Review Best Wireless Keyboard and Mouse for Desktop Computer
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Wireless keyboards serve many masters. They're smashing if you lot're trying to declutter, or like typing with your keyboard on your lap. Mobile productivity hounds who want gear that's set up for travel swear by them, besides, and some models let you bandy 1 typing peripheral among desktops, laptops, and tablets. In the vast majority of situations, there'southward no difference between using a keyboard with a wireless connection and a standard wired one. The simply time you'll notice is when it's time to charge it—or when y'all forget to.
(Photograph: Matthew Buzzi)
Apart from introducing a couple of new factors that you need to pay attention to (namely, connectivity and battery life), picking out the all-time wireless keyboard isn't all that different from picking out the best keyboard overall. Striking that link for our best picks across wired and wireless models. But since y'all're here, let's get through the issues specific to wireless keyboards.
Bluetooth? RF? In that location'south More than One Fashion to Wireless
Wireless keyboards (and wireless mice, also) use two primary technologies to connect to devices: Bluetooth, or a ii.4GHz radio-frequency (RF) connection. The latter connects to your device via a USB dongle; Bluetooth models assume your host computer supports Bluetooth, or y'all have your ain Bluetooth dongle. Each connection type offers singled-out advantages and disadvantages.
In modern keyboards, 2.4GHz RF offers a stable connection and, at times, a about-ephemeral amount of typing lag. No desktop or laptop has congenital-in back up for these keyboards; you need that USB dongle. And because a USB dongle is an extra part, you tin can lose it if yous often swap it betwixt systems or carry your keyboard effectually. Some keyboards have a storage slot for their dongles, which is groovy, just it's nonetheless a tiny office y'all need to keep rail of. The dongles are oft keyed to the specific keyboard you own, and then losing one can mean the keyboard is out of commission for good. Models that back up a more forgiving RF dongle, like the ones with Logitech'south Unifying applied science, can work using a replacement dongle or some other device's dongle. However, these are the exception, not the rule.
(Photo: Mike Epstein)
Bluetooth connections are reliable, merely slightly more prone to lag and/or momentary connection loss, specially when you take many Bluetooth connections going on in ane place (such equally an role or a coffee shop). These bug practise resolve themselves, and can often exist fixed only by re-establishing the connection if they don't, but they can be an badgerer. Bluetooth also tends to drain a keyboard'southward battery faster. On the plus side, though, devices with Bluetooth support tin can connect to phones, tablets, and other devices without a USB port.
The bottom line? Information technology'south squeamish to have both. The 2.4GHz RF kind is generally the better connection type, peculiarly if you're planning on connecting to ane, stationary PC. Bluetooth adds a lot of versatility, though. Not merely can yous connect to more devices, but having it is a prissy safety cyberspace if y'all forget the USB dongle. In keyboards fabricated in the last ii or three years, you're about likely to encounter keyboards with just a two.4GHz connexion, though there are a few Bluetooth-simply options. Some keyboards back up both connections. I would urge you, though, to not count out a keyboard simply because it relies solely on Bluetooth, every bit yous may non even notice a difference if you're using information technology at abode.
In addition to ii.4GHz and Bluetooth, any good wireless keyboard lets you directly connect to a device using its charging cablevision. Without this option, at that place'south ever a chance that y'all'll forget to accuse the keyboard or supersede its batteries, and y'all may find yourself temporarily unable to utilise it. Models that rely on dispensable AA or AAA batteries, though, likely don't have a USB connection option.
(Photograph: Mike Epstein)
While it's by no means a deal breaker, connecting via USB Type-C at the keyboard end is generally better than a micro-USB connection, equally USB-C is easier to plug in and the port may enable faster charging nether some circumstances. What matters most, though, is that yous have a cable pick of some kind.
The Power Source: Wireless-Keyboard Battery Life
Without a PC-continued cablevision to ability information technology, every wireless keyboard, of course, needs a battery to run. Most wireless keyboards these days rely on built-in lithium-ion batteries yous can recharge, though you do occasionally run into some that rely on practiced old AA or AAA cells.
While some keyboards that rely on the latter can go amazing battery life (Logitech'south K860 is rated to last for two years on a pair of AAAs), a keyboard with an internal battery and a charging cable is more convenient, because you lot can plug in while y'all recharge. There'southward nothing worse than realizing that your keyboard is out of power, and so you tin't use your PC until y'all run out to the store and pick up more batteries (or salvage some from a Tv remote).
So, how long should a wireless keyboard battery concluding? For an internal battery, most keyboards in the last two years get at least 20 hours of continuous use with its key backlighting on (if it has key backlighting, that is). Many manufacturers provide two battery-life estimates based on whether or not you use the backlighting, equally it tin reduce the fourth dimension between charges by more than 50 percent. In our review testing, we observe 25 to 30 hours often translates to somewhere between i to two weeks of heavy daily use.
With removable AAs or AAAs, look for the estimated battery life to be measured in weeks or months, not hours. Even the cheapest battery-powered keyboards should get hundreds of hours of battery life from a set, especially if they do not have backlit keys.
(Photograph: Mike Epstein)
Since LED backlighting heavily affects battery life, it'southward good to look for customization and controls to assistance you lot manage power. Any backlit keyboard lets you lot plough these lights on and off, but some offer extra options, such equally brightness-level controls and the power to automatically turn off the lights when the power gets low. Some configuration apps, like Corsair's iCue, offer more than universal ability-related controls and features, like controlling when the board goes to "slumber," and adding a arrangement-level battery indicator.
If yous're looking for a wireless keyboard because you lot're setting up a media PC to hook up to your Boob tube, proceed in mind that there's a subset of wireless keyboards fabricated specifically with this use instance in mind. Entertainment keyboards, sometimes called "media eye keyboards" or "lapboards," are all-in-i solutions made to work on your lap, rather than sit on a surface. Nearly are long, and some accept larger-than-ordinary keys. Some models also accept an underside surface contoured to balance on your lap. They also always have a touchpad or other mouse substitute to make input command more manageable, with no carve up mouse required.
(Photo: Mike Epstein)
About such boards are fabricated for navigating web browsers and media players like Plex, or for PC gaming. Because they're designed for simply occasional typing, they often don't make for the best general-utilise keyboards (though there are exceptions). Still, the all-time ones, including our recommendations, are well-suited to their specific tasks.
The Fundamentals of Buying a Keyboard
Across connectivity and bombardment life, there's no deviation between picking a standard, wired keyboard and a wireless i, though yous are picking from a much smaller range of options.
Cardinal LAYOUT. Most wireless keyboards are full-size, significant they accept 104 keys or more, including a number pad. Most peculiarly productivity-focused models, use low-profile scissor-switch keys, similar to what you'd notice in a laptop. This keeps their dimensions slim, making them more than portable and helping to maintain the sleek, minimalist look popularized past Apple'due south Magic Keyboard. With that in heed, the all-time wireless keyboards don't overcommit to that aesthetic and so much that the keys experience bunched together besides closely. Mechanical keyboards tend to be wired models, more often than not, though there are exceptions.
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Most mainstream and gaming models offer a 10-primal numeric pad, which laptops frequently lack and is a necessity for anyone who needs to tally numbers or enter data into a spreadsheet. And so-called "tenkeyless" models slice off the numeric pad in the interest of space savings and keeping your typing and mousing hands closer together. Bear that in mind if you're looking at gaming keyboards, as tenkeyless models are a recent tendency especially in that subclass. If you want to go even smaller, 60 percent keyboards eliminate fifty-fiftymore keys. Check out our 60 per centum keyboard guide for everything you need to know almost the category.
EXTRA FEATURES. Mostly speaking, wireless keyboards tend to come up with some quality-of-life features, such equally defended media and macro keys. A few, like Logitech's high-end keyboards, as well come with the ability to connect to multiple devices and swap among them with a single button press. Gaming keyboards will come with the same suite of media and macro perks, and some include customizable RGB lighting and avant-garde configuration software.
(Photo: Mike Epstein)
In that location are likewise a few features you're unlikely to find. Though a few keyboards on our listing come with a wrist remainder, it's less probable that a wireless keyboard volition include one. Also, without a wired connection, it would be impossible for a keyboard to offer USB passthrough ports on the torso, and so that's not something you'll detect, either.
OTHER SWITCH TYPES. Amidst wireless keyboards, you'll spot the occasional model using membrane or mechanical key switches. Membrane keyboards actuate, triggering the signal that goes to your figurer, by pushing down a rubber dome at the base of the key. Mechanical keyboards do the same via a physical switch with a spring or other tactile actuator. Relative to scissor switches, both types of keyboards provide more than central-press travel, which leads to a more than comfortable typing experience. Many people prefer the depression action and light touch of scissor switches, though, so this ultimately comes downwardly to personal preference.
Similar standard keyboards, mechanical keyboards generally offering a better typing feel and amend build quality than membrane-switch keyboards, just they are also considerably more than expensive. The two major benefits to a wireless mechanical keyboard are its more decisive feedback, and the longer travel, both of which allow for more than confident typing. Too, if yous similar the clack a keyboard makes, mechanical keyboards make more than racket and, co-ordinate to some, a more appealing sound. At the moment, well-nigh, but not all, wireless mechanical keyboards are gaming-focused.
(Photograph: Mike Epstein)
Last, merely non least, in the terminal year or so, multiple companies have produced wireless ergonomic keyboards, which use an alternative primal-layout shape to minimize repetitive stress injuries in your hands, wrists, and arms. The wireless ergonomic keyboards we've seen employ a curved, unibody design that prevents y'all from twisting your wrist. They are, past and large, helpful if you feel wrist or arm pain when y'all blazon, though they can take some getting used to when you offset switch to one from a standard keyboard.
And then, Which Wireless Keyboard to Buy?
Now that you lot what to look for in a adept wireless keyboard, we've taken all the guesswork out of the equation and put together a list of the best ones we've reviewed. Whether you're planning to utilise the board for work, gaming, or only everyday computing, information technology isn't difficult to cutting the cord without compromises.
If you're looking for more in-depth explainers on how to choose the right keyboard for you lot, too check out our roundups of the best keyboards, the all-time mechanical keyboards, and the best gaming keyboards, all of which take wireless candidates mingling with the all-time of the wired models we've reviewed.
Source: https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-wireless-keyboards
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