Fully get that — the hot-swap sockets mean you’re not locked into the stock switches. The Choc V2 are quiet tactiles out of the box, but you could swap in linear switches pretty easily since the sockets are standard. On the keycaps — they’re Choc-specific low-profile, so you’re right they’re not a drop-in replacement for regular MX keycaps. If you wanted a louder, more tactile feel, you’d be looking at different Choc switches rather than standard MX.
Great question — we actually went back and forth on this a lot during design. The short answer: going full ortholinear or columnar (like Kinesis or Charybdis) has a learning curve that can take weeks to adapt to, and once you’re used to it, going back to a regular keyboard is genuinely hard. For a lot of people that’s a dealbreaker, especially if you also use a work laptop or another computer that isn’t ergo. Elytra takes a different approach — zero learning curve by keeping the standard row-staggered layout, but still gets about 90% of the ergonomic benefit from the split design alone. The tenting kit and wrist rest are available for users who want to go deeper on ergonomics, but they’re optional. The whole philosophy is: the best ergonomic keyboard is the one you’ll actually use every day without retraining your hands. Also worth noting: the split design means each hand positions naturally — that’s the single biggest ergonomic win, and it costs you nothing in learning time.
The keycaps are specifically designed for Kailh Choc V2 low-profile switches — they’re low-profile keycaps with a different stem from standard MX mechanical keycaps, so they’re not interchangeable with regular mechanical keycaps. The switches themselves are hot-swappable though, so if you ever want to try different actuation forces, you can swap them out without soldering. The keyboard uses a row-staggered layout to keep the learning curve at zero — you open the box and type like on any standard keyboard. Totally get the “something missing” look though, especially if you’re used to seeing full-size or even 60% layouts with continuous rows. It does take a minute to adjust visually.
Totally get what you’re saying about the keycaps — they’re Choc V2 low-profile specific, so yeah they’re not MX-compatible. Feels a bit unfinished visually at first, honestly. On the full ergo thing — we debated that a lot in the design phase. The honest answer is: ortholinear/columnar is a serious learning curve, and once you’ve adapted, going back to a regular keyboard feels genuinely wrong. For people who also use a work laptop or someone else’s machine regularly, that’s a real friction point. We didn’t want to make something you’d have to relearn everything to use. The split layout alone handles the biggest ergonomic win — each hand sitting at its natural angle — without asking you to retrain years of muscle memory. The tenting kit and wrist rest are there if you want to go deeper, but they’re optional. Best ergo keyboard is the one you’ll actually use every day.