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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: ideus on Thu, 24 September 2015, 16:39:50

Title: Experiences with Bluetooth equipped mechanical keyboards.
Post by: ideus on Thu, 24 September 2015, 16:39:50

Have you ever tried a mechanical keyboard with Bluetooth functionality? Maybe one with a similar module shown in the picture.

Title: Re: Experiences with Bluetooth equipped mechanical keyboards.
Post by: chiefgrillz on Sat, 26 September 2015, 06:40:13

i havent tried one but ive seen a few projects from people who tried it, e.g.:

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=19104.0

looks pretty cool but i dont know if the battery would last long

Title: Re: Experiences with Bluetooth equipped mechanical keyboards.
Post by: twiddle on Sat, 26 September 2015, 06:45:33

A BLE-based controller is something I'm currently working on.
Nordic Semi have a battery life calculator, which I used and posted some results from here:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=74841.msg1848314#msg1848314

According to their figures you can get quite respectable results from it. The main difference is that BLE is a burst transmission at fixed intervals rather than a constant-connection like oldschool BT was, and that leads to substantial savings in battery life.

Title: Re: Experiences with Bluetooth equipped mechanical keyboards.
Post by: KHAANNN on Sun, 27 September 2015, 03:44:08

I've read that the BL is usually glitchy

A user reported the BL being continually disconnected with Nerd on OSX

Better not complicate life with bluetooth

I'm also guessing the usage of BL requires a plastic case rather than a metal one

Title: Re: Experiences with Bluetooth equipped mechanical keyboards.
Post by: ideus on Sun, 27 September 2015, 10:21:32

The BLE sounds like a very interesting project; in one word, BT connection sucks for an input device, either a mouse or a board. I'd stick with my wired one any day; however, there are a few applications for which a BT board may be of some use, like tablets and phones.

Thank you very much for your feedback, and based on the number of answers, I'd say that it is a strong silent argument for what we think as a community of BT keyboards.