chocofi wi hybrid
after time with the Chocofi Beakl Wi and the Chocofi Beakl Wi staggered layouts, the winner is..
beakl wi hybrid
Save for the staggered pinkie finger chord—from the top+middle row to the middle+bottom row (with tuned glyph placements)—the chords for base alpha layer, and the thumb layers remain the same as the non-staggered Chocofi layout.
This layout merges the non- and staggered alpha base layers design, retaining the top corner ring finger Q and X letters and moving the chorded Colon and Z of the non-staggered layout to the staggered middle+bottom chorded position.
The four letters Q X J V are effectively on their own rows—preserving the strength of the Q X ring finger reach along with a relaxed J V and (chorded middle+bottom) Colon Z on the pinkie finger.
i am certain this doesn’t end here as it has only been a week acclimating with the Chocofi keyboard but this layout appears to end the undecided 50:50 preference split held between the non- and staggered BEAKL layouts until now by addressing the (personal) pinkie finger issues experienced with each layout.
The choice of which keyboard layout is best will differ for each users’ hand proportions and pinkie finger strength and agility. Those who are already strong touch typists or play musical instruments will likely prefer the non-staggered layout. Those with short or weak pinkie fingers may gravitate towards the staggered or hybrid layouts.
As always, YMMV.