CAD render

KeBe Lite

Slim membrane keys in straight columns, with Dvorak's letters.

Planned, with a free waitlist.

Planned price US$89.99 plus shipping

KeBe Lite is planned, not made yet. Its keypad needs moulds that don't pay off until enough people want one. Join the waitlist: no payment, and we'll email you once if it goes ahead.

FCC notice for KeBe Lite. This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.

Layout68 keys, ortholinear, Matrix-Dvorak
LightingPer-key RGB, 68 SK6812MINI-E LEDs
Ports4 × USB-C: 1 to the computer, 3 as a USB 2.0 hub

None of the KeBe Lite pictures here are photographs: they and the 3D model are renders of the Lite's design files. For a built KeBe, see KeBe v1's photographs.

KeBe Lite, rendered from its design files with its per-key lighting on: each key's legend lit in a rainbow.

KeBe Lite, rendered from its design files: black key tops with white laser-etched legends in a black nylon case.

KeBe Lite from above, rendered from its design files: 68 keys in straight columns, the Dvorak letters in the middle.

The back edge of KeBe Lite, rendered from its design files: four USB-C ports, one to the computer and three for its USB 2.0 hub.

About the board

KeBe Lite is the slim, membrane KeBe: the 68-key Matrix-Dvorak keyboard with KeBe v2's electronics, its USB hub and a light under every key, at a lower planned price. Where KeBe v2 has mechanical switches and keycaps, the Lite's keys are one moulded keypad, 10.95 mm from the case's underside to the key tops.

Each key is a hard plastic key top on a rubber dome. Pressing it collapses the dome, and a carbon contact under it closes gold pads on the circuit board. The key tops are translucent plastic painted black, with the legends laser-etched through, so they shine through: each LED lights its key's legend. Where a key has an Fn-layer legend, it sits below the main one.

Four USB-C ports sit on the back edge: one goes to your computer, and the other three are a USB 2.0 hub. The STM32F072 runs QMK, the same firmware as KeBe v2, so the layout and the Fn layer are the same, and the free typing trainer on this site teaches both.

It snaps into a version of KeBe v2's screwless case, printed in black nylon with its rim 1.07 mm lower, flush with the keypad. There is no top plate: the keypad covers the board edge to edge. Each keyboard is assembled by hand in Canada. None of the pictures are photographs: they and the 3D model are renders of the Lite's design files.

Specifications

Layout: 68 keys, ortholinear, Matrix-Dvorak
Keys: Membrane: hard plastic key tops on rubber domes, each dome's carbon contact closing gold pads on the board
Legends: Shine-through: laser-etched through black-painted translucent key tops
Lighting: Per-key RGB, 68 SK6812MINI-E LEDs
Connection: Wired, USB-C
Ports: 4 × USB-C: 1 to the computer, 3 as a USB 2.0 hub
Controller: STM32F072, running QMK
Case: Black nylon, screwless snap-fit: KeBe v2's case, cut down flush with the keypad
Top plate: None: the keypad covers the board edge to edge
Size: Slim: 256.7 × 89.2 mm, 10.95 mm from the case's underside to the key tops (before feet)
Assembly: By hand in Canada

Shipping

KeBe Lite is planned, not made yet, so it can't be ordered and has no ship date.

Questions about an order: support@grounders.app

Questions

How is KeBe Lite different from KeBe v2?: The controller, the USB hub and its four USB-C ports, the per-key lights and the firmware are KeBe v2's. The keys are not. KeBe v2 is mechanical, with Kailh Choc switches in hot-swap sockets under separate keycaps. KeBe Lite is the slim, membrane one: each key is a hard plastic key top on a rubber dome. Pressing it collapses the dome, and a carbon contact under it closes gold pads on the board. All 68 keys are one moulded part, 10.95 mm to the key tops, so there are no switches or keycaps to change, and its planned price is lower.; See KeBe v2
Are the keys backlit?: Yes. The key tops are translucent plastic painted black, with the legends laser-etched through the paint, and each key has its own RGB LED under its main legend, so the legends light up and the rest of the key stays dark.
Is it a membrane keyboard?: It works like one: each key is a rubber dome rather than a mechanical switch. Most membrane keyboards have a plastic membrane sheet under the domes; on the Lite the domes press their carbon contacts straight onto gold pads on the circuit board, under hard plastic key tops.
What is Matrix-Dvorak?: KeBe's layout: 68 keys in straight columns, with August Dvorak's letter order. The row your fingers rest on reads A O E U I under the left hand and D H T N S under the right, and the - = [ ] / \ keys sit in the two middle columns, where your pointer fingers take them. The free typing trainer on this site teaches it one letter at a time.; Open the typing trainer
Do I set my computer to Dvorak?: No. Set it to, or leave it on, US English (QWERTY): KeBe makes the Dvorak letters itself, so a computer set to Dvorak would move them a second time. There is nothing to install: plug it in by USB-C and it types.
Can I change the keymap?: It runs QMK, the open-source keyboard firmware, and every key and the Fn layer are set in it. There is no VIA or Vial: you change the keymap in the firmware source, build it with QMK and flash it. Hold Esc while you plug the board in to start its bootloader; that also clears its saved settings.; KeBe's firmware source and build guide
What do the three extra USB-C ports do?: They are a USB 2.0 hub inside the board, for a mouse receiver, a flash drive or anything else that draws little power. The keyboard and everything plugged into it reach your computer through the one cable, and take their power from it.
Can I order KeBe Lite?: Not yet. KeBe Lite is planned, not made yet: its keypad needs moulds that don't pay off until enough people want one. Join its waitlist: no payment, and we'll email you once if it goes ahead.