Blurex D-Lux Classic Leather Folio Keyboard Case Review

iPad Keyboard Case Review: Blurex D-Lux Classic Leather Folio Keyboard Case Review

Editor's Ratings (1-5): 5

What's Hot: Very protective case, keyboard is excellent, easy to use.

What's Not: None.

Blurex isn't a big brand in making accessories for mobile devices, but their new Blurex D-Lux Classic Leather Folio Keyboard case is a homerun out of the gate. The case is very protective yet keeps a reasonably slim form. The keyboard offers great typing experience and the stand works in many viewing angles. The neatest feature though is that the keyboard isn't attached to the case, so you can move it anywhere in any position once it's connected to your iPad via Bluetooth. The keyboard like a laptop keyboard  also has long battery life and very good power management features.

Design

The Blurex D-Lux Leather Folio Keyboard Case is a combo leather case and a portable keyboard in one. The case has a smooth leather exterior that feels soft in hand. The interior uses the same smooth and soft leather. The case has stiff inserts, though they are not super rigid, binding them to two layers of strong leather provides great protection against bumps, bruises and even shock damage for your iPad 2 or the new iPad. The portfolio case has a tablet holder on the right that fits both iPad models equally well. The thin keyboard also sits in leather covers with cutouts for the keyboard and the small control/LED cluster on the top right corner as well as charging port on the side. The leather on the bottom of the keyboard is soft and grippy, so that even if you are using the keyboard detached from the case, it won't slip on any surface. If you do use the keyboard in the case, the leather grips onto each other quite well and the keyboard sits in the case firmly. The case wraps around the front display with an extra short panel with magnetic closure that keeps the cover shut effectively.

They Blurex D-Lux case plus keyboard weighs 1.4 lbs. and looks reasonably slim. The case has cutouts for all ports and buttons on the iPad 2 and the new iPad including the rear camera and the speaker grill. The only thing that doesn't get a cutout on the tablet is the top mic. The case also has a built-in stand that works very well. It offers several viewing angles for typing with the included keyboard, watching multimedia, making FaceTime calls and more.

Typing Experience

The Blurex D-Lux Leather Folio Keyboard Case for iPad 2 and New iPad includes a Bluetooth keyboard that has a standard layout. The keyboard offers two 2x-sized Shift keys, a 1.5x sized Enter and Caps lock key. The layout also includes a Back key and four directional keys with page navigation as Fn options. The spacebar is large and tall, and there are no odd locations for any of the keys on this keyboard. In additional to the normal keys, the Blurex D-Lux has a row of iPad-specific keys, including Home screen launcher, screen brightness settings, on-screen keyboard launcher, search, slideshow and web browser launchers as well as multimedia controls and volume controls. The iPad-dedicated keys work very well with either iPad models.

The Blurex keyboard like a  laptop keyboard    offers one of the best key travels we've seen on portable keyboards this size. The keyboard measures roughly 9.7" from the left to right, and key spacing feels comfortable. You don't need to cramp your fingers to fit the keyboard, unless you have very large hands. The key travel feels excellent! A slight bounce on the keys gives great tactile feedback. The keys are in normal size and the key's surface is slightly textured to prevent from slipping when you're typing fast on the keyboard. You should have excellent typing experience.

The keyboard also comes with a dedicated power on/off slider, a Bluetooth button and an LED window with three LED indicators for Caplock, battery status and Bluetooth status.

Bluetooth Pairing and Battery Life

The Blurex D-Lux Classic Leather Folio Keyboard Case has built-in Bluetooth 3.0 and it's very easy to pair it with the iPad 2 or the new iPad. The keyboard has auto-pairing feature; and when you turn on the keyboard for the first time, it will enter pairing mode. Use your iPad or any Bluetooth device that supports HID profile to find and pair with the keyboard with given pass code on the screen of your device. The keyboard has a dedicated Bluetooth button for subsequent pairing with more devices. We tested it with iPad models and other devices, and found it paired with all easily. The keyboard has power auto off feature after a period of inactivity, but it reconnects with the last connected device very quickly after a key press.

The Blurex D-Lux keyboard case has a built-in Lithium battery. It comes with a micro USB cable that you can use to charge the keyboard via a computer or AC power (100-240V). The keyboard takes about 4 hours to fully charge, except the first time you charge it which requires a full 12-hour charge. The keyboard has a very efficient automatic power saving process and offers a hardware power on/off slider. If you use it every day, you can just leave it on as it has a very long standby and goes to sleep quickly when it's not in use. The continuous typing time is 120 hours per full charge.

Conclusion

Though it's not from a big brand, the Blurex D-Lux Classic Leather Folio Keyboard Case impresses us with its steady construction, excellent compatible parts  - keyboard that offers one of the best typing experiences and long battery life. The keyboard can also roam to wherever is more convenient and comfortable since it's not attached to the case. If you need to turn your tablet into more productive tool on the road yet don't want to carry large and heavy keyboard, the Blurex D-Lux case is a great choice.