What can be added to the already-crowded landscape of iPad keyboard accessories that stands out? ZAGG may have found the answer: backlighting. The ProFolio+ is the first iPad keyboard I've seen with backlighting built in, and it's as useful as you'd expect for typing at night. The only problem is, it's expensive. The $129 price puts it at the high end of iPad keyboard accessories.
A long time ago, it was ZAGG that made the first keyboard cover accessory I'd ever seen. ZAGG has remained a strong presence in the iPad keyboard landscape, even with strong competition from Logitech, Belkin, and others. The backlit ProFolio+ case is the top-end product in ZAGG's keyboard accessory lineup.
ZAGG also sells a standalone backlit keyboard, the ProPlus, for the same price. The ProPlus is smaller and thinner, much like the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover, but lacks full protection.
The ProFolio+, on the other hand, has full-body padding: a soft, pebbled, leatherlike plastic covers the front and back, and the entire package doesn't add a lot to total thickness and weight. The iPad (generations 2, 3, or 4) snaps into the top half, which bends back to slot into a groove above the keyboard. The open case's wide, flat base feels sturdy on a table or in your lap.
Lap-typers, though, will come to wish the ProFolio+ was adjustable as to angle. It's hard get into a comfortable, non-neck-straining position for typing. Belkin's Ultimate Keyboard Case, my current favorite in the category, has three different angles, and the case auto-connects. That's a bigger deal than you might think if you crave easy-on connections for spontaneous typing.
