The Astrohaus Wordrunner keyboard will be available through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in February. | Image: Astrohaus
Astrohaus has announced a new addition to its distraction-reducing Freewrite line of writing tools at CES. Unlike its previous all-in-one devices that pair a keyboard with basic monochromatic screens, its new Freewrite Wordrunner is a standalone mechanical keyboard customized with keys and tools designed to help writers stay focused and work more efficiently.
The company hasn’t announced pricing for the new Freewrite Wordrunner yet, but it’s expected to be available for preorder sometime in February 2025 through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. The company’s all-in-one writing devices range in price from $349 to $999, but without a screen, storage, and other electronics, its keyboard will potentially be much cheaper. Discounts will be available to early backers, but Astrohaus is also currently selling $1 refundable reservations that promise “priority access” and “exclusive early-bird pricing.”
Image: Astrohaus
The Wordrunner’s Wordometer is an eight-digit electromechanical counter keeping tabs on your writing progress.
The Freewrite Wordrunner features a compact tenkeyless design, a body made from durable die-cast aluminum, backlit “high-quality tactile switches,” and several layers of sound deadening so it can be used in shared spaces without itself becoming a distraction to others nearby.
What sets the Wordrunner apart from other mechanical keyboards are the addition of two electromechanical counters with rotating numbers on its top edge. One, called the Wordometer, will continually track word count until you press a reset button, while the other, upgraded with “subtle LED indicators,” serves as a timer for quick writing sprints or tracking your productivity.
Image: Astrohaus
A rotating red joystick in the upper left corner of the keyboard controls media playback and volume.
The keyboard’s other big differentiator is a redesigned function row with keys customized for quickly navigating and editing a document. These include dedicated keys for undo and redo, jumping between paragraphs, and quickly skipping to the top or bottom of a page. There are also three dedicated macro keys — labelled zap, pow, and bam — that writers can customize to their specific needs.
It means the Wordrunner loses keys dedicated to controlling media playback, but that’s all handled through a rotating red joystick in the upper left corner of the keyboard that can be pressed or moved in four directions for skipping tracks or making volume adjustments.
Other features include an extended wrist rest, and the ability to connect to and switch between up to four devices through dedicated hotkeys. The Freewrite Wordrunner can connect to three devices over Bluetooth, including computers and mobile devices, and a fourth with a USB-C cable.
