There is certainly no shortage of wireless keyboards out there these days. Most of the new ones use Bluetooth as their primary wireless standard, but there are a few, like this Penclic K2, that still rely on dedicated RF connectivity through a small USB dongle. I’ve been a big fan of Bluetooth peripherals, especially since they are compatible with most smartphones and tablets, but in my experience many of them are not as reliable and robust as the RF ones.

This keyboard has a general look and key design of the current Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard. Since that keyboard is the primary keyboard that I use, I feel I am well positioned to evaluate Penclic K2 and see how the two stack up. Unfortunately, apart from the general outward appearance, K2 falls short of all the features that I like in my Apple keyboard. Unlike Apple’s keyboard, which is mostly made out of single piece of aluminum, K2 is completely made out of plastic. It’s a good quality plastic, but it still feels cheap and ordinary. In fact, the upper and lower parts of the keyboard are not flush and there is a noticeable compressibility at the top part of the keyboard.

The keyboard’s general layout is somewhat odd. To be sure, it is (for the most part) a standard QWERTY keyboard and it has all the basic keys in their proper places. However, it also has a few nonstandard keys. One of them is the Penclic logo key, which is situated at the place between the left Ctrl and Alt keys, which on the Windows-specific keyboards would be occupied by the left Windows Key. It also features the Alt Gr (Here spelled Alt Grr) key, which is very typical of the European keyboards. That key allows you the access to many special characters directly from the keyboard. However, none of these characters are clearly marked on the keys themselves, so for all practical purposes this key has pretty limited utility. Furthermore, about 14 keys in the right side of the keyboard double as a numerical keypad, accessible via the Fn key. I also don’t find this to be a very useful design choice, especially since it clutters some keys with additional key labels.

One thing that I do like with K2 is that it uses rechargeable batteries and that it can be charged via a micro USB cable. The keyboard uses two AAA sized rechargeable batteries, and they are placed inside a small compartment at the bottom. The keyboard comes with an extendable USB to micro USB cable which can be plugged into any spare USB port on your computer, or into a stand-alone USB charger (not included).

The keys on the keyboard are very thin, and noticeably less elevated than the corresponding ones on Apple’s keyboard. They also don’t feel as solidly in place, and there is a bit of a “clacking” sensation while typing. All of this leads to a less-than-optimal typing experience for me, especially compared to Apple’s keyboard. I might get used to it eventually, but right now I am slower at typing on this keyboard than I would have liked.

I have used this keyboard with both my Mac and my Windows computers, and it has worked fine with both. I intend to use it as a dedicated keyboard for my old Dell computer, replacing its USB connected keyboard. However, Penclic K2 is definitely overpriced for the kind of quality that it provides. This keyboard should be in the $30 to $40 price range, instead of the current $70.