2025 Year in Review

It’s the end of 2025. Continuing this tradition of reflecting on the year helps me cherish those memories. It lets me appreciate the creativity and hard work in the people and projects around me. It also helps me celebrate the milestones of my shop, beekeeb.

As always, a huge thanks for the amazing support and enthusiasm you guys have given me. I read every email you send. Even if I can’t implement every feature or idea right away, they’re all logged and close to my heart. Your passion for ergonomic keyboards keeps me going. You guys are incredible!

Supporting Open Source Projects

This has always been, and will always be, the most important part of our year in review. As part of the ergonomic keyboard community, giving back by supporting creators’ great work matters a lot to me.

Besides sticking with our previous sponsors, this year we started backing Max (creator of the Flake keyboard) and Carrefinho (creator of Prospector and lots of awesome open source keyboard projects). We also sent DIY keyboard supplies to creators working on new projects. If you’re interested in sponsorship, just email me. I’m always grateful for the chance to lend a small hand to your builds.

Our new online shop in Japan: beekeeb.jp

This is a big step for beekeeb. We started a small company and online store in Japan to offer lower costs and quicker, more reliable domestic shipping within Japan.

Japan’s split keyboard community is wonderful. Local builders and creators push limits with smart designs and firmware tweaks that bring premium kits to everyone. Check out the Keyball keyboard series by Shirogane Lab, the moNa2 keyboard by pooh.polo and shakupan, and the Prospector Scanner firmware by ogu_key (which supports touch features in the Prospector).

A little personal note: Besides my bachelor’s degree from Hong Kong, I was an exchange student at Kyoto University. My first keyboard build was a Dactyl while I was in Japan. Japan has always held a special place in my heart that I truly respect and love. I hope to humbly bring the best parts, creative designs, and meaningful contributions to Japan’s ergonomic keyboard community going forward.

We’re also honored to display the ToucanKeyboard at Yushakobo Keyboard Specialty Shop from January 3 to January 31, 2026. If you’re in Tokyo, please visit Yushakobo to try out all the awesome keyboards, and feel the slim design of Toucan Keyboard in person! Don’t forget the gacha machines too.

A new look in shop.beekeeb.com

As mentioned in my previous post, I’ve wanted to update our online shop for a long time. I still can’t believe we launched it this year and got so much positive feedback. I love how it makes it easier for customers to pick compatible parts for their builds. It also lets me add new listings and update inventory more smoothly.

The new products in beekeeb

Choc v2 key switches have exploded in popularity this year. Kailh rolled out tons of new varieties, and more keyboard designs plus keycaps now support them fully. Here’s what we released to join the fun:

• HSHS46 and HSHS52 keyboards: Based on mmccoyd’s Hillside design. They feature Choc hotswap sockets, full Choc v2 compatibility, built-in battery sockets for wireless use, and nice!view display support.
• Piantor Pro Upgrade: A small upgrade to the Piantor Pro with Choc v2 switch support and ESD protection on USB and GPIO pins
• Prospector Bluetooth Dongle: Designed by carrefinho, this is a ZMK Bluetooth dongle. Originally, we introduced several enhancements for improved durability of the dongle case and a more soldering-friendly assembly experience. It quickly became a popular choice in our international store. In Japan, the incredibly smart and creative Ogura san took it to the next level by creating the Prospector Scanner firmware. There are now several versions of this firmware, including one that allows the Prospector to be used in wireless mode with a battery, and another that enables scanner functionality with touch support. I am truly amazed by these creative works. Because of Ogura san’s coverage and these new use-cases, the Prospector is now widely recognized within the Japanese community. I am so thankful to both Carrefinho and Ogura san for sharing their amazing work with us all.
• Fresh switches and keycaps: 4 silent Choc v2 key switches, 2 ultra low profile switches, and a new silent Choc v1 Bokeh, by lowprokb.

A new keyboard - Toucan Keyboard

I first announced our new keyboard, the ToucanKeyboard, on Reddit, and the response was overwhelming. Originally, I designed the Toucan to solve a personal challenge. Since I travel to Japan frequently this year, I needed a setup that was incredibly lightweight and compact without sacrificing the ergonomic comfort I need for long hours of typing.

It turns out that many of you were looking for the exact same thing. The Toucan strikes a perfect balance between portability and functionality. It was such an honor to see it featured by Yanko Design, Designboom magazine, and notebookcheck.net. It even made it onto HN Front Page, which was a huge moment for me as a long-time reader of Hacker News!

For me, I have never faced such a huge demand of pre-orders for a keyboard that was newly released. It made me want to do much better, from the packaging and instruction guide to the materials used in the keyboard. 

After all the hard work, we made it! I am happy to say that all pre-orders from November have been shipped, and the feedback from the community has been wonderful. 

Our Team

In our shop introduction, we said that “beekeeb is a tiny store operated by 2 people in Hong Kong”. It has been true for a few years now. All the keyboards are soldered by me and assembled and tested by my wife.

We grew a little bit this year. I have been really lucky that there are 4 new wonderful team members joining beekeeb. They help us in packing orders, supporting customers, testing, and assembling keyboards. I am so grateful for their work. Without them, the release of our new JP store, the newly designed website, and the birth of the Toucan keyboard would have been impossible.

2026?

In my previous 2024 year review, I said, “Hopefully, in 2025, I will make some good progress in delivering great designs to the ergonomic keyboard community.” I think I made it happen by delivering the Toucan keyboard!

That said, there are still many things to try, learn, and improve. I am excited to see where the next 12 months take us. Fingers crossed for an awesome 2026!

Let’s have a chat

As always, if anything crosses your mind, be it a random idea, a sponsorship request, or questions about your build, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. 

Wishing you a year of finding keyboards that click with your heart :D

Stay healthy and stay happy.

Leo

Dec 31, 2025