I have been impressed by Aukey‘s powerbanks and chargers before, so when the company offered their latest portable KM-B9 Bluetooth Keyboard to review I had high hopes.
Look & feel
As with all Aukey products, the keyboard arrived in a slime-line, minimal cardboard box and I was immediately impressed by the clean, aluminium looks of the KM-B9. The keyboard is about the same size you would find on a 13″ laptop, with good spacing between the black-coloured keys, and the entire device is built out of a good-looking and almost flex-free aluminium alloy – available in silver or dark (space) grey.
Specifications
- 81 keys (US QWERTY keyboard layout)
- Compatible with iOS, Android, Windows, and most other platforms that support Bluetooth keyboards
- 160-hour battery life from the internal 140mAh Li-polymer battery (chargeable by 5V/30mA MicroUSB)
- Operating Range: Up to 10m
- Dimensions: 290 × 138 × 5mm
- Weight: 346g
- 24-month warranty
Setup
There’s a hardware On/Off slider on the top right corner of the KM-B9, which is all you need to switch to use keyboard once you have first paired it with your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other device.
Pairing the keyboard is pretty straightforward and includes just four steps:
- Switch on the keyboard
- Press the “Fn” (Function) button and “C” (keyboard letter) to enter pairing mode
- Switch on Bluetooth on your device
- Select “AUKEY KM-B9”
In use
Coincidentally, I finally upgraded my ancient HP Touchpad to a new Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Plus tablet over the holidays, so the combination of that 10″ Android tablet and this keyboard made for a very compact pseudo-laptop combination.
Setup and pairing the keyboard with any smartphone or tablet was quick and easy, and typing on it was pretty good. The keyboard has very little flex for such a thin design, and the keys give a reasonable amount of travel. The layout and size meant that I could get around my normal words-per-minute typing speed, and I would compare its use to a budget laptop – perfectly fine and better than most portable keyboards I’ve tried, but not as good as something like a Thinkpad or MacBook Pro.
My only real gripe was that the KM-B9 has a smooth aluminium alloy base and no rubber feet, so it can slip around a little. Some £0.99 rubber feet stickers would fix the problem, but I would have liked Aukey to have them already attached.
Conclusion
The KM-B9 is an excellent little portable keyboard that helps you turn any tablet into a more productive device, and I have started to take it with me when I take my tablet on the train or plane so I can get work done if I need to.
Buy
Price at time of review: £29.99 (Amazon)
Review: Aukey KM-B9 Portable Bluetooth Keyboard was originally published on TechFruit
