The Freewrite Wordrunner with a built-in word counter might be the keyboard to look out for if you want to improve your writing process

Astrohaus Freewrite Wordrunner keyboard front and back shot

(Image credit: Astrohaus Freewrite)

I've had my eye on Astrohaus Freewrite products for a while. The company has made all kinds of keyboard-and-screen devices that are designed to eliminate distractions and allow you to get down to just writing. But I could never quite pull the trigger and get myself away from my usual writing apps, so I never seriously considered a Freewrite keyboard. Until now, that is.

That's because at CES 2025 Astrohaus has just announced (via The Verge) the Freewrite Wordrunner, which ditches the screen in favour of a standalone keyboard so you can use it with a device and application of your choosing. Instead of the usual Freewrite e-ink display, the Wordrunner has a word counter, a timer, a red joystick, and writing-focused keys in lieu of function keys.

CEO Adam Leeb explains (via TechCrunch): "While gamers have an entire industry creating specialized features for them, writers have been forced to rely on general-purpose keyboards and add-on software to track their work. Wordrunner transforms this relationship by making the keyboard itself an active participant in the writing process—not just a passive input device, but a true writing companion."

Because I don't like the idea of giving up my usual writing apps—Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Scrivener, and Obsidian, if you're wondering—but I do like the idea of writing-focused peripherals, I was instantly roused to excitement upon seeing those little mechanical counters atop the keyboard.

Image 1 of 3

Astrohaus Freewrite keyboard close-up of the word counter — (Image credit: Astrohaus Freewrite)

But then I thought about it some more and started to wonder just how much sense it makes to port the distraction-free, writer-focused philosophy over to a standalone keyboard.

Sure, a physical timer, word counter, and media-controlling joystick might discourage me from poking around outside the inner frame of the text editor for a while. But will it stop me from getting distracted by that mental side-quest that leads me down a two-hour YouTube rabbit hole? (Will anything?)

I think I won't know how I feel about the keyboard until I get my hands on one, and not just to try out its writing-focused features. Arguably more important than that is typing sound and feel—if you're typing all day, distractions or otherwise, then you're going to want something that feels and sounds good to type on.

According to Engadget, the body is heavy aluminium, and it features sound dampening. The switches are tactile Kailh ones and unfortunately aren't hot-swappable. None of these things guarantee good typing sound and feel though. That's something that can only be decided by actually trying it out.

The Wordrunner has certainly got my interest piqued with its writing-focused additions, and if it can pull off the typing quality aspect, too, it might be the Freewrite product I've been looking for. No word on pricing yet, though, although you can reserve priority access for $1.

Or, perhaps I should just take the plunge and get the gorgeous but incredibly expensive Freewrite Smart Typewriter for *gulp* $649.

Jacob got his hands on a gaming PC for the first time when he was about 12 years old. He swiftly realised the local PC repair store had ripped him off with his build and vowed never to let another soul build his rig again. With this vow, Jacob the hardware junkie was born. Since then, Jacob's led a double-life as part-hardware geek, part-philosophy nerd, first working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN in 2020, then working towards a PhD in Philosophy for a few years while freelancing on the side for sites such as TechRadar, Pocket-lint, and yours truly, PC Gamer. Eventually, he gave up the ruthless mercenary life to join the world's #1 PC Gaming site full-time. It's definitely not an ego thing, he assures us.