Detroit-based Astrohaus has been making its “distraction-free writing tools” under the name Freewrite for about a decade. Until now, they’ve all been standalone, single-use devices intended simply for writing text, but Astrohaus is branching out at CES 2025. The company just announced a mechanical keyboard called Freewrite Wordrunner, a device designed specifically for writers.
This comes more than three years after Astrohaus quietly revealed plans to build a keyboard, initially known as the Maestro. But the company ultimately pulled the plug on its planned 2022 launch, and I haven’t heard anything about it since then — it seems like they’ve just been working on it all this time. CEO Adam Leeb said in a press release that the company has been iterating and developing it for almost four years.
Mechanical keyboards have largely become the domain of gamers; instead, the company wanted to build a device aimed at people who make a living writing. Without spending some quality time with this, I can’t say if they’ve achieved this goal yet, but there are some fun ideas on display here.
The Wordrunner has a ten-keyless design that looks familiar at first glance, but you’ll quickly notice that the function row has been replaced with a custom set of keys that will speed up the compression of text documents. This includes find and replace, undo and redo, paragraph up and down, and the Previous, Next, and Reload keys. I’d be upset to lose the function row media controls, but Wordrunner covers them with the bright red joystick/button. It moves in all four cardinal directions, can be rotated like a knob, and can also be pressed vertically to skip tracks, change the volume, or pause your music.
On the other side, you’ll find three customizable macro keys with the cute names “zap”, “pow” and “bam”. They’re programmable for whatever you want, but Astrohaus suggested using them to launch specific writing apps, convert text to title case, or insert the date. I’m not sure what I’d use them for yet, but having customizable keys is a must-have feature for most keyboard enthusiasts, so I’m happy to see them here.
Probably the most visually striking thing about the Wordrunner are the two mechanical counters you’ll see at the top. One is a timer that you can use to write sprints or just stay focused for a while. More intriguing is Wordometer’s dead center at the top of the keyboard. It will track your words with its huge eight-digit mechanical counter, and since it records your word count for as long as you want, you can try to max it out one day. Of course, you can also reset it at any time or pause it if you don’t want it to advance while you’re chatting with friends or sending emails.
The mechanical keys are backlit and use Kailh switches; the keys are replaceable but the switches are not. It also has a built-in soundproofing system so you can use it without subjecting everyone around you to loud key clacks (this can be a plus or minus depending on how you like your keyboards). As for connectivity, the Wordrunner uses Bluetooth or USB-C, and you can pair the keyboard with three different devices and quickly switch between them using dedicated keyboard shortcuts.
I had the chance to play with a prototype of the Wordrunner, and my first impressions were “wow, it’s heavy!” This is a thick plate of polished aluminum that matches the finish of the Hemingway premium edition of the Smart Typewriter. Astrohaus founder/CEO Adam Leeb told me the company aims to make this keyboard feel like a high-end limited edition with the finish, although they plan to make it part of the permanent portfolio .
Although I didn’t get to try the Wordrunner connected to a computer, I was still able to see the mechanical Wordometer turn around when I started typing. It’s quite satisfying to watch it count while I write an imaginary story on it, and there’s a little LED that is green when the counter is on and red when it’s off. The keys and movement all felt good, and the joystick was a nice tactile experience too – I can’t wait to use it as a volume knob for media. Leeb says this keyboard is still a prototype, but it looks pretty polished and almost final to me.
Finally, there is the ever-present question of availability. Astrohaus is launching Wordrunner on Kickstarter, as it has with most of its other hardware over the past 10 years. The campaign should start in February with a preferential price, but we do not yet know what this price will be. Luckily, there’s a no-obligation way to get the best price if you’re curious. Astrohaus says you can place a $1 reservation for priority access and the best possible price, with plans to deliver the first batch of keyboards before the end of the year. It’s far from the case, but a dollar isn’t a bad investment if you’re interested.
Updated, January 8, 2024, 9:27 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include some hands-on impressions and photos of the Wordrunner.
