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iPad Pro Smart Keyboard Folio Review - My favourite typing experience of all time

2019-02-18 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 8:08 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: Sponsor segment present

Ali reviews Apple's Smart Keyboard Folio for the iPad Pro as the best typing experience he has ever used: it is durable and quick to set up, though bland-looking and awkward when folded back, and he thinks it worth its £180 for anyone who types on an iPad Pro, turning it into almost a laptop replacement.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Sponsor mention and intro: a quick review of the Smart Keyboard Folio

00:00:29 — What he likes: the typing experience, easy setup, two angles, durability

  • ★★★ Ali calls the iPad Pro's Smart Keyboard Folio the best typing experience he has ever used on any device. — 00:00:29 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ The Smart Keyboard Folio's keys have a fabric coating and are less clicky than a MacBook Pro keyboard, Ali says. — 00:00:29 · MacBook
  • ★★ Ali uses the Smart Keyboard Folio for any typing he can, and feels bad whenever he has to type on his MacBook or Apple Magic Keyboard instead. — 00:00:58 · MacBook, Magic Keyboard, Apple
  • ★★ The Smart Keyboard Folio is easy to set up from its carry position and offers two typing angles, Ali says. — 00:01:20
  • ★★ Ali wishes the Smart Keyboard Folio had a shallow writing angle for the Apple Pencil like Apple's old case; laid flat, it rests at only a very slight angle. — 00:01:47 · Apple Pencil, Apple
  • ★★ Ali finds the Smart Keyboard Folio very durable: it has survived curry and drinks spilt on it from his lunch tray and being chucked in his bag. — 00:02:13

00:02:48 — What he does not like: the keys behind your fingers, the bland colour

  • ★★ Ali dislikes that holding the iPad with the Smart Keyboard Folio folded back puts the keys under your fingers; when he needs to, he simply detaches the iPad. — 00:02:48 · iPad Pro
  • ★ Ali keeps the Paperlike on his iPad Pro and calls it his favourite screen protector. — 00:03:31 · Paperlike, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali finds the Smart Keyboard Folio's colour bland: closed or open it looks like a Samsung tablet given out at an enterprise rather than an Apple product. — 00:03:31 · Apple

00:04:20 — Who should get it: worth £180 if you type on an iPad Pro

  • ★★★ Ali says anyone with an iPad Pro who wants to do any typing on it should get the Smart Keyboard Folio: it is fully worth its £180. — 00:04:20 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali puts the iPad Pro at about £1,100 and the Smart Keyboard Folio at about £180. — 00:04:20 · iPad Pro
  • ★★★ With the Smart Keyboard Folio, Ali says, the iPad Pro turns from a device for browsing, Netflix and the Apple Pencil into almost a laptop replacement. — 00:04:20 · iPad Pro, Apple, Apple Pencil
  • ★★ If he were a student with an iPad Pro, Ali says he would probably get the Smart Keyboard Folio too, as a small cost relative to the iPad. (hedged) — 00:04:20 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ Someone who types little and uses the iPad mainly for watching things will not gain much from the Smart Keyboard Folio, Ali says, and might as well get a nicer case. (hedged) — 00:05:08 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ With the Smart Keyboard Folio, Ali can reply to emails, messages and Instagram DMs on his iPad in spare moments at work. — 00:05:37 · Instagram, iPad Pro
  • ★★ On journeys Ali opens Bear, his note-taking app, on the iPad to plan scripts for future YouTube videos, as he did on the flight back from Sudan a few weeks earlier. — 00:05:37 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ Planning videos with the Apple Pencil would have worked, Ali says, but typing out a whole script or plan for a video is much easier with a keyboard. — 00:05:59 · Apple Pencil
  • ★★ The Smart Keyboard Folio has increased Ali's productivity on the iPad: he triages much of his inbox at work and on his lunch break before getting home. — 00:05:59 · iPad Pro
  • ★★★ Ali says the £180 Smart Keyboard Folio has definitely added more than £180 of value to his life. — 00:05:59

00:06:42 — Squarespace sponsor read and sign-off

  • ★★ Every time Ali finishes a book on his Kindle or otherwise, he writes a review of it in Ulysses on his iPad Pro, typing on the keyboard. — 00:06:42 · iPad Pro, Kindle
  • ★★ Once his redesigned website on Squarespace is up, Ali plans separate sections for his book reviews, his tech product reviews and his blog posts. — 00:07:11 · aliabdaal.com, Squarespace

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: iPad Pro · Smart Keyboard Folio

Also: Projects: aliabdaal.com

Organizations: Apple · Instagram · Samsung

Places: Sudan

Products: Apple Pencil · Bear · Kindle · MacBook · Magic Keyboard · Paperlike · Squarespace · Ulysses

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