Customer Reviews

Freedom Pro Bluetooth Keyboard

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I'm a systems administrator who uses his phone to connect to both work and entertainment servers that are text mode. There are a huge number of pluses to this keyboard ... but something that, because of my style of use, is an absolute no-go for me.

I rather like the physical nature of this keyboard. It folds into a neat and compact format, has a locking pin to keep it open when you need it open, even contains a nifty little stand that stows away along the top right of the keyboard. I love that this devices uses batteries instead of being itself rechargable -- I loathe not being able to use a device because I need to charge it. The layout has some peculiarities (I wish the up arrow and right-shift were reversed but I've already gotten used to it in only a few hours). The keyboard has a large number of function and alternate keys that expose a wide variety of phone-oriented features; this keyboard was clearly designed for phones and excels at that task.

That said... it's a no-go for me unless their tech support can fix an issue for me: unicode quotes.

As a systems administrator, programmer, and MUD/MUCK player, there is a significant difference between an ASCII quote and double quote and the Unicode quotes that this keyboard sends. This keyboard is therefore completely and utterly useless to me because I cannot quote items in a command line when SSH'd into a box, I cannot quote strings in a bit of programming code, and when I'm connected to a MUD or MUCK, my quotes and double quotes get dropped entirely since the servers expect and can handle only ASCII characters.

If you are a power-user or tech geek, or anyone else to whom the byte representation of your text is of critical importance, this keyboard is not for you unless Freedom Input fixes this problem. I think this keyboard would be an excellent keyboard for anyone else who doesn't care how their text is represented in bytes.

I have contacted them and hope they will make effort to standardize this keyboard so it will appeal to power users as well as the casual users to whom it will already appeal.

Android 2.1 (and apparently 2.2) does not support Bluetooth HID, so most bluetooth keyboards will not work yet on Android mobile phones.

Fortunately, the Freedom Pro keyboard can use HID or SPP bluetooth. The makers of the keyboard are extremely dedicated in getting their keyboard to sync and give frequent feedback to customers.

From my keyboard, I can write in "Docs to Go" or other word processing programs, hit a key and load "Music", select and play music, then flip back to my word processor.

Compared with the fastest texting keyboard on my phone, when using the Freedom Pro, I'm typing at least two to three times faster.

I highly recommend this product.

I had no trouble getting this to connect to my BlackBerry Pearl 8230 flip phone. I was also able to connect it to my PS3 easily. The storage case is well made and the keyboard itself felt good under my hands. The form factor is excellent. All in all, it is a well-made easy to connect device. Why the 2-star rating? Well, it IS a keyboard and as such, one SHOULD be able to type with it. Unfortunately, the inherent BlueTooth lag is its downfall. I am not a fast typist but, even at my modest pace, it would drop characters (particularly the space), duplicate letters or transpose them. Unless I typed with a painfully methodical slowness being careful to not quickly press keys in succession, it was absolute garbage out.

I tried everything; changing the batteries supplied in the packaging, changing the settings on my phone, rebooting my phone, resetting my phone by taking the battery out, switching from SureType to MultiTap, and even turning off the non-BlueTooth transmitter on my phone. Nothing improved the performance of this keyboard.

I was hoping to be able to create documents and write e-mails with this keyboard but I can type just as fast (and more accurately) on the tiny keypad of my phone. I sadly sent it back and am now continuing my search for a BlackBerry compatible keyboard. Wired this time!

Purchased this a few weeks ago for use with my Motorola Droid. It works flawlessly. No lag, especially when used with bluetooth pairing software found in the android marketplace (keypro).

I currently use the Freedom Pro Keyboard on my HTC evo 4G. Even though it is not sold as an Android compatible
keyboard. The keyboard is laid out just like a typical keyboard. It measure 12-9/16" x 4" x 3/8" when open and 6-6/16 x 4" x 3/4" when closed. It has several functions per key which can get a little confusing. The shift key on the right is small and next to the page up key so sometimes I hit the page up key instead of the shift key and find the cursor up in the document. The keys feel similar to that of a laptop but with just a little less bounce per key. Other wise the board is made well, fairly easy to pair with blue tooth and comes with a nice carrying case. It uses two AAA batteries for power.

As of the new system update on the HTC evo 4G, the keyboard works well and auto reconnects. I use it for emails, composing a document and on the internet. For me this is easier to type with that with the normal input of the phone.

Yes I would recommend to a friend, and I need to purchase one for my wife. She also has an HTC evo.

Firmware ver 2.1-update1
Kernel: 2.6.29-789bf291
Build # 1.47.651-1CL195459

Bought to use with my Ipad after reading a blog recommendation. Perfect! Set it up in 5 seconds and loved the portability. I chose this over the apple keyboard because being able to fit it in my Ipad bag along with a stylus, and headphones was a big priority. With this keyboard I am able to carry all my ipad needs in a 10 inch neoprene case. Very satisfied.

I use my Motorola Droid all day to send emails (not allowed to have personal laptops at my job and most websites are blocked on my work computer-even those relevant to my job). The Freedom Pro worked wonderfully with my Droid. I had no problems connecting it. The website gave clear directions for how to connect. I would say it's a very practical keyboard. It folds up small and fits perfectly in my small purse. The keyboard runs on AAA batteries and I haven't had a problem with battery life at all. It types well. You can personalize the F-keys for the applications you want. Some issues I've had with it were that I accidentally switch it to Korean when trying to type the "#" key. I've realized now it's because I'm pushing "Ctrl" and "FN" instead of "Shift." I also can't hit "enter" to send a chat, I have to arrow over to "send" and hit enter. It's a simple fix once I figured that out. Overall, it was well worth the money. My friends with Droids now all want one.

I'm not an avid thumb-keying texter, so this keyboard is a liberating experience with my BB. I use it where I don't want to lug a laptop to compose "real English" e-mails. The quality seems very good, especially the classy carrying case with magnetic clasp. I can open it, switch on, and it is connected and ready to type in 30 seconds. One dislike: The "up" arrow key is where the caps shift key on the right side should be, which makes for some pretty annoying typo's when the cursor jumps up a line while I keep typing. I still haven't gotten used to it yet (after about two weeks). But overall it's WAY better than thumbing it! I'm glad I bought it.

This is a good piece of hardware, but unfortunately, the Android drivers have serious issues that make it borderline unusable. I reported these bugs several months ago, but the drivers have not been updated and I have not received any indication that a fix will be forthcoming. Specifically:

* The single-quote (apostrophe) and double-quote keys insert Unicode character that look like quotes, but aren't; so you can't use this for programming, and your text will sometimes come out corrupt when typing things like comments on Web pages
* Pressing shift+space switches the keyboard layout to Korean. This happens accidentally very often (every hundred words or so); normal keyboards just insert a space. There is an option in the configuration that is supposed to disable that, but it doesn't work.
* Shift+arrow-key does not highlight text, so it's impossible to cut and paste without switching to a different input method.
* Ctrl+arrow-key does not move the cursor (it's supposed to move a word at a time)

Until these issues are resolved, I do not recommend buying this keyboard for Android devices.

Since I got the IPAD I was looking for some compatible Bluetooth keyboard, I have read many reviews and finally decided to buy it.

I have been using this product for the past few months now and it is a great product.

No freeze, no lag, keys are big, keys striking sound are not noticible which is great, it looks perfect and comes with nice package.

the only reason that i did not give it a rating of 5 is the price, i see no reason that this product cost this much when competitive products are their on half the price.

overall its good product and if your a business men on the move always this is your perfect pick.