Brydge keyboard review by peter

Brydge keyboard review

3 more versions

5.0
final rating

peter

reviewed on Nov 26, 2012
this review has been viewed 8567 times

Criteria Comments Rating

Ergonomics / comfort No comments so-so
Tactility / button-feel No comments so-so
Design and form factor No comments so-so
Noise No comments so-so
Configurability No comments —
Portability No comments so-so

Detailed review

I'd ordered the Brydge back in April as part of their Kickstarter campaign. It was a little more expensive than I'd like to admit (I paid $150), but I was taken in by the design and thought it'd be great to have something that made it easier for my iPad to double as a laptop on trips.

Mine finally arrived today, over seven months later, and I have some very serious buyer's remorse. For starters, the build quality is terrible. The anodized aluminum casing is nice, but they didn't take the time to make sure the internal components of the keyboard aligned properly with the casing. The result is that many of the keys, particularly on the right-hand side of the keyboard, get stuck underneath the casing when pressed. Several of them are wedged in there and won't pop back up, rendering the keyboard completely unusable. And many of the keys that don't get stuck when pressed are just sticky or squeaky. Apparently whoever built these for them didn't have very good quality control. Maybe they were rushing to get this thing out there given how much time had passed since their Kickstarter campaign. This product should simply not have been shipped yet, it was not ready.

If you're looking for a decent keyboard for the iPad, I'd recommend Logitech's Ultrathin Keyboard Cover (gdgt.com/logitech/ultrathin-keyboard-cover/). It's not as tactile as a proper keyboard, but it's a good option given how little it adds in terms of weight and thickness.

UPDATE:

Here's an example of a stuck key: https://twitter.com/peterrojas/status/273190561106...

UPDATE 2 (12/26/2012):

Well, took about a month, but they finally exchanged my defective unit for a replacement. (They did not respond at all to my request for a refund.)

The good news is that I was able to get a functional unit. It looks like I was not the only person to experience this issue though and more than a few other customers have complained of having trouble getting a response from the company.

So I'm happy I was able to get something that actually worked, but I also don't feel like this is worth the $150 I paid, and definitely not the $170 the speakerless version sells for post-Kickstarter campaign. The build quality simply isn't as good as they indicated it'd be, and while I do have a keyboard that functions, it feels like they cheaped out on the quality. I'm upgrading my score to a 5, but I'm not recommending anyone buy this, at least not at this price.

good review!

16 people find this review helpful

review history

2012-12-26: Tactility / button-feel rating changed from 1 to 3
Updated overall rating
Updated detailed review
Ergonomics / comfort rating changed from 1 to 3
2012-11-26: Updated detailed review
Updated detailed review
Updated detailed review

Comments (22) subscribe to this review's comments

garen 2012-11-26 17:29:40

wow 150$ for a garbage

rbhill76 2012-11-26 17:30:20

Oh wow.... this is just bad news. Mine arrived today, and I've been anxious to get home to try it. Ialready have the Logitech Ultrathin and it's awesome in it's own right, but I had high expectations for the Brydge keyboard.

I'm really hoping you got a faulty unit and one of the guys at Brydge reads this and sends you a new one. Fingers crossed...

conorobyrne 2012-11-26 17:32:27

I think this highlights a problem I've had with Kickstarter, more specifically physical products on Kickstarter and how they are presented. Usually the Kickstarter pages for such items are all about the product with a short paragraph about the people behind it. I always find myself wanting a lot more detail about who's involved and what their abilities are. Maybe it's because I work as a product designer and I know how difficult it is to go from concept to final shipped product.
Investors often say not to invest in products and instead to invest in the people behind those products. I feel the same way about Kickstarter investments. I'd like to see a lot more specific information about people involved in creating the product and their past portfolio of work, relationships with manufacturers and general experience of actually shipping.
Kickstarter's new requirement that renders cannot not be used is insufficient. Photographs of a prototype do indicate the project is somewhat further along than a basic concept, but there is still a world of things that can go wrong between prototype and production run units.

peter 2012-11-26 17:33:23

@rbhill76 - I hope so too.

alicson 2012-11-26 17:49:20

But that's the point of Kickstarter, isn't it? If you want a sure thing/full-fledged product then you wait for it to arrive fully developed to market and be tested and reviewed. If you want to support a product's development, then you take the risk with however much you choose to pledge/pay for the products.

That being said, it is *very* disappointing for you to receive something/them to release something of such poor quality. In several ways, I think that people launching products through Kickstarter should be specially conscious and accountable to their supporters/early-buyers and that much more committed to quality and a higher standard of result for all involved in the process/journey.

Regarding the Logitech iPad keyboard you mentioned, I have also had excellent experience with it; if I had an iPad I would get that keyboard.

peter 2012-11-26 17:53:09

@alicson - I knew there'd be some risk and I didn't expect it to be perfect, but I do think I had a reasonable expectation that the product would function. I'd understand them not delivering at all or only after a very long delay rather than them simply shipping something so shoddy so that it wouldn't be any later.

(And I should add that I was perfectly fine with the time it took them to deliver the product. I backed the project knowing it would take a while before they were able to ship a product.)

tigger662 2012-11-26 18:04:19

I bought the one with speakers and have noy received word yet as to when it will ship. Hope they take their time and ensure QC before shipping.

skyman375 2012-11-26 21:23:35

I'm assuming you got yours as part of their normal Kickstarter backer fulfillment, and not a review unit?

This confirms a worry I've had watching this product as a backer (I'm in for the $210 model with speakers), that not only has the design changed significantly, but that the quality looks poor. They promised 'Apple' level quality, and I think that's what the backers were expecting. What it sounds like they have delivered is something I would pass by at the discount rack at Brookstone. The speaker grill looks terrible compared to the initial design, and the hinge...dont get me started on the hinge. I wanted the 'wave' magnetic, full-length hinge, not two individually folding brackets. More so I wanted a black hinge, not a white one that I could cover up with "free" black stickers.

I know Kickstarter is backing a company or creator, not a pre-order site. I feel particularly burned here. I also backed the Elevation Dock, and while that project had it's problems (delays, dealing with massive demand) the quality of the Dock is superb. They were hit by an Apple change - to the Lightning connector - but they never promised perfect, free future proofing, and have provided a decent solution. But this - the Brydge team has been poor at communicating the changes, and addressing their backers concerns. I have no faith that this is a product I will want to use, and certainly not something I would recommend to anyone else. I'll chalk up my loss to a learning experience, to look a lot harder at any future Kickstarter projects.

rbhill76 2012-11-26 22:40:27

OK... I can happily and thankfully say that I think Peter's unit is defective. I just popped mine open and have been typing on it for the last 30 minutes, and I've experienced none of the issues mentioned in the review. I have the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard also and I love it, but the Brydge is at least on par with it, and I think actual typists (which I am not) will find it to be preferable.

rbhill76 2012-11-26 22:43:02

To be clear... that's not to excuse poor QC on Brydge's part. Here's hoping I'm not the exception to the rule.

Ianny 2012-11-26 23:20:08

Was this outsourced BY the outsourcers? Eight year old Malaysian children would cobble together better build quality. Not that I am in any way condoning putting eight year old Malaysian children to work, but you get the idea.

alicson 2012-11-26 23:22:43

@peter "rather than them simply shipping something so shoddy"

I completely agree.

peter 2012-11-27 08:18:12

@skyman375 - Yep, paid for it myself, I backed their original Kickstarter campaign.

@rbhill76 - I'm glad yours is ok! I hope I can get mine exchanged or a refund. So far they have not responded to my attempts to contact them.

alansmodic 2012-11-27 13:57:12

I'm definitely interested to see some more reviews of this. MacObserver just posted theirs - www.macobserver.com/tmo/review/the-brydge-a-first-...

I also saw that Harry McCracken's didn't have the same issue. Hopefully this one was just a faulty unit that they'll replace.

jeffreytz 2012-11-27 18:12:57

Peter yours is definitely faulty, I received mine today and the keyboard is fine (I've banged away on it for about an hour, no issues with key travel at all). However, you don't need to change your review: the right shift key is so small and has the up arrow cursor where the shift key should extend to that I can't touch type on this; I keep moving the cursor up a line and inserting characters when I go to use that shift key. This is NOT how it was originally show.

Add in how heavy this keyboard cover is, the lack of additional functionality like left/right highlight keys, cut, copy, paste keys (all of which the Logitech Ultrathin keyboard has), and the truly ugly design of those two hinges bolted on to your iPad killing it's clean lines when the Brydge is connected, mines going up on eBay ASAP.

rbhill76 2012-11-27 18:27:33

@jeffreytz Now this I can't argue with. I'm admittedly not a touch-typist, but the shift-key placement has bugged me also. I assumed that it's just different than the Logitech, not that it was "wrong" per se. Completely agree with both the weight issue and hinges being unattractive. I'm also not convinced that the friction hinges won't lose their grip over time. Overall, I'm still ok with it, but can't say its better than the Ultrathin.

RuelB 2012-11-28 05:42:20

I think the Sharksucker Aluminum Wireless Keyboard for iPad is much better than the Brydge. It almost has the same technology and style, with anodized aluminum body, attaches to the iPad with a special quick release hinge, charges your iPad and iPhone (which the Brydge cannot charge), and most of all, sells for a much affordable price of $99.00.

There is a more in-depth review of that Sharksucker iPad keyboard here:
www.uplaytablet.com/sharksucker-aluminum-wireless-...

dsasfreeman 2012-12-07 10:11:57

Has anyone else used the Sharksucker keyboard and have an opinion of how well it works?

Susan516 2012-12-19 16:07:00

My bad experience was getting back payment from Brydge. More than two months after placed order, not getting any communication back from Brydge to update their delivery status. I was quite concerned about this company. So I wrote to them asking for refund. Instead of full refund, Brydge deducted a 15% from what I original paid. When I queried this charges, they argued that they are charging re-stocking fee. I sent a few emails arguing it is not right for them to charge re-stocking fee for the product they never shipped to customer. Never heard from them again. I have now raise this issue with PayPal. PayPal has the policy that they do not open dispute case after 60 days, however, when they heard my story, they decided to file the report. I am writing this to remind people, if you are paying through PayPal, be aware of their 60 days policy. If Brydge collected funding from consumers and not launching their products for months and months, you might be also losing the chance to dispute the case under PayPal's 60 days policy.

kristinmanson 2012-12-30 13:13:31

I've also had a serious problem with this company's customer service. I ordered a brydge in time for Christmas (I received it on December 20th) and noticed that I had received the incorrect order ($150 model, when I ordered the $170 model. Plus, the $150 model was poorly manufactured!) I immediately contacted the company, got a short email from a "whitney" that didn't show any sympathy that I will not have the correct item in time for Christmas. Instead of them telling me they would rush ship me my CORRECT order, they asked me to send the unit back and THEN they would give me the item I purchased. Well, ten days has gone by and I have yet to see or hear from the company. They have their unit back, and I am out $170 with no way to dispute the charge because I paid through debit card. I would NOT recommend this product to anyone based on AWFUL customer service. Do business elsewhere, where they have a direct phone number to deal with inquiries directly verses dealing through emails that never get answered.

jesthephotog 2013-01-21 17:15:50

Brydge has bad customer service and no business sense. I ordered this product on December 18th with the promise on their website that the product was actually available for shipment. My credit card was charged $200+ and one month later I still haven’t received a product or any email or other communication with an Order Number or status. I found a comment on a discussion board online that Brydge+ is actually backordered until at least March! Brydge has no phone number for customer service (the phone number linked to the company for credit card statements is an unmanned Google phone number). Someone named “Whitney” responds to the email address and is unhelpful and just says “Your order is being processed,” with no additional details. I’ve read horrible experiences from others online. I have asked for an order cancellation and full refund. If I don’t see it within 24 hours I’ll be calling my credit card company to reverse charges. Ridiculous. At this point, I’m just happy not to be one of the people who received a faulty keyboard, and I hope to avoid the 15% restocking issue.

dsasfreeman 2013-02-08 04:01:23

I've had the sharksucker keyboard for about 2 months and it is everything all comments above expected from the Brydge keyboard. $71.02 on Newegg.com. Also, it has "emergency" charger in the keyboard for ipad and iphone.

What does a gdgt score of 59 mean?

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