I’m one of those guys that loves a huge desk, the bigger the better I always say… Therefore when it came to buying a new keyboard my priority was to find something that was space efficient, but not in such a way as to be detrimental to usability. I ended up choosing Microsoft’s Arc Keyboard as it seemed to tick those boxes nicely. I’ve had it for a few weeks now, so I thought it was high time for a review.
Design
First off the looks, as you can probably guess from the name, the keyboard is based on a slight arc. This is meant to help reduce hand strain, I can’t really comment having never really had a problem but it certainly looks cool!
Finished in a sexy black gloss (there’s also a white version with lime green highlights doing the rounds) it certainly has an opulent feel to it but as you’d probably expect it’s a bit of a finger print magnet. Not as bad as I first thought, I give it the odd wipe with my jumper and I’m happy but anyone with OCD is going to waste a good hour of two of their daily desk organising time wiping it down.
It’s wireless, which is always worth a couple of points when you’re rating something for it’s looks, and is also incredibly light and slim.
Functionality
So far so good then, but is it’s only function as a nice looking paperweight or is it actually good for typing with? I’ve only used it for a couple of weeks but have been impressed with the feel and accuracy. It feels very similar to typing on a good laptop keyboard. (I’ve just been comparing the two and there’s no comparison. It reminds me of a laptop keyboard due to the shallow keys but feels significantly nicer.)
Overall it’s extremely comfortable to use, both on the desk and (interestingly) elsewhere. When I’ve a load of books on my desk or simply wish to lean back in my chair I’ve taken to using it on my lap. It doesn’t appear to affect my typing speed and works really well. I don’t use it as such but I imagine it would be a great keyboard for your living room media center.
If you’re a touch typist you shouldn’t have a problem converting, I definitely missed a few letters to begin with (probably due to the outside keys being slightly lower than the inside ones) but it didn’t take me long at all to get used to it.
When designing the keyboard, space was obviously at a premium, and there certainly aren’t a wide range of extras – but Microsoft have managed to fit in volume and mute buttons which I really like. The usual suspects are also included, even if F7-12 can only be accessed via a function button.
One final thing that’s worth mentioning is that compared to other keyboards it’s incredibly quiet, great if you have a shared office space or simply wish to feel like a typing ninja!
Cons
So far I’ve thrown lots of praise towards the keyboard – so what don’t I like about it? I’ve only a couple of minor niggles, the first of which is the top line of keys (Escape, functions, volume etc) are stiffer to press. I don’t really know why this has been done, it’s not much of a problem but can feel quite off putting.
The second is that in an effort to save space the arrow keys have been turned into a kind of d-pad. I really don’t have as much of a problem with it as other reviewers seem to (maybe because I’m used to using d-pads whilst gaming?), it’s slightly slower to use but I can’t say I use the arrows keys all that much anyway.
Finally there’s no number pad – not that you’d expect one on a small keyboard like this. Still, it’s something to think about if you’re helplessly bound to using one.
I didn’t expect this keyboard to be as good as it is, I was looking for a small, wireless keyboard to leave me space on my desk. Now I can’t understand why anyone would ever want anything bigger.
What kind of keyboard do you use, or are you someone that doesn’t mind as long as it works? Let me know in the comments below.