Brydge 7.9 Aluminium Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad mini 4 - Gold

Recieved what looked to be a great piece of kit. The chrome finish and size matches the ipad mini perfectly. Unfortunately, aside from receiving what felt like a faulty product and getting a refund as a result, there were a few things that left me unimpressed. I'm still in two minds as to whether to get another, and give it another shot. The problems: the left clip to hold the ipad had two problems: the rubber that touched the ipad was separating from the metal, possibly due to the glue. And the hinge that connected the clip to the keyboard was clearly looser than the right side, and wonky as a result. The main problem I had was the "o" key either returned no character, or a double character about one keystroke in four. It made accurate, quick typing impossible and therefore deafeated the purpose of the keyboard. Other niggles: it is heavy, (you could also equally say solidly built), the edge on the keyboard was just sharp enough to make it uncomfortable to rest my wrists on it (yes, I know that's bad posture) the tab key could only be accessed by CTRL-CAPS LOCK, a bizarre layout IMO: my last sentence notwithstanding I like most people I guess, hardly ever need to use caps lock. I genuinely don't understand where there is no magnetic strip at the front to send the ipad to sleep when closing the case. The lock shortcut key was just in a wierd position too - I kept on hitting it by accident. Also irritating was the way the keyboard would go to sleep after a short period of inactivity, needing a double keypress and then a pause to wake up, I've previously been using the Logitech keys-to-go board. Despite the lack of key travel on that keyboard I've found the responsiveness of the bluetooth connection to be clearly better than the Brydgemini. And that's a disappointment, because the Brydge has got glowing reviews from Wired.com and others. It looks the part, has great key action, and a solid way to hold the ipad on (although I like others have seen the slight discolouration of the screen at the corners, suggesting too much pressure) but in the end just doesn't quite deliver what it promises. I feel like I should have loved it, but couldn't quite bring myself to, even though I do miss having the convenience of a shiny, shiny ipad laptop now.

I bought this having waiting for Logitech to bring out a similar keyboard for the iPad Mini 4 as it had for previous versions. No luck. Still...this looked like the ideal, if very pricey alternative. And to a large extent it is. The keyboard is very well constructed in a housing which matches the iPad. Keys good, solid feel and easy to type on (I am no touch typist). What's more, a good selection of function and media keys, as well as a backlit option (which I'm just testing out now in the dark and works great), which sets it above other keyboards. Installation and pairing is easy and painless.There are one or two issues, however, which render this less than perfect. First of all, the clips holding the iPad in place are firm and don't allow for any movement. I have noticed a slight distortion/discolouration of the screen image in the lower right corner next to the clip, which makes me wonder whether that is a little too tight. This does worsen when any pressure is placed to close the iPad or change viewing position. I suspect this may be an iPad, rather than a Brydge issue, but it does detract from the way in which the clips work. More importantly, closing the iPad and keyboard together does not, as advertised, send the iPad to sleep. I still need to do that by pressing the sleep button as well. This is mildly inconvenient, as it can lead to battery drain if you forget to turn the thing off manually. There is also an issue with the positioning of the screen if pushed right down into the clips, where the very lower part of the tough screen is unreachable by normal sized fingers, as it's blocked by the edge of the keyboard. Sure, you can lift the iPad higher in the clip, but that is a nuisance and could have been better thought through in testing.Otherwise, I'm happy with the keyboard, although as I said I do think it is rather overpriced for what it is. If Brydge could sort out the minor niggles then it really would be the ideal keyboard for the iPad Mini 4.

On the whole pretty pleased with this. It's such good quality and very responsive that it outweighs a few negatives which I will mention for anyone buying.1. The iPad slides into the hinges really well but unfortunately it means that some of the screen isn't easy to access from a touch perspective without lifting iPad out slighly. Not a disaster but for me a mild inconvenience.2. The dollar sign is where the pound sign should be and so you access the pound sign on another key. Again not a complete disaster but I would have liked no dollar sign and a British version of the keyboard.I would recommend this product - it's been a great buy. Probably a bit expensive in reality but exceptional workmanship and quality materials make it worth it for me. Having bought "great value" things in the past which I've sent back I'd rather pay more and not send back.

This is by far the best keybord you can get for an ipad mini. Awesome build quality but there is a BUT.1) I think they should give you a thin bag to pop it into when it's not being used and when you have your ipad off the keyboard. I bought my own. I don't mean a protective case I mean a lint bag of sorts just to keep the dust off it so that when its in your laptop bag or a case the metal cant rub on any other metal.2) Where the flip up hinges fold back into the keyboard rubs bare metal on bare metal. This isn't clever, there should be some rubber there surely as in a very short space of time this will look worn!Apart from that its superb.