Hi there, and welcome to this delayed monthly UHK status update!
TL; DR: The assembly of the first 400 modules is underway in our facility, and we expect to ship them in about a week. Afterward, we’ll be continuously producing and shipping module preorders as quickly as we can. One of our key contractors has become suddenly overloaded, and as a result, we expect to start UHK 60 v2 production around the end of April. There are a lot of cool demos in this update, so make sure to read it.
Module production
Module manufacturing has finally started, and we’re assembling the first 400 modules, including 100 modules per type. The following photo was taken after surface-mount assembly and shows the module panels:

Unlike the UHK panels, the module panels contain numerous PCBs. The key cluster panel looks like some kind of modern art:

The trackball panel is very densely populated:

It’s interesting to peek into the modules, so here are some pictures of them half-assembled and fully assembled:




The following modules have been assembled so far:

The modules’ look and accuracy have greatly improved since I made the last module demo videos, so I’ve made some new ones. At the end of the videos, you can see the scrolling navigation mode in action assigned to the Mod layer of my UHK 60 v2. This mode makes it easy to zoom through a massive amount of content quickly, and it’s great to skim through documents.
Let’s start with the trackball module.
We’ve tried many different balls, and we’re unsure whether to provide a light black resin ball or a heavier steel ball, so we’ll include both. We may eventually offer only one of these balls based on your feedback. The balls can be quickly replaced without tools, according to the following video.
The new, modified, injection-molded spacer improved trackpoint accuracy, and now it feels more accurate.
Beyond single tapping, the touchpad module supports two-finger tapping, two-finger scrolling, and pinch to zoom, but only tapping is supported at this point. We’ll add firmware support for every one of these actions soon.
Can the modules replace the mouse? It’s a question asked by many, so it’s worth an answer. The modules are a good fit to replace the mouse for regular desktop use, such as web browsing or interacting with applications. If you’re a graphics designer and spend a lot of time in Gimp or Photoshop, a mouse or a graphic tablet is a better choice, though. As for gaming, I think the modules are useful for specific games such as turn-based strategy, but I wouldn’t play fast-paced games, such as first-person shooters with them.
We keep shipping on a first-come, first-served basis, but the first 400 modules will be sent only to non-Crowd Supply backers. The reason for this is that Crowd Supply could potentially cause a weeks-long delay in delivery, and it is vital to get quick user feedback at the start of module mass production.
After shipping the first 400 modules, we’ll fully adhere to our first-come, first-served shipping policy, and we’ll be continuously producing and shipping module pre-orders as quickly as we can. So far, module mass-production has been a smooth ride, but it’s just started, so we don’t have reliable metrics on how long it’ll take to assemble all modules. We’ll provide you an estimate in our next monthly update.
In the meantime, make sure to update your address if you have moved to another location since your order.
Agent progress
Agent has evolved quite a bit recently, and now it’s able to detect every module and configure the actions of module keys and buttons.
A seamless experience of a fully-fledged product is kind of magical, and I believe that the above demo exemplifies it well. You can take a look at Agent’s web demo, which now includes the modules, too. We’re working hard to make the modules not only work for you but amuse you.
UHK 60 v2 progress
Two issues are blocking UHK 60 v2 production: PBT keycaps and plastic parts.
We’ve received a new PBT keycap sample set for approval since the last monthly update. This sample is a definite improvement over the previous one, but some keycaps’ shine-thru performance, especially the convex keycaps’, should be better. Our supplier is doing their best to maximize shine-through performance and provide improved samples soon.
As for the plastic parts of the UHK 60 v2, they’re larger than the modules and can only be molded with a larger machine. We have a great supplier who proved themselves, but due to a sudden influx of foreign orders, they’re quite overwhelmed these days and can only mold UHK 60 v2 parts around the end of April.
Most of you are very patient regarding such delays and primarily concerned about the quality of the final product which we highly appreciate, and we resonate with your mindset. Others are less patient which is understandable. We have dozens of suppliers, and even if one of them introduces a delay, the whole project gets delayed. These delays are often unexpected, and they’re among the top reasons why shipping hardware is so much harder than shipping software. We’ll do our best to push forward. We’re making sure that the wait worths it, and we’ll be keeping you updated.
Your tweets
You guys keep sending your awesome tweets, and we're always eager to read and feature them! If you got your modules, please share your love!
More than I year after purchase I must say it’s the best keyboard I have ever had and will! Great job the this small little company, amazing! #UltimateHackingKeyboard @UltHackKeyboard pic.twitter.com/0BzmgqC1UL
— V.PhD (@vpumine) March 7, 2021
I just love https://t.co/QRNBKJdvjU absolutely perfect for my wrists, I'm a pretty big guy and can have the halves just so. @UltHackKeyboard
— Ivars Zarins (@ivarszarins) March 2, 2021
We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK and are looking forward to talking to you in mid-April. There’s a lot to do nowadays, so the update may be a bit late, but I’ll do my best.
Thanks for the update.
Seems like more frequent updates to UHK v2 estimate shipping / production dates on the order page would be beneficial. I placed order mid-Feb and understood that I'd be waiting until end of March – mid April and was fine with that, however, to learn a month later that production will not start until the end of April is very disappointing.
My support query also went unanswered beyond a reply stating “We will get back to you”.
Sorry for the delay, Laszlo is overloaded and we are prioritizing production over updates.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us via email. Unfortunately, the new UK regulations take time to implement into our system.
Would it be possible for someone other than Laszlo to provide more frequent updates? Six weeks passed between this blog post and the one before, which is quite frustrating.
It would be great to have e.g. status updates provided every week, or as statuses change.
We publish all the news as soon as possible. Thanks for your understanding!
I'm also not happy about another delay, but at least it is communicated now and not after the expected shipping date (like end of January)
Thanks Mária
Just to comment publicly that the support issue was fully resolved (thanks again) and I've placed a new order.
Really looking forward to the V2 release!
Thanks, Jamie!
Sucks to hear about the additional UHKv2 delays, but given how I've only just hearing about this keyboard and ordered, I suppose I can remain patient. Better to be done right the first time, than be unhappy down the road.
Of course, it could be interesting if you shipped the guts and STL files for the case for folks that might want to print their own customized case up ;) A possible future avenue, or even future v3 feature folks can opt-in to.
Thanks for your understanding!
We will publish the electronic files and decide on the mechanical files later.
We are also considering a development kit.
Really happy with the decision to include both a light and heavy trackball. My instinct is that the heavier ball will be better for me but I'm glad I'll have an option, and be able to experiment.
Will UHK layouts be exportable and importable between the v1 and v2 keyboards? If I have a v1 at work and a v2 at home and decide to make a layout tweak to my v2; can I simply export the configuration and then import it when I'm next at work on the other version of the keyboard? Or will I need to make the layout tweak on the two boards independently?
I also am a bit disappointed that the CrowdSource modules are not the first out the door. Your reasoning makes perfect sense… wanting quick feedback. But as someone who ordered these things in 2015… it's a bummer that I will likely be waiting into the summer for the modules. It would have been nice if there was an option to get the modules in the first wave even if it required some work on my end as the consumer.
We can understand that, and we're sorry!
It was a difficult decision, but if we can ship at least some of the pre-orders, why hold back everyone's product in the queue.
Crowd Supply pre-orders are the first in line, the moment we can ship to them, we will of course prioritize those orders, and follow the pre-order queue.
Thanks for the feedback!
Yes, UHK layouts are exportable and importable between v1 and v2 models.
What a terrible news, the delivery of v2 is delayed again
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I am one of those sorry soul's who bought and received the v1 days before the v2 was announced. I got into a daily conversation with a representative over the inconvenient timing and possibility of returning and then preordering the v2. But in those days I fell in love with the uhk increasing my comfort, speed and accuracy as well as having the friendliest "agent" that I have seen, all that made me change my mind about returning and instead just ordered a v2 separately. the improved efficiency alone made up for the cost of a second board and now with increasing delays my investment just looks smarter.
So I just wanted to thank you guys for creating a board that has greatly increased my productivity, I cant wait to see how much and if the modules further improve it when they arrive. Or when I get my new personal v2 in the mail so I can demote the v1 to my work desktop.
You truly are a company for consumers, in the world of "build things to wear out so we get repeat customers, and price doesnt always equate quality" you stand above. UHK has earned a fan for life and I will spread your praises whenever given the opportunity.
Such a nice story! Our pleasure!
We really appreciate your honest feedback!
Hey László, congrats on the progress you're making!
I personally don't care for delays. I know the first version was delayed a bit, then modules are taking forever, then v2 is getting multiple delays – but I don't care. This is not a contemporary spec-heavy product: it's not going to be automatically obsolete even if released in 20 years. All I care about is for you guys to deliver the best quality product you can, which is what you're aiming for, so we can use it for another 20 years and be extremely happy with it. Take your time, don't rush, you guys have proven you're doing quality stuff!
Thank you for the heartwarming words!
This captures my thoughts as well. I want to see a solid product, not one rushed to my doorstep as fast as possible. I mean, sure, I _want_ it ideally yesterday, I'm super excited and all, but in 2 years I'll either go "I'm glad it took longer and I got a quality product in return" or "Wow, they rushed it and I had a month earlier but wow this sucks". I know what side of this I want to be on.
It is nice to see that all of these modules are becoming more and more real. Great progress!
I am surely a bit sad about the first ones to buy not coming first to get their stuff, but in the end it does make sense, to get some quick feedback.
Exactly! Thank you for the feedback!
As a general rule, are we getting any tracking link / shipment confirmation email when a parcel leaves?
Thanks, the modules look awesome, can't wait for v2!
Sure! A notification e-mail will be sent for all shipping.
Nice to know we will get the module soon.
BTW. How to clean the small ball in the cluster keys?
If it will be necessary we will write instructions for it on our website.
Yes, it will be great as I owned an old Apple magic mouse, it has a scroll ball similar to this, and it collects our finger dirt and dust and the sensor start not working after around 1 year. And I need to disassemble the whole mouse in order to clean it…
Finally…
What are non-Crowd Supply backers? If an order was placed on your website a year ago for example, is that a non-Crowd Supply backer?
Yes.
Crowd Supply backers ordered several years ago, that's why they are first in line for shipping.
So happy to hear that module shipping is starting soon! Any idea how long it will take for you to finish shipping all of the preorders? I am not a crowdsource backer and was late to the party :)
We don't want to make any predictions yet, we will have a better view of it later and share information about it in the next blog post.
Could there be increased talk in a developer kit, or possibly shipping it without keycaps? I have seen numerous people that would be interested in the latter. The first thing I am going to do when receiving the keyboard it take the keys off for ones I prefer. I would much rather have my keyboard than continue to sit and wait until you find a key you are satisfied with. While I appreciate the attention and care for detail on the keys, as someone that will be replacing them ASAP, the continued delays are making me not even want the keyboard at this point.
We plan the developer kit in the future, later we will share more about it when the time has come.
Sorry, but we don't offer the UHK without switches or keycaps. It's worth mentioning that switches are needed to test the keyboards at the end of the assembly process, so it'd take extra time for us to remove the switches, then we'd have to throw away the used test switches.
I understand the switches part and have no plans to change them out. I do however plan to get rid of the keys. How quick are turn arounds on refunds for those of us that will likely tire of waiting after another delay?
We do not sell UHK without keycaps, nor switches.
We arrange the refund within 1-2 days after receiving the cancellation request email.
Is 1-2 days typical to hear back for a refund? It’s now been 3-days for my request for a refund by email and I’ve heard nothing and haven’t seen anything in my bank showing a refund.
Usualy we arrange the refund within 1-2 working days. Please take into consideration the time zones also.
Some small delay might happen when there are a lot of messages. Thanks for your understanding.
I am torn. On one hand I see these pictures and videos and I am excited about this insight. On the other hand, I placed my order in December and I am really disappointed that I still have to work with a keyboard that gives me RSI pain. However I am not going to give you hard time about the delay. I know you are doing your best, and it feels wrong to take up on you.
I have two questions:
1) If you want a quick feedback from the users, does it mean you plan to make some changes to the modules based on this feedback? My point is, should I be concerned that the later you send a module, the more polished it would be?
2) Laszlo, which right hand module do you find the most useful?
1. Minimal changes might be done, depending on the feedback, but we do not plan to change if it is not necessary.
2. It's a tough choice for Laszlo, he prefers both the trackball and the trackpoint and currently switches them back and forth. He has never preferred a touchpad, but everyone has different tastes.
I'm using my UHK v1 already for years and love it! Can't wait for the trackball module to arrive at my doorstep ….. I just replaces the batteries in my wireless mouse, so I'm ok with the delay :-D …. Hopefully you get great feedback from the users and that there is no need to make any changes to the modules.
Will the backlighting on the key cluster module work with V1 keyboards that don't have backlighting?
BTW, I wanted to chime in and say thanks for all your hard work on bringing this to market in an uncompromising manner! Like many others have said, I'd much rather see delays than a rushed product.
Many thanks, we really appreciate your words!
Yes, the module backlighting works with UHK v1 also.
Looking forward to see more details and reviews of the modules. Over two decades ago I used to have a trackball. The ball was definitely bigger than what I perceive in the video. I wonder how the acceleration and dexterity and usability compares between these. Anyone here can chip in some guesses? :D
I think a lot of specialized models would outperform the UHK trackball; probably in all but one aspect: you'd still have to move your hand to use those.
But I hope the difference is not that drastic, and UHK trackball is, at the very least, usable. Judging by the previous products, they won't release trash. But of course, only hands-on experience will show us :)
In the 2 years I've been using a UHK, I've gotten so comfortable with the mouse layer, I tend to use that more than an actual mouse. I'm kinda concerned about how much I'll have to reach with my thumb to use any of these cluster modules, though. I tend to shift my hands a bit to the "outside" to be able to comfortably reach the keys on the upper right side more reliably (I'm a developer, so I use them a bunch). Maybe I have short pinkies? Anyway, given the amount of care that's gone into this product, I'm guessing the ergonomics will be acceptable. I have the trackpoint and keycluster on order, so I guess I'll find out soon…
We are glad to hear that the mouse layer is such useful for you!
In connection with the modules, we believe you will be pleasantly surprised.
I can chip in my betatesting experience. Namely this thread on fb: https://www.facebook.com/UltimateHackingKeyboard/posts/3885591731548901?comment_id=3886795211428553¬if_id=1615920515717385¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif
TL;DR: The ball is pretty sensitive and requires light and relaxed touch, but overall the trackball modules is surprisingly dexterous, and usability-wise can be compared even to big trackballs. Ofc., there are differences and drawbacks to the small ball, but usability-wise the difference is not that drastic.
Guys, you aren't shipping your keycaps from China via Suez canal by any chance? :))
Never "EVER". The keycaps have never Ever Given a chance for this routing. :))
Since modules are under production, sounds like they'll be ready along