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Review : the Freedom Bluetooh Folding keyboard

This is not the only Bluetooth keyboard for PDAs and mobile phones on the market - particularly ThinkOutside Inc - one of the market leaders in portable keyboards also offers Bluetooh keyboard. However this Freedom Bluetooh Folding keyboard offers something, that the other keyboards don´t offer: it is full size Qwerty keyboard that has 5 rows of keys (and not just 4 rows like in case of Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard from ThinkOutside, Inc.). Having 5 rows means that one can type digits (for numbers) with just one stroke - without the use of function keys and simultaneous pressing of 2 keys at once.

Besides having 5 rows instead of 4 this keyboard is also cheaper, than most of the competion.

It is worth mentoning, that we have written this review almost entirely (over 95%) by touch typing (without even once looking at the keys) on the Freedom Bluetooth keyboard! As a device for testing we have used HTC Magician Pocket PC phone, that is known under various names like: i-mate JAM, T-Mobile MDA Compact, Orange M500, Vodafone VPA Compact, Qtek S100, etc. In other words, we have tested this keyboard by doing something for which this keyboard was conceived: writing longer texts (much longer than SMS text messages in mobile phones, that usually have up to 160 characters).

Interestingly this keyboard is not only available for purchase online, but one can buy it also at shops in airports. For example one can buy this keyboard in "Dixons Tax Free" shops, that are available in all airports in UK. It is very natural to buy this device there, where you usually would be using it - it means while traveling! "Yeah, right, but I don´t have computer with me, so how will I install drivers?" you might ask. Well, the answer is positive: if you buy this keyboard, while you are traveling and you don´t have PC with access to Internet at hand, then all you need to do is open in your mobile device this web address: http://www.frekey.com and you can download drivers Over The Air (OTA) - i.e. wirelessly. In this way you need no CD-ROM and no PC computer to install drives for the keyboard. Downloading drivers wirelessly (or generally from Internet) can be even worthwhile because then you are sure, that you get the latest version. At this moment however we encountered problem with wireless downloading (at least in case of Pocket PC): clearly MIME type for *.CAB extension is wrongly set at the server and IE in Pocket PC is not downloading the CAB files properly : it should be set at the server to "application/cab" but it is "text/plain". Therefore clearly not everything is perfect with this keyboard.

Another error or issue that we encountered with this keyboard is that after longer typing in Pocket Word the cursor keys were stopping to function. One needed to close Pocket Word and open it again to bring them back to operation. Another trick to bring the cursor keys back to functinal state is pressing combination of "Fn"+"cursor right" keys. In order to get rid of this problem we have installed a notepad applicaton (simple text editor for Pocket PC) but the same problem appeared in the noteopad. While problem with downloading is annoying because you cannot download the keyboard drivers wiressly from the website established especially for this purpose, the problem "cursor keys stop working after some time" is worse. If the driver download is not working wirelessly then you still can get the driver from the regular website or from CD-ROM. The problem with cursor keys however has no solution because "you must close the document and open it again" (or use the above mentioned trick) can´t be considered as such. Contrary to other websites, which have business relationships with the vendor of this keyboard, we are revealing here everything and that´s why you can trust msmobiles.com! If a solution for this cursor key problem will be found, then we will update this very page. So come later to check if ther is solution. Generally this problem didn´t occur so often and rather is not a critical error that should prevent you from buying this keyboard - after all this problem may not even occur in your particular device! (and was specific to our HTC Magician)

OK, so how this keyboard works and how it feels?

First let us underline one important thing: generally Bluetooth based keyboards are greately superior to portable keyboards that are attachable to devices through physical connector and are superior to infrared keyboads! For example if you need to receive or make a phone call in the middle of typing, then you don´t need to detach the keyboard from the device because with Bluetooth you can move the device freely within 10 meter cover range of Bluetooth technology.

Having the device and the keyboard in line of sight is also not necessary. This alone brings a lot of comfort to the usage and big freedom to put keyboard and device in any locations that suit you.

Another issue worth mentioning is that this keyboard does not support HID Bluetooth profile. In other words: it can´t be used with PC and Mac computers that support this profile if equipped with Bluetooth. HID denotes "Human Interface Device". In other words: one needs to install special drivers to get this keyboard working with your mobile devices, even if this device would already support HID profile.

Another very minor issue relevant only for people who are British is the layout: even when purchased in UK this keyboard has American layout , not British. While all letters are in the same place for both American and British layouts, some other characters are not. For example the particularly often used character "@" is located in other place in this keyboard (which has obviously American layou) and in other place in keyboards with UK layout (i.e. British). Once again this is not a critical error, or not even error at all - and British people who are touch typing can get used to this small change quickly.

Now let´s take a look at this keyboard from the point of view of physical operation. This keyboard is packaged in a plastic case:

... that however is not tightly closed, so in fact you can open it with bare hands - without the need for scissors or knife. On the other hand it is therefore easy to open this case and close it, so that nobody will know that it was open, therefore before buying check out that everything is in place!

Once you unpacked this keyboard you need to prepare it for usage. Firstly you need to open it (i.e. unfold it):

... and you need to put batterries inside:

After putthing the batteries you can start using the keyboard provided keyboard driver for this keyboard has been installed. You can do it in various ways:

connect your device to PC, activate ActiveSync (in case of Windows Mobile devices), run installation program that is included on the CD-ROM or on the website here.
do as above but instead of running installation program download CAB file from http://www.frekey.com, copy it to your device and launch it with help of the file explorer in the device.
inside of your device open web browser (in Windows Mobile devices it is usually Pocket IE - i.e. Pocket Internet Explorer) and navigate to http://www.frekey.com, where you can find drivers for this keyboard for wireless download. Unfortuantely in our case this way didn´t work out (see above remarks about MIME types).

Once you installed drivers in your device, just tap on "BTKeybd" icon in Programs folder and configuration program will appear:

However before you will tap on "Activate" check box that you can see above, you need first to switch Bluetooth on in your device and you need to pair this keyboard with your device. When pairing 2 issues are important to consider. Firstly one must use "0000" pass key to pair. Secondly one must also use serial port connetion (Bluetooth serial port profile) to get this keyboard working.

Once your keyboard is properly paired with your device you can start using it.

In configuratorin program you can also configure function keys - to quickly access various programs and keyboard short cuts. Function keys are accessible by pressing "Fn" key, holding it down, and pressing specific digit.

Interestingly by usage of "alt gr" key one can quickly access such characters as: "®©€£¿ñ¥«»µÇ" with keyboard. For example to get Euro character (i.e. "€") you need to press and hold down "alt gr" and then press "E" key. Here is closer look at all keys of this keyboard:

Now lets take a look how well this keyboard handles Windows Mobile specific keys. First of all there is a key with symbol of Home, that brings you to "Today Screen". Furthermore by pressing "Fn" (i.e. function key) and letters Z, X, C and V you have access to typical 4 buttons of Pocket PC devices. Unfortunately the keyboard driver is ignoring existing re-assignment and if you for example assigned some other program to "Calendar" key (one of 4 standard buttons of Pocket PC), then by pressing "Fn"+V will call calendar instead of the program that you re-assigned. On top of that this keyboard doesn´t have some other keys that one can sometimes find in Pocket PC devices: CALL button (button that initates phones call - with GREEN symbol), END button (button that ends existing phone call or rejects incoming phone call - with RED symbol), left and right soft-keys (also called "menu keys" - in this keyboard you can simulate them by pressing Ctrl+6 and Ctrl+7 but they are not available with just one press; in Windows Mobile 5.0 devices also to be found in Pocket PCs, not only in smartphones), RECORD button (that usually calls built-in Notes application) and CAMERA button (that usually calls camera application for photo taking and video recording). Lack of this buttons however is not critical because usually when you are typing, you are not using them.

It is also worth adding that this keyboard also has detachable stand where you can place your device to have good view of the display of your device.

Advantages:

cheap
has 5 rows of keys, including numeric keys - it saves typing time and increases comfort
small size - you can carry it in pocket
pouch for the keyboard:

... and 2 batteries are included
works reliably - if you type a letter, then you are sure that this letter will appear. Some infrared keyboards have problems with it yet. This keyboard has no such problems and is reliable, when typing.
drivers are available for many platforms, so in case you would be switching your device you can still keep using this keyboard with new device (or you can use this keyboard with a device of your friend - ability to download drivers wirelessly even facilitates it). This keyboard has drivers for such platforms as: RIM BlackBerry, Symbian Series 60, Symbian UIQ, Windows Mobile for Smartphone (yes! also MS Smartphone is supported), Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Palm OS.
good tactile feedback

Disadvantages:

annoying problem with cursor keys that stop working from time to time (and one needs to use tricks mentioned above to work around this problem)
wireless download of drivers to Pocket PC is not working with the standard Internet browser (i.e. with Pocket IE).
lack of support for HID Bluetooth profile - therefore this keyboard cannot work with PC and Mac computers that support this profile
lack of drivers for PC and Mac computers
the physical lock down mechanism is not very robust - it is OK for using this keyboard on a table, but it is too soft to make this keyboard usable also on your knees(hips) while you sit and have no table at hand.
lack of possibility to download user manual for this keyboard from Internet separately (it is on CD-ROM or inside of EXE installation program).
the detachable stand for your mobile device that is included with this keyboard has poor regulation of skewing angle.

Other pecularities (check meaning of it..):

the key with symbol of Home has also a task-switching symbol from Symbian on it
this keyboard is "Made in china"; spelling China with a small letter probably was not intentional. Here is a label that is to be found on the detachable keyboard stand:
pouch made from leather is included in the package with this keyboard.
interestingly drivers for RIM BlackBerry devices are not included on the attached CD-ROM - one must download them from the Internet but only upon providing unique key that is glued to the attached CD-ROM. The only reason to key-protect drivers for BlackBerry could be that they can work also with other keyboards, from differnt companies or brands...
in the model of this keyboard purchased in UK there are also some Spanish national characters to be found (accessible through combination of "alt gr´ and some letters). While many Brits like to live and spend time in Spain, it was rather American market that dictated it - the fact that layout of this keyboard is American, not British proves (see above comments about location of "@" key). On the other hand this keyboard doesn´t have any German characters on it.
there is one key with circle on it, that has no function in Windows Mobile; pity that it is not used for something in Windows Mobile

Conclusions: this keyboard works very reliably and we can recommend it to anybody. Since this keyboard supports all mobile platforms it is also very future proof - just in case you would decide to buy in future different phone or PDA. While keys of this keyboard are slightly smaller than in regular size keyboard, they are roughly the same as in a good notebook computer and make it possible to use touch typing - typing texts without looking at the keyboard (also known as "blind typing"). If you are one of those peole, who think that thumb keyboards are equally effective, then we must say: ti depends: if you are touch typing then full size keyboards are much faster and more comfortable to use than thumb keyboards (you get less tired when typing the same amount of text). If you however are slow typer and/or you need to look at the keyboard to type, then thumb keyboard may be as effective as this keyboard. All in all this Freedom Bluetooth Folding Keyboard is a good and cheapish accessory that may make taking a notebook with you everywhere unnecessary.