Review of the Rapoo E6300 wireless keyboard (Blade-series). Rapoo E6300 review - a great addition to your Tablet PC

This text was written entirely on the Rapoo E6300 keyboard. I deliberately did not correct typos so that you could evaluate the quality of the set.

Tablets and smartphones today are increasingly invading the territory of “classical” computers. However, for full-fledged work, they seriously lack full-fledged text input tools (the on-screen keyboard is not one of these). That is why the industry of external wireless keyboards today is experiencing an unprecedented flourishing: new models designed to work with smartphones and tablets appear regularly, and most of them are “tailored” specifically for the iPad, which owns about 70% of the global tablet market. Rapoo E6300 is one of such accessories.

Appearance and design

Rapoo E6300 strikes the eye with its miniature size. The keyboard measures 82 x 206 x 6 mm and weighs 153 grams. As a result, you can simply throw it in the pocket of your bag and forget about it - it definitely won’t burden you on the road. If desired, the E6300 can even be carried in a pocket, although the pocket must be large enough.

Despite such miniature size, the developers managed to place as many as 81 keys on the E6300 - a full QWERTY layout plus all the necessary service buttons. The base of the keyboard is made of steel and does not flex at all when typing, resulting in a pleasant tactile sensation.

As for the controls, the E6300 has none, one might say. At the bottom you'll find a slide switch, a Connect button (which puts the keyboard into pairing mode), and two LEDs, one indicating Bluetooth activity and the other indicating the need to charge the battery. By the way, the E6300 has a built-in battery, while fully charged from a USB port is approximately 2 hours. The manufacturer promises 30 days battery life- We were unable to verify this statement for obvious reasons.

Layout and ease of use

The main keys of the Rapoo E6300 are 15 mm wide, but the distance between them is minimal, due to which you can find the desired button“to the touch” can be difficult. In addition, some Cyrillic characters were frankly unlucky: they ended up on the “narrowed” secondary buttons, and the letters X, B and E completely moved to the bottom row (between the space bar and the cursor “arrows”). Of course, you can get used to this, but such liberties with the layout frankly interfere with touch typing.

Despite this, by the end of the second day I learned to type on the Rapoo E6300 much faster than on the screen iPad keyboard, although slower than the full-size keyboard on my MacBook Pro.

Also note that the Rapoo E6300 layout corresponds to the standard Cyrillic layout in Mac OS X. iPad settings you can choose Windows layout, but in this case the markings on the keys will not correspond to the actual location of the punctuation marks.

Compatibility

Despite the fact that Rapoo E6300 is designed specifically for iPad and iPhone, it works great with Android devices. At the same time, many service keys (for example, sound control or output to home screen) retain their functionality. In addition, no one bothers you to connect the E6300 to devices running Windows OS - it works great with them too.

Bottom line

Is the Rapoo E6300 inferior to full-size keyboards in terms of typing comfort? Undoubtedly. Is it better than an on-screen keyboard? The answer is again positive. For me personally, a significant advantage of the device is the ability to use it not only with the iPad, but also with my Galaxy Nexus. You know, it really helps when chatting on Skype or WhatsApp.

Finally, I would like to say something about the price. Unlike full-size wireless keyboards, the Rapoo E6300 costs less than 300 hryvnia, which allows us to recommend it for purchase with a pure heart.

Attention! Competition! Win a Rapoo E6300 keyboard!

This week we're running special competitions for our world's most inquisitive readers to win Rapoo wireless keyboards. To win the Rapoo E6300 keyboard, you must live in Ukraine and not be an employee of the Magnet company or his/her relative. And answer a simple quiz question. The keyboard will be given away to everyone who answers the question correctly. We will announce the winner's name tomorrow, October 2, along with a new competition.

Php drupal_add_css(drupal_get_path("module","contest")."/contest.css"); ?

There are both full-size desktop devices and miniature ones portable models. We will begin our acquaintance with the products of this company with the smallest keyboard -.

This is perhaps the tiniest keyboard we've ever seen with full-fledged buttons rather than telephone keys. A joke keyboard that looks more like a chocolate bar than a... serious device. Have you ever tried printing on a chocolate bar? Try it - it might even be funny.

The full name of the device is difficult to read, but it perfectly conveys its functionality and purpose. Rapoo BT Ultra-slim Keyboard for iPad E6300– ultra-thin Bluetooth keyboard for iPad – every word here is true. However, the E6300 can easily connect to an iPhone, an Android tablet or smartphone, and a computer or laptop running Windows control or Mac OS. True top row function keys tied to iOS functions and is unlikely to work under Windows. Although, through the Fn modifier you can always use standard F1–F12.

Thanks to the use of a steel base tray, despite such small dimensions, the keyboard turned out to be impressively rigid and simply pleasant to the touch. No frames and empty space There are no keys around them; they are located close to each other and occupy the entire allocated area of ​​the base. In general, minimalism in design and the use of high-quality materials leave a very pleasant impression. Naturally, it has black and white versions, for black and white iPads, respectively. Honestly, the white option Rapoo E6300 The one with blue function keys seemed prettier to us than the black one with orange. But here it’s a matter of everyone’s taste.

The E6300 measures 82x206x5.8mm and weighs 153g (just like a large chocolate bar). So it will not burden you on the go and will easily fit even in your trouser pocket. True, with such a small weight, the keyboard can slide on the table when working. It is also worth considering that when using with an iPad, you will need some kind of stand for the tablet, a Smart Case or its alternative, and typing text on weight is not very convenient given the small size of the E6300; you need a table.

Feeds Rapoo E6300 from built-in lithium battery unnamed capacity, charged via micro-USB. Two hours of charging is enough, according to manufacturers, for a month of use. The keyboard works Bluetooth technology 3.0, and maintains a stable connection at a distance of up to 10 m.

The keys, of which exactly 80 fit on the miniature E6300, have a short travel, but an unexpectedly pleasant press. If you are a principled opponent on-screen keyboard, the mechanics should please you, although there are a few “buts”.

Keys Rapoo E6300 small. In fact, they are exactly the same as laptops, 14–15 mm wide, but the distance between the keys is less than a millimeter, instead of 2–3 mm for laptops. And if for English letters There were enough full-size keys, which you can get used to after some training, but the Cyrillic alphabet was less fortunate. By the way, remember that the layout here is switched in the same way as on MacOS - Command+Space.

So, Cyrillic. “X”, “B”, “E” moved to the bottom row, to the right of the spacebar to keys of reduced width - 10.5 mm. “Y” turned out to be on the right, above Enter, however, few people use it anyway. Reduced keys went to the entire right side of the keyboard - “+”, which moved down a row to “Z”, “F”, “B”, “Y”, “?”, right Shift, cursor control arrows called via Fn, named above "X", "B" and "E". The bottom row also has small Command keys, calling the on-screen keyboard, Option/Alt, Fn and Ctrl.

And if to service keys You can, in principle, get used to it, but typing in Cyrillic is inconvenient, not so because small size keys, on the on-screen keyboard of smartphones and on QWERTY phones they are still smaller, due to the changed layout. Although, you can relearn and get used to it, but it’s not a fact that in the end you will outpace those who use an on-screen keyboard in typing speed.

However, Rapoo E6300 It's such a nice little thing that even if you don't get the chance to show off the wonders of speed dialing, it's unlikely to disappoint. This cute miniature keyboard, which looks like a chocolate bar, is very well made.

In addition, it costs only 280 UAH! There are simply no Bluetooth keyboards at this price; the closest competitors cost 3-4 times more. Well, if we talk about keyboards for iPad, then the price starts from $80-100.

So, despite a number of shortcomings, Rapoo BT Ultra-slim Keyboard for iPad E6300 – interesting offer for owners of iOS and Android devices.

	RAPOO E6300 Black 499 - 1,120 UAH Compare prices
Purpose	keyboard for iPad
Connection	wireless
PC communication interface	Bluetooth
Power supply of the manipulator	Built-in rechargeable lithium battery
Keyboard type	compact
Cyrillic character color	white
Weight	153 g
Dimensions, mm	82×206×5.8
Radio channel range, m	10

Liked

Dimensions, weight
+ Minimalism design
+ Workmanship
+ Compatible with iOS, Android, Windows and MacOS
+ Price

Did not like
– Changed layout
– Miniature keys

Hello friends! The other day I decided to buy some interesting accessory for my second generation Nexus 7 tablet - I wanted a new experience from using my pocket tablet. I spent a long time choosing the product I needed from the many currently on the market, and my choice settled on a portable wireless keyboard from Rapoo, model number E6300, also known as “Ultra-Slim Keyboard for iPad”, although it works great with a PC (including Mac), Android smartphones and tablets, TVs and many other devices that support bluetooth protocol 3.5.

Device Specifications

- Device type: keyboard
- Connection method: wireless, Bluetooth protocol
- Range: 10 meters
- Device dimensions: 206x6x82 mm
- Battery life: ~ 1 month
- Color: black/white
- Officially supported devices: iPad (all models)

Packaging and equipment

The device came in a beautiful and unusual packaging in turquoise and white colors. This packaging is of course suitable for devices with white colors, and a black device in such a box looked a little rough, but for me it did not really matter.

In the package I found a short USB-miniUSB cable for connecting the device to a PC and unhelpful instructions for connecting a keyboard to an iPad, in which, by the way, I did not find Russian. Alas, the guys from Rapoo couldn’t fit an adapter for charging from the mains into this small package, so I had to charge the device from a laptop - not very convenient, of course, but no problem for me.

Device design

The design of the device is very different from the usual keyboard that we are used to seeing attached to our PCs. It differs in almost everything, even the layout. Now I’ll tell you about everything in more detail.

The case on which the keys are attached is very thin - only 6 millimeters. Aluminum was chosen as the material for the body - this gives the device an elite look. On the back side you can see the engraved logo of the Rapoo company and below the signature containing the device model.

There is a small platform on the body that performs several functions. Firstly, this is a stand that serves to ensure that the device is at an angle, as it should be for a keyboard. Secondly, it includes a power supply, battery, Bluetooth module, On/Off switch and two LEDs to indicate the device status. Many people criticize the developers, saying, why did they add this platform, the device is not so thin with it, but I do not agree with such complaints, because without this platform there would not be such autonomy and convenience when writing.

The keyboard weighs very little: this is both good and bad. Good because it’s easier to carry in your bag, but bad because typing on non-flat surfaces is almost impossible: the keyboard wobbles from side to side when typing like this, so you always look for a table before using it. Neither a bed, nor a sofa, nothing will fit - just a table.

The keys on the keyboard really pleased me. They are made of plastic that is pleasant to the touch. They have a good movement, there is a pleasant tactile feedback, which is why it is really worth buying devices of this type. Unfortunately, they are not very well attached to the case; when carrying the keyboard in a bag, some buttons often fall out, which, fortunately, can be attached back, but there is still an unpleasant feeling that forces you to often check the condition of the buttons.

Most of the keys here are the size of a full keyboard, but some little-used keys with punctuation marks in English layout halved in width - not the best solution, I’ll explain why in the next paragraph. Writing using the “touch” typing method is not only difficult - it’s almost impossible, it’s difficult to write even while looking at it, hence great amount errors and typos.

With the layout, things are bad here: the engineers from Rapoo conscientiously fulfilled their task of maximizing use free space, but only for users of Western keyboards. My keyboard comes with a Russian layout, and this layout suffers at the expense of the English one. Why? Because in the Russian alphabet more letters than in English, and where the English have punctuation marks, we have letters. Remember what I said earlier: on the English layout, punctuation marks are reduced in the area of ​​the keys, so pressing some letters is very inconvenient. By the way, the layout itself is designed for Apple devices, so many keys on the keyboard do not work when connected to a Windows computer or Android device, but these keys can be counted on the fingers of one hand, so there is nothing to worry about.

The layout also contains device controls such as the “Home”, “Search”, “Play” / “Stop”, “previous track”, “next track”, “lock screen” keys and others. Placed in place of the usual Esc and F1-12. The usual keys also remain; you can call them in conjunction with “Fn”.

PC connection

The keyboard connected to my laptop without any problems, I didn’t even have to install drivers, but I recommend installing drivers just in case. Working on a laptop seemed normal to me only for office documents, it’s not entirely suitable for games, because there is a delay - about a fifth of a second. This delay increases the further you get from the PC. Such a keyboard will be useful here if, for example, you connect a PC to a TV and control it remotely, but without wireless mouse not enough.

Connecting to mobile devices

Nokia Lumia 620 and 630 compared to Rapoo E6300
For testing, I used three smartphones here: Samsung Galaxy S4 mini (Android 4.2.2), Nokia 620 ( Windows Phone 8.1 Cyan) and Nokia 630 Dual Sim(Windows Phone 8.1 Denim). I’ll say right away that the last two simply didn’t respond to it after connecting, although both smartphones saw the device and even required me to enter a code from the keyboard, but, to my great regret, I couldn’t use them. Perhaps Microsoft will solve this problem with the next updates. The Android device behaved much better. I also had to enter the code, but after that I also had to install the ruKeyboard application for the Russian layout to work - in this Android versions adding a second layout out of the box is not possible. After all the ordeal, the device responded calmly to my keyboard and I was even able to play some games like Regular Game, but I had to take into account the delay. Overall, it was a pleasant experience.

Connecting to a Tablet PC

Fortunately, the second generation Nexus 7 received an update to Android 5.0 long ago, which allows you to add layouts from the settings. After entering a short code to connect, I was able to easily use my tablet as a small laptop. Now I’ll tell you about everything in detail.

The tablet interface can be easily controlled using the arrow keys and the Enter key and launch applications. A small rectangle appears that you control and select the menu item you need, just like on the old ones Nokia phones. You can also click the “Search” button and the search engine will pop up at the top Google string, through which you can launch applications by name and enter the required search queries in the Internet. Move between running applications carried out as in Ubuntu - using Alt+Tab. You can return to the desktop using the Home button

Many default Google applications support hotkeys, for example GMail and Chrome can be used without touching the screen. Controls just like in similar applications for PC, so I think you'll get the hang of it easily. By the way, you can look at the key combinations at this link.

In the VKontakte application you can easily send messages using the Ctrl+Enter combination
When working with documents on this keyboard, all the advantages of this device immediately emerge: typing is much faster, you can conveniently move the cursor through the text using the arrows, virtual keyboard no longer blocks half the screen - the purchase was worth it. And, considering that you can easily stuff the keyboard into your bag and go somewhere, you can edit documents anywhere and anytime, as long as there is a table :)

You can also play many games, including Quake 3 (oldfags will remember the times when they played without mice), enter codes in ported Grand Theft Auto, partially experience the controls in some multi-platform games. But do not forget, friends, that there is a slight delay, which can sometimes play into the hands of your opponents!

The only thing missing is a mouse...

Results

To be honest, your first impressions of the keyboard may be wrong, you will feel like you don't need it and you will be tempted to take it back to the store, but there will come a time (it will come, trust me) when you will realize how many new possibilities have opened up before you. The keyboard looks good, you can easily show off your purchase to your friends, you won’t be ashamed to appear with it even in fashionable places. Unfortunately, the keyboard has its drawbacks, quite a few, but you can easily put up with them.

pros:

Good design
- Compatible with iOS and Android devices
- Easy to move

Minuses:

Inconveniences in printing
- Inconvenient Russian layout
- Need a straight surface for easy printing.

The price of the device in Russia starts from 600 rubles.

Today we will look at a compact Bluetooth keyboard and stickers with Russian letters for it.

Based on the demands of TV viewers, I’ll say right away that the keyboard is not bad, it performs its function with a bang.

Works with both Android devices and iDevice...

So, let's get started. According to my tradition, the most difficult thing in a review is to start...

Well, we have to start somewhere :) Let's start with the fact that

Shouldn't we sing a song? a song about nothing...

I've become lazy Lately. Previously, when I went to my parents, I always carried a laptop with me, but now I’m lazy... yes, yes, I don’t go on foot, not by train, but by car! But still lazy :)

And so I thought about replacing the laptop with ones that have recently become so powerful mobile devices. I won’t say that I have progressed far in this... I only realized that iDevices are not suitable for this... Do I need to tell you why? (their communication with the world is poor)

Yes, and my daughter took my experimental iPad mini from me... I foolishly installed another farm there... and that’s it, goodbye tablet :) but I concluded from this that a device with a screen less than 7-8" would not be comfortable as a replacement for a laptop. 10" is too big for me personally... not mobile.

In general, I’m thinking of either trying to connect a TV to the smartphone via WiFi (hmm, which you still need to buy - with support for this technology) or looking for a 7-8" tablet, or maybe a more powerful set-top box for the TV, or a simpler TV :)

However, this is all demagoguery, let’s return to our patient...

So, I craved a bluetooth keyboard for my smartphone. The reason is banal, despite all the versatility of the on-screen keyboard, it has a big drawback - it covers a fair amount of space and is not very effective big screen. Well, besides, there is no way to use keyboard things like - quickly go to the beginning, to the end of the text, quickly copy/paste, etc. Since I dabbled in programming on the phone itself (there is a wonderful development environment - AIDE), I really needed to see not a couple of lines of code and a keyboard on half the screen, but as much of the code as possible.

I scratched the bottom of the barrel and found a certain number of points on DX, you know... well, dx means dx. we immediately discard remote controls with keyboards (I have one, the buttons are so tiny that typing on them large text not realistic), we are looking for a more or less full-fledged keyboard, but with minimum size, so that you could throw it in your backpack and it wouldn’t take up much space there.

From what I looked at, I was interested in the Rapoo keyboard, well, it’s still a brand, and the keyboard itself doesn’t look bad. There is a built-in battery and microUSB charging. The keyboard is positioned as special for Android.

The first sad thing is that there is no Russian language... But in general, the topic is not new, only the lazy have not heard about engraving letters on the keyboard. I studied the question - well, yes, it’s simple and reliable, but the price tag doesn’t please me - it costs 1,500 rubles in Moscow. Another cost for the keyboard. It was decided to make do with stickers, fortunately on the same dx there is a sea of ​​them, for every taste.

If, suddenly, someone is interested in the track, then here it is

05/12/2014 6:00 Received at the shipping point
05/12/2014 14:00 Departed from Sweden to destination country
05/22/2014 5:24 Arrived on the territory of the Russian Federation Moscow-Domodedovo AOPP
05/24/2014 13:56 Import Bryansk PI-2
05/25/2014 13:40 Release of customs Bryansk PI-2
05/25/2014 16:40 Left the international exchange place Bryansk PI-2
05/27/2014 18:50 Left the sorting center Moscow MSP-3 Mpko-Center Uompo
05/28/2014 19:02 Arrived at the place of delivery

Well, here it is, in fact, the face of the product...

Initially, I had doubts about the authenticity of the rapoo brand - there is no such model on their website.

But after studying the box, I came to the conclusion that this is indeed rapoo.

Starting with the fact that it differs from the rapoo E6300 only in the picture of the function keys (the ikeys were changed to Winkeys and a menu button was added, I don’t remember if it was on the E6300)

Rapoo sticker, under gray protective coating some numbers...

“Protective” stickers that sealed the box

Another side of the moon

Built-in battery (the inscription on the keyboard itself says 3.7V 30mA, the site claims that the battery capacity is 280mAh).
They promise to charge in 2 hours and use for a month. I don’t know about the month yet - it hasn’t discharged yet. But according to reviews on the E6300 it really works for a long time.

Uses Bluetooth 3.0 and works up to 10 meters. I don’t know about 10 meters, 6 meters definitely works, we didn’t check further.

Designed for Android (hotkey support), works with Macs and PS. Some of the keys worked for me - for example, media player control, volume +, -. But muting the sound didn't work :(

The back of the keyboard is made of steel, and there are also metal sides. This gives the keyboard rigidity - it does not bend either in your hands or on the table.
It stands stable on the table, thanks to the rubber feet.

The disadvantages include the fact that polishing perfectly collects fingerprints.

The buttons are mechanical, the type of mechanism is scissors (not checked - according to the Internet)

The key is attached to a return mechanism made in the form of two cross mechanisms in the form of scissors. The “scissors” themselves are rigidly attached to a metal board, on which the contact membranes are also attached. The key is returned using a miniature rubber cap. The “scissors” act as guides, ensuring a uniform rise of the key upward.

The buttons themselves have different widths, some are narrower, some are wider, but in general you can get used to them quickly if you use them quite often. They press well (clear tactile feedback about pressing the button), I would not call the buttons noisy. in general, the keyboard is pleasant to work with, adjusted for the not very good placement of the letters ХЪЭ (they are narrow and located at the very bottom - you will see later in the photos), Enter is elongated, which is good, the arrows are not separated, which is not very convenient, but Considering the compactness of the keyboard, this is quite normal.

There is a microUSB connector for charging the built-in battery. Keyboard on/off button, connect button, 2 indicators - red - bluetooth operation, green - keyboard charging (goes off after charging is complete) and low discharge (presumably - I didn’t see it in action, because the battery is not yet dead)

Dimensions - 20.5 cm x 8.2 cm x 1.4 cm

Comparative photos to estimate the size
(Review of the custom one - advertising of the Beethoven store is paid for:))

Includes microUSB-USB charging cable

The instructions aren't really needed

Let's try it out now...

Android. Testing with zp990 6"

Turn it on, press the connect button, in Android, in the search for bluetooth devices, we find a bluetooth keyboard, connect. Android displays the code and asks you to type it on the keyboard and press Enter. That's what we do. Everything is fine, connected and working.

And here problem No. 1 arises... - how to switch the language? Alas regular keyboards without hardware keyboard support, they do not have such a setting, and even if it is possible to switch, it is not known how... This problem occurs with all bluetooth keyboards and most default software keyboard programs in devices (I think I read on the net that Nexus 7 with the default keyboard works and switches no problem, but I don't know anything about it :))

You can, of course, google it and talk to the developers software keyboards, but it’s easier to find a program that supports a hardware keyboard, for example. It allows you to select in the settings the right combination to switch keys. There is still a problem with the fact that some punctuation marks are not in the places where you expect them (there is a suspicion that the layout remains the iPhone one). I haven’t figured out the details yet, you can re-stick the stickers on the actual places, you can look for a matching layout for the above-mentioned program, or use it to correct the issued codes in the android itself.

Well, yes, here’s another point, if you don’t touch the keyboard for about 2 minutes, it turns off and goes into sleep mode. When you press a key, the keyboard wakes up and connects to the device within 2 seconds. If the device is not locked, you can continue dialing; if it has already locked the screen, you will have to unlock it first (the device will be awakened and the connection will be restored automatically).

Now let's test it to work with iDevice. For the test we will use iPad mini 2

It's all pretty boring here. We also pair the keyboard with the iPad and it just works.
The language switches as usual - Command-space. The role of the Command button is played by the Win button.

Well, okay, we checked the work with the devices, now let’s figure out the stickers, otherwise touch typing is somehow not very good...

The stickers are quite high quality, thick, the print is clear and should not rub off. Letters different languages different color, which is very convenient. Background color matches the keyboard, hides the flaws of the sticker. The glue is good, the stickers do not peel off and there is hope that they will last a long time.

In size... The height of the stickers is slightly more keys, I glued the first couple like this, then I started cutting them off from the bottom, mm by mm. The width of the wide keys is greater than that of stickers; I simply glued them in such a way as to cover the original letters on the key. For narrow keys I had to trim the edges a bit. In general, I didn’t bother to be particularly careful and quickly stuck them on. It’s a little crooked, a bit askew, consoling myself that if I buy new ones, fortunately their price is 100 rubles.
I liked the review +16 +29