"The keyboard is just OK. To be honest, it was the only part of the device I was a bit disappointed about. The keys are small, not spaced apart enough, and can be hard to press." [1]
[1] https://artvsentropy.wordpress.com/2022/01/15/writing-on-the...
From a psychological UX perspective, I'd prefer 1/2 shifts between all the rows, creating a hex grid.
Ortho is also logical and justifiable, although its packing is worse than hex.
But if convention is to be broken, it should not be the 1/4 that this product has chosen, which offers no benefit and creates an unfamiliarity cost. Better to stick with the standard key positions than this.
I've actually got an atom based PC that uses the exact same chassis and trackpad as the pinebook pro, and I've been trying to use the same community firmware. Because it is indeed horrible by default. Random touches, scrolling instead of pointing etc. No palm rekection at all.
Unfortunately I never managed to get it to install :(