Is a Second Keyboard Just for Shortcuts Worth It?

This is a spectrum question, not a yes-or-no one. A second keyboard just for shortcuts is worth it exactly when the number of actions you need outgrows what you can comfortably memorise on your primary keyboard, or when those actions genuinely need a hand your primary keyboard cannot spare because it is busy doing something else.

The smallest version of this idea

The EM Mini Pad is about as small as this category gets: five keys in a three-by-two grid with smoked transparent caps over visible mechanical switches, plus one knurled rotary knob, dual mode over USB-C or Bluetooth. A typical layout puts volume and mute on the knob, four shortcuts on the keys, and the sixth mapped to a boss key that minimises whatever is on screen. It claims almost no desk space, which is exactly why it tends to stay on the desk rather than end up in a drawer.

When five keys is not enough

If your list of actions runs longer than five, the KM16 Macropad's sixteen keys and VIA layers give you more room without necessarily needing a bigger desk footprint, since layers let the same keys serve two different modes of work. If what you actually need is your hands entirely free rather than just a spare block of keys, a foot pedal solves a different version of this same problem.

Doing the actual math

Count the shortcuts you currently reach for with more than one modifier key held down. If that is two or three, a spare corner of your existing keyboard, or genuinely a sticky note, covers it for free. If it is a dozen or more, or half of them need a hand your mouse is currently using, a dedicated pad starts paying for itself in fewer mis-typed chords - not in some abstract efficiency number nobody can actually measure for you.

The cheaper fix, honestly

If your actual complaint is that you keep fumbling one specific modifier combination, the cheapest fix is remapping that one combo on the keyboard you already own, which costs nothing. A second physical keyboard is worth buying once you have tried that and still run out of room - not before.

For a full walkthrough of the EM Mini Pad's knob and key assignments, see our setup guide for Cursor, or browse the rest of our small macropad notes.