The 5 Best iPad Keyboard Cases of 2025

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By Roderick Scott and Nick Guy case for ipad air 5

Targus unveiled a new iPad keyboard case at CES 2025. We’ve added details about it in our What to look forward to section.

An iPad can handle many of the same tasks a laptop can, but for it to truly replace a computer, you need a great physical keyboard, too. We’ve tested several iPad keyboard cases for Apple’s 10th-generation iPad, and we’ve found that the Logitech Slim Folio is the one to get. The Slim Folio provides decent protection, is pleasant to type on, and feels like a typical laptop keyboard.

The Slim Folio is the best iPad keyboard case without a trackpad. It offers solid protection, a good keyboard to type on, a stand, and an Apple Pencil holder.

With comfortable, responsive, and backlit keys, as well as a removable inner case, two viewing angles, and the ability to pair with two devices, the Zagg Pro Keys is the keyboard case to beat for 2021 and earlier iPads.

The Combo Touch is a better, but more expensive, keyboard case for a 10th-gen iPad. You get a great backlit keyboard, a kickstand, and a place to store your 1st-gen Apple Pencil, plus more coverage, a trackpad, and the option to detach the case from the keyboard.

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The Slim Folio is the best iPad keyboard case without a trackpad. It offers solid protection, a good keyboard to type on, a stand, and an Apple Pencil holder.

The Logitech Slim Folio keyboard case provides a great typing experience and iPadOS shortcut keys along with a home button, and it offers protection for your iPad without blocking access to the iPad’s home button and port. Logitech equipped the Slim Folio with a built-in stand designed to provide two fixed viewing angles that won’t take up extra space on your desk or workstation. And last but not least, the case has a dedicated holder for an Apple Pencil.

In addition to providing a great typing experience, the Zagg Pro Keys offers some benefits that other keyboard cases don’t. Its keys are backlit, and they allow you to cycle through colors and brightness levels. The case itself is separable from the keyboard setup, so you can use just the protector when you don’t need to type. Thanks to the keyboard case’s two viewing angles, you don’t have to settle for a fixed position in every situation. And you can pair it with two devices, such as your iPad and your phone, toggling between them as needed. Dedicated iPadOS function keys provide quick access to commonly used features, and an Apple Pencil holder lets you easily carry the stylus around. Although the Pro Keys is wider and heavier than some competitors, that extra bulk isn’t severe, and it brings extra functionality.

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The addition of a trackpad, especially one that supports multi-finger gestures, is essential to give your iPad a more laptop-like feel. The Logitech Combo Touch matches the performance of Apple’s Magic Keyboard and adds more protection, an iPadOS shortcut row with new dictation and screenshot buttons, and a case that can detach from the keyboard—all without commanding an Apple-accessory price.

If you want to turn your iPad Pro into a laptop, you need a keyboard case. Our favorite is much cheaper than Apple’s option.

Staff writer Roderick Scott has been reviewing consumer tech devices and accessories since 2010 and has been using iPad cases from 2017’s 9.7-inch iPad all the way through the present models. For the latest update to this guide, Roderick tested several keyboard cases from multiple companies, narrowing the group down to the current picks discussed here. Nick Guy contributed previous-generation iPad keyboard-case picks to this guide.

If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t like typing on this iPad screen—I wish I had a real keyboard,” odds are, you’ll benefit from a keyboard case. You can dramatically increase your iPad productivity with real, tactile keys that let you type (almost) as quickly and with (almost) as few errors as you can on your computer.

A keyboard case combines the advantages of a physical keyboard with a protective case—instead of having to carry a separate keyboard, you have a keyboard built right into a case that’s similar to the one you’re likely already using (though a keyboard case can be a bit bulkier since it has to accommodate the keyboard). And because most keyboard cases are specifically designed to let you type on your lap, as you would with a laptop, a keyboard case is better for portable use than an iPad with a separate keyboard and stand.

But before you rush out and buy a keyboard case, consider the drawbacks and temper your expectations. Adding a keyboard case to your iPad is all about making compromises. You get the superior productivity and typing experience of a physical keyboard, but you also add noticeable bulk and weight. And many keyboard cases are designed to stay on your iPad, so you can’t easily leave the keyboard behind when you don’t need it—which eliminates one of the big advantages of using a tablet over a laptop.

An iPad keyboard case is worth getting if you need to use a physical keyboard regularly and you want one with you most of the time. Even then, you should at least consider a standalone Bluetooth keyboard instead. If you’ll be doing much of your typing on a desk, a table, or another flat surface, a separate keyboard is larger and gives you better keys. In addition, you can create a much more ergonomic setup by elevating the iPad and putting the keyboard in the ideal typing position; when you don’t need the keyboard, you can leave it behind to travel light. You can also keep using your favorite iPad case, and if you ever upgrade your iPad, you won’t have to buy a new keyboard case to fit it. (The biggest downside to a separate keyboard is that you can’t easily type on your lap.)

If you prefer separate options, we have recommendations for compact standalone keyboards and iPad stands.

We’ve covered iPad keyboards since not long after the first iPad came out in 2010, and since then we’ve tried pretty much every offering from every major brand, as well as dozens from brands you’ve likely never heard of. Here are the things an iPad keyboard case should offer:

Testing keyboards involves extended use because switching to a new keyboard requires a period of adjustment—we need to be sure that a keyboard that doesn’t feel good at first truly is a bad keyboard and not just different from what we’re used to. Of the models that met our criteria, we tested each for a minimum of two weeks of regular use, and we used each of the top contenders for much longer. We tested the keyboard cases both for longer sessions (which were important for getting a feel for how good the overall experience was) and for quick hits (to see how convenient a keyboard case was for “pull out your iPad, do something, and put it away” tasks). Sometimes a great overall design is ruined by a bad typing experience; sometimes a fantastic keyboard is hampered by a poorly designed case or stand.

The Slim Folio is the best iPad keyboard case without a trackpad. It offers solid protection, a good keyboard to type on, a stand, and an Apple Pencil holder.

After testing the currently small number of keyboard cases available for Apple’s newest 10.9-inch iPad, we found that the Logitech Slim Folio is the best non-trackpad keyboard case for most people. It gives you a great keyboard, two stand positions for typing and viewing, and a holder for your stylus.

Logitech’s case provides some protection for your iPad without making it thicker. The Slim Folio has thick TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane, a mix of plastic and rubber) along the edge where the volume buttons are housed, above the FaceTime camera lens. It offers thinner coverage along the sides housing the power and Touch ID button, the speakers, the mics, and the USB-C port. It has no coverage where your iPad magnetically connects to the stand. The Slim Folio case almost matches the thickness of the iPad itself. The Slim Folio itself weighs just shy of 1 pound; inserting the iPad adds another pound.

This case gives you two fixed viewing angles to choose from. In Type mode, the case sits at a 58-degree angle, and in View mode, it sits at a 10-degree angle. Since Logitech uses a built-in stand on this case, it doesn’t take up any additional space on the rear when you switch between the two viewing angles. The Slim Folio uses water-repellent plastic on the keyboard side; the stand is a thin TPU flap, while the case itself is made of solid TPU. The holder for your stylus is a rubber loop that sits above the iPad’s FaceTime camera.

The rounded keys are a dream to type on. The most important part of a keyboard case is the keyboard, and the Slim Folio nails it with excellent key spacing, responsiveness, and versatility. The keys have rounded corners and use a scissor-key mechanism, where two pieces close together like scissors when you press a key; it feels great, even if the keys don’t have a lot of travel.

At the top of the Slim Folio’s keyboard is a row designated for iPadOS shortcuts, similar to the layout on a MacBook. This row gives you a home button, brightness controls, an on-screen keyboard hotkey, search, media controls, volume controls, a lock button, Bluetooth controls, and keyboard battery check buttons. Together, these shortcuts make the typing experience on the Slim Folio similar to that of Apple’s MacBook keyboards and provide good tactile feedback for working on your iPad.

The Slim Folio doesn’t offer the same level of protection along all four corners of an iPad. The top area near the FaceTime camera consists of thicker TPU than the sides, but at the bottom, where your iPad connects to the stand, there’s zero protection. Of course, that area is covered when you’re using your iPad on the stand or when it’s closed. But when you have the Slim Folio at its lower, 10-degree angle for drawing, try not to eat or drink anything messy near your iPad.

The battery lasts for years, but it could last even longer if it had the iPad’s Smart Connector. Logitech claims the small, coin-style battery will last for up to three years, which is in the ballpark of what we’ve gotten from previous Logitech iPad keyboard cases. Since the Slim Folio doesn’t support the iPad’s Smart Connector, you have to connect it to your iPad via Bluetooth for initial setup.

The Zagg Pro Keys is the best iPad keyboard for people who type a lot on a 7th-, 8th-, or 9th-generation iPad. In a relatively small field of trustworthy competitors, the Pro Keys is one of the best keyboard cases to type on thanks to great keyboard hardware and a proper key layout. What sets it apart are the extra features on top of the great typing experience: backlit keys, a removable inner case, two viewing angles, and the ability to pair with two devices. It does everything that the next-best option for 2021 and earlier iPads, the Logitech Slim Folio, does just as well, and it does many things better—but it’s not available for 10th-gen iPads.

The keyboard layout is the same as what you get on a Mac laptop. The keyboard has all the keys you’d find on a laptop, and they’re all in the correct location, something that many other iPad keyboards get wrong. The entire keyboard is smaller compared with a laptop’s, but the difference is more noticeable on the miniature modifier keys than on the letters. Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, and Command, for example, are still wider than the letter keys, but not by as much as they are on a full-size keyboard. The Pro Keys doesn’t have an Esc key—we often miss having it. But that particular trade-off is very common, as few iPad keyboards include an Esc key. Even so, getting used to slightly smaller keys and their rounded-square shape is easier than having to relearn where a bunch of keys are every time you switch from your computer to your iPad. The Pro Keys also offers a nice array of iPadOS-specific special-function keys in a half-height row across the top. And each key is backlit, with seven available colors and four brightness levels.

The shallow keys offer an excellent typing experience. We enjoyed typing on the Pro Keys, and we found that the physical keys were large enough to be comfortable and easy to press; they provided good tactile feedback, too. Key travel was shallow compared with that of a high-quality laptop keyboard, though it was better than on an older 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Pro with the butterfly-style keyboard. And using the Pro Keys felt more like typing on a “real” keyboard than on an afterthought accessory. The whole thing is sturdier than its competition: Whereas other iPad keyboards we tested flexed under the pressure of our fingers pushing the keys, the Pro Keys did not.

Unlike the Slim Folio, this offers more iPad protection. Although other keyboard cases offer a great typing experience, none combine that with a removable design like the Pro Keys does. The segment that holds and protects the iPad magnetically attaches to the rear panel of the Pro Keys, and the keyboard is easy to pull off when you don’t need it. The case isn’t the slimmest or most attractive one around, but it does offer full button protection, the appropriate cutouts for the ports, speaker redirection, and a stylus holder on the right side. At 1.5 pounds, it is, however, noticeably heavier than Logitech’s Slim Folio. The Pro Keys is also not available for Apple’s latest, 10th-gen iPad.

The Pro Keys’s automatic connection is one of its best features. The initial Bluetooth pairing process is identical to that of any other wireless keyboard and takes seconds. But this Zagg keyboard uses a clever system to reconnect whenever you’re ready to type: The iPad’s left edge—the bottom edge, when you have it in typing orientation—magnetically connects to one of the two strips above the top row of keys (at 30-degree and 37-degree angles, respectively). When that happens, the keyboard wakes up and is ready for you to type after a moment. Other models may require you to press a button to wake up the keyboard, whereas this one is ready when you are. And when you lift the iPad off the base, the keyboard automatically disconnects.

The battery won’t last as long as the Slim Folio, but can charge via USB-C. This keyboard’s battery life is rated to last for a year, and you can easily recharge it via a USB-C connector. In contrast, Logitech’s Slim Folio offers a three-year battery, but that’s with a user-replaceable coin-cell battery. Either way, you don’t have to worry about charging often.

The smaller, cramped keys may not be ideal for everyone. As we noted, all iPad keyboard cases require you to make some compromises, and that holds true for the Zagg Pro Keys, as well. Its keys are smaller than standard keys, and they don’t feel as nice to type on as good laptop keys, so this keyboard isn’t as pleasant to use as the best standalone Bluetooth keyboards, especially for extended typing sessions. And though the Pro Keys has one of the best key layouts we’ve seen on an iPad keyboard case, the sizing is just a bit different from that of a regular keyboard, so you may end up making some errors. To be fair, this will happen with pretty much any iPad keyboard case due to universally cramped keys, and we’ve found ourselves making far fewer mistakes with this keyboard than with models that put commonly used keys in unfamiliar locations.

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If you're willing to spend a little more money to type on your 10th-generation iPad, you can get a trackpad, a detachable keyboard, and more protection with the Logitech Combo Touch keyboard case. Although Apple’s new Magic Keyboard Folio is excellent, you get more for less money with the Combo Touch.

It provides actual protection for your tablet against drops and dings. It provides good coverage along the bezel—save for the cutout for the power and Touch ID button—protecting the corners while providing clear access to the microphones, speakers, and USB-C port. The case draws power from the iPad's Smart Connector, so it doesn’t need a battery and doesn’t need to be charged.

ipad pro 129 You can store your stylus in the case. Logitech also includes a rubber loop above the FaceTime camera to for you to place a 1st-generation

The 5 Best iPad Keyboard Cases of 2025 | Reviews by Wirecutter