Microsoft Surface Flex keyboard + Slim Pen: Comparison, real-world feedback, and issues

Hello, YouTube. Today's video is going to be about  the Microsoft Surface Flex keyboard. I haven't seen a lot of videos about  the differences between the standard   Flex keyboard and its bold keyset  variant, so we'll start with that. We'll then move on to the issues that  I encountered with the keyboard and   slim pen combo and my workarounds for them. Let's get stuck in. Starting off of the left side here,  you can see that the standard keyboard   presents the letters in a very restrained manner. As expected, the letters are a lot more  legible on the bold keyset variant. While they don't look weird at all,  there's something about the use of extra   large text on the Tab, Caps Lock, Control, and  Function keys that's just a little off for me. the biggest difference that Microsoft  doesn't really talk about in their site,   however, is the use of icons on special  keys such as the left shift button here. Moving to the top row, you can  see that the numbers and their   respective alternate symbols are arranged  vertically on the standard Flex keyboard. This contrasts with the bold keyset variant,  where numbers and their alternatives are lined   up diagonally. I find that this diminishes the  clean look offered by the standard Flex keyboard. You'll also see the same thing  going on with the top row functions. Function icons on both keyboards are  the same, but the bold keyset version   of the Flex keyboard uses icons for  the Page Up and Page Down buttons,   while the standard Flex keyboard uses  traditional 4-letter labels instead. On the right side brackets and slashes,   you see the same vertical versus diagonal  contrast between the two keyboards. I find that the diagonal arrangement  gives off a very cluttered vibe. Ironically, I think that legibility could  have been improved on this diagonal and   bold arrangement if Microsoft decreased  the size of the symbols by a tick or two. You also see icons used on the Enter and Right  Shift button instead of conventional text. While both keyboards perform pretty much the same,  with the bold typeface version giving an ever so   slightly crisper feel on the keys, the type size  difference yields a better backlight experience. The keyboard backlight passes through the print,   and the thinner apertures on the standard  keyboard's keys let a below average amount   of light through. Depending on light  levels, you might have to turn the   keyboard backlight brightness all the  way up just to keep the keyboard legible. The larger apertures on the bold  typeface keyboard, on the other hand,   keep things legible even at low brightness levels. You can certainly turn the backlight  all the way up, but the practical   benefit of this is not having to increase  brightness levels to keep the same level   of legibility since you're not wasting power  shining the light on each key's solid undersides. Moving on to the functional side of  things, you've probably seen from other   video reviews that the Flex keyboards  have wireless typing capabilities. When detached, you can fold the front edge under  itself for a more ergonomic typing experience. It's wide enough and stays rigid,   so you can type away without having to worry  about missed presses from surface flexing. It also provides a little grip,   so the keyboard doesn't slide around  when you use it on a smooth surface. Once you're done using the  Flex keyboard wirelessly,   just hover the Surface on top of  it, and everything snaps together. The lower edge of the screen  also serves as a magnetic mount,   so you can prop the front of the  keyboard up like this for ergonomics. Now, the cool thing about all of this is  that even with the Flex keyboard attached,   the Surface Pro won't run its own battery  down trying to charge the keyboard. You can see here that the battery levels  between the two stay roughly in sync. This makes total sense since having  a fully charged keyboard is no good   when you're main tablet laptop is out of juice. Same story goes when you plug the Surface Pro  in to charge it. The system tries to keep charge   levels between the Surface Pro and the Flex  keyboard roughly the same when plugged in. Very smart. It's not all perfect when you pair it  up with Microsoft's Slim Pen though. You can see here that the  pen wakes up and connects   even when it's docked on the Flex keyboard. The same thing happens even when you very  slowly tilt the keyboard upwards like I do here. Depending on the apps you use, this  makes for a very intrusive experience. In Microsoft Excel, for example, the interface  would keep on switching to the draw tab,   which made it hard for me to actually  concentrate on work that needs to get done. Now, the Microsoft Slim Pen is certainly  handy when it comes to certain things. There's a quick shortcut button on the  butt end of it that you can assign press,   double press, and hold functions to, And that end conveniently  serves as an eraser as well. Unfortunately, the constant and unnecessary waking   and reconnections wasn't cutting it for  me and my Surface Pro's battery life. So I chose to go with this Renaisser  Slim Pen clone I found online instead. Unlike Microsoft's Slim Pen, this  stays asleep even when you move it   around and doesn't turn on until  you press this button right here. It writes the same as Microsoft's  product and is tilt-compatible,   too. I'll leave the link for  it in the description below. In case you want to erase things, it  has this dedicated button right here. Not as fancy as flipping the Microsoft pen around  and erasing things like you're holding a pencil,   but I'll gladly take the savings  and better battery life instead, which nets me about $70 in savings once I  return the standard Flex keyboard and pen combo. There's also a right click button here,   so you don't have to long tap on  things to call that function up. What you miss out on with this pen is the  wireless charging. It uses USB-C instead. It nevertheless stows away nicely  in the Flex keyboard's pen slot,   automatically turning off after being idle for  10 minutes, regardless of detected movement. This next one's more of a personal thing. Coming from the Thinkpad world,   I'm used to the Page Up and Page Down  buttons being near the arrow keys, and the Home and End keys being  close to the upper right corner. The up and down keys on the Flex  keyboard are spaced tightly,   and I kept on hitting the wrong key as a result. The Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down  keys are all lined up next to each other,   which made locating them without looking  at the keyboard difficult for me. I had no off-the-shelf way to  get the standard Thinkpad layout   on the Flex keyboard, so I got  these textured stickers instead, carefully cutting them up to serve as locators  on the keys that I was having trouble with. Not bad for a cheap fix. And there you have it: my quick Flex keyboard   comparison and real life usage  experience - for now, anyway. If you found this video useful, do hit that like  button below and consider subscribing as well. Maybe I'll find a way to make a  frankenstein wireless Thinkpad   keyboard for the Microsoft Surface down  the road. That should be a fun project. Thank you for watching; I'll see you next time.