Kinesis Freestyle (2012) vs Drop CTRL (2018)

The Kinesis Freestyle 2 (2012) and Drop CTRL (2018) make for good, if unremarkable, Wired Keyboards at their respective budgets.

With that said, while they both should serve reasonably well, you might want to look into other options at the $65 and $190 price points - it's likely that there are some better alternatives available.

If you want to learn more about the Kinesis Freestyle 2 (2012) and the Drop CTRL (2018), however, we prepared a summary of the information that we have:

The Kinesis Freestyle 2 (2012) has impressed reviewers from two sources that are among the most highly trusted on the internet, namely TechGearLab and Tom's Guide. It did great in their objective hands-on roundups - it earned the "Best for Customization and Accessories" and "Ranked 3 out of 4" awards from TechGearLab and Tom's Guide, respectively. That's high praise from such reputable sources.

Returning to the Drop CTRL (2018) - it was really well-received by reviewers at Laptop Mag and Wirecutter (NYTimes), which are among the most highly trusted sources on the internet and are known for their in-depth hands-on testing. It was named "Best customization in a snap" by Laptop Mag and "Other great mechanical keyboards" by Wirecutter (NYTimes), which points toward the Drop CTRL (2018) being a high-quality product.

We meant to do a direct Kinesis Freestyle 2 (2012) vs. Drop CTRL (2018) comparison of their review ratings, but couldn't because we weren't able to find any review scores for the Kinesis Freestyle 2 (2012).

Lastly, we examined how the Drop CTRL (2018) stacks up against other Wired Keyboards on the market by comparing their average review ratings. We found that it managed to earn an average review score of 7.0 out of 10 points, which is comparable to the overall, 7.4, average of Wired Keyboards in general.