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Best Quiet Keyboard in 2024

What is the best quiet keyboard on the market?
Last Updated on January 25, 2024
best quiet keyboard

One of the big advantages of a desktop PC compared to a phone, tablet, or laptop, is being able to use a full-size dedicated keyboard. Typing on a phone simply doesn’t compare to the tactile feedback of a real, physical keyboard, but the best quiet keyboard for you is even better.

The problem with many traditional keyboards is that they’re just…loud. Many (mainly mechanical) keyboards produce a loud noise when typing, which can be irritating for both the user and anyone in earshot. The quieter style of membrane keyboard is therefore often what people looking for a quieter tapping experience might go for.

Everybody is different, some people like a clicky noise when they type, and some people just yearn for a quiet keyboard. Here though we will be looking at the best quiet keyboards of any denomination that we have found.

Products at a Glance

How we picked the best quiet keyboard

In this article, we’re going to help you find the best quiet keyboards for you. We’ve picked five great options from across the spectrum of keyboards, including mechanical keyboards for gamers and professionals. These are all designed around discrete operation, with materials and design chosen to minimize noisy typing.

The quest to find the perfect silent keyboard is on. Glad you could join us.

How we tested

We’ve selected a host of the best quiet keyboards at a variety of prices, to reflect a good range of options for people after a quiet typing experience. These are all quieter keyboards and offer a variety of features and functionality, and suit a different budget for everybody looking to locate the perfect typing tool to add to their desktop.

Our Recommended

Product Reviews

1
PROS
  • Wireless
  • Super sleek design
  • Compatible with any OS
CONS
  • Expensive

If you’re going for a quiet, low-profile keyboard, you absolutely must consider the Logitech MX Keys range. It’s a super popular keyboard that looks and feels high-end and comes packed with some unique and welcome extras.

Case in point, its Smart Illumination technology, which lights up the keys when you move your hands towards them (which is handy when it comes to preventing eye strain too). It’s also compatible with practically every OS, and can be paired with, and easily switched between, up to three devices.

Overall, this is a cracking choice for most people, and while it is expensive, we’d say it’s well worth it!

 

2
PROS
  • Excellent ergonomic design
  • Very quiet
  • Great value
CONS
  • Unconventional appearance
  • Physically large
  • No backlighting on keys

For those of you who want an ergonomic typing experience, the Perixx Periboard-512 may be the right pick for you. This is an ergonomic split keyboard, which specifically makes it ideal for those who will be typing for extended periods.

In particular, professionals will begin to notice burgeoning hand pains and the onset of RSI when using a regular keyboard day-in and day-out for too long. The Perixx design is specifically designed to avoid that, which is great for your hands!

(If you don’t want to buy a split ergonomic keyboard but are still concerned about your hands, watch this video from Dr. Levi. I’ve used these stretches myself for years!)

Aside from the whole “ergonomic” thing, this keyboard is also fairly quiet while in use! It does use membrane switches instead of chiclet, but fortunately they’re still incredibly quiet. Even combing through Amazon for nitpicky reviews, we couldn’t find any complaints– and we can’t complain, either.

3
PROS
  • Great build quality
  • Razer Yellow switch is incredibly quiet and responsive
  • Full per-key RGB backlighting
CONS
  • Somewhat expensive
  • Gamer aesthetic won’t suit everyone
  • Physically quite large

This quiet keyboard from Razer is a truly stellar keyboard all-around, with great RGB support, extra hardware features, and amazing mechanical switches. What sets this apart from similar quiet mechanical gaming keyboards, is the Razer Yellow switch.

The Razer Yellow switch is Razer’s quietest key mechanism. It’s described by Razer as “linear and silent”. This means you’ll get the quietest possible typing experience on a Razer keyboard with the Blackwidow Elite, so long as you get the Yellow version. The Orange and Green versions will both be much louder, Green especially.

This keyboard also features a headphone jack passthrough, for conveniently connecting headphones or a headset directly to your keyboard. The wrist rest is also magnetic, allowing you to attach or detach it according to your preference or any given usage scenario.

4
PROS
  • The cheapest option on our list
  • Very slim and quiet
  • Wireless
CONS
  • Not much extra functionality
  • Plain design
  • Cheap feeling

The Arcteck 2.4 GHz Wireless keyboard is the first entry on our list and the cheapest!

This is an incredibly thin keyboard with chiclet keys and wireless connectivity. These low-profile keys inherently result in a lower noise profile than larger membrane or mechanical switches, but the build quality goes the extra mile with stainless steel to keep things quiet.

If you aren’t picky about your wireless keyboards beyond them being quiet, then this is a tough option to pass up– it’s incredibly cheap. We do want to note that the “6-month battery life” claim is pretty much just marketing BS, though, since that’s based on only 2 hours of use per day. (Especially for professionals or gamers, this is a very unlikely use case.)

Since it charges via USB (rather than using AA or AAA batteries), though, you just need to plug it in occasionally– don’t worry about batteries. For this price, this is an incredibly solid product. Most of you will likely be satisfied with this, but keep reading if you want better options. Your choice is more limited if you need a wireless keyboard but they are still out there.

5
PROS
  • Multi-year battery life
  • Great budget option
  • Wireless
CONS
  • Plain appearance
  • No built wrist rest

The Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard is a great budget option for those looking for a quiet keyboard. Despite being cheap, this keyboard is not basic by any means. Firstly, it has Bluetooth technology that can connect to your PC and smartphone or tablet. Shockingly, this keyboard has a battery life of up to 3 years and only requires a couple of AA batteries. Unfortunately, it doesn’t features backlight keys so you may struggle to type away in low light.

This keyboard is the perfect companion to Windows 11 and 10. With its natural compatibility, you’ll be able to take advantage of the whole Windows experience and emoji keys. But, if you aren’t a Windows user, it also works well with other operating systems such as Android and iOS.

Things to consider

Think about how you intend to mostly use this keyboard. If you’re going to be doing a lot of gaming, then it’s worth considering the Razer gaming keyboard. If you’re doing a large amount of typing, the more high-end options might be worth your attention. If you’re just going to be some occasional light typing, the more budget-friendly options in our quiet keyboards round-up might be more suitable.

Membrane, chiclet, or mechanical?

Membrane: The cheapest and most common. Noise level can vary greatly, but typically these sit somewhere in the mid-range for how much noise they make during use.

Chiclet: Low-profile design, common in laptops and slim desktop keyboards. These are usually extremely quiet, but some (especially on gaming laptops) may be made to be louder and provide more tactile feedback. This doesn’t apply to the ones on this list, though.

Mechanical: key switches vary a lot depending on how exactly they have been designed. Some like certain models of Razer and Das Keyboard are deliberately designed to be loud, but this roundup only features quieter mechanical keyboards.

Wired or Wireless?

This is mostly a matter of preference, though we’d recommend wired if you’re a gamer. A wired connection ensures that no additional latency or interference will get between you and your game, which is vital for remaining consistent and competitive. Plus, wired gaming keyboards tend to come with more features overall, like RGB lighting and mechanical switches.

Numpad and media keys?

Truthfully, the numpad will be pretty optional for most people. Unless you’re regularly typing numbers– especially into, say, spreadsheets on Excel– chances are you won’t need it. Media keys are much more universal, though, and these will be especially missed on our bottom-budget wireless options.

We think basic media keys are very important for common use, but your mileage may vary. Worse comes to worst, you can always use a program like AutoHotKey to add media key functionality through keyboard shortcuts.

Is a silent keyboard worth it?

If you are sensitive to noise, or have to work late nights, a quiet keyboard might be worth the money. It’s hard to silence the tapping sounds on a regular one, so if you need less noise, check out this guide.

Our Verdict

We’ve selected the Logitech K800 as our top choice. It’s a competitively priced all-rounder keyboard, with a robust design, and great functionality.