Best prices today: Mokibo Fusion keyboard

If you spend a lot of time on your phone or tablet, you may have considered the idea of ​​making it a fully mobile work machine, replacing a laptop. Maybe you already have! In either case, you probably want to strip your setup down to the bare-bones essential hardware possible to accomplish everything you need to do. And for that type of user, the Mokibo Fusion can present a pure, platonic ideal of pint-sized productivity.

Further reading: Best wireless keyboards 2024: Best Bluetooth and USB models

The Mokibo is, in short, a keyboard and touchpad in one. The surface of the Bluetooth keyboard’s keys is tactile, allowing you to swipe your finger over them to simulate a mouse movement like you’re probably used to on a laptop. It’s an intriguing idea, which, combined with the truly tiny dimensions of the mobile keyboard, gives it the potential to be a game-changer on mobile.

Michael Crider/Foundry

The potential, but unfortunately not the reality. Trying to use the Mokibo as intended, I found the experience at best iffy, at worst downright exasperating. The space and weight it certainly saves compared to a travel keyboard and mouse combo is simply not worth the hassle of dealing with the tricky implementation of this unique but flawed gadget.

Mokibo Fusion: as a keyboard

The Fusion feels like both a quality piece of kit and a bit of a throwback. I like its integrated cover which acts as a power button (turns on automatically when you open it) and a tablet or phone holder when unfolded. The materials are sturdy, even stunning, and come in a soft-touch white plastic on the review unit.

The layout is fairly standard compared to a laptop keyboard, although it is considerably constricted on the left and right, sized to fit a typical iPad (like my 4th generation Air) with space for the keyboard keys. 9.25 inches and 235 mm. Compare that to 10.75 inches or 275mm on my work laptop. It crushes a little, but especially never on the primary alphanumeric keys. The layout is similar to Apple’s official keyboard for its 11-inch iPads, or Keys to Go 2 from Logitechwith an overwritten function line.

Michael Crider/Foundry

The exception is the spacebar, or rather bars. They are divided into three sections, with a central button acting as the primary mouse click. You can right-click the Fn button, although there are other options which we’ll explore later. The left and right spacebars, the latter with the Mokibo logo, are well spaced to hit naturally with your thumb without accidentally pressing the center.

So how could something so new and advanced be a throwback? It’s all in the feel of the keys. The layout may look familiar, but the keys themselves are all only about a millimeter apart. This looks like a laptop keyboard from at least 15 years ago, before extra spacing (what was then called “chicklet” or “islands”) became the norm. The reason for this seemingly old-fashioned choice is obvious, or soon will be.

That being said, I can suddenly understand why all laptop and keyboard manufacturers switched to island keys around the same time, even brands like Lenovo’s ThinkPad who place such importance on typing. Switching back to this old-school layout, I found it difficult to type accurately, as apparently my fingers got used to a bit of extra padding. Combined with the cramped keys on the side, especially for things like an apostrophe (which I often miss for a semicolon or the Return key), it’s a pretty huge change.

Michael Crider/Foundry

It’s not insurmountable, but if you’re used to a full-size keyboard and/or frequently switch between this smaller layout and a normal layout, it can be very jarring. This cramped layout and tight key spacing isn’t helped by the fact that the keyboard just isn’t very comfortable to type on. It’s perfectly flat, with no rise or angle at all, and the keys are shallow and soft. Compared to the Logitech Keys to Go 2, which I adapted to fairly quickly, it’s a struggle.

The larger version of the Fusion for the 12.9-inch iPad could alleviate at least some of these problems. But as I type these words on the keyboard itself, I really look forward to using almost anything else.

Mokibo Fusion: as a touchpad

On a technical level, I can see how building a physical keyboard that doubles as a touchpad is an impressive achievement. But in reality, using it as such is a chore. I tested the Fusion on my Android phone, iPad, and Windows desktop. And for all three, I found it an almost painful experience.

The touch keys can function as a single giant touchpad, apparently using the center four rows and all keys except the extreme left and right keys. This makes a massive tracking area, larger than any laptop touchpad I’ve seen. It’s also tap-to-click capable, smart enough to distinguish between left and right clicks (no need to use that center spacebar button if you don’t want to), and can handle multi-touch gestures basic. Two fingers to scroll, three fingers to switch tasks, et cetera.

Michael Crider/Foundry

It’s pretty cool to run your fingers over seemingly normal keys and see a cursor move. But very quickly, we come up against a fairly serious flaw: we have to do it without pressing any of the very fine, very shallow keys. It’s doable with a little practice – again, it reminds me of an older laptop design transition, back when every brand incorporated trackpads that could be physically clicked on instead of leaning on on dedicated mouse buttons. But this is still something that requires adaptation on the part of the user.

As a trackpad, the Fusion just doesn’t feel very good. Despite the large physical area to move the cursor, it’s finicky and jumps at times… as you’d expect for a trackpad that’s physically divided into multiple areas. It’s usable, but it’s a much inferior experience to a dedicated trackpad.

And that’s before you factor in that it’s the same surface you’re supposed to be typing on at the same time. Extremely regularly when using Fusion, I activate the cursor while typing or, less frequently, type while using the cursor. A few moments ago, I managed to delete an entire paragraph without meaning to.

Michael Crider/Foundry

You can alleviate at least some of these issues by pressing Fn + Caps Lock, which disables the touchpad functionality. At this point, the Fusion is “just” a keyboard… small and uncomfortable. It’s a less frustrating way to type long strings of text, but it essentially defeats the purpose of this keyboard and touchpad combo device.

I wonder if the designers stopped to think, “If we need a dedicated function to disable the touchpad to make typing easier, should this keyboard really also be a touchpad?” »

Mokibo Fusion: Other defects

When closed, the Fusion is wonderfully light and compact, practically disappearing into a bag or even a (very large) pocket. It’s undeniably cool as a companion to my iPad or Galaxy Fold. Unfortunately, the secondary function of the case, as a tablet or phone holder, leaves a lot to be desired.

Its magnetic fold has only one stable position. And it seems very unnatural to me, much too vertical for a tablet screen. The lack of options pushed me to resort to my more reliable supports, a Moft foldable magnetic stand for the tablet and this Magsafe kickstand something for my phone.

Michael Crider/Foundry

But that meant placing the cover under the Fusion keyboard, making typing even less comfortable, or simply letting it hang under the tablet or phone, a cumbersome appendage when trying to type.

I appreciate that this is an extremely negative review, but the truth is that I can’t think of any situation in which I would actually prefer to use the Fusion. This only really makes sense for a phone or tablet, but it’s just a mediocre keyboard and a downright wonky touchpad. Trying to use it as both at once, without the help of this Fn+ Caps Lock tool, is just incredibly frustrating.

Michael Crider/Foundry

Since you would almost certainly use the Fusion with a device that already has a touchscreen, it’s more precise and less frustrating to just… touch the screen. Combined with a keyboard or travel case, you really won’t save weight or space with the Fusion, and many options for the iPad or even universal cases offer plenty of vertical space for the touchpad anyway .

After trying the Fusion for several weeks, I would opt for the Keys to Go 2 and a small mouse in almost any situation. Or frankly, do without the mouse and use the touch screen. The Fusion is an interesting idea, but I think it probably would have been better to leave it on the drawing board. In practice, combining a keyboard and a touchpad makes for a device that can’t really be both.