Hacker’s Keyboard
I like unexpected keyboard, it’s also on F-Droid
I would go for a distro that has relatively recent/up to date packages, especially for Linux kernel and power-profiles-daemon, as these will work better with the CPU than packages from 6-12 months ago
Arch Linux is the same as the other day I think I will be in the office tomorrow so I can do it for you and you will be able to get it on the way to the office