Review: Snugg iPad mini Ultra Slim Bluetooth Keyboard Case

So you’ve got an iPad mini and you want to do some real work with it.  Apple’s little tablet can be a legitimate laptop replacement for some people, with a little help from a ‘proper’ keyboard like this ‘Snugg iPad mini Ultra Slim Bluetooth Keyboard Case’.

The first thing we noticed about the Snugg was the price, at £34.99 this wireless keyboard is around half of what many of its competitors cost.  The box contains the keyboard, an instruction leaflet and a USB charging cable. There’s no mains adaptor but that’s not much of an issue these days, most homes are littered with the things.  Its micro USB socket  probably means one less thing to pack when travelling too, as your phone charger will usually do.

The silvery brushed aluminium unit has white chiclet keys, and it looks similar to a mini version of Apple’s wireless keyboard.  You pair the Bluetooth 3.0 device with your iPad and a slot integrated into the back of the keyboard supports your iPad mini. In landscape orientation it looks a little like a mini-laptop, you can place the iPad mini into the groove in portrait mode too.

The angle isn’t adjustable but if it doesn’t suit you always have the option of separating the screen and the keyboard –  it works from around 10 metres away. We found the angle pretty close to what we needed when seated at a desk or a table. We’ve been using the unit on and off for a few weeks now, still on a single charge and Snugg say it can provide up to 80 hours typing time (90 days on days on standby) between its 3 hour re-charge.

It’s slightly strange at the start to move between touching the screen – to launch an app for example – and then move back to the keys. To help, there are some shortcut keys to give you quick access to your home screen and various other functions. In addition the following Safari Keyboard Shortcuts for iOS can be used…

• Command+L – Jump to the URL bar
• Command+T – Open a new tab
• Command+W – Close the currently tab
• Command+R – Refresh the currently tab
• Command+. (full stop) –  Stop loading the current tab

Even though its size is constrained by the iPad mini’s longest side (making it a little over half the size of of our normal laptop keyboard) I was able to get up a decent speed with the Snugg, despite being no touch-typist.  You can access symbols like the ‘£’ sign easily by pressing the shift key and more special character are available with shift plus alt and even more with just alt.

Flip your iPad mini over and it clicks into the keyboard’s plastic corner clips providing semi-case duties.  Semi because it will only provide protection to your screen, not the back of your iPad.  I really does take on the look of a mini MacBook Air when stowed away like this.

The Snugg iPad mini Ultra Slim Bluetooth Keyboard Case is a practical addition to your Apple tablet.   If, like us,  you’re looking for an inexpensive keyboard for occasional typing on your iPad  then this could be just the job.

www.thesnugg.co.uk   :   Available from Amazon

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