Perixx launches split ergonomic mechanical keyboard for office productivity

Perixx spent its launch on a familiar office promise: keep the numpad, keep the wired connection, and make the board easier on wrists and shoulders. The PERIBOARD-535 II is a full-size split ergonomic mechanical keyboard aimed at coders, office workers, and anyone who spends long stretches at a desk without wanting to relearn a compact custom layout.

The hardware is built around a split, curved key field and an integrated palm rest, which is where Perixx is putting the comfort pitch. The board measures 18.66 by 7.95 by 1.73 inches and weighs 2.37 pounds, so this is not a featherweight travel board or a stripped-down niche split. It is a desk anchor with a 6-foot USB-A cable, Windows 7 through 11 and macOS support, and a design meant to keep typing posture closer to neutral than a flat slab does. Perixx says most users adapt to the shape within one to two weeks, which is the right kind of expectation-setting for a keyboard that is trying to reduce the learning curve instead of celebrating it.

The switch selection is straightforward and useful. Buyers can choose clicky blue, tactile brown, or linear red switches, which gives the board enough range for a shared office, a quiet home office, or a code-heavy workflow where consistency matters more than novelty. Perixx also added three typing angles, including 0, minus 4, and minus 7 degrees, so the reverse-tilt option is baked in rather than treated as an afterthought. Full N-key rollover is on board too, a sensible addition for fast typists who do not want missed keystrokes when they are hammering out prose or pushing through a compile-and-fix loop.

Perixx also simplified the software side. Programming is browser-based now, with no software installation required, and the keyboard’s remapping runs across Windows, macOS, and Linux. That is a meaningful shift from the older downloadable driver approach still listed for the PERIBOARD-335, 535, 535 II, and 835 family, including a Windows 10 and 11 package updated in April 2026. For office buyers, that means fewer IT headaches and less friction when moving between machines.

The ergonomic case for all this is not just marketing gloss. CDC-hosted research has shown that split keyboards, when set up correctly, can reduce mean ulnar deviation of the wrists, and Microsoft-authored work on a fixed-split design found that changes in angle and curvature reduced forearm pronation and wrist extension without hurting typing performance. Perixx has been working this lane since November 18, 2022, when it introduced the PERIBOARD-535 and PERIBOARD-335 as its first mechanical ergonomic keyboards, later adding the wireless PERIBOARD-835. The 535 II looks like the company doubling down on the idea that a full-size ergonomic mechanical board can win by feeling familiar first and specialized second.