ZAGG Rugged Book Durable Case with Detachable Backlit Keyboard for iPad Air 2 - Black | Protective Hinged Cover for Work, Travel & Outdoor Use

I like taking my iPad on the go, and using it as a laptop substitute. While they are appealing with slim cases and keyboards, those don’t offer real protection on the go and the keyboards are usually mushy and not very durable. I’ve used these Ruggeds for a few years now and I’ve never had damage to an iPad when using a Rugged Book. Many drops, etc. - and the freedom to not have to constantly mind it so carefully. With the keyboard detached, the upper half of the case offers excellent protection, too. The keyboard is tactile and very functional. The magnetic attachment is well designed and the articulating coupling is robust and stands up to use. I’m not saying you can’t break one of these, but they do a very good job and hold up well. Zagg does a great job with design, and I have found their CS to be very good, too, post-sale.TLDR; you're spending big money on this so consider my complaints before buying. and heed advice to help your investment last. Certain aspects of this product do not live up to the price point.The GOOD: First, this is the best case/keyboard combo. I've tried many. In 2 years I've dropped my ipad in this case countless times while managing a restaurant, traveling, and using it constantly at home as well (WITH screen protector! Be smart and always use a screen protector no matter what), and I do mean constantly, I use my ipad for everything, as a phone, for graphic design, business, I mean I use my ipad most of my day, and this case has MOSTLY stood the test of time. The keyboard will hold a charge for a couple of nights if you are using it for a few hours with the backlight on, and without the backlight it lasts much longer. IF you don't use the actual keyboard much, it will last months and months no problem. I didn't charge it for like 6 months, but didn't use the keyboard very often, and it lit right up the second I went to use it one night, after all of that time, and lasted a few of hours too!The magnetic/detachable design is the absolute best. Very strong magnets, extremely convenient. The magnet design (not the hinge) is the strongest aspect of this product.THE BAD: The keyboard had keys pop off after like the second time i dropped it, and I was dropping it from a low hight, sitting in a low chair. They pop back in... BUT, the keyboard parts underneath the plastic deform easily inside of the case. The keyboard section alone is heavy, so it does fall hard (which this product is marketed as being able to withstand within reason), and the outside is fine, but the inside hardware of the keyboard is not secured in an effective way. It's hard to take a picture of, but if you look s closely in the picture you can see an example: the space bar is slightly deformed, raised up a millimeter or two at the back of it, now while it doesn't look terrible, the spacebar is actually very compromised underneath, something jolted out of place beneath it, so you have to mash it to register the keystroke. Without an effective spacebar, the most used key, typing is pretty dang difficult. For reference: the space bar thing happened very early on when it fell from my lap in a low chair, I mean it literally fell like less than 18 inches. The outside rubber it very durable, but the interior impact design for the keys/keyboard was not well-considered, and I expected that from what I paid for this case. (as you dear reader may know by now, this case is very expensive). Another problem with the heavy keyboard section is it makes the ipad fall harder when they are dropped while connected. Luckily the ipad unit is does its job! ALTHOUGH ONLY WITH A SCREEN PROTECTOR. This case will NOT guard your screen. I have gone through 4 or 5 screen protectors. YOUR SCREEN WILL BREAK INSIDE OF THIS CASE WITHOUT A SCREEN PROTECTOR. Protect your investment and always use a screen protector in unison with this product. That's honestly just sound advice for any electronic device.Now, the worst problem for me was the magnetic hinge breaking. It did NOT break right away, and even though I didn't use the keyboard much, I did use it to hold up the ipad ALL of the time. It lasted for about a year until it began to crack at the edges at the stress point, then soon after the entire thing cracked in one big line. Not from dropping it mind you (I'm genuinely a very careful owner), but rather just from opening and closing it with the ipad. The gunk in the photo is from me attempting to gorilla glue it, but no apoxy I've used has been strong enough to repair it, so now I can't type with it open at an angle or anything like that, because it just falls out. Very annoying, because the display mode is a feature I use literally all of the time.One last small gripe, I wish this was available in white. Black is real slick and cool looking, but dust and stuff shows up SO easily on this case. It is easy to clean, but I just wish it was white so you couldn't see every speck of everything.In the end, if those small details were addressed, I'd spend twice the money I did for this, again and again. Keep that in mind, ZAGG! Step up your game, you're the Ferrari of ipad cases, don't skimp on the longevity features of an otherwise perfect product.PURCHASE DATE: 03MAR19PRICE PAID: $98.00REVIEW DATE: 28APR20UPDATE: 25MAY22UPDATE: It has a few scruffs and scratches but still intact and the battery life is great. No issues thus far.I am a first time ZAGG customer. I have owned and used this product for over a year now with my 9.7" Apple IPad in combination with a tempered glass screen protector. I was skeptical at first especially for the higher price but I needed something reliable for business and personal use. I have accidentally dropped it a few times but still have yet to have any damage to the case, keyboard, nor tablet (see attached pictures). Below are a few points I would like to touch on:BATTERY - Battery life is AWESOME! I use the keyboard every time I use my tablet and sometimes forget to shut it off. Still, I rarely have to charge it and when I do it charges fairly quickly. I believe I went two months before having to charge it once.BUTTONS - The tablet case is protective in nature so the tablet buttons are covered well but take a little pressing down/pressure to activate power and volume.BLUETOOTH - I recommend you keep your tablet Bluetooth Active/ON - always. Doing this allows me to turn on the tablet, after a minute or less I press the power button on the keyboard, and touch a few random keys and it connects. There has been a few times were I have had to press the Bluetooth button and wait a few seconds but for the most part it works 9 out of 10 times.KEYBOARD KEYS - The keyboard typing takes a little getting used to if you normally use a desktop/laptop. The size being smaller and the space bar being shorter took me a week or two to get used to. If you are planning to use this on public transportation/vehicles use caution. If you do not place the tablet back correctly where the rubber/magnets make contact like they should your tablet can fall.PORTS - The case cut-outs for the charging port, headphone jack, mic, etc. all are cut out nicely which allow easy access to them. No obstructions to plug in the charger and headphone jack if needed.TEMPERED GLASS - Adding a tempered glass screen protector is not required but is doable with patience. With the few accidental drops my IPad encountered the glass has not cracked.I recommend this product. For the few drops that I have had where my teeth cringed and my heart dropped to my feet it has held up as promised. I will buy ZAGG again.PLEASE NOTE: I do these reviews to help people out. This review is my honest opinion after doing much research and purchasing this product for use. Prior to purchasing any product I conduct thorough research, test the item, and photograph it prior to posting my opinion/review. "Was this review helpful to you?" if it was please select the "HELPFUL" button below. If you would like to leave a Comment and/or ask a Question please do so and I will respond as soon as I can. Thank you! :)I work in film and I chose the Rugged Book for work due to my varied locations, temperatures, and air quality. I use it for approximately 12 hours a day/5 days a week and I couldn’t be happier. The one and only thing I could say it bad about it is that the durable rubber does make it heavier, but we’re talking what, a pound and a half? Who cares? I don’t have to concern myself if it’s raining, or dropped from a few feet. The charge on the keyboard is amazing. It just occurred to me that I charged it at the beginning of my current project and now, 4 months later I’m at the end and it’s still going strong without having been plugged in.Well going to start off with the pro's- My iPad Pro seems to be well protected- Easy installation and pairing- Long battery lifeCon's- Battery saving feature is kind of annoying. Takes sometime to reconnect. Sometimes, I have to press the power button briefly to wake it and sometimes I can just start typing and it'll wake. But when it doesn't, I've typed out a full sentence for nothing.- The hinge is REALLY tight. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to break it when I open it.- With the keyboard, it's really heavy!I Really like this product. I've been using it for few months. It's held up well, performed admirably.Things I really like:1. The Keyboard works well.2. It did not take me long to become proficient at typing with it. ( a few days)3. The cases are soundly connected however they are still seperable.4. When separated the case for the iPad/screen doesn't add a great deal of bulk but still provides a reasonable amount of protection. (I've dropped it a few times with no damage)5. I use the magnets meant to hold the screen and keyboard together as a way of hanging the iPad around my house hands free. I really like this feature, however, I do this at my own risk as you would if you were to do the same.6. When I'm out I like to use the keyboard and screen separated from each other purely for comfort.Things to be aware of but are not detrimental for me.1. It does occasionally (once or twice a week) have some kind of hiccup were it's still connected and the home button works but the rest of the keys don't respond.I like this product and I'm really glad I got it. It has really increased the versatility of my iPad and made it my main device for most of my work and leisure.2. Some may find it bulky, however I take comfort in its bulk.Me sorprendí al verla, usaba la funda original de apple con el teclado original pero solo se puede usar en una superficie plana, así que opte por ver algo del teclado rígido y encontré este accesorio. Me encanta la marca Zagg por su calidad y esta no la hace mal, funciona perfecto y la luz es el plus perfecto que le falta a una persona que suele trabajar en lugares con baja iluminación. El diseño se ve bien y la textura... esa si es un poco mediocre pero cumple con la función.This is my second one and the hinge wore out on the first one after about 15 months. The replacement has to be charged every week which should last 2 years according to Zagg (but does not on this unit). Secondly when you close the unit it should shut the iPad off but this does not occur unlike the original one I had. Seems to me that quality has gone down for this company unfortunately. The protection however is great that it provides.