Gadgetory

your iPad air 2 is great and you can get a lot of work done with it but most people think of work they think of typing and that means a keyboard a real one most keyboards for the iPad works basically the same way you charge them every month or so you pair them over Bluetooth and you attach them to an iPad somehow there are a lot of different kinds of iPad keyboards some of them make look like a laptop some will come with built-in cases and some that fold up like crazy accordions but you want to keyboard that strikes a hard balance it should be good to type on it should hold your iPad at the right angle it should work on your lab and it shouldn't cost too much that's a lot to expect but there is one keyboard that managed to do it all it might surprise you who makes it it surprised me Microsoft yes Microsoft makes the best Bluetooth keyboard for Apple's iPad air 2 it's called the universal mobile keyboard it's not a case it's just a keyboard with a neat little detachable cover that folds open to reveal the keys inside that cover also acts as a stand it keeps a keyboard stable on your lap or on a table and it has a little slot for holding your iPad that slot is actually one of the reasons we like it so much it can hold a caseless iPad air at two different angles and it can accommodate most reasonably sized iPad cases so if you didn't already have a case you don't need to ditch it to use Microsoft's keyboard the most important thing about a Bluetooth keyboard is that it feels nice to type on and Microsoft's universal mobile keyboard does it's not quite a full-size keyboard nothing in this category is but the keys are big and separated and they have enough resistance and travel to feel good to type up Microsoft separates a few iPad functions like music controls at home into dedicated buttons so you don't have to fiddle with a function key to figure out how to use them there's also a dedicated number row which is a big deal to me the other thing that we like is that it's basically future-proof you can use this keyboard with any iPad iPhone Android device or Windows machine with a quick flick of this tiny switch but the truth is our favorite thing is the price it retails for well under 100 bucks that means you can spend the rest of your money on a case you actually want instead of whatever happens to work with your keyboard but if price is no object and you haven't picked out a case yet a runner-up pick is the creme de la creme of iPad keyboard cases it's the Belkin code ultimate Pro keyboard case for the iPad air 2 this thing has it all a big easy to type on keyboard a nice case to hold the iPad even if you want to leave the keyboard behind and the case is compatible with Apple Smart Covers it has magnets to control everything from turning it on to positioning your tablet you want angles the code has them two for portrait and two for landscape it has function buttons for damn near everything you could wish for and the keys are backlit really the only problem here is that it costs nearly twice as much as Microsoft's keyboard okay so what else is out there a ton actually there are more styles of iPad keyboard cases than you could believe one popular style is to have a keyboard that acts like a kind of cover that the iPad slots into Logitech's ultra-thin magnetic clip on keyboard cover is the best of these but it doesn't work if you want to use a case then there's the folio style which has a case that unfolds to reveal the keyboard but the problem with these folio designs that you're stuck awkwardly flipping the keyboard around if you just want to do tablet things like reading or playing a game and honestly a lot of them are really kind of junky there's also a few keyboards that have really weird ideas for what you want to do turn your iPad into a laptop nope it's a tablet crazy origami folding keyboards too fiddly and they feel terrible to type on standalone keyboards without a stand no thanks you want to be able to use your iPad and keyboard on your lap look you want a keyboard because you want to get work done with your iPad and you can't get work done if you're fiddling with a bad keyboard case Microsoft's universal mobile keyboard doesn't make you fit it just helps you type faster and costs less in the competition and that's the point of a keyboard to give type