I have owned two iPads - iPad 3 and iPad Air 2. Keyboards were indispensible for both of them. For my iPad Air 2, I used the Belkin QODE Ultimate Pro Keyboard. It isn’t cheap but it is good enough that I bought a second one when my first one broke. When it broke because I was cooking and spilled some liquid on it, I decided it was time to look into either a new iPad or a new keyboard of a different brand, namely due to price. Unfortunately, the choices of quality keyboards are slim.
Belkin QODE Ultimate Pro Keyboard
Belkin’s keyboard is $150 MSRP. That’s the downside. Otherwise, it’s a good keyboard. The keys are solid and don’t feel overly flimsy. Bluetooth can be paired with two devices and switched with a key press. An iPad can be mounted both in portrait or landscape mode and each way can be fixed at two different positions. The keyboard connects to the keyboard using magnets and a case. The case provides adequate protection to the iPad for my needs. Overall, it’s a very good iPad keyboard if you can stomach the cost. It may break at some point, but I did get decent use out of it.
Anker Bluetooth Folio
Anker’s Bluetooth Folio is a keyboard I want to like. $40 for a keyboard was the sweet spot of where I was looking. Since Air 2 model is getting old, I assume I’ll be replacing it in the next couple of years so $40 was easy to accept. It has a fabric around it which is soft and comfortable to touch. Fabrics on computers seem odd to me and I am concerned how dirty it will get over time. Each key has a little longer keystroke to it than the Belkin keyboard and may have a little more of a solid feel to it. One downside though is the keys are much louder. Louder enough that if I were on an airplane it would bother the people around me. There are two other downsides to it which are pushing me to return it for another option. First, the iPad sits much too vertically. If I’m sitting above it, like I would be on an airplane (a major use case of mine), the screen wouldn’t be perpendicular to my eyesight. If I’m laying down with it in bed, it is much more comfortable to look at. Second, the case partially obstructs the volume control buttons. They’re not blocked, but the case goes right up to the buttons so they’re harder to find and push than the Belkin.