About a week ago (as of 2024-02-22), I been using a keyboard that I had to buy to replace my original Apple Keyboard that came with my iMac. The reason for this was the original keyboard was no longer functioning properly. With that in mind, I had to buy a new keyboard that will have functioning keys. I wanted to make sure that my new keyboard will support the Mac Layout for their keys. This meant the CMD, Option, and Control keys must be in the same position as the original keyboard. The new keyboard was $55 from Amazon.
Good
The keyboard simply works as you would expect. The key travel is good, and since the keys are not mechanical, there is no click sounds when typing. Now, mind you, the original keyboard wasn’t mechanical as well, but this was a concern I had. Next, the pairing process was pretty straight forward. There is also a charge indicator light that would likely light up when it needs to be charge. This is good as I can not see the percentage meter when looking at my keyboard in the Settings. As with my original keyboard, this one also has a numeric keypad which was important to me. The color scheme is actually nicer than the original keyboard which was a white that stuck out like a sore thumb.
Bad
While there is a charging indicator light, I do not know when it would turn on. I would be much happier if I could just see the percentage in the Settings. For all I know, the charging light could come on at 10% which means that I can not do any work, and will be surprised by the need to charge. Ideally, the keyboard will display the percentage. I feel that it could have been easily done, and I would have even paid a little more for such a feature.
Ugly
I knew ahead of time that there wouldn’t have been a fingerprint reader. That would have been expected from a $50 keyboard. However, it would have still been nice. On a good note, I actually don’t have to type my password in all of that often. I am guessing the computer is recognizing there isn’t a fingerprint reader, and scaled back security a little. I do lock my screen, and a password is required for entering the system.
I also had to make a couple of adjustments in my keyboard settings. This wasn’t a big deal, but they typing experience isn’t as good as the Mac Keyboard. Still, I could not afford the $200 for a replacement keyboard. Nonetheless, everything works good enough.