Battery life is much improved over previous models (matches ultra thin) thanks to use of Bluetooth 4. 20% life indicated ~ 2 weeks more usage... so 10 weeks per charge seems to be the useable life of a fully charged device. Less when using the backlight.
Keyboard is improved once again though double strikes remain a bit of an issue.
New mini lip & magnet closure design seems to be the perfect compromise evolution of this design. Now remains securely together even inside a jostling backpack. Ultra thin often slips apart due to magnets being the only securing element.
Losing the hinge was a good idea, it was mostly fiddly and useless... no point in using the device between closed and docked.
New battery and caps lock indicators.
The So So:
Backlighting is awesome... when you need it. Thankfully it automatically disables when below 20% battery and usage at 20% is still expected to be ~2 weeks. BT 4 really rocks!
Keys are much higher quality but double strikes are still annoyingly common (writing this review with the keyboard). Having experience with more than 20 keyboards of this nature due to some work I do professionally I can say this is not an isolated issue in past designs which does not bode well that this is a sporadic problem with the PRO and PROplus. If this were as bad as the past models I have used personally I would send the device back. As is it seems to be much less common and more useable... for now.
Lack of magnets in the typing trey. The ultra thin had this and I found it very useful for keepingg the device more secure in the docked layout
The Bad:
Cost. This is early adopter pricing at 100$ for the PRO and 130$ for the PROplus (backlit keyboard). If they drop this to 50$ and 75$ I think it would be more reasonable... and actually pretty likely considering past models pricing history. Well.. maybe 75-100.
Conclusions:
Don't let my concerns about the double strike and cost fool you... this is probably the best Keyboard/Case out there for the iPad. This is the 3rd or 4th generation of Zagg's design and I think they have just about nailed it. Short of putting magnets in the trey like they had with the ultra thin and finally ironing out the double strike issue there does not seem to be much left to do to improve this.
1 comment:
Such iPad covers make the iPad look like a good laptop when both the devices can be put intact with each other in the same cover. Good post. I have this one in red :)
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