CONCLUSION

   The S.T.R.I.K.E.M mobile keyboard reminded me of what i used to look for in the market a couple of years ago when i got my very first tablet (in the end i just gave up cause i couldn't find what i wanted). It may not feature superior build quality (obviously with a weight of 190g this didn't come as a surprise to us) like some full sized keyboards (or some larger keyboards in general) but that's pretty much its sole drawback. Of course some could also argue that its small size is also a drawback but although i can see how people with large hands may have a problem using it (i have big hands and i couldn't use the optical finger touch sensor very well) in the end the reason behind its release was to provide people with a compact keyboard which they could take around with their tablet or smartphone so i see no way that it could be any larger (although i guess a foldable design could make that possible). We would like to see Mad Catz use mechanical switches with the S.T.R.I.K.E.M but that was never a possibility not only because of size limitations but also because mechanical switches are quite more noise compared to membrane ones (even more compared to the P.U.L.S.E ones used here). Moving to battery life well the good thing with the backlighting is that you don't always need it so with a balanced use we managed to hit slightly over 22 hours without the need for another recharge. Of course this is far from the "up to 30 hours" average noted at the rear of the box but even 22 hours with a single charge is somewhat impressive.

   Compared to when launched the S.T.R.I.K.E.M mobile keyboard is quite cheaper right now so one can find it for USD76.94 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 87Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). It still isn't the price tag most of you would like to see especially when there are quite a few full sized wireless keyboards that cost half as much but in the end you're paying extra for a very good compact (and very light) keyboard which you can carry around with you and not worry about its weight and/or battery life. And that's not all you pay for since it also has the optical finger touch sensor which can be used as a mouse, can be paired with up to 4 devices (although not simultaneously), features media control buttons and a very good backlighting and finally you can almost use it for a full day without the need for a recharge. Certainly it's not perfect and we do hope that Mad Catz further improves it in the near future but it's very good and for that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Design
- Weight / Size
- P.U.L.S.E Switches
- Backlighting (4-Levels)
- Media Buttons
- Optical Finger Navigation Sensor
- Battery Life
- Can Pair & Switch With 4 Different Devices
- Available In 3 Colors (Black, White, Red)

CONS

- Build Quality Could Be Better
- Price (For Some)