Belkin QODE Ultimate Pro Keyboard Case for iPad Air (Black)

This is the first review I've ever written on Amazon, but given the nature of the love it or hate it reviews for this product I felt it was warranted. There are a number of quirks that come along with it, but if you learn how to circumvent them it's truly a fabulous keyboard case. I've been using the case for about a week at this point. The first few days I had multiple problems with the Bluetooth failing to reconnect, but I've now gone the last three days of considerable use without a problem. I'm actually typing this review on the unit in question. I nearly sent it back after day 1, but through trial and error I think I've figured out how to avoid most of the bugs.Pairing the keyboard case the first time seems to be easy for most everyone. It's after that initial pairing that the problems arise. I'll try to take them one by one.First, you must "swipe" your iPad open/on before attaching the iPad to the magnetic strip that triggers the Bluetooth connection. If you have a passcode lock on your iPad you will need to use the touchscreen keyboard to unlock the iPad before attaching to the magnetic base. It's a bit of an inconvenience, but I believe a small price to pay for the benefits of the keyboard. If you connect it prior to swiping there is a strong likelihood that the Bluetooth will fail to connect. Usually when this happens you will have to go through a quick reconnection process that I will explain below.Second, never attach to the magnetic strip when you already have a blinking cursor in a text field. Just tap somewhere else on the screen to disable the text box, then connect the keyboard. Once again, although it doesn't fail every time there is a much stronger likelihood of the Bluetooth failing to connect if you do otherwise, and again you will have to go through a re-pairing process.If you leave the keyboard idle for a few minutes (haven't timed it myself) it will eventually go to sleep. As long as you don't allow the iPad itself to go to sleep/lock as well you should have no problems getting the Bluetooth to reconnect by either tapping one of the keys or selecting a text box to type in. (I had one exception to this when I read a book on the iPad for about an hour with the iPad still connected to the magnetic strip. When I tried to begin typing after the long period of sleep it wouldn't reconnect. This has happened only once despite multiple long periods of reading and keyboard inactivity in the days since.)Lastly, I never let the iPad fall asleep/lock on it's own. I have my iPad lock set to never. When I'm done using the iPad I tap the power button on top to put it to sleep myself. My sole reason for doing that is it makes it much less likely that I will leave the iPad connected to the strip and accidentally swipe it back on while still connected and possibly encountering the first connectivity issue I outlined above. Some of you may not have this option if your Exchange server account requires an automatic lock time. In that case, just remember to disconnect from the magnetic strip, swipe open, wait a few seconds, then reattach to the strip. There are also some possible ways that you can find online to work around the Exchange locking requirement issue that I have found to work in the past.If you encounter a situation where the Bluetooth fails to reconnect, which you almost certainly will at some point while getting used to the keyboard, follow these steps to quickly re-pair the device.1. Disconnect the iPad from the magnetic strip.2. Go to your setting and choose "Forget this device" to clear your iPads memory of the keyboard. (If you don't know how to do this you can find tutorials all over the internet.)3. Turn off Bluetooth on the iPad. (I've found that this is a requirement for me if I ever want to get the keyboard to re-pair)4. Hold down the four corner keys on the keyboard for about 5 seconds. This resets the keyboard's memory. (The LED light will blink orange and blue)5. Turn on Bluetooth on your iPad.6. Reattach iPad to magnetic strip.For me this works every time. It looks like a lot, but it literally takes less than a minute, and I'd gladly do this once a day if I have to for the benefits of the keyboard.As for how the keyboard functions when connected, it's awesome. I love everything about it from the feel of the keys to the backlighting. The merits of the keyboard are already found in a number of other reviews found here, so I won't make this review even longer than it already is. The only reason I give it four stars is because (even though I think I've figured out how to deal with them) a keyboard of this price should not have these problems. Without the connectivity issue I'd give it a 6 if I could. I have never tried to pair a second device to the keyboard as I have no real reason to, so I cannot comment on that function.I would like to thank Bobbydd21 for his review on December 28, 2014 and his subsequent comments and answers to questions. Without his suggestions I likely never would have figured out the little quirks of this product.I can't promise that your experience will be the same as mine or that all of the suggestions outlined above will work as well for you as they have for me, but if you are on the fence I recommend giving it a try. You can always return it if you're experience is a bad one. Good luck and feel free to ask any questions. I will come back and update the review if my experience changes.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE UPDATE:I'm excited about the potential I see in this keyboard. The keys are among the best feeling I've seen for an iPad Keyboard...and that's say a lot as I've owned about a dozen of them. There are many other things I like about this keyboard.But one day into ownership I'm had the same Bluetooth connectivity issue that has been mentioned by at least 5 other reviewers by my count. That's 11% of reviewers as of 11/24/2014 After a successful pairing, the keyboard loses it's Bluetooth connection and then requires me to tell my iPad for ''forget'' and then reconnect . This seems to happen during a period of idleness. I've had to do this three times so far.********Update: Tuesday, November 18, 2014, 09:11:40 AM********Customer Support at Belkin needs an overhaul. After three emails sent, no response. Then I called them, problem not solved. To receive a replacement directly from Belkin would require four calls at minimum. I am opting to just do the exchange via Amazon...what I should have done in the first place.********Update: Monday, November 24, 2014:********The replacement arrive last week and unfortunately, it has exactly the same problem. And you know what? I gave Belkin the benefit of the doubt by researching whether there have been Bluetooth issues with the recent 8.1.1 IOS update. There have been. But I have two other Bluetooth keyboards I use with my iPad Air, the  Kensington KeyFolio Thin X2 Bluetooth Keyboard Case (K97259US)  and the  Anker® Bluetooth Folio Keyboard Case for iPad Air . Neither of them has this problem.I have spent literally hours trouble shooting this because, other than this one flaw, everything else works fine. If any one from Belkin reading this wants to let me know when the problem is fixed, just comment below, I'll glad purchase another one of these.But for now, I give up. I'm printing out my return label today.***UPDATE as of Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 11:07:11 AM***Last week I decided to give Belkin another chance. The feel of the keyboard and the flexibility in being able to select between both landscape and portrait mode's is very compelling. So I called up Belkin and arranged to have another one sent out to me. What convinced me to take this chance was that one of their tech-support people told me that they had never encountered the Bluetooth Connectivity problem on keyboards that were shipped out from their own warehouse.So the keyboard arrived two days ago. So far I have had to only re-pair twice. Both instances were in the morning, so basically I had to re-pair once each day. For the remainder of each day I've had it, it has remained paired.That would be unacceptable for any keyboard at this price point in the normal real world. But we live in Belkin's parallel universe that has been created by a keyboard that, in all other respects is super innovative and outstanding.If this 3rd attempt reverts what I experienced with the two previous keyboards, I will throw in the towel and send this one back to them. However, if all I have to put up with is one re-pair a day, I'm all-in.********Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 12:30:38 PM THE FINAL STRAW********I gave Belkin the benefit of the doubt, and I lost that bet. The 3rd keyboard has unpaired itself 3 to 4 times day even though it showed encouraging signs initially. I am returning it to Belkin for a refund.If you buy this keyboard be aware that Belkin tech support stated that it could exhibit this glitch if you update to IOS 8.1.1. But keep in mind that no other keyboard I use has had the glitch that Belkin's has.********Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 01:12:08 PM********BTW...what really added to frustration was that Belkincares had promised to put me in touch with a Level 2 tech support person. On Fri 12/5/2014, I called them. They could not transfer me to the Level 2. But instead, the Level 2 would have to call me either at 10:00 AM Monday or 10:00 AM Tuesday.I waited on both days at those time giving them 30 minute of wiggle room. NO CALL came. Is that dysfunctional or what?So many will wonder why I put up with nearly a month of agony deal with this. It's because this a great keyboard when they fix the Bluetooth problem. But now from I've experienced, in spite being patient and being nice to everyone at Belkin I spoke to, I will not buy purchase it even after they fix the problem.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------********Monday, August 31, 2015, 08:26:23 PM********--------------------------------------------------------------------------------I took a visit here and there does seem to be an uptick in reviewers who've had positive experiences. If Belkin has finally resolved the Bluetooth issue, I'm glad. My experience, as described above, left a bad taste in my mouth, however. At the same time, I'm happy to try it again if someone from Belkin is interested in reaching out to me. If the problem has been fixed once and for all, I'll gladly revised the conclusions I had earlier reached in this review.

I used this item to replace a broken keyboard case and I am very disappointed with it.The magnetic strip that holds the keyboard to the iPad lets go unpredictably. This morning the keyboard fell off when I was moving the iPad resulting in a cracked screen that will cost about $300.00 to repair.I have also had issues with the keyboard function stopping unexpectedly during use and it will not resume until I close and then reopen the iPad case.All in all I wish I had just gotten the allegedly inferior product from my local electronics store.

Exactly the keyboard I have been waiting for. It is pragmatic, portable, keyboard key layout and feel are superb. I tried the non-pro version briefly and found the key layout to be poor and non usable. I use this for for so I am pleased thus far. The light up keyboard is beautiful too, and the fact that you can detach the case from the keyboard is brilliantly done (with magnets). 5/5

Very late delivery and the device was defective with all keys not working properly. Had to return it, it took a month to refund the money back. Very disappointed this time.

It works as advertised. There are is a noticeable but brief delay before the keyboard connects each time the iPad wakes up, but it's no problem.

Love it!