If you"re like some people, you"ve had your eye on a Surface tablet as a way of getting both a tablet and a laptop in one; however, that tablet form factor and attachable keyboard might not seem like the optimal form factor. In fact, Surface tablets have a reputation of not being "lappable".
That"s where Brydge comes in. Brydge makes a variety of peripherals, but its big products are keyboards, more traditionally iPad keyboards. At CES last year, the company announced new keyboards for Surface products, and they"re the first third-party keyboards to be officially Designed for Surface.
These products are made for the Surface Pro, Surface Go, and Surface Pro X, and I"ve got my hands on all three. They"re Bluetooth keyboards that have clamps on both sides with a tight hinge.
That tight hinge basically turns the tablet into a laptop, and it"s pretty awesome. The keyboards have a battery in them, and there"s enough weight behind them that the product isn"t as top-heavy as you"d expect when using it on your lap. The hinge is 180 degrees, so if you do want to use the device as a tablet, you have to pull it out of the keyboard.
I"ve been using the models for the Surface Pro 7 and Surface Go for a couple of months now, but the Surface Pro X version is the one that I"ve really been waiting for, because that"s my favorite Surface to actually use. There"s one major downside to it though, which is that there"s no way to store the Slim Pen. With both the Surface Pro and Surface Go lines, pen storage is by magnetically attaching it to the side; with the Surface Pro X, it"s stored in a compartment inside of the Surface Keyboard.
The Brydge SPX+ isn"t available yet, but you can check it out on Brydge"s website here. You can find the Brydge 10.5 Go+ for $139.99 here, and you can find the Brydge 12.3 Pro+ for $149.99 here.
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