This is a review of an iPad Mini cover and backlit keyboard that I did without actually having an iPad Mini, so my experience with this product is solely on it’s merits as a keyboard case, but I did put it on my neighbors iPad Mini for a few minutes just to be sure it functions properly, connects magnetically and closes without impeding the iPad Mini screen at all. I can tell you that my favorite feature of this iPad Mini keyboard is the fact that it has backlit keys and this is the first iPad keyboard I have reviewed that has backlit keys which really help if you need to type articles in the dark and I always prefer typing on a keyboard over a tablet screen since the responsive keys assist me with my touch typing to maintain speed and the response is just needed to make sure I am getting the keystrokes properly.
Check out My Video of the Havit HV-KB217BT
First of all, note that the Havit HV-KB217BT has 7 color options which range from yellow, red, purple, blue, green, cyan and white. The white, purple and cyan were the brightest colors when switching between the brightness settings of Off, Low and High. The trickiest part with the backlit option is there were no instructions on how to change the backlit colors, to change the Backlit colors you have to hold the alt/option lightbulb button and the down arrow key to cycle through the colors.
Then to change brightness you just hold FN and the same alt/option lightbulb button and this will cycle between Off, Low and High for the color profile that is currently selected. You have fairly easy access to all the options and don’t need to hold a shift or option key to access your numbers which is good. One thing noted when doing touch typing is though it has full QWERTY placement the A key is the Caps Lock key and it sits over the shift/Z key with your pinky really having a hard time hitting Z without hitting the shift by accident since it is more directly underneath. This just requires some getting used to, but would be the only real quip I would have with the keyboard besides that the colors even on the highest setting are still a little dim (especially purple and red which are the dimmest colors on the bright setting).
However, the Keyboard fully charges in 3 hours and boasts get this, 500 DAYS of standby time. This means literally you can charge this keyboard, leave it off and tucked away in a laptop bag or travel bag and it is always waiting for you to be used on a plane or trip. This is a fantastic amount of Standby time and since I travel about every 2-3 months it is perfect to just leave it as part of my travel bag, since I often only use my tablet to type articles when I am traveling.
Overall the Havit HV-KB217BT is impressive and one that I would highly recommend and I just wish they would make a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9″ version of the keyboard.
