Brydge’s 11-inch Max Plus iPad keyboard is now out there

Following the launch of the 12.9-inch Max Plus keyboard for the iPad earlier this 12 months, Brydge is now releasing an 11-inch model. The new, smaller keyboard has the entire identical options as its larger sibling, together with Brydge’s new magnetic mounting system and Instant-On Bluetooth tech, however is sized to suit all generations of the 11-inch iPad Pro and the fourth-generation of the ten.5-inch iPad Air. It’s out there beginning right this moment, November third, from each Brydge’s on-line retailer and Amazon for $199.99.

Despite its smaller measurement, the 11-inch Max Plus’ pitch is precisely the identical because the 12.9-inch mannequin’s: it’s meant to offer a MacBook-like expertise with an iPad. That features a full keyboard format with a operate row, plus a big trackpad that helps multitouch gestures and navigation. The aluminum chassis will be bought in both a darkish grey or a silver end to match your iPad’s colour, and it has a really MacBook-like look when the iPad is put in in it.

The massive new innovation with the Max Plus line is the magnetic attachment system, which eschews the clamps Brydge utilized in older designs for a full backplate that connects to the magnets contained in the iPad to carry it in place. The benefit right here is that it permits you to shortly take away the iPad from the keyboard and use it handheld and simply as simply snap it again into place while you wish to use the keyboard once more.

The Max Plus doesn’t use the iPad’s Smart Connector, relying as a substitute on a Bluetooth reference to the pill. To overcome the same old delays that occur when utilizing a Bluetooth keyboard with an iPad, Brydge developed its Instant-On know-how, which permits the keyboard to remain related to the iPad for as much as 4 hours, even when it isn’t getting used, with out detrimental battery drain on both the case or the iPad.

This makes waking up the iPad really feel a lot the identical as a straight related keyboard and mitigates one of many main complaints with Bluetooth. Brydge claims as much as three months of battery life between costs, however that varies vastly on how a lot you make the most of the three-level backlight. In the week or so I’ve been testing the product, I’ve not needed to cost it again up as soon as.

Brydge CEO Nick Smith tells me that the corporate’s inspiration for the keyboard really feel was the vaunted 2015 MacBook Pro. As a consequence, the Max Plus keys have a bit extra journey than both Apple’s Magic Keyboard case or Logitech’s Combo Touch, the 2 most important opponents on this house. The keycaps themselves are additionally a little bit smaller and have a little bit bit more room between them, however I had no hassle getting comfy with the format after a couple of minutes of use.

Brydge can be very pleased with the dimensions of the trackpad it was capable of embody with the Max Plus; the 11-inch mannequin has a bigger trackpad than both Apple or Logitech’s keyboard. It helps multitouch gestures and has good monitoring, if not fairly as exact as Apple has within the Magic Keyboard. Due to the smaller measurement of the 11-inch’s deck, I did have a number of situations of palm rejection, which brought on my cursor to leap throughout the display screen once I didn’t count on it to. But in any other case, the trackpad expertise on the Max Plus is kind of good.

Using the Max Plus keyboard is a distinct expertise than the Magic Keyboard or the Combo Touch, by design. It’s a chunkier, heftier product, including practically two kilos of weight to the iPad itself, however it’s extra secure on a lap, such as you’d count on a laptop computer to be. It’s additionally extra comfy to sort on for longer durations as a result of the deck gives extra room to relaxation your palms. And the total operate row is a boon in comparison with the Magic Keyboard, which requires reaching up to make use of the iPad’s buttons or contact the display screen anytime you wish to alter brightness or quantity.

Lastly, as a result of the Max Plus makes use of a Bluetooth connection, you possibly can take away the iPad from the case and nonetheless use the keyboard and trackpad with it. I significantly appreciated placing the iPad in a portrait orientation when engaged on a protracted doc, which you’ll’t do with the Magic Keyboard or the Combo Touch.

The Max Plus can be not designed to offer a lot in the best way of safety. Unlike Logitech’s Combo Touch, while you take away it from the keyboard, you’re holding a naked iPad, and it doesn’t present any nook safety from drops. If you might be on the lookout for a extra protecting design that has comparable traits because the Max Plus, Brydge gives the plastic Air Max Plus, which gives 4 ft of drop safety.

At $200, the Max Plus undercuts Apple by about $100 and is priced equally to the Combo Touch. It’s not a finances product by any means; that’s mirrored within the copious quantity of aluminum used and the lengthy characteristic listing. But should you’re on the lookout for a solution to get extra out of your 11-inch iPad Pro or iPad Air and desire a extra conventional expertise than Apple’s keyboard gives, there’s rather a lot to love right here.