I have mainly been using the rotary encoder for volume, yes. I have to say it does _feel_ very nice though, much more satisfying than changing volume with vol up/down media keys.
I tested out using the encoder for other things like zoom in/out but I haven't found anything where it felt more useful than volume.
In regards to the case, the aluminium case gives the device a reassuring heft. My preference would be to make it out of some % of recycled aluminium but this is proving hard to source in low volumes.
Yeah, that makes sense. Feeling nice is a large part of such a premium product. And it's in the right spot. I had a nice logitech kb once, it had a bigger rotary encoder next to the ESC key that I turned a little whenever I tried to hit ESC. As a vim user, that was not ideal. Especially when it was mapped to the task switcher.
I tested out using the encoder for other things like zoom in/out but I haven't found anything where it felt more useful than volume.
In regards to the case, the aluminium case gives the device a reassuring heft. My preference would be to make it out of some % of recycled aluminium but this is proving hard to source in low volumes.