Zagg Slim Book for iPad Air 2 Review

There are a variety of productivity apps in Apple's App Store, including Pages and Google Docs, both of which are free. That means if you've got an iPad, you can get some basic work done without the need for a heavier laptop. Even Lenovo's insanely lightweight LaVie can't compete with the iPad Air 2's portability and weight. The $129.99 Zagg Slim Book for iPad Air 2 is the sleek version of the bulkier Zagg Rugged Folio, and as such, it unleashes your iPad Air 2's productivity capabilities. The keyboards are almost identical, and they both feature detachable sections that add versatility. These features easily earn the Zagg Slim Book for iPad Air 2 our Editors' Choice accolade. 

Design and Features
Measuring 9.6 by 7 by 0.60 inches (HWD), the Slim Book by Zagg is a svelte keyboard case for your iPad Air 2. It weighs 1.1 pounds—not unnoticeable, but not bad, and the majority of which comes from the keyboard section. The Slim Book has portability and sleek aesthetics in mind, rather than rugged protection, so it's smaller and lighter than the Rugged Folio we tested for the iPad Air, which has a steel plate in its keyboard section.

The keyboard section's interior is made of aluminum. The rounded, black square keys have a pleasing matte texture. The exterior is made of a matte black plastic, and has rubber bumpers to prevent the case from sliding while typing. The enclosure is made of a somewhat flimsy matte black plastic that offers light protection against scratches and minor impacts. Unfortunately, both sides of the case's exterior scratch easily, which can give your iPad/case combo a scruffy look after some time. That said, the Slim Book feels quite solid once your iPad Air 2 is in the case.

The hinge, attached to the keyboard section, swivels back up to 135 degrees, which doesn't compete with the ClamCase Pro for iPad Air 2's 360-degree hinge. However, the keyboard and case sections are magnetically attached, which means you can shed the keyboard section's weight when you don't need it, while the ClamCase Pro ($29.98 at Amazon)  forces you to carry around the keyboard's weight.

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The Slim Book also allows you to reverse the case section, which gives you better viewing angles for watching videos on your iPad. That gives you similar versatility to what the ClamCase Pro offers. However, whether you like the keyboard to remain attached or not is a matter of personal preference. One nifty feature: When you have the iPad and Slim Book set up like a laptop, the hinge has a groove in the middle that allows you to swipe up from the screen's bottom to bring up iOS 8's shortcut menu.

There's a micro USB port on the keyboard section's right edge used for charging with the included cable. Zagg claims the Slim Book should last up to two years on a single charge with an average one hour of use per day, and it takes only two to four hours to fully charge. How often you use the backlighting will affect overall battery life, but that's still a stellar length of time. There's a Power button on the top right of the keyboard, but the Slim Book does a good job of automatically entering a dormant state when not being used. It takes a couple seconds to wake itself up and reconnect to your iPad Air 2 when you start typing, and it registers your keystroke while doing so; it doesn't miss anything you type.

A pet peeve I have with certain cases is when the opening for the iPad's 3.5mm audio jack is too small for any connector thicker than the Apple EarPods. Thankfully, the Zagg Slim Book's earphone opening is wide enough to fit most slim headphone connectors, including the Bose QuietComfort 25. The opening for the Lightning port is also wide enough to accept some third-party Lightning cables, namely the Amazon Basics variant.

Performance and Conclusion
Pairing the Slim Case with your iPad is a cinch and a one-time process. All you need to do is press and hold the dedicated Bluetooth button on the left of the power button till the LED turns blue, and pair the case with your iPad through its Bluetooth settings. 

You can turn on the keys' backlighting by pressing the FN and right arrow key. You can't adjust the brightness, nor can you change the light's color like you can on the Rugged Folio. That's hardly a complaint, as the backlighting helped me see the keys in a dark room in my tests. The backlighting automatically dims itself after about 30 seconds to preserve the Slim Book's battery life. Pressing any key turns the backlighting back on.

The keyboard on the Zagg Slim Book is one of the best we've tested on a keyboard case so far. It has excellent, well-spaced, solid keys that are all in their rightful, familiar place, and they have springy feedback and satisfying travel. you'll find that the ClamCase Pro for iPad Air 2 has slightly deeper and more satisfying travel, if that matters to you. The top row consists of iPad-specific keys that include the Home button, lock/unlock, search, on-screen keyboard on/off, as well as multimedia controls, including volume.

I typed the entirety of this review using the Zagg Slim Book comfortably and with barely any hiccups. Only rarely did the Slim Book fail to register a keystroke, even while typing quickly. I only experienced key bounce once in my tests, where one press can register as multiple hits, which is a common fault in Bluetooth keyboards. My only complaint is that the Delete key is slightly too small for my taste, and holding it to erase a sentence sometimes stuttered, forcing me to press the key repeatedly to erase individual letters.

Apart from its hefty $129.99 price tag and an easily scratchable exterior, there's very little wrong with the Zagg Slim Book for iPad Air 2. You truly get what you pay for, which is a solid keyboard case with an excellent keyboard, long battery life, and admirable versatility. If you think you'll need more protection for your iPad Air 2, you may want to check out Zagg's Rugged Folio ($79.99 at Amazon) , which is basically a ruggedized version of the Slim Book. If you're not willing to shell out that kind of cash after spending $500 on an iPad Air 2, there are a variety of keyboard covers that offer keyboard functionality, but don't protect as much as cases, such as the inexpensive Anker TC930.