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Since 2016 and Apple’s keyboard revolution, you’ve heard plenty of complaints about the new Butterfly keyboards. Their mechanism makes them much thinner than the previous generation, but it creates serious reliability problems. A single speck of dust and it’s a disaster — the key stops responding.
For now, Apple’s Bluetooth keyboards haven’t been hit by this obsession with ultimate thinness. Let’s make the most of it while it lasts — though I doubt it will.
I recently swapped my Apple Magic Keyboard for a keyboard from the Toulouse-based brand Bleujour (https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B072V3484F/?tag=tfadafr0d-21) , specifically the Ctrl2 model. This keyboard (https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B072V3484F/?tag=tfadafr0d-21 ) is wireless, takes its design cues from Apple’s, and I went with the black version.
A Design Worthy of an Apple Keyboard
The keyboard carries over everything great about Apple keyboards, and I’ve gained a numpad. I’m not a huge fan of keyboards with numpads — they take up too much space and I rarely use those keys. That said, it’s still nice to have the Delete key back!
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The Magic Feature
What makes this keyboard special is that it can connect to four devices — not simultaneously, of course 😆
At the top of the numpad, you have four keys that let you quickly switch the keyboard between devices. I use this to connect the keyboard to my MacBook, my iPad, and my iPhone.
!(https://tfada.s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2019/27-Jan-2019-10-33-09.jpeg )
I love being able to use my iPad as a second screen — not as a mirrored macOS display, though. What I mean is I like running apps on the iPad in parallel with what’s running on the Mac. For example, having my email client open on the iPad while Ulysses is open on the Mac lets me work efficiently.
In practice: if I’m on the Mac writing a post and I want to send an email, I just press the “2” function key to switch the keyboard to the iPad. Then I type the email on the iPad with the same keyboard. Switching the keyboard from one device to another is really fast — takes one to two seconds, which is barely noticeable.
Typing Feel
The typing feel is really different from Apple keyboards. The Bleujour (https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B072V3484F/?tag=tfadafr0d-21 ) is genuinely soft compared to the firm keystroke of Apple keyboards. And I’m not even comparing it to the latest generation, which is even firmer.
You either love it or you don’t. Personally, it doesn’t bother me, so the keyboard gets a pass. But if you’re a light typist, you might miss keystrokes. I should mention that I’m one of those light typists myself, and I almost never miss a letter. So rest assured — the softness feels adequate to me.
That said, it’s still nowhere near the standard of the 2014-era MacBook keyboards. So typing comfort is good, nothing more. Noise level is average. Again, nothing like the Butterfly keyboards!
Let There Be Light
The keyboard is backlit, just like what you’d expect from a MacBook (https://www.amazon.fr/dp/Processeur/?tag=tfadafr0d-21 ) — Apple still hasn’t seen fit to add backlighting to their wireless keyboards. It’s a handy feature, though I have to qualify that: it’s not handled automatically, which is a shame.
!(https://tfada.s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2019/27-Jan-2019-10-33-15.jpeg )
The backlight won’t turn on by itself — you have to do it manually. Another minor annoyance: adjusting the brightness requires pressing a two-key combination.
The Rest
The keyboard has everything you’d reasonably expect from an Apple-style keyboard, including shortcut keys for managing screen brightness. That’s something I missed when I was eyeing that Logitech (https://amzn.to/2CWvLDR) .
The keyboard is rechargeable via Micro USB.
Conclusion
A solid keyboard (https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B072V3484F/?tag=tfadafr0d-21 ) with all the features missing from the Apple Magic Keyboard (https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07BYBNJDF/?tag=tfadafr0d-21) . As for battery life, I haven’t tested it yet — but it’s not a huge concern since this keyboard is never going to wander far from a cable.
As for durability, I can’t say yet — but as usual, I’ll update this post to keep you informed.
Ultimately, the only real gripe with this keyboard is the price. But that’s what you pay for a keyboard that doesn’t exist anywhere else.
