Brydge Pro Keyboard for iPad Pro Review : A $100 Magic Keyboard Alternative

If you saw my review on the Magic Keyboard, which can be found here, you’ll know that I found it an expensive accessory that fell short of my expectations. But I didn’t want to give up on using my iPad as a computer, so I decided to try out the Brydge Pro. While the Brydge Pro has been around for a little while, this was my first chance to try out the Magic Keyboard’s biggest competitor, and it’s quite a great value for around $100. [Edit 6/21: the pricing was promotional, and now it’s back to $149, but there is a $20 coupon available]

Design

The Brydge Pro has an all-aluminum build that is meant to remind you of MacBook Pros. It doesn’t quite reach that level of polish, as it is not unibody, but it does complement the iPad well with the same curved edges ant Space Gray color.

Unlike the Magic Keyboard, the Brydge Pro has many different viewing angles with a more traditional laptop-style hinge, and can extend to up to 180 degrees. This makes it much more versatile than the Magic Keyboard, since you can use it on the couch with your knees up, or on your lap even if you’re quite tall. The hinge isn’t perfect, as it has a tendency to fall open if opened too wide, and it doesn’t stay firmly shut. There’s also no option for the classic “one finger lift” that you get on MacBooks. But I still think it’s much better than the Magic Keyboard’s hinge.

When closed, the iPad Pro with the Brydge Pro feels like a netbook — super compact but powerful. The aluminum build feels a lot more robust and I don’t feel like I have to baby it as much as I did the Magic Keyboard. But the Brydge Pro doesn’t lend itself to be easily disconnected or connected. Slotting the iPad in isn’t all that difficult, but I don’t find myself taking the iPad Pro out to use it as a tablet.

Then there’s the matter of the big blank space below the keyboard itself — where a trackpad obviously belongs. I won’t fault Brydge for not including a trackpad on this model (they now sell a sequel that includes one) since Apple just recently supported mouse input on iPad OS. Ironically I instinctively have reached down several times to use the trackpad only to remember there isn’t one.

Keyboard Design and Layout

The keys themselves look and feel like cheaper plastic, and are quite small relative to the Magic Keyboard’s keys. Thankfully, as a result, the Brydge Pro has significantly more keys and a (subjectively) better layout than the Magic Keyboard. The brackets are also normally sized, even if the backslash key is not. It’s nice to have audio controls, brightness control, and a home button (because the Esc button doesn’t function as an Esc button) but I wish I had a traditional function row or to have some remapping options.

Typing Experience

The keys themselves have enough travel, but they are quite small, and the action feels a little cheap in comparison to the Magic Keyboard’s keys. There are some similarities to the action to that of the MacBook Pros from 2014 and 2015. After a couple weeks of use, you get used to the smaller layout, and the keyboard feels quite natural to type on. I wouldn’t want to use this for longer typing sessions of essays, but it works perfectly well otherwise.

Everything Else

Before we finish, I want to make a few other points:

• The Bluetooth connection is fine, and I wouldn’t expect many issues in most use, but I’ve connected this to multiple iPad Pros and reconnection is never very reliable. This likely wouldn’t be an issue for most people, but I would prefer a physical connection like the Magic Keyboard has. You can plug it in via USB-C, but I don’t want a cable sticking out of the side of my iPad going into my keyboard.
• It’s unfortunate that you have to charge it separately, but it’s got a long enough battery life that you won’t be doing it often, and it thankfully uses the same charger as the iPad Pro.
• The lack of a trackpad can be solved by using a Bluetooth mouse, but I don’t think that solution will be very common for people since it requires carrying an additional item in your bag

Bottom Line

The Brydge Pro keyboard is a fantastic alternative for the Magic Keyboard, and offers a very premium experience if you don’t need a trackpad. Since this is only $100, I wouldn’t opt for the Magic Keyboard unless you really want an Apple experience.

If you’re interested in your own Brydge Pro keyboard, check it out here. And be sure to follow us on Twitter to be updated when our full review of the iPad Pro is released!

Originally published at https://innoiso.com.