Two Surface Keyboards, One is a Winner

November 11, 2012

You may know that there are two Surface keyboard/covers available. One is called the Touch, and the other is called the Type. I’ve used both and I’ve cut over completely to the Type. Here’s why.

First, let me list the similarities. Both are quite thin and make a nice cover for the Surface. Both have a very nicely designed magnetic connection mechanism that allows you to quickly snap it on and pull it off. Both have a felt- or fleece- like texture on the outer side that helps prevent the unit from sliding when attached. Both are quite lightweight. In the picture below the Touch is on the left and the Type is on the right.

The Touch is the variant that comes by default if you buy the Surface with a keyboard in the box. It doesn’t have moving keys, rather the keys are embossed on the surface of the keyboard, and you tap them, kind of like tapping on a screen-based keyboard. I used it for a few hours and it worked okay but it was a bit hard to use. I’ve heard reviewers say that it takes a few days to really get used to it, and once you do, you can be typing quite quickly. My problem was that I needed to look at the keyboard while typing because with no physical keys I couldn’t feel where they were as I typed. They are slightly embossed, but that didn’t help me. So, as a result, I found it felt similar to typing on a screen-based keyboard—no physical feedback. So why bother with it; why not just use the screen-based keyboard? Because with the screen-based keyboard you are hiding over one half of your screen; using the Touch allows you to have the full screen visible while typing. Plus the screen can be tilted up while the keyboard is flat. And you need a cover anyway, albeit this is an expensive one. Note that the Touch keyboard/cover comes in multiple colors.

The Type keyboard is maybe 50% thicker, but it has depressible keys. And the movement on the keys is amazingly good. Most importantly, I can clearly feel the edges of each key as I type, so I don’t need to look at the keyboard. While it still takes a little bit of getting used to because it’s smaller than most keyboards, I was typing at almost full speed within a few minutes.

One thing to get used to when first using the Type keyboard is that when you flip it back and hold your Surface as a tablet, your fingers are depressing the keys on the back of the tablet. You can’t help but wonder if you are typing something by accident. Don’t worry you are not; the keyboard fully turns off when it’s flipped back. Also, you may wonder if you’re going to damage the keys because they are now on the bottom of the tablet. Well, for me, no damage so far; apparently the keyboard is quite sturdy and can take that kind of abuse.

By the way the price difference between the two is almost negligible; the Touch is about $120, and the Type is about $130 (though bundled pricing is better for the Touch). Both work equally well as covers and I can barely tell that the Type is thicker. So my advice: skip the Touch and move right to the Type keyboard.

Michael