Image Source: https://www.brydge.com
Disclaimer: As most of my followers know I am not one for doing reviews. Usually I have only a few minor issues with products and very little good to say about it so rather than come off as a Negative Nancy I just don't do many reviews. This product, however, stirred so many emotions and thoughts I felt I had to do a review and also add in my suggestions on what would/could have made it better!
Pro's:
- Has its own battery so doesn't drain your iPad
- Very sturdy construction - for the most part
- Keys are reasonable size and have descent key travel (Not MBP Butterfly keys)
- Is bluetooth so works as keyboard even when iPad is not attached
Con's:
- Hinge is poorly designed, only 180 degrees and tends to fall to 180 degrees after reaching about 120 degrees
- No alignment tabs on hinge inserts to make sure iPad and keyboard are aligned straight
- Rubber pieces in hinges wear out really really quickly if you are like me and want to use it frequently as a tablet (removed from keyboard since hinge won't fold all the way around 360 degrees)
- Power led only comes on for about 1/2 second and there is no way to tell if it is ON or OFF as a result
- No battery level indicator or app to check it and Settings>Bluetooth>Brydge Keyboard doesn't show the battery level either
- Doesn't connect to iPad in any way other than Bluetooth so to charge iPad and Keyboard requires 2 USB-C Chargers
- Ridiculously overpriced for what you get in return! MSRP is $150 to $170 USD + Tax and Shipping depending on whether you have the 11" iPad Pro or 12.9" iPad Pro!
What they Could/Should have done:
- Make a solid backplate the ipad inserts into that is attached to the hinges
- Make the hinges 360 degrees w/ sensor to Power Off Keyboard when rotated more than 180 degrees (Tent or Tablet Mode)
- Put 4000 mah battery in keyboard with integrated USB-C Thunderbolt connection to iPad when inserted into backplate (This would drastically increase battery life of iPad and Keyboard, allow single USB-C charger to charge both and allow for:
- Put I/O into keyboard on left/right sides including: Two USB-C Thunderbolt ports, USB-A 3.0 port, HDMI Port, SD/TF Card reader, 3.5mm Combo Headphone/Microphone Jack
- Put a battery level indicator just above the keyboard that shows current battery level whenever keyboard is Powered On
- Allow internal keyboard battery to power iPad and I/O devices even when Keyboard is Powered Off
- Include a pair of M.2 ports in the keyboard with easy remove doors to insert SSD's from bottom side (this would be especially handy now that iPadOS supports External Drives)
- Include a finger mouse similar to what Thinkpad Laptops have (this would be especially handy now that iPadOS supports Mice and other External Pointing Devices)
In all honesty the Brydge iPad Pro Keyboard is a Magnificent Concept.....but the Planning and Execution of the product was/is absolutely Atrocious!
PS - For those of you thinking "but it is just a keyboard for a tablet, not a real computer" let me just say the iPad Pro (especially those running iPadOS 13) are faster and more capable AS A COMPUTER than most Laptops on the market today! My iPad Pro 11" can handle 4k video rendering/previewing faster than a $5,000 Mac Book Pro as well as almost any other Laptop on the market! In fact I can load 8 channels of 4k video that are all 1 hour + long into Luma Fusion, do my cuts/edits/tweaks and preview it WHILE IT IS RENDERING with NO LAGS OR LOST FRAMES! This thing is an absolute beast when it comes to Photo or Video work and it will outplay most laptops in Gaming as well! Not to mention the fact that Brydge has advertising out for the Brydge iPad Keyboard that flat says "Turn your iPad into a Macbook!" but they didn't even come close to making it anything near a Macbook!
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