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USA Matias Wireless Aluminum Backlit Keyboard Silver

FK418BTLSB-US

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Lots In Stock

Aluminum + BT wireless + Backlit = Awesome

We took Apple's iconic aluminum keyboard as a starting point, and built from there...

Full-size in beautiful aluminum.
Available in Silver and Space Gray, Apple fans now have a full-size BT wireless keyboard that's backlit, matches the look of their system, and feels great to type on.

£129.98 £97.49 (£81.24 ex VAT) 

USA Matias Wireless Aluminum Backlit Keyboard Silver - FK418BTLSB-US

Wireless with a number pad.
If you like Apple's wired keyboard with numeric keypad but wish it were wireless, this is the one to get (especially if you need/want backlighting).

Rechargeable 1-year battery life - for BT wireless.
No expense was spared to make this the best BT wireless keyboard possible. That includes putting a much bigger rechargeable battery in it than we had to — 1,600 mAh.

That's 5x to 12x bigger than what's inside most other wireless keyboards; big enough to last a year, on a single charge.

Backlighting done right - 2nd dedicated battery.
Most backlit keyboards stop working if you use the backlight too much, running the battery dry quickly - VERY inconvenient.

For this reason, we have a 2nd separate rechargeable battery just for the backlight.

So, you can use the backlight as much as you like. If the backlight runs dry, the keyboard will still continue working off its own separate battery - for up to a year.

The backlight battery should last 1 to 2 weeks between charges, in normal use.

Pairs up to 4 BT wireless devices - Mac, iPad, iPhone, Windows, or Android.
It may look like a Mac keyboard (and it is) but the Matias Wireless Aluminum Keyboard can do a few extra tricks...

You can pair up to 4 BT wireless devices, easily switching between them with the press of a button, and the keyboard adjusts its layout to match each device (as you switch) - whether it's Mac, iPad, Windows, Android, etc.

Mac-friendly function keys.
Just like an Apple keyboard, the function keys let you control screen brightness, volume, iTunes, and more.

There's even an Fn key, that lets you momentarily change the function keys back to their traditional duties, when you need them.

Stays on. Stays connected.
Other wireless keyboards will often power down and disconnect to conserve battery life - leaving you waiting, each time they reconnect.

With its BIG battery, the Matias Wireless Aluminum Keyboard doesn’t need to do that. It stays on, and stays connected.

These simple luxuries - not having to worry about batteries, no waiting to reconnect - make it feel more like a wired keyboard.

USA Matias Wireless Aluminum Backlit Keyboard Silver - FK418BTLSB-US

Manufacturer
Part Number
FK418BTLSB-US
Connection
BT wireless
Cable length
1 Metre Charging
Language Layout
USA
Number of keys/buttons
109
Length
441 mm
Depth
116 mm
Height
19 mm
Weight
650 g
Compatible
Mac
Gross Weight
860 g

USA Matias Wireless Aluminum Backlit Keyboard Silver - FK418BTLSB-US

  Paul (Web Developer)  30/12/2018
Well, it's not *all* that, but it's very very good.

Backlighting is awesome, construction is high quality albeit 90% of Apple standard with the plastic trimming on the bottom feeling a little dinky and not perfectly finished (we'll see how long this one lasts given my Apple keyboard soldiered on through seven years until two keys had holes in the top of them).

Keystrokekeypress is short, but feels slightly longer than the Apple, and it may just be perception, because the specs are the same. What's not specified and is certainly different is that the keystroke is *spongey*. There's not as much push back, and while they feel like they take less effort to depress overall, they take more effort to push past the first notch until the full downward movement starts, and thus they also take longer time to depress. It's like you can feel them going down, whereas the Apple keyboard (with 2xAA batteries, circa 2011) feels like the key is either on or off compared to the Matias which I feel like I could do do a half-press on... if it wasn't for that first notch giving me a tough welcome and making me push through the first notch hard enough that I'm heading all the way down before I know it. I haven't used the new Magic keyboards from Apple, but I imagine the difference vastly greater again.

That's all very finite feedback which matters when you're typing at 80wpm, but if you don't care too much about typing feel then you won't notice anything and will just enjoy a nice keyboard with great texture on the keys.

One thing you'll definitely notice when transitioning from an Apple keyboard is that this keyboard is much larger, about 2cm wider, which has gone into the delete key and spacing between all the keys. Even so, it's taken me hours to get used to the location of the delete key, and I still haven't gotten used to the stretch required to use commandcontrolarrow keys, let alone adding shift - it's a lot harder on this size keyboard, both because the command and option keys are larger, and because there is an additional right control key, and because of the space to the arrow keys. They could have saved at least 5mm either side of the arrow keys for me, maybe more, without sacrificing aesthetics, let alone functionality.

I don't think it's worth the money (especially since buying in EuropeUK was something like 20% more expensive than from U.S.) but as there was no better choice, we have to be happy they exist. I think they'd sell a lot more if the pricing was better.

Truthfully, I actually bought another keyboard first, but the distributor cancelled my order because they were out of stock so after many hours researching and trying to avoid paying this price... I relented. Four stars is not to be trifled with, good keyboard, thanks for the keypad (would've been happier without it if I could have saved even just 10 quid or more) but especially happy for the backlighting with the battery to back it up.

Four keys to connect to four devices is a nice bonus. So is the one-year charge which is sweet compared to changing AA batteries monthly.

Connectivity and bluetooth responsiveness is no problems, although my Hackintosh had a week bluetooth chip and the Apple keyboard was successful where the Matias was not. After replacing the bluetooth cradle the problem is resolved, and there's no perceptible difference for responsiveness from the Apple keyboard... with a lot of additional pluses.

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