Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

This weird touchscreen keyboard shows Apple how it’s done

I normally don’t trust Amazon-only electronics brands with names made up of randomly generated characters, but the Ficihp K2 mechanical keyboard caught my eye when Gizmodo first reported on it. This wacky keyboard has a massive built-in smart screen attached to the top of the keyboard for extra productivity. Think Apple’s much-hated Touch Bar, but set to 11.

Not that the Ficihp (fai-kip? Fee-keep? Fai-cheep?) K2 deserves the same level of society-dividing controversy heaped on the Touch Bar. After all, this keyboard is clearly more gimmick than functional and I don’t expect to see any out in the wild. The screen itself is meant to be used as a secondary display for your smartphone rather than a strip of function keys.

The Ficihp K2 mechanical keyboard with a touchscreen display
image: Fagomfer/Amazon Image used with permission by copyright holder

Still, there could be room for such a contraption in everyday use, particularly for gamers and those involved in creative work such as music production. Imagine yourself receiving messages, and replying to them, directly on the keyboard while you’re knee-deep in Red Dead Redemption II. I can see this being useful for some.

The keyboard’s screen is a 12.6-inch touchscreen HD panel. It puts out a respectable 60Hz. It’s as if Fagomfer, the manufacturer of the Ficihp K2, stuck a fully functional tablet to the top of an RGB backlit mechanical keyboard and called it a day.

And a tablet is really what this screen is. It opens up a world of functionality. You can pull down commonly-used Photoshop functions and have them on the keyboard, a quick tap of the finger away. Or you could use it to take notes during a video conference call by dropping OneNote or Apple Notes into the display. Or you could simply play a game on the display while your boss sees you hard at work on the call. You get the idea.

A Ficihp K2 keyboard on a wooden desk with a digital sound mixer on its display
image: Fagomfer/Amazon Image used with permission by copyright holder

There are some drawbacks to the screen. For starters, it only has a 10-point touchscreen display, and only if you’re using Windows. This means you can only tap 10 places on the screen. It won’t register anywhere else. It gets worse if you’re using a Mac because now you’ve only got a single center-aligned touch point. This pretty much limits you to using one app.

Also, at $390, the Ficihp K2 is impractical. You could get a much cheaper keyboard and a second display for much less. Of course, you lose out on portability, which I suppose is what they were going for with this thing. Or perhaps they’re simply trying to show Apple how to do keyboard touch screens the proper way?

Editors' Recommendations

Nathan Drescher
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Nathan Drescher is a freelance journalist and writer from Ottawa, Canada. He's been writing about technology from around the…
The 5 best Wi-Fi adapters for PC in 2024
The Ugreen AC1300 Wi-Fi adapter in a desktop PC.

Whether you're designing it yourself or getting a pre-built PC, it can be easy to get a computer and realize that it doesn't have a native Wi-Fi adapter. Or, maybe it does, but you're internet speeds are getting faster, game downloads are getting bigger, you've already upgraded your router and need an adapter to match your newfound power requirements. No matter the situation, an external Wi-Fi adapter that you can add to your PC setup or even laptop setup will be worth your time. Here, we investigate the best Wi-Fi adapters for PC use. Most are incredibly affordable and just snap into a free USB port and start working.
The best Wi-Fi adapter for PC in 2024

Buy the

Read more
How to pin a website to the taskbar in Windows
A man sits, using a laptop running the Windows 11 operating system.

Windows includes many interesting tools, but if you’re like many people, more and more of your digital life is happening in your web browser and nowhere else. That being the case, you’ll want to keep your most important websites close at hand. The easiest way to access them in Windows is the Start menu and the taskbar, treating them more or less like programs in and of themselves.

Although easy overall, getting a website from your browser to your taskbar is slightly different depending on which browser you’re using.

Read more
This LG 34-inch QHD gaming monitor is discounted from $1,000 to $529
The LG UltraGear monitor on a table.

If you want a top-tier display to go with your gaming PC, check out the 34-inch LG UltraGear QHD curved gaming monitor. Not only will it be a worthy screen for your powerful gaming desktop, but it's also currently on sale from Walmart with a $471 discount that nearly halves its price to just $529 from $1,000. We're not sure how much time is remaining before this offer expires, but like most monitor deals of this caliber, it will probably end sooner than you think. Buy it now if you don't want to miss out.

Why you should buy the 34-inch LG UltraGear QHD curved gaming monitor
Gamers who are playing the best PC games should have a screen that will let you appreciate modern graphics. That's certainly the case with the 34-inch LG UltraGear QHD curved gaming monitor, as its quad HD resolution promises sharp details and lifelike colors, while its curved screen fills your peripheral vision for more immersive gameplay. The gaming monitor also features a 144Hz refresh rate, which is at the top of our computer monitor buying guide's recommended range, and 1ms response time. With these specifications, you'll enjoy smooth movements and quick reaction times, which are extremely important in multiplayer matches.

Read more