Kwumsy K1 keyboard with 12.6-inch display (review)

Review unit provided by Kwumsy

Kwumsy is a company based in China that sells computer accessories. The more interesting products they have are the slide-out-and-fold-out displays that can be attached to laptops, and these keyboards with LCD displays.

There are two models for these keyboards with displays, Kwumsy K1 and Kwumsy K2.

These are the differences:

I don't have preference for scissor vs mechanical switches for the keys and the price difference between these two isn't big. The numpad is very useful though.

Keyboard layout is for Windows. The keyboard can be used with MacOS too, and the modifier keys are Ctrl, Cmd, Option (towards spacebar) instead of usual Ctrl, Option, Cmd. If you switch between a Mac and K1 keyboard regularly, it's confusing.

Bottom line

This keyboard and display combination is functional design that's actually very useful even though it looks gimmicky.

This product is good for people who multi-task a lot but don't have the table space for a normal size desktop monitor.

Such keyboard and display combination can be seen on the ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo laptops, e.g. UX8402 (2022), UX582 (2021).

Those are the best workstation laptops for 2021 and 2022 in my opinion because of that extra display. It's difficult to beat dual display productivity with just one display.

ASUS does sell that short but ultra-wide display separately but it isn't as elegant compared to a 2-in-1 keyboard and display.

Anyway, the bottom line is this product works great and is useful because it improves productivity with the extra display. And it does not take up much table space. The downside is you can't adjust the angle of the display, and that's the issue I had with the ASUS laptops as well. Otherwise, this would have been a perfect 5/5 star product.

Things included

The packaging box actually looks nice.

Included in the box are:

• Quick start guide
• 3-to-1 video cable with HDMI
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• Carrying draw-string pouch for the keyboard

Connection

Kwumsy K1 paired with ASUS Rog Flow X16 foldable laptop

The keyboard supports a single USB-C to USB-C connection provided your computer's USB-C port can provide enough power for the keyboard and display. If you use this keyboard with a laptop, it will drain the battery faster.

If you want to use HDMI connection, you'll have to use the 3-to-1 cable for HDMI, data and power (red-coloured cable).

Kwumsy K2

This keyboard works great just underneath a larger desktop display because it doesn't take as much space compared to a standard 16:9 display. This is actually a huge selling point because now you can improve productivity with an extra display that doesn't take up much space.

Design

These are the dimensions for Kwumsy K1:

Keyboard Size: 325mm x 127mm
Screen size: 12.6 inches(325mm x 103mm)
Size(Screen+Keyboard): 357mm x 232mmx 28mm

The size is kinda similar to the base of a 17-inch laptop.

Beneath the keyboard are four large pieces of rubber feet and two collapsible feet.

On the top are two USB 2.0 type A ports and one USB-C video port.

USB 2 speeds is slow so those ports aren't that useful. You can attach a wired mouse there.

Using the keyboard with the collapsible feet extended is definitely better as it props up the display to a more usable angle. It would be great if the display can be propped up even further. That would be a huge upgrade if they do come up with a gen 2 for this keyboard.

Typing experience is fantastic. The keys have good travel and feedback.

Resolution of the 12.6-inch touchscreen LCD is 1920 x 515 pixels with 157.77 PPI. Overall visuals are considered sharp and pixelation isn't really noticeable.

I measured colour support for 72% sRGB, 50% NTSC, 53% AdobeRGB, 53% P3 and a maximum brightness of 269 nits. Colour accuracy it not ideal but the colours still look alright. No major complains from me because I won't be doing any work that requires colour accuracy on this external display.

The display is glossy so there could be issues with reflections from ceiling lights when using the keyboard at night. This is another reason why being able to adjust the display angle is useful.

How useful is a short ultra-wide display?

A smaller secondary display such as this can be used to display info or windows that don't need to be that big.

For me, when working, I find it extremely useful to have two folders open at the same time, preferable visible of course. This allows me to copy and transfer files easily and this is something I do so often when working with photos and videos. I can place two folders and have another window for Youtube, music, podcast or email. For these purposes I don't really need a full-size 15-inch display.

And now with Windows update 22H2, there's this feature to quickly and easily move windows into specific areas and size. This new feature makes the keyboard display more usable because the alternative is to manually resize the windows.

Between Kwumsy K1 vs K2, I prefer K1 because there's the numpad and function keys.

This is a functional and good looking product that I can recommend. The only minor downside is the display angle can't be adjusted which isn't really a big deal considering the extra productivity you can get from an extra display. It is quite pricey but you can decide whether it's worth the money based on the findings I've presented.

Availability

You can find the Kwumsy keyboards from Kwumsy online store