ZAGG Cover With Backlit Bluetooth Keyboard For iPad Air 1

This is a good bluetooth keyboard if, and only if, you plan to keep you iPad Air in it for extended periods of time. The keyboard works well, the backlight is very cool, and the hinge/clamp is very secure. This keyboard does a great job turning an iPad into a netbook. Once the Air is in this keyboard it wants to stay in this keyboard.

Which turned out to be the problem for me. I broke the hinge after two months because I kept pulling the iPad out of the keyboard. Unlike other keyboard covers, the iPad slots very firmly into the edge clamp on this cover. It does not come out unless you use a lot of force. That’s great if you don’t want your iPad falling out of the keyboard–it will Never fall out–but not so great if you want to use your iPad as, well, an iPad. The cover blocks access to control center, which is annoying. It also makes one-handed use of the iPad in portrait mode impossible. They keys are also a little cramped because the keyboard isn’t full sized.

I realized I don’t need a keyboard clamped full-time onto my iPad, so I was constantly tearing my Air out of the cover, which is actually rather difficult to do and also puts a lot of strain on the hinges. Maybe there is a trick to it, but after two months I never found it out… The build quality on this cover is ok but not great, and after probably hundreds of removals the right hinge broke, little pieces of metal popped out, and now the keyboard won’t close anymore. Amazingly, everything else about it still works after this catastrophic failure and I’m keeping it as a backup external keyboard…but basically I broke it, and you will too if like me you keep removing the keyboard from the cover a dozen times a day.

So if you want your iPad always firmly clamped into your keyboad then by all means get the Zagg cover. If you don’t, as it turned out I didn’t, look elsewhere.

Right now I’m using Apple’s wireless keyboard and an aluminum Elago tablet stand ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003QD4D6U/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ). This setup works well for me, although I’m still looking for a good portable bluetooth keyboard for the Air….

Purchased for ipad air, it fits, but the product was obviously a return. It had two broken keys, the cover of one of the broken keys was in a small plastic bag. Cost to return it $37.80 Australian, disappointed.

First off, let me say I did a TON of research and poking around before I settled on this product. I also bought and tested, the Logitech folio keyboard, the Apple bluetooth keyboard, and the Belkin Folio keyboard. This product was by far the best of all of them. I hesitated before purchasing this one because of the some of the issues fellow reviewers brought up. But I’m so glad I bit the bullet and bought it.

So the iPad slides into the hinge on the keyboard. It IS a tight fit but after using it for even just a couple days, it loosens a tad and the iPad easily slides out to be used in portrait mode. The keyboard’s bluetooth connection is super fast. Once it goes to sleep you simply tap a key, wait a second, and you can begin typing. The keyboard’s battery life is AMAZING! First of all, it’s got a battery indicator which means you’ll never be caught off guard with a dead keyboard. I purchased this keyboard over a month ago, charged the keyboard for about two hours, and it’s still got way over 50% battery life left. I use the keyboard every day at school, for an average of five to six hours each day. I also always forget to turn it off, so it’s always on standby. And the battery is still charged!

Honestly, there are really no cons that I can think of other than not being able to use a screen protector. The fit on the hinge is tight and if your screen protector is of the thicker variety, it won’t work. But this isn’t really a big issue because the iPad closes with the keyboard like a laptop and your screen is totally protected.

This keyboard works well, is extremely convenient, and is very efficient. So give it a try!

This keyboard is by far the best keyboard I have found yet for my iPad or any of my tablets.  The keys are in the exact right position for my hands and symetrical to the device.  I typically use a apple wireless keyboard so the placement is similar as a reference.   I also really like the dedicated tab key, which is great when trying to get any real work done using the iPad.   I ordered the black color and it’s an accurate match for my Air, the color is good both in reflectiveness and in the specific shade of gray.   

I love the feel of the keys, the plastic has a nice quiteness to it, not too crisp, but not soft either, it’s a good balance of comfortable and accurate.   The hinge is awesome, while it seemed silly to me on the Amazon detail page, in practice it really works very well.  Snaps closed and stays closed as it should, althought it could have a slightly greater range of motion, as I would like to open furhter, i’m not complaining.   I fold my iPad up like a little cute laptop, and I am quite happy.     Also since I really dislike branding, the logo embossed on the space bar is thankfully quite sublte, thanks Zagg for keeping it quite and not over doing it with logo.  

Previously I had a Minisuit for Nexus 7 (total junk), Blekin for Kindle (bulky), a Logitech Ulltrathin for an iPad 2 and a Logitech Folio for iPad air.   Of those my favorite until now was with the the Logitech for Ipad 2, but that did leave a scuff mark on the screen after months of use. The Zagg definetly blows them all away.   When I first got the Air I tried the  Logitech Folio, which was a lot more expensive and honestly not the greatest, especally when considering the need to have my hands offset to type correctly and the fact the plastic broke within the month.  Thanks Zagg, i’m a convert.