ReviewsUnder a thousand: Decent typing at a crazy price
Under a thousand: Decent typing at a crazy price
Zebronics K400MW is one of the most portable and most affordable Bluetooth keyboards around.
ZebronicsIt works over Bluetooth and via 2.4GHz dongle (Express Photo)
Although our world is dominated by touchscreens, many users prefer the touch and feel of a “real” keyboard as compared to the touchscreen swipe and type affairs. Which is why Bluetooth keyboards, which can be easily paired with phones and tablets, remain as popular. However, one of the problems with Bluetooth keyboards is their size and their price tags, both of which tend to be on the hefty side.
Zebronics The keyboard has six rows and 78 keys (Express Photo)
Light on the pocket, light to carry
The Zebronics K400MW wireless keyboard attempts to address both these issues. It was launched with an official price tag of Rs 1699, but is now available online on Amazon and other portals at Rs 899, making it one of the most affordable Bluetooth keyboards around. It is also one of the most portable keyboards around, being just 28 cm in length, 2 cm in height, and weighing a very lightweight 265 grams. This makes it easy enough to slip into a backpack and even into some handbags. It is made totally of plastic and might seem a little too light (it has a slightly hollow feel to it) at times, but is rock steady and stable while typing.
Zebronics has packed a fair bit into that compact and light package, though. The keyboard has six rows and 78 keys, with a proper row of number keys and another row of function keys at the very top. The keyboard runs on two AAA batteries, which slot into its back – incidentally, there are no batteries in the box, so be ready with a pair when you get this keyboard. In a nice touch, Zebronics has also included a 2.4 Ghz receiver with the keyboard so you can pair it wirelessly without using Bluetooth, if need be (handy when you are pairing it with a desktop PC or a notebook). A pleasant surprise is an ability to pair the keyboard with two devices simultaneously over Bluetooth and switch between them.
A lightweight that does some heavy-duty typing
Keyboard paired to a tablet.
It all works very smoothly too. Pairing the keyboard with a device involves pressing 2 or 3 on the number row along with the Fn key. Once you have paired a device with each key, you can switch between them by hitting the Fn key with 2 or 3, depending on the device with which you wish to pair the keyboard. If you are using the 2.4 Ghz receiver, you would need to use the Fn and 1 key. Switching between devices can take a few seconds but generally works well enough. The best feature of the keyboard, though, is its main function – typing.
The K400MW comes with circular, well-spaced and very springy keys with plenty of travel. The result is a good typing experience, with a satisfying click accompanying every keystroke – not loud enough to be noisy but audible enough to let you know that you have struck a key. There is a slight latency, but this is barely noticeable. There is a full row of keys dedicated to special shortcuts (play music, next track, increase and decrease volume, and so on), which can be very handy when you have paired the keyboard with a tablet. The keyboard also supports basic keyboard shortcuts for cut and paste, select all, and so on. And it works very smoothly across platforms. We used the K400MW with an iPad (10th generation), a Xiaomi Pad 6, the Nothing Phone (2), and an iPhone 15 Pro Max, without any problems.
Not perfect, but great value for money
It can also be paired with a smartphone
There are quite a few rough edges to the K400MW, though. The biggest one is that there seems to be no way of switching the keyboard on and off. We are told it switches off automatically when not connected to a device for a time (time not specified). But the absence of a clear switch on and off option means that we had to literally make our Android tablets and iPads forget the device, and reconnect it from the very beginning. It is not a long process but it can get a little irritating, especially as you cannot access a device’s own keyboard when this keyboard is connected to them.
There is also no way of telling the battery life of the keyboard – a tiny LED is supposed to blink red when the battery is low, but there is otherwise no other way of knowing how much life is left in the keyboard, so it makes sense to keep carrying two AAA cells with you. There is no indication on how long the cells will last either, although some have pegged it at around 60 hours, which means that one should be able to get through a couple of weeks of heavy usage, which is decent enough for the price. And yes, we would really love it if Bluetooth keyboard manufacturers would start bundling stands to prop up devices with their keyboards.
Still, all said and done, the Zebronics K400MW represents staggering value for money for anyone looking for a compact Bluetooth keyboard on a super tight budget. It is easy to carry, has multi-device connectivity, and most important of all, offers a very good typing experience. We do wish there was some way to keep track of the battery, but even then, this is perhaps the best Bluetooth keyboard Rs 899 can buy!