Ultimate Keyboard Comparison for iPad Pro M4 (in 2024)

having a keyboard with the iPad Pro makes it a much better experience in every way but with each of them costing close to the cost of a base model iPad itself which one should you choose I'm reviewing the top keyboards from the ESR magnetic keyboard case 360 the Logitech combo touch and of course the Apple magic keyboard to see which one is the best choice for your M4 iPad Pro use the chapters to jump to each section and stay tuned for a cheat sheet at the end to follow along the ESR magnetic keyboard case 3 360 is probably the most underrated keyboard for the latest iPad Pro throughout my testing I keep finding these subtle advantages over the others in this comparison which I'll get to a little bit later first off this one had a case for the iPad which is required to attach it to the keyboard it feels really protective around the edges and Corners it provides a camera guard it has cutouts for speakers and ports slightly elevated buttons that are still really responsive and it has a cutout for the apple pencil it doesn't add a lot of weight which is really really impressive because it has a lot of additional magnets built in to connect to the keyboard when connected it offers a similar floating design to the Apple magic keyboard with a viewing angle up to 125° the keyboard folds completely flat with a clamp to secure the apple pencil and the case overall feels more protective than the others in this video The Floating design just like the Apple keyboard means that there's a lot of wasted space at the top of the base despite that ESR was able to make the most of this space including a full-sized keyboard with a full function row with equal height keys to that of the rest of them and the keys have a lot of travel room and feel very responsive to type this review on the keyboard feels very close to the desktop typing experience which I like a lot the function row at the top includes an escape button brightness app switcher onscreen keyboard toggle microphone a keyboard brightness toggle backlight color toggle media controls and a quick lock button there's a Bluetooth pairing button which you can use to connect to other devices like a Mac if you want to to accommodate the fullsize keyboard in the function row they had to make the trackpad relatively slim it's the smallest of the three trackpads in this video but it's exactly the same size as Apple's previous generation magic keyboard for the 12.9 in iPad Pro which is still completely usable despite the size they still managed to include a full multi-touch gesture support for all of your iPad gestures the material of the keyboard case feels like a soft touch plastic which is very similar to the previous Apple magic keyboard but is far less subject to fingerprints which I was really glad to see despite the keyboard magnetic connection to the iPad it's not leveraging the smart connectors instead it's connecting with Bluetooth which means two things first you can use it even when it's not attached to the keyboard which is always great flexibility to have but second it means that it's not drawing on the iPad's battery and instead has its own 500 milliamp battery and that'll last you 270 to 300 hours of use while this technically means longer lasting battery for your iPad overall because it's not using its battery it makes the keyboard case combo a lot heavier than others in this video and I know that sounds like a downside but it actually works a little bit to your advantage here because the keyboard cases are usually very topheavy obviously you've got an iPad on the top and they tend to tip over when you're using them anywhere but on a table in this case it's a lot better than the others I've used thanks to that weight of the Bas pushing down making it more stable when I'm sitting on a couch using it the lack of the SMART connector means the USBC port on here is purely used for charging the keyboard and doesn't pass through to the iPad now I said earlier in the video that I found a few unique features throughout my testing so first this is the only keyboard case that allows both horizontal and vertical orientation snapping into place for a secure fit and something that I've really enjoyed using second the keyboard has a backlight like the others but it doesn't rely on the ambient lighting sensor of the iPad on the other models if the iPad feels it's too light out it won't let you turn on the backlight this one can turn on the backlight with three dimming modes no matter where you are third the backlight has seven different color options which you can choose from which is really nice personalization overall this is a really great device with tradeoffs like the lack of a SMART connector but thoughtful advantages that make it worth choosing for a lot of people also a quick call out to esrs paper fi screen protector this wasn't supposed to be part of the review at all but they sent it over and I thought this thing was so cool so this is a matte screen protector that when used with the apple pencil feels like paper and I don't normally like these things because anything matte is just going to make your screen quality way worse it's going to look like garbage but this this one's magnetic and it means that I can use it temporarily if I'm drawing but then I can take it off when I'm not using it which I thought was absolutely genius I highly recommend this to anybody doing anything with the pencil and I love this thing the Logitech combo touch is an elevated version of the previous offering a redesign from the materials used for a more premium feel it starts with a slim case that feels extremely high quality with a built-in SMART connector to integrate with your iPad and passes through to a connector at at the bottom the top of the case is exposed to allow easy access to mount an apple pencil the case also has a built-in stand for added convenience which I liked a lot the keyboard is extremely high quality and sturdy feeling it has pins at the top which are used to connect to the case which is how it connects then to the iPad where the other options take a floating design that renders the top section useless and covered this case sits back further allowing maximum use of the space for a larger keyboard and the largest trackpad that I've ever seen on an iPad with kind of funny is that Apple also increased the size of theirs this year but this is still way larger than anything that Apple has created and I absolutely love using this thing the keyboard itself is slimmer than the ESR keyboard with less travel room for the keys which feels somewhere between the absolute slimmest travel room with the Apple magic keyboard and the most room on the ESR I think it's a nice balance for a keyboard that's extremely well built the function Ro was shrunken down compared to the rest of the keys and they've made some changes from what you would expect instead of an escape button they chose to go with a home button that can be pressed to go home or double tapped for an app switcher next there's brightness controls for the display and then for the backlit keyboard the backlight uses the ambient sensor in the iPad which means it only turns on when it's dark enough in the room next there's dictation a screenshot button media controls and then do not disturb because this uses the iPad SMART connector this means it's using power directly from the iPad this meant that they didn't need a battery and they could keep this thing as Slim as possible and unlike the Apple magic keyboard they didn't use a USBC port on the keyboard at all meaning that you can only charge directly through the iPad Port magnets in the keyboard mean that closing it will automatically put the iPad to sleep which is great to see and overall this thing comes in at 660 G of weight which is lighter than last year's model I really like this thing and I think it's so close to perfect but there's a few things that bothered me throughout my testing first the stand at the back instead of using the floating design make it really hard to use when sitting on a couch because is just so long in comparison with the others there's such a small profile and easy to fit on your lap this could have been more forgivable if the keyboard worked well while detached because you could prop up your ipad somewhere else and then use the keyboard but this doesn't have Bluetooth so when it's not attached it's completely useless of course if you're using this thing primarily at a desk or a table these trade-offs just won't even exist for you and otherwise it's a great option the Apple magic keyboard is the Ultimate keyboard experience made with premium materials color matched to the iPad it's the best experience with the iPad in most ways but it's priced that way as well this year it's made with the exact same exterior materials as last year which is very prone to fingerprints and extremely hard to clean so just know that before you pick one up it's color matched to each color of the iPad but I chose to get the dark keyboard because I liked the contrast overall it's the slimmest and lightest option of all three options here and is the only one with a pass through fast charge with built-in USBC which is great because it frees up the USBC port on your iPad for anything else like connecting a hard drive this is the only option that doesn't require some sort of additional case for the iPad which I'm a huge fan of opening the keyboard you immediately notice that the inside has this new aluminum Palm rest and that is great and it makes it feel way more like a Mac the floating design has a few limited angles of roughly 120° the bottom of the hinge design is redesigned so that the iPad sits further back likely enable by a much thinner and lighter iPad this year this allows for more use of the base for the keyboard and trackpad this means that where the keys are the same height as last year there's now the addition of a function row and an expanded trackpad that's larger than ESR trackpad but much smaller than Logitech the function row is extremely slim offering Escape brightness app switcher Spotlight dictation do not disturb media controls and a lock button the typing experience is the single best option the keyword is slim but firm feeling feeling for typing and closely resembles what you would expect from a Mac keyboard or a magic keyboard the backlight is only enabled when the iPad ambient sensor allows for it which you can then change the brightness using the settings app on your iPad the trackpad is made of glass and actually doesn't move at all it uses haptics much like a traditional Apple Trackpad to provide a click when pressing or using Force touch and all of this was trimmed down to an extremely slim profile and weight making it the perfect choice the problem is that this thing is incredibly expensive making it only perfect for those who want the absolute best experience on an iPad and are willing to pay for it to help break it down here's a summary of the video ESR had the largest keyboard with the largest Keys Logitech had the largest trackpad Logitech also had the best viewing angles going completely flat or with flexible viewing angles the lightest overall keyboard goes to Logitech Logitech and apple use these SMART connector while ESR has a built-in battery ESR was the only one to show and hide the onc screen keyboard and the backlight color changing toggle Logitech was the only one with a dedicated screenshot button Apple was the only one with a spotlight button and in terms of unique features ESR had vertical and horizontal docking seven color options for the backlight Bluetooth which means you can use it even when it's not attached it also had an apple pencil clamp to keep things secure Logitech had the largest trackpad a removable keyboard and a built-in stand even without the keyboard apple is perfectly color matched to the iPad a secondary USBC passed through fast charging and was the thinnest option ESR was the cheapest option bu a landslide costing just 30% of what Apple's keyboard costs so from all of the options in this video which one is the right choice for you in terms of best quality apple is the obvious choice here this is in every way the best experience that you can get on an iPad and it's exactly what you'd expect from Apple the price is definitely a tough pill to swallow for a lot of people where there are cheaper options that are out there as you've seen in this video the Logitech keyboard provided a nice Middle Ground option and the flexibility to detach the keyboard and keep the stand functionality which was great to use the stand design also becomes its demise for me as I want to use this thing when I'm sitting on a couch but I can really only use it feeling natural on a desk or a table for the best value versus cost we've got ESR with great options like vertical and horizontal mounting options a larger trackpad than Apple and it has a lot of backlight options that make it Uniquely Yours let me know which one you choose in the comments or if you have any questions about these as I've been testing them as always thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one

Channel: VittorTech

Views: 13,390

Keywords: VittorTech

Id: kl0psBtFDt8

Length: 11min 39sec (699 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 20 2024