Microsoft Universal Mobile Keyboard Is Great for iPads, Androids and Windows

What goes around, comes around. We put aside our laptops in favor of tablets because they’re super-light, but still powerful. Developers recognized the power and mobile devices’ omnipresence in our lives and began to alter mobile platforms and apps to make them better productivity tools.

But the more work you do on a tablet, the more you crave a real keyboard. You could simply go back to you laptop, but that defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? Third-party keyboards, like Microsoft’s new Universal Mobile Keyboard, are the obvious answer.

Microsoft’s $79.95 keyboard is portable, battery-powered and Bluetooth-ready. It also pulls off the neat trick of effortlessly connecting to Windows devices (obviously), iPads, iPhones and Android devices. In a multi-platform environment like mine (I work on a Microsoft Surface Pro 3, but also travel with an iPad), this is a very welcome feature.

The look

The universal keyboard arrives in a clamshell-style case; the rubberized top connects magnetically to the keyboard and also serves as a stand for your tablet or smartphone of choice (up to 0.39 inch thick). If you want more distance between the keyboard and your mobile device, you simply pull the case apart.

At, by my estimation, roughly 80% the size of a full-scale keyboard, some keys on the Universal Mobile Keyboard have been moved or combined. For example, Backspace is in the traditional upper right corner, but it shares the space with Delete, which you access by holding down the Function Key. Once you know this trick it’s pretty easy to use.

Overall, the keyboard is 9.53 inches long by 4.29 inches wide and 0.47 inches tall. It weighs 12.9 ounces. For comparison, an iPad weighs 16.5 ounces. And without the rubber cover, the keyboard is about as thick as an iPad Air.

I tested the keyboard with an iPad Air, a Surface Pro 3, a Sony Xperia Z2 tablet and an iPhone 6. All fit in the stand channel, though the Xperia, which is thinner than an iPad Air, tipped way back. As for the Surface Pro 3, I found it more effective to ignore the stand and use the tablet’s built-in kick stand.

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