Over the years I’ve used and tested many tablet case/keyboard combos. These are useful accessory/devices that serve the dual purpose of protecting your tablet and providing you with a physical keyboard with which to type. Case/keyboard combos are naturally constrained by the limitations and the features of the tablets for which they were designed. Thus, they should not be judged and evaluated against some perfect devices that could only exist if they violated some fundamental laws of Physics. Having said that, and having had experience with many such devices, it is my opinion that Belkin Qode is the ultimate keyboard case.

The first things you notice about Belkin Qode are its beautiful design and build. Belkin has come to symbolize the quality of accessory devices, and one encounter with Belkin Qode will show you why. The keyboard is built out of smooth, light airplane grade aluminum. It is very smooth and it feels great under the touch. The back cover is made out of high quality plastic. The cover feels sturdy and very protective, and it’s very easy to place iPad Air into it. The cover has the cutouts for all of iPad’s connectivity slots and speakers, but some of them (the microphone one in particular) are not all that well aligned. Nonetheless they get the job done.

The keyboard itself is a typical reduced tablet keyboard, with many of the standard keys relegated to the secondary function places. The keyboard is, naturally, more cramped than the standard keyboard, but not to the point that it becomes impossibly hard to use. The key action is very smooth and responsive to touch. However, it is not quite as good as what I am used to from Apple’s keyboards. It was extremely easy to pair up the keyboard with my iPad. Bluetooth devices in general have come a long way since the early buggy days, at least when it comes to major manufacturers.

One of the neatest things about this keyboard is the magnetically supported iPad stand. Most of the keyboard/cases that I’ve come across either use Velcro or mechanical grooves to insure stability and fix the iPad in place. Netiher one of those options is particularly elegant.

One battery charge will supposedly last you for up to half a year with regular use. I have not tested it for that long, but in my experience most rechargeable keyboards can retain charge for several months at least.

Being the ultimate keyboard case doesn’t mean that there is no room for improvement. The cutout slots on the case should be aligned better. I would prefer that the keyboard be charged via a thunderbolt cable instead of the micro USB. (Although, because of the keyboard’s really long battery life, this is not a major issue in practice.) I would also like to be able to slip the iPad in and out much more smoothly – I still prefer to use it by itself, and a case, especially a bulky one like this, can get in the way. However, none of these shortcomings significantly detracts from the beauty and usability of this case, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a great case/keyboard combo for their iPad Air.