The TEX Shinobi is a tribute to/recreation of the much loved Lenovo/IBM ThinkPad keyboard of yesteryear. Last seen on the 2007 X61 ThinkPad (and briefly given a limited edition outing on the 25 Anniversary Edition in 2017) the 7-row ThinkPad keyboard has become the stuff of legend amongst laptop connoisseurs. To anyone who hasn’t previously encountered one of these ThinkPads however, the TEX Shinobi’s design can seem a bit out of the ordinary.
Essentially, what TEX has done is to recreate the entire bottom deck of a ThinkPad, rather than just the keyboard in isolation. This means that the dimensions of the Shinobi are unusual, to say the least: 31.3 x 23.5 x 3.3 cm, with maybe a fifth of that surface made up of “blank” wrist-rest area, just as it would be on a laptop. As someone typically looking to recreate the desktop writing experience away from the desk, the idea of having a desktop keyboard look and feel like a laptop seemed counterintuitive at first, but it didn’t take long for me to change my mind.
While I definitely had my issues with the Freewrite smart wordprocessor when I tried it out last year, one of the things I did love about the machine was the look and feel of the keyboard. It turns out that TEX is the company that makes those keyboards for Astrohaus, and the Shinobi is every bit as much of a pleasure to type on.
The TEX Shinobi is a wired (USB 2.0 A Type to Type-C, though a BlueTooth upgrade add-on can be purchased for just $40), 96 key keyboard, with a TrackPoint. The TrackPoint is one of the ThinkPad features which many users love but, even though I was aware of them, I’d never tried one before I got my hands on the Shinobi. Nestled between your G, H, and B keys is a little nub that acts like a mini-joystick, allowing you to move the on-screen cursor or without the need for a mouse. Keys recessed below the spacebar give you your mouse-click functions. The idea being that your fingers never have to leave the keyboard. This takes some getting used to for a first-timer, and I must admit that I am still reaching for my mouse maybe three times out of ten, but I can definitely see the appeal and the benefits.
The Shinobi is actually the “budget” model of TEX’s ThinkPad recreations: there’s also the higher spec Kodachi ($399 US dollars) with an aluminum body, and a very slightly different (less true to the classic ThinkPad) key layout. However, there is nothing basic or austere about the Shinobi, which is in all honesty, probably the nicest keyboard I have ever typed on in my entire life.
The layout is a little strange to the non-ThinkPad user: you’ve got a mini spacebar, Del, and Ctrl keys which aren’t quite where my muscle memory thinks they should be, but its nothing that you won’t get used to quickly, especially if you’re already used to typing on a compact or laptop keyboard. Having never worked on a ThinkPad I can’t directly compare the Shinobi to it, but I can say that it’s absolutley nothing like any laptop keyboard I have ever used.
The TEX Shinobi comes with Cherry MX1A switches in a choice of Black, Blue, Brown, Red, Silent Red, Clear, Silver, and Green. I went for the Browns, knowing that they’re the same switches used in the Freewrite I tried out. The keycaps are all-black, laser engraved ABS with a special, sculpted, retro-inspired ADA profile created by TEX themselves. Of course, you get a keypuller and a few extra keycaps to make your Shinobi look even more like a genuine, classic ThinkPad keyboard.
The Shinobi is also fully programmable via TEX’s web configurator which can be accessed at https://shinobi.tex-design.com.tw
The TEX Shinobi is a great big slab of luxury; absolute pleasure to type on and, despite its unusual proportions and layout, actually a bit of a desktop space-saver thanks to its TrackPoint and condensed key layout.
It’s certainly compact and portable enough to use out and about with a laptop (weighing 1.2 kg, it’s not exactly lightweight, but definitley not prohibativley heavy), and you’re not going to have to worry about it rattling round in the case, seeing as it’s very much laptop-sized and shaped. Will people in the cafe stare at you when you pull out this great big black rectangle of a keyboard and start typing? Probably. Will it because they are jealous? Almost certainly. Given enough time, will someone interrupt your work to tell you that they “used to have a ThinkPad with a keyboard just like that”? Definitely.
The Shinobi keyboard is available direct from TEX for $185 (US dollars)
The Shinobi is also available in DIY kit form, starting at $109 (US dollars)