Satechi Launches New Backlit Keyboards, iPad Stand

[nlited]

still haven't bothered trying to sync it with Win 10

Looks like the solution is right on their website in the Questions section:
"Due to the programming of our Bluetooth devices, they are considered as input devices and must be added through the Control Panel though, and NOT through the normal Bluetooth settings."

Also there they have info about battery life of X1 & X3:

01/08/21

A: Battery Life:

SLIM X3 BLUETOOTH BACKLIT KEYBOARD
ST-BTSX3M (battery:1300mAh)

Level 1 - 9mA - 144h
Level 2 - 16mA - 81h
Level 3 - 27mA - 48h
Level 4 - 40mA - 32h
Level 5 - 53mA - 24h
Level 6 - 67mA - 19h
Level 7 - 82mA - 15h
Level 8 - 97mA - 13h
Level 9 - 113mA - 11h
Level 10 - 129mA - 10h

Backlit turns off if low battery - standby time is 17 days when 15% battery capacity
Without backlight - Working time is 60h.

—————————

SLIM X1 BLUETOOTH BACKLIT KEYBOARD
ST-BTSX1M (battery:1000mAh)

Level 1 - 8mA - 125h
Level 2 - 14mA - 71h
Level 3 - 24mA - 41h
Level 4 - 35mA - 32h
Level 5 - 48mA - 24h
Level 6 - 671mA - 16h
Level 7 - 75mA - 15h
Level 8 - 90mA - 13h
Level 9 - 105mA - 9h
Level 10 - 117mA - 8h

Backlit turns off if low battery - standby time is 13 days when 15% battery capacity
Without backlight - Working time is 45h.

—————————

Backlit decreases to L1 if no usage for 1min..Turn off if no usage for 3mins.
Enter into sleep mode if no usage of 30mins

How can it be that the batteries last longer on level 1&2 backlight than without any backlight? Looks like a mistake

 

[Seanmitc]

Warning to Canadians ordering from the states.... I got burned for 30 dollar import fee well after I had ordered and it had shipped, on top of the 70 I paid for the smaller keyboard. It's still not on Amazon.ca but might be when you see this note.

I can second this... Almost to be expected with a lot of consumer electronics ordered directly from manufacturers, but still frustrating.

 

[Seanmitc]

Did anyone tried the X3 keyboard already? How is it?

Just received mine and all the features work as expected except I'm having a hard time switching the app switcher key to mission control, even after going into the keyboard settings and trying to change it manually.

Another issue is that the F1 and F2 keys don't seem to properly control the brightness on external monitors (I'm using a TB display) although it works for controlling my MBP17's brightness and doesn't want to switch to the TB monitor brightnesss control even when the MPB is in clamshell mode. I have been able to use F14 and F15 to control the monitor brightness, but it is still frustrating I can't seem to switch it to F1 and F2.

 

[zedsdead]

Just received mine and all the features work as expected except I'm having a hard time switching the app switcher key to mission control, even after going into the keyboard settings and trying to change it manually.

Another issue is that the F1 and F2 keys don't seem to properly control the brightness on external monitors (I'm using a TB display) although it works for controlling my MBP17's brightness and doesn't want to switch to the TB monitor brightnesss control even when the MPB is in clamshell mode. I have been able to use F14 and F15 to control the monitor brightness, but it is still frustrating I can't seem to switch it to F1 and F2.

Having the same problem with brightness. emailed support and they have been useless so far.

 

[nlited]

I'm using a TB display

Not sure about the TB Display which is Apple-native, but obviously third-party monitors can't be controlled neither via third-party keyboards, nor via MK, so that's not surprising. At least I've got to external monitors (Benq and Samsung) and can't control their brightness with MK.

 

[jimthing]

Not sure about the TB Display which is Apple-native, but obviously third-party monitors can't be controlled neither via third-party keyboards, nor via MK, so that's not surprising. At least I've got to external monitors (Benq and Samsung) and can't control their brightness with MK.

Precisely why I bought two LG 5K3K's as they were designed to work with Macs, so DO control brightness, volume, etc.

 

[Stephen.R]

Not sure about the TB Display which is Apple-native, but obviously third-party monitors can't be controlled neither via third-party keyboards, nor via MK, so that's not surprising. At least I've got to external monitors (Benq and Samsung) and can't control their brightness with MK.

monitor control may help: https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl/releases

 

[nlited]

monitor control may help: https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl/releases

Thank you! It works like a charm!

 

[jayducharme]

Satechi now has the wired versions available. I just ordered the backlit one. Very reasonable price, considering my current Matias was the same price and has been completely underwhelming, with the lettering on the keys already rubbing off and consistently sticky keys.

 

[shmob]

Ok I only just received my Slim X1 Bluetooth keyboard but so far I'm impressed! It's better than I expected. My main concern was how the keys feel when typing, and although they are a bit of a *softer* click than the Magic Keyboard, it still feels pretty good. Just different, and it won't be hard to get used to. The other thing was how the Bluetooth connectivity would be, especially when switching between my MacBook Pro and my iPad. So far, no issues! It takes like 1-2 seconds and it's really a great experience overall!

And yes, the keys are obviously not as good quality as the Magic Keyboard's keys. I do wonder why companies like Satechi don't make another version with high quality keys for an extra fee, people would buy it, especially since it already has all of these extra features over the Magic Keyboard. I think the keys would be more of an issue with people who have sweaty hands and fingers. My hands are always cold and slippery, so I don't think the keys will get so gross! It's a gift and a curse for sure!

Here are some photos but it will soon look great with my Space Gray trackpad that's on its way! I just love it since it's Space Gray but it's not a huge keyboard like the Space Gray Magic Keyboard is. So happy!

Update 1: So I used it for a few hours today while working. I don't love the fingerprints that show up pretty immediately. It's mostly similar to what happens on my MacBook Pro's keyboard, but it's definitely something somewhat noticeable. Only under light though. But it ain't great for taking pictures of it, haha. I'm a bit of a clean freak when it comes to my tech anyways, so I'll be wiping it down every so often anyways, like I already do for my MacBook's keyboard.

Update 2: Ok so after a few days, the Bluetooth functionality is not consistent. I was impressed in the beginning, as it was able to switch between my Mac and iPad quickly and even wake up my Mac and connect quickly. But now it randomly stops typing things in the middle. Not a great experience, and not worth $80 for something that is not reliable. Very upsetting, since I really like the keyboard otherwise. But basic connectivity should have been implemented properly. That is priority.

I guess I will have to live with the large Magic Keyboard, as it's the only way to have Space Gray.

 

[jayducharme]

Good to know. My wired model should be arriving any day now. Looking forward to it.

UPDATE: I'm using it. So far, I like it a lot. The backlight is a bit odd, either too bright or too dim. But that's the only quirk. So far the keys feel great and are very responsive. Everything's functioning like my old Apple keyboard, so I'm happy.

 

[SaguaroSeven]

I've had the X1 Slim bluetooth version since early feb. I experienced a lot of doubling of keystrokes. Not just characters but pasting with CMD+V sometimes results in double paste. Key entry got several times. Occasionally, the keyboard wouldn't respond at all, but it was BT-connected and no Mac "there's no keyboard" window. Resetting keyboard several times did no good. Satechi sent a replacement which is better but I still get chars duplicated sometimes. I suspect this results from the keys "bouncing" in response to the way I type. I'm harldly "pounding on the keyboard" though... I'm deciding now whether this will go back to Satechi.

Look and build quality are otherwise nice. Caps lock indicator and backlight are a little bright, but minor. Also odd: although the "space-gray" color is very nice, it doesn't match other Satechi products, like the BT numberpad! I have two Satechi 2.5 drive enclosures, and they don't quiet match either.

I really wanted to keep this. I had no trouble connecting it to my iPad Pro and switching back and forth. If only Apple's keyboard could connect to more than one device. Very frustrating.

 

[shmob]

I've had the X1 Slim bluetooth version since early feb. I experienced a lot of doubling of keystrokes. Not just characters but pasting with CMD+V sometimes results in double paste. Key entry got several times. Occasionally, the keyboard wouldn't respond at all, but it was BT-connected and no Mac "there's no keyboard" window. Resetting keyboard several times did no good. Satechi sent a replacement which is better but I still get chars duplicated sometimes. I suspect this results from the keys "bouncing" in response to the way I type. I'm harldly "pounding on the keyboard" though... I'm deciding now whether this will go back to Satechi.

Look and build quality are otherwise nice. Caps lock indicator and backlight are a little bright, but minor. Also odd: although the "space-gray" color is very nice, it doesn't match other Satechi products, like the BT numberpad! I have two Satechi 2.5 drive enclosures, and they don't quiet match either.

I really wanted to keep this. I had no trouble connecting it to my iPad Pro and switching back and forth. If only Apple's keyboard could connect to more than one device. Very frustrating.

I was wondering if I should have reached out to Satechi. I figured it wouldn’t have made a difference. Thanks for confirming my suspicions =]

Can’t beat the keyboard that is meant to go with macOS! I honestly didn’t use the Bluetooth device switching as much as I thought I would. For me all I need is the good typing experience. And now I’ll need to get used to the full size space gray keyboard. Somehow.

 

[Stephen.R]

although the "space-gray" color is very nice, it doesn't match other Satechi products, like the BT numberpad! I have two Satechi 2.5 drive enclosures, and they don't quiet match either.

I believe this is just par for the course with anodised aluminium.

Between a 2018 mini, a 2018 mbp15, Apple keyboard, and several third party “space grey” accessories, not a single one is the same colour when you compare them side by side.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I'm very tempted to purchase this as I need the full numerical keyboard for work and normal day to day tasks. Has anyone purchased the Slim X3 have any experience with Windows 10 workstation (not in boot camp or in Fusion/Parallels) please?

Thanks.

 

[czalex]

I'm very tempted to purchase this as I need the full numerical keyboard for work and normal day to day tasks. Has anyone purchased the Slim X3 have any experience with Windows 10 workstation (not in boot camp or in Fusion/Parallels) please?

Thanks.

I have experience with X3 and Dell Latitude notebook +Win 10 - no issues via Bluetooth. Alt codes are worked.
The keyboard layout should be remapped by external software ( alt <--> cmd ).

X3 pros:

• wired mode (useful with FileVault)
• aluminium

X3 cons:

• no software to remap keyboard layout
• bluetooth only

MX keys pros:

• bluetooth +wireless
• remap keyboard layout for Win and macOS

MX keys cons:

• no wired mode
• usb-c to usb-a cable (charging only)

 

[SaguaroSeven]

I believe this is just par for the course with anodised aluminium.

Between a 2018 mini, a 2018 mbp15, Apple keyboard, and several third party “space grey” accessories, not a single one is the same colour when you compare them side by side.

Thanks for pointing this out. I wish I could compare my now gone 2018 MacBook Air to M1 MBP, but the Mini sure doesn't match my current 2020 MBP. Huh. I guess space gray is more of an "idea" rather than an actual color.

My complaint is mainly that the Satachi external keypad is a blue-gray, not the more brown-gray of X1, external drive cases, and MacBooks. It's an odd outlier. Does it match the 2018 Mini closer? Maybe, but again not really. Maybe supposed to match the previous generation of their keyboards, but not other/current Satachi products....

 

[Stephen.R]

Thanks for pointing this out. I wish I could compare my now gone 2018 MacBook Air to M1 MBP, but the Mini sure doesn't match my current 2020 MBP. Huh. I guess space gray is more of an "idea" rather than an actual color.

My complaint is mainly that the Satachi external keypad is a blue-gray, not the more brown-gray of X1, external drive cases, and MacBooks. It's an odd outlier. Does it match the 2018 Mini closer? Maybe, but again not really. Maybe supposed to match the previous generation of their keyboards, but not other/current Satachi products....

Yep I think I know what you're talking about.

I have a "space grey" TB3 M.2 case from a Chinese brand (Orico) which is also a little "blue", when compared to e.g. the 2018 Mini, 2020 iPad Air, several AKiTIO items (Node Titan, Thunder3 Quad X), or a Vantec USB-C M.2 case, or even a aluminium laptop stand.

They're all slightly (or, in the case of the Vantec, greatly) varied shades of "space grey" (ie just lighter or darker) but don't have the blue-ness the Orico has.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Satechi released a new Mouse today.
I love it, just the price seems insane to me. 😆

Cybermouse

Cybermouse is built with bulletproof Super-Tough 2077 aluminum made for the toughest desktop warriors. Featuring solar and wireless charging, three ambient LED lights, and a rechargeable EV battery, the Cybermouse is your perfect work-from-home accessory.

satechi.net

 

[SaguaroSeven]

When I finally returned my X1 to Satechi a few weeks ago (they were very easy to work with), I noticed the X1 was out of stock. Also out of stock on Amazon (and ~3 stars in reviews), while other new models are still in stock. I asked about any coming updates to the X1 and their response was a little coy. Since X1 is still out of stock, I'm hopeful they're working on upgraded/fixed hardware.

Has anyone seen the duplicating keystrokes on the X3?

 

[Stephen.R]

Satechi released a new Mouse today.
I love it, just the price seems insane to me. 😆

Cybermouse

Cybermouse is built with bulletproof Super-Tough 2077 aluminum made for the toughest desktop warriors. Featuring solar and wireless charging, three ambient LED lights, and a rechargeable EV battery, the Cybermouse is your perfect work-from-home accessory.

satechi.net

View attachment 1752270

$20 says the intern sent a progressive JPG of the 3d render to the manufacturer in China/etc and they didn't wait for it to load. Or they did a render without smoothing turned on.

My hand hurts just looking at that mouse.

 

[blazerunner]

I've had a chance to try out the Satechi Slim X1... and the Huawei Ultrathin Keyboard;

Huawei; the finish and materials are on-par with Apple's keyboard, both have a great premium finish to them. The Huawei's space grey looks awesome. Their keys are raised more than the others so there's more travel downwards to them, however they feel more like the chiclet wired keyboards Apple used to sell (but still a little taller). Keystroke and activation of presses is essentially immediately, you need to apply some force to the keys, and as soon as you apply enough, the key snaps right to the bottom like any other apple keyboard. It works wired too. HOWEVER, The Huawei (at least mine) has a huge issue with the keys; many presses don't register and many stick and repeat; this ONLY happens when in wired mode with a Mac though! I've tested it wired in Windows it works just fine. However, when paired via bluetooth, the missed key presses as well as the duplicating key presses are fixed. This is happening on both a MacBook Pro 2021 16" as well as a Hackintosh, both running Mac OS 12.4 and 12.6.2. Im gonna update to Mac OS Ventura and see if that fixes anything. What's nice is has full sized cursor keys and the pg up/down row and the CTRL key in the bottom left corner instead of function (great for FPS gaming with the crouch button being there).

The Satechi is nearly perfect; the keys are similar to the old wired chiclet keyboard from Apple, but a LITTLE more mushy (can get used to this easily though). Theirs no pg up/down row, and the cursor keys are smaller. FN key is where the CTRL key should be. Satechi's only problem is that regardless of being wired, it WILL go into sleep mode if its not been used for 30 minutes and you'll need to switch between bluetooth and wired to get turn back on. Pretty stupid, really. The satechi also feels a little less premium than both Huawei and Apple, but not much. The bluetooth icons to switch between devices are kind of ugly as well.

All in all, It seems like Apple's keyboard is still the best choice (unfortunately). Though the Huawei may be king if Ventura fixes the double presses/missed pressed (will report in a bit once I update to Ventura).

 

[Amazing Iceman]

After 2 years, my X3 keeps working great In Bluetooth mode.
No repeated keystrokes.
And I use it almost every days for about 5-10 hours.
With Universal Control, I don’t need to switch between Bluetooth devices, unless my main MBP is off or sleeping and don’t need to use it.

 

[ajfahey]

I've had a chance to try out the Satechi Slim X1... and the Huawei Ultrathin Keyboard;

Huawei; the finish and materials are on-par with Apple's keyboard, both have a great premium finish to them. The Huawei's space grey looks awesome. Their keys are raised more than the others so there's more travel downwards to them, however they feel more like the chiclet wired keyboards Apple used to sell (but still a little taller). Keystroke and activation of presses is essentially immediately, you need to apply some force to the keys, and as soon as you apply enough, the key snaps right to the bottom like any other apple keyboard. It works wired too. HOWEVER, The Huawei (at least mine) has a huge issue with the keys; many presses don't register and many stick and repeat. Not sure how the others are but this makes it unusable and is getting returned immediately. What's nice is has full sized cursor keys and the pg up/down row and the CTRL key in the bottom left corner instead of function (great for FPS gaming with the crouch button being there).

The Satechi is nearly perfect; the keys are similar to the old wired chiclet keyboard from Apple, but a LITTLE more mushy (can get used to this easily though). Theirs no pg up/down row, and the cursor keys are smaller. FN key is where the CTRL key should be. Satechi's only problem is that regardless of being wired, it WILL go into sleep mode if its not been used for 30 minutes and you'll need to switch between bluetooth and wired to get turn back on. Pretty stupid, really. The satechi also feels a little less premium than both Huawei and Apple, but not much. The bluetooth icons to switch between devices are kind of ugly as well.

All in all, Apple's keyboard is still the best choice (unfortunately).

And still not available in a backlit model....

 

[blazerunner]

Comment edited.