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Laser keyboards are a still up-and-coming technology and there are only a few of them in the market right now that are reliable or worth checking out. Most will have their own unique designs but typically, they’ll have similar features and characteristics.
While mechanical keyboards will offer great comfort in typing and especially in gaming, virtual or holographic keyboards offer solutions to different problems. With a projection keyboard, you’ll be able to type on any flat surface without the need to bring a physical board to work on. It’ll save you space, the feel of bulkiness, and the hassle of bringing one. Plus, with the rise of work tablets and iPads, having a laser keyboard just makes perfect sense.
If you don’t have the time to read the full review, you can just click on the links below to skip to that product:
#1.
Best Projection Keyboard for Beginners
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Weight: 21.54g | Dimensions: 11.98 x 6.8 x 4.19 cm
The is a full-sized keyboard with a great mouse function. It’ll turn any tablet or phone into a fully functional workstation. This projection keyboard aims to provide the same convenience that you’ll get from a desktop computer or laptop.
It’s a smart keyboard for all devices, whether Android or iOS. It supports Bluetooth 3.0 or higher. It’ll seamlessly sync—via Bluetooth—to all kinds of gadgets, even to a kindle or a game console.
It works for a whole 2 hours and even has a power-saving mode when the battery is running low. This innovative device has a USB port quick charge and LED indicators. The red light indicator is to inform you when the battery is low and the blue light indicates its Bluetooth status.
It’s super easy to use and has a precise sensor reader which is great for your productivity despite the absence of a physical keyboard. You are assured of having fast data entry and accurate input with 350 keystrokes per minute.
#2. AGS Laser Projection Keyboard
Best Projection Keyboard for Prompt Needs
Weight: 141.74 g | Dimensions: 5x 7.01 x 7.01 cm
The AGS Laser Projection Keyboard will be your next best friend when you find yourself away from your workstation or while on travel you have to send or type an email or report real fast. In short, it’s a very handy gadget to have ready for prompt needs.
It’s a perfect fit for smartphones because it has a smaller keyboard panel. It still is a QWERTY keyboard but it doesn’t exactly replicate a full keyboard layout. Nonetheless, this setup will work great if you have a limited space to work on, which could be on a plane or on a bar table.
As to responsiveness, it may not provide a speedy typing experience but you can form and send an email without a problem. Because of its unique layout, it will take time to get used to, but after that, you’ll really grow to appreciate how compact it is. This is definitely a gadget must-have for a digital nomad.
#3. Heartbeat Laser Projection Keyboard
Best Overall Projection Keyboard
Weight: 170.09g | Dimensions: 8.128 x 5.79 x 14.097 cm
The Heartbeat Laser Projection Keyboard is definitely one of the best projection keyboards we’ve seen so far. What makes it better than the rest is that, for one, it is innovatively designed to hold your phone or tablet on top, so you’ll have a more comfortable typing set-up. It also has induced dormancy or a smart standby function that allows you to stay connected when you take a phone call. It has more accurate recognition because it has a multi-touch mouse and keyboard system which assures you a better user experience.
The Mouse Mode supports zooming in and out of pictures and page-turning gestures. Meanwhile, the keyboard has a calculated round key design to avoid pressing on the wrong keys when typing. To adjust the brightness of the laser projection, you just have to press on a few keyboard key combinations.
This projection keyboard device also works as a power bank. However, it can only work for a good 50 minutes and will take up to around 180 minutes to be fully charged.
#4. Mojo Wireless Laser Keyboard
Best Projection Keyboard that Supports USB Connectivity
Weight: 90.43 g | Dimensions: 11.43 x 6.35 x 4.31 cm
One of the great features of the Mojo Wireless Laser Keyboard is that you can enjoy it wireless or while connected to your gadget via a USB. You’ll find a USB cable included in its packaging. It has a high keystroke detection of over 350 characters per minute and it supports an English QWERTY keyboard layout.
Another top feature is its run time which is around 200 minutes or 3.3 hours. It has a 1,000 mAH lithium polymer rechargeable battery which will take 2 hours to charge.
It is equipped with the latest sensor module which recognizes the location and movement of your fingers. It has a projected keyboard location of 100 mm distance from your device and the keyboard panel size is around 100 x 240 mm.
For the surface, you’ll have to make sure you place the projection keyboard on a non-reflective and opaque flat surface for better detection, recognition, and of course, overall better user experience.
Laser & projection Keyboard Buyer’s Guide
The market for projection keyboards is not wide compared to other tech devices. Because it is still an up-and-coming gizmo, you’ll find a lot of low-quality products that may impair your impression of laser keyboards. That’s why we’ve come up with a buyer’s guide to help you find and purchase only the best products in the market.
Compatibility
Most, if not all, portable projection keyboards are equipped with Bluetooth connectivity but that doesn’t mean that they’ll be compatible with all Bluetooth-enabled devices. Older gadgets support early versions of Bluetooth, which may not be compatible with the projection keyboard you want to purchase. Some will support starting from Bluetooth 3.0, while others may only be compatible with the latest versions or from Bluetooth 4.0 and higher.
Other products, on the other hand, will alternatively offer USB connectivity. Therefore, you’ll need to make necessary research and inquiries as to whether or not your current gadgets will be compatible with the projection keyboard you have in mind.
Battery life or run time
Running out on battery is definitely the most inconvenient instance to experience, especially when you are working on something important and urgent. The biggest downfall of technology today is the run time or the battery life of the gadget. Compact and portable devices typically have limited battery life.
There are projection keyboards that can run for more than 3 hours while others can only sustain less than an hour of usage. The standard quality for battery capacities to look for on such a device is somewhere about 800 mAH to about 1000 mAH.
If you think you’ll be using this projection keyboard for longer periods, then you may want to opt for higher battery life.
Brightness
Brightness is a critical factor for a projection keyboard as it depends highly on tapping recognition. Working on a fully-lighted location may affect your device’s recognition ability. Make sure to look for products that have high brightness or offer adjustable brightness settings.
This will give you the flexibility to adjust your set-up depending on the lighting condition of your location or workstation. Bear in mind that the higher the brightness, the more battery it consumes.
Mouse functionality
Some projection keyboards will offer dual functionality of the keyboard and the mouse. This means you can use both functions at the same time. While others will have them in separate modes, which means you’ll have to enter some keyboard combinations to enable the mouse mode but will disable the keyboard tapping and vice versa.
Other simple products won’t even offer a mouse mode, just the plain laser keyboard. A multi-touch or multi-functional projection keyboard will likely be more expensive than the simple functioning one. You have to weigh whether the presence of the mouse function is detrimental to how you work.
Added features
Some projection keyboards will offer added features like a power bank functionality or a Bluetooth speaker function. These are highly innovative products and will likely cost more and consume what little battery life you have.
Final Thoughts
Projection keyboards are definitely part of our reality but it is still in its developing stage. Nonetheless, there are already quite a few products that offer great service and functionality which gives us a good peek at what our future will be like in the coming years.
One of the takeaways here is that to make sure you’ll place your projection keyboard on an opaque and flat surface. Even the physical keyboards won’t function well when placed on uneven surfaces. Second, typing on the virtual keyboard layout will definitely take time on getting used to. Just like how we adjusted on typing from a typewriter to a computer keyboard.
Like any portable device, the run time or battery life of a projection keyboard is limited, so you’ll have to adjust accordingly or bring the necessary charging devices when you plan to work for a longer period.
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Last update on 2024-12-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
