Arteck iPad Mini A17 Pro (8.3-inch) Keyboard Case, Bluetooth Keyboard with Protection Shockproof Case for Apple 8.3-inch iPad Mini A17 Pro and Mini 6

There’s a lot that I like about this: it’s got great battery life even if I don’t switch it off between uses, it charges by seemingly any USB-C charger like the Mini itself, the hinge is very stable and usable to type on your lap, the key travel feels pretty good and the key spacing is reasonable, and the two-part case means it’s really easy to pop the iPad off of the keyboard half and, say, read on it like a kindle. It seems pretty sturdy as a case, and I haven’t worried about it rattling around a shoulder bag.The main downside is that it’s a very tiny keyboard, and rather than make *very* tiny keys they put some characters behind function combos—quote, apostrophe, brackets/braces, and then the question mark and slashes are still their own keys but have moved down next to the spacebar. Comma, period (and thus less-than / greater-than) are about where you’d expect. I’m not sure there’s a better trade-off they could have made, but it does take time to adjust to. The keyboard adds a decent amount of weight, but I think if it weighed any less it would tip over backwards too easily.I bought this keyboard and then spent a few months occasionally using it and otherwise just putting my iPad in the Apple flip cover instead because of the unfamiliar layout. But I’m so much faster typing with even a tiny and oddly-laid-out keyboard than on the touchscreen, that I adjusted to it—and at first it helped that iOS is pretty aggressive about auto-correcting “missing apostrophe” type mistakes that I could just skip typing those rather than hunt for the function combo. The keyboard is different enough from a full size keyboard that, for me, I now just have a different muscle memory for it. And the ability to quickly pop the tablet off of the keyboard is fantastic, and especially good for the Mini, which is so pleasant to hold like a paperback book or a small pad of paper. So in the end I’ve come to love it, and now this case is on my iPad mini full time.

In past travels to multiple continents this form factor has proven to be the most sturdy and usable option out there for the traveler. When I had to replace my Mini 4 and its Zagg case this year I despaired of finding a suitable replacement. This is unbelievably even better than the Zagg case. My favorite feature is the magnetic tabs attaching the tablet frame to the keyboard, enabling use as a handheld tablet while protecting the keyboard from potential damage without the need for a fragile swivel hinge such as used by competing products.The only real complaint I have is that the keyboard mapping is not completely Apple-compatible, the most irritating difference being the mapping of []’”{} as function keys, making touch typing difficult, especially for the commonly used apostrophe. The mapping to ‘ to fn-L is annoying and doesn’t get better over time,I’m pretty sure the keyboard doesn’t open all the way to 130 degrees, but that’s not a show-stopper.I look forward to future implementations of this design.

Good stuff:Overall a great a product for the price! Tons of features and functionality in this little case. Typing experience is probably as good as you’re going to get in such as small form factor (There’s a reason Apple doesn’t make one of these themselves). The case for the iPad is very nice, and though I haven’t dropped it yet, I feel that it’s well protected. The keyboard is good for it’s size, you’ll need to adjust from a full size or even a small keyboard but typing is fairly smooth on it (typing this review on the keyboard). Built in function keys are nice, media controls are mostly what I use.The Bad:Back to the function keys, I do think some could have been use for other things that aren’t easily accomplished with anther keyboard shortcut, e.g going home with cmd + h or opening spotlight with cmd + space. One of those could have been used to get to the app switcher, and since there is no actual function key, just the function key for the keyboard (this is different than a “real” function key) which is used for the extra commands I actually reassigned caps lock to be the function key so I could still use those keyboard shortcuts.My other issues with this keyboard are, first the hinge mechanism, which other reviews mention being hard to open and getting easier after some use, this appears to be fairly accurate. In my case though, it has become too loose for my liking after only a couple months of occasional use. Now, when closed, it’s no longer tightly closed but flops back and forth, enough so that if I hold it up by the iPad section, the keyboard will sag down about half an inch. This wasn’t like this when I first got it and I’m a bit disappointed in it.Next is the Apple Pencil groove, it’s nice, but it really does make the attachment weaker and my Apple Pencil has been bumped off a couple times from minor things which just wouldn’t happen if it was directly connected to the iPad. While I’m not a fan of the extra slot that other cases have, I think a deeper groove with less material would allow a better connection.lastly, I would love some more color options.Overall this is a solid product and for the price, it’s hard to complain about the shortcomings, though maybe in a new version they can address some of these issues.

Typing on it right now. Glad this was available because it was exactly what I was looking for and came at a cost effective price. Love how the case separates so you can use the iPad independently when you don’t need the keyboard.