular available options: tactile (brown), linear (red), low force linear (red pro) and clicky (white); and are a great option for the majority of users. 

However if you do want to use a different key switch that is compatible with Kailh Choc v1 series, we are offering Glove80 with a “switches-not-soldered”option. With the “switches-not-soldered” option, the key switches will be installed but not soldered to the PCBs, so it is easy to replace some or all key switches with your own choice. Some assembly and soldering are therefore required to make the keyboard fully functional.

Please note that soldering key switches on a curved key well does take substantial skills and you are responsible for the quality of your soldering. The “switches-not-soldered” option is not recommended for beginners with little or no soldering experience.

NKRO is supported by ZMK. However in the interest of providing the broadest compatibility with host devices NKRO is by default disabled.

NKRO can be easily enabled by turning on the Advanced Configuration option in the Glove80 Layout Editor.

Yes.

Furthermore, if you prefer so, you can even disconnect the LiPo batteries from their connectors. Glove80 can function even if its LiPo batteries are disconnected, as long as it is powered via USB cables.

Glove80 has the following FCC IDs: 2A8VP-GLOVE80L & 2A8VP-GLOVE80R.

Glove80 is also certified to CE, UKCA and R-NZ standards. 

Glove80 is affixed with the Japan Telec Specified Radio Equipment marking.

If you are looking to compile ZMK firmware without using Glove80 Layout Editor, Glove80's ZMK configuration GitHub repository is at https://github.com/moergo-sc/glove80-zmk-config

If you are planning to modify the ZMK firmware source code, the official Glove80 ZMK distribution is at https://github.com/moergo-sc/zmk

POM is the ultimate keycap material along with PBT. It doesn't yellow easily. It doesn't shine like ABS does. It is super durable. Unlike PBT, POM has a superb and buttery smooth type feel, which we complement with a heavy texture.

POM was popular in the 90s but it is a difficult and expensive material to manufacture. The Cherry OG POM keycap is still considered one of the best keycaps ever made. Such magic shouldn't be lost, so we decided to revive the glory of POM keycaps.

Our labeled POM keycaps are created using laser marking processes. Unlike many other label processes, laser marking produces extremely durable labels. The laser penetrates deep beyond the surface and the legends will last many many years of rigorous typing.

Just like premium leather goods, our black labeled POM keycaps require wearing-in. When the keycaps are shipped, the legends are a brighter white that will wear into a light grey color over a few days of usage.

For more details on the keycap legend durability tests we do, please see here.

We ship from China, Hong Kong, or in rare cases New Zealand to the following countries/regions:

North America:

• USA (Contiguous states only. Excluding APO and FPO addresses. If you are in Alaska, Guam or Hawaii, a DHL surcharge will apply; please contact us before placing an order)
• Canada
• Mexico (with DHL surcharge; please contact us before placing an order)

Asia:

• China including Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR
• Israel (Special condition currently applies: pick up from a collection point)
• Malaysia
• Japan
• Kuwait
• Philippines
• Russia (Moscow and St Petersburg only; pick up from a collection point)
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• United Arab Emirates
• Vietnam

Europe:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czechia
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Luxembourg
• Lithuania
• Germany
• Malta
• Monaco
• Netherlands
• Norway (with DHL surcharge)
• Poland
• Portugal 
• Romania
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain (excluding off-shore islands)
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• United Kingdom (excluding armed forces addresses)

Oceania:

• Australia
• New Zealand (North Island and South Island only)

Africa:

• South Africa (with DHL surcharge; please contact us before placing an order)

South America:

• Argentina (with DHL surcharge; please contact us before placing an order)
• Brazil (with DHL surcharge; please contact us before placing an order)
• Chile (with DHL surcharge; please contact us before placing an order)

If your country is not on the above list, please contact us at support@moergo.com. We may be able to help.

Please note that we cannot ship to PO Box. We reserve the right to cancel and refund an order, if the shipping address is not covered by the standard rate plans of our standard carriers, or otherwise deemed to be too risky by our shipping agent.

Express Glove80 shipping via DHL or UPS is available as an extra cost option for the following regions:

• United States (Contiguous states only. Excluding APO and FPO addresses.)

To place an express shipping order, please do not include accessories in the same order. Please note that express shipping is limited to "non-remote" locations as defined by DHL/UPS, and is subject to manual approval.

For Glove80 keyboards, we use a tracked delivery service. The courier/delivery service we use depends on the destination country.

For other items such as Glove80 accessories and keycaps, we generally use an untracked delivery service to minimize the cost for our customers.

Glove80 keyboards ship duty-unpaid (DDU) for free for most destination regions/countries; shipping is included in the price. However certain regions are not covered by our standard carriers and will require a DHL surcharge. Please see the entry "Where do you ship to?" for details.

Shipping for accessories and other items is quoted as part of the checkout process. For most destinations, we offer a flat shipping rate of US$12 per shipment for regions (excluding those countries that we deliver via DHL). If you are in a country/region that we deliver via DHL and you wish to purchase only accessories without a Glove80, please contact us for a shipping quote.

Please note that Glove80 keyboards are usually shipped separately from the other items. 

Please also see "Import Duty, VAT, Custom Fees & Other Tax" entry in the FAQs.

Items are shipped from China, Hong Kong or New Zealand on a duty-unpaid (DDU) basis. You will be responsible for any import duty, VAT/GST custom fees or other tax/fees associated with your shipment.

For shipments to the USA, where the value is less than the US$800 de minimis threshold, you should not need to pay any import duty or tax. For more information please see  https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/de-minimis-value-increases-800. Please note that this is not taxation advice.

For Glove80 shipments to the EU, the HS Code for keyboards is 84716060. According to the TARIC database, the tariff rate for 84716060 from China is 0% as of the time of writing. Please note that the tariff rate for peripherals may well be different. Please also note that your country's VAT rate will likely apply. This is not taxation advice.

For New Zealand customers, as Innaworks Development Limited (trading as MoErgo) is a New Zealand registered company, GST is charged as part of the check-out process. A GST receipt is provided upon request.

If you don’t take delivery of a shipment, the carrier/courier will generally attempt to return the shipment to us. If the item is returned, we will refund you the amount paid minus US$120 to cover the typical cost of restocking and round-trip shipment.

MoErgo is the trading name of Innaworks Development Limited, a New Zealand company with business number 1354043.

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We would love to help you with your program. Please talk with us by email at support@moergo.com