Microsoft WS2-00003 Surface Bluetooth Keyboard – Grey (UK
Microsoft WS2-00003 Surface Bluetooth Keyboard – Grey (UK Layout)
 |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth Low Energy Compatible | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Operating System/Compatibility | Windows 10 / 8. 1 / 8, and Windows RT 8.1 and RT 8. Microsoft Windows 10 phone. Android 4.4.2-5.0. Macintosh Mac OS X v10.10.5 / 10.11.1, and 10.11.4. Device must support Bluetooth 4.0 or higher. | Microsoft Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8. Microsoft Windows 10 phone. Mac OS10.10.5/10.11.1/10.11.4. Android 4.4.2-5.0. Device must support Bluetooth 4.0 or higher. | Microsoft Windows 10. Works with Bluetooth Smart Ready Device with Human Interface. Device (HID) support. | Windows 10 / 8. 1 / 8. Device must support Bluetooth 4.0 or higher. |
| System Requirements | Requires a PC that meets the requirements for and has instaled one of these operating systems: For a Windows- based PC: Windows 10 / 8.1 / RT 8.1 and RT 8 For other operating systems: Macintosh Mac OS X v10.10.5/10.11.1/ 10.11.4 Android 4.4.2-5.00 | Requires a PC that meets the requirements for and has instaled one of these operating systems: For a Windows- based PC: Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 For other operating systems: Mac OS 10.10.5/10.11.1 iOS8.1-9.2.1 Android 4.4.2-5.0 | Requires a PC that meets the requirements for and has instaled below operating system: Windows 10 | Requires Mouse and Keyboard Center software instaled on a PC that meets the requirements and has one of these operating systems: Microsoft Windows 10 / 8.1. 150 MB of available hard disk space needed. You must accept License Terms for software download at microsoft.com/accessories/downloads. Broadband required. Added charges may apply. |
| Wireless Range | 50 feet (15 metres) in open air, up to 23 feet (7 metres) in typical office environment | 50 feet (15 metres) in open air, up to 23 feet (7 metres) in typical office environment | Up to 32 feet (10 metres) | 33 feet (10 metres) in open air, up to 16 feet (5 metres) in office environment typical |
| Battery Type and Quantity | 2 AAA alkaline batteries (included) | 2 AA alkaline batteries (included) | 2 AAA preinstaled batteries | 2 AAA alkaline batteries (included |
| Battery Life | Up to 9 months | Up to 12 months | Up to 12 months | Up to 9 months |
| Weight: | 418 g |
| Dimensions: | 42.09 x 11.26 x 1.93 cm; 419.01 Grams |
| Brand: | Microsoft |
| Model: | WS2-00003 |
| Colour: | Grey |
| Batteries Included: | Yes |
| Manufacture: | Microsoft |
| Dimensions: | 42.09 x 11.26 x 1.93 cm; 419.01 Grams |
I had a logitech k780 keyboard, as I like typing on laptop style keyboards.
That was very good, but no lights on the keyboard and no function key lock meant it had to go.
I found this microsoft keyboard and its sublime in my view.
Connected easily to my work laptop, it has lights for caps lock, fn lock and num lock so I was made up!
Its well made, nice to touch and looks really good on my desk.
It has home and end keys, ideal for command line edits.
I am typing this on an alienware laptop, I have used various keyboards, from cheap to expensive and the Microsoft keys are slightly noisy/clicky but have a really nice spring to them. To say I like the keyboard is an understatement!
Really nice not to have cables for mouse & keyboard cluttering the desk. Comfortable to use, very light & responsive keys.
I like this keyboard. The only thing preventing me from giving 5 stars is the annoying padlock key placed above the backspace key, which locks your workstation. This should have been placed somewhere else on the keyboard where it would never get pressed accidentally.
Love, love, love this keyboard! Super fast typing, sleek, slim, light. Full keyboard with numeric pad, extra shortcut keys and a Lock Screen button is great.
Super fast and responsive. No idea about battery life – not had to replace yet
Buy it, you won’t regret it (unless you’re looking for a big, clanky mechanical board!)
Love it love it love it! Sleek, classy look. Great touch to my new office! Keys type smoothly. In love with the calculator button! No adjustable height, but other than that its perfect!
The keyboard worked fine for a while but then it’s bluetooth stopped working after a few months. They replaced my keyboard free of charge and it is working perfectly fine.
I purchased this keyboard after considerable deliberation.
The keys are fantastic, great typing experience – which in my opinion is the most important thing for a such a keyboard. Pairing with a Surface Laptop was no problem , took just a few seconds.
The build quality is superb. Duracell batteries included, magnetic battery compartment cover.
I have read some reviews where people were claiming that there are no caps lock/scroll lock / num lock indicator lights on the keyboard. This is certainly not the case. All of these keys have lights to indicate they are active.
Honestly, I cant find any fault in this product. It is not the cheapest keyboard in the market, but worth every penny.
I’m delighted with this keyboard. The key action is positive, that battery life is simply excellent. And it looks and feels like a quality item. The keyboard itself is extremely rigid despite it’s slim design. My only issue is the lack of a button to switch it fully off. I carry it in a soft case in my backpack and if you forget it’s there (in a meeting etc.) – there’s a chance an accidental key-press will activate the keyboard and send spurious output to the laptop. I guess that’s a first-world problem.
Had it 2 months, battery seems good. Could do with being a bit more angled to save having to angle it myself, and is not backlit. It is however an excellent keyboard.
Excellent keyboard and the layout is good. The keys are very tactile and I have not mistyped unintentionally. Feels very slow. Make sure rhe keyboard is on a flat surface as there are no support legs in the back and the battery section acts as support and lift.
Great keyboard, feels so much nicer to type on. I don’t mind the keyboard on my Surface laptop while travelling, but this is perfect when at the desk. It’s pretty expensive, but it has a very premium feel to it. I’ve been using it for about 6-7 months and have had no issues, battery life seems great. I feel so much more productive coding on this.
It’s worth noting that it does go into sleep mode if you don’t press a key for a while, and there’s a slight delay after pressing a key to wake it back up. You probably won’t be bothered by it unless you’re expecting lightning fast responses for gaming. But for the extra battery life, it’s a welcome behaviour.
Tactile and pretty much the same layout as the Mac wireless keyboard. Connects quickly to Bluetooth. Battery life is dependent on how much you’re using it. Best paired with the Surface mouse if you have a surface pro tablet. My only one important gripe is that the coating on the keys does not last long at all – check my photo. Logitech for Black Friday
I have been using it for a few months now and I love it, the keys have a good weight and are comfortable. The Bluetooth connections work well, with only a few misconnections ever once a while. Battery life looks great so fa
Best a keyboard I have ever used! Used it for a few weeks now and is so comfortable. Wasn’t sure if wrists would hurt due to keyboard being so low, but no issues so far. Great key action and getting far less typos since using. Everyother keyboard feels rubbish now.
I love this keyboard, I’ve taken quite a long time to find one that I like as much as the apple one and I actually prefer this one. Sometimes yes it takes a few prods to get it to wake up but I don’t mind waiting three seconds for the comfort it provides whilst typing and the space it takes up. It’s really well made and I love the keys that can be set for various windows tasks. Loved it so much I got the matching mouse!
As a one finger typist I am finding this keyboard excellent. The position and travel of the keys is ideal for me. One slight criticism there is no light to indicate the Capital Lock has been applied but of course this is soon found when the second latter is typed and does not provide much of an annoyance. Time will tell how it stands up to long term use but the brand gives confidence as to its durability.
Great keyboard, well made with excellent battery life however it will only work with a Windows 10 machine. A on/off switch would also be great as if I’m not using it for extended periods of time, I like to turn it off but otherwise despite this, the battery life seems really good.
This is a great product, it has less key travel than my current laptop but the typing experience is enjoyable and connecting it to my laptop was super easy. The only downside is that it is battery powered and not rechargeable.
This keyboard handles well, feels solidly constructed and won’t disappoint, unless you connect it to iPad.
Firstly, Apple decided to form their own keyboard layout, rejecting the ISO standard layouts. You’ll therefore need to know the alternative layout by heart as the keys aren’t labelled for Apple.
Secondly, I found one or two obscure keys were not available at all when connected to iPad. This might be fine for general office use on iPad.
Nothing’s perfect and there’s a small but (to me) annoying issue with this keyboard. If you pair it with a Surface computer and put the PC to sleep you can wake it up by touching the keyboard. Great. However, if you pair it to a PC with a Bluetooth dongle, that (probably) won’t happen. You’ll have to press the power button on the PC to wake it up. A first world problem if ever I saw one, but irritating all the same. Turns out that Microsoft, for reasons I don’t fully understand (something to do with power saving, I believe), insist on turning off all power to Bluetooth devices in sleep mode. Therefore you can’t use a Bluetooth keyboard to wake the PC.
After many, many hours searching I found a solution. You need to be comfortable editing the registry. Make sure you create a restore point before you start messing in the registry!
Open registry editor and browse to: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesBTHPORTParameters” and add “SystemRemoteWakeSupported” with a DWORD of 1 then restart the computer.
After that, open device manager and find “Keyboard/HID keyboard device”. Double click and select the “Power Management” tab. There you will see a checkbox that says “Allow this device to wake the computer”. Tick that box (which was unavailable before the registry hack), then restart the PC again. Voila, the Surface keyboard will now wake the computer from sleep.
I take no credit for this solution but I’m very grateful to the anonymous Windows Wizard, whoever he or she may be, who sussed it out. Microsoft’s own tech support (there are thousands of similar complaints out there) go out of their way to offer utterly useless “solutions”, none of which work. The reason is, I suspect, because they don’t EVER want us, the stupid public, to go digging around in the registry, screwing things up and making work for themselves. Well, yes, I sort of get that. But why they couldn’t have given us the option to “allow this device to wake the computer” is beyond me.
PS: The attached pic was grabbed from @sabogusi on Reddit, which is where I finally found this solution. Props to him.
Unlike many keyboards, there are no LEDs to let you know if any of the function keys are set (Caps Lock etc). Also by default, the function keys all operate settings options (volume up/down etc). To change this you need to press Fn+Caps Lock and hope it takes as again you have no way of telling which mode they are in. There are also special keys for Office applications, settings and emojis. For a keyboard that initially looked to be aimed at work kind of environments, the latter key is an odd one to see.
The biggest downside to me though (and the reason for dropping a star) is the lack of any height adjustment. The keyboard is tilted slightly but there are no adjustable legs as seen on virtually every other keyboard.
Battery life is claimed to be 2 years, but since I have only had the keyboard around a month, I cannot say if this claim is accurate, but there is no sign of the supplied batteries deteriorating yet. I suspect the 2 years life will come because the keyboard does have a habit of ‘going to sleep’ after only a short period of inactivity. Lock the screen and walk away for a minute. Come back and you have to wait for the keyboard to wake up and reconnect before it works. Sometimes the key you pressed is sent to the computer, but most of the time the first keypress is ignored – luckily on a lock screen, this tends to just be a key to wake the screen and get to a login box, so not major.
Overall, a good keyboard that matches the styling of the latest MS modern mice. It has a good typing feel and looks like it should have a good battery life.
So far so good really like the style of keyboard it is easy to switch on and pair with with a windows or Mac operating system.
I am not the biggest fan of wires and cables and fact I do not need to plug anything into make it work is great.
Can not advise on battery life yet as not had it long enough.
Had the Mac one been less than 100 I probably would have opted for that as I only use a surface for work but this product works great.
After 2.5 years using the Surface Pro Keyboard (which is still handy when on the move) I moved to the Surface Keyboard and what a difference it has made. The keyboard is sturdy and solid, yet responsive and easy to use. Lots of additional features and the addition of a number pad makes a massive difference when you are working with numbers all day.
The keyboard looks great and performs well. Pricey compared to other, similar products but worth every penny. Bluetooth connection was achieved in a matter of seconds.
Pros: Looks great, solid and sturdy, doesn’t wobble or move around. Number Pad and some handy function buttons (screen lock)
Cons: None
I like this keyboard so much I now own two of them, one at work and one at home. Firstly, they look really good. Silver aluminium base with grey keys, it looks brilliant on my desks at home and at work which are both white. Typing is smooth, precise and most importantly quiet which is a most both at home and at work. Bluetooth connection is really stable and the ability to pick up the keyboard and move it out of the way to draw etc is brilliant. Battery life is also superb as the first keyboard is still on its first set of batteries. If I had need of a third I’d buy one.
An excellent keyboard! Typing, quality, looks, this keyboard owns all of them! But wait! Who suggested the “PrintScreen” key to be above the “Backspace” key? In 99% of the keyboards, this is where the “Delete” key is. Why exactly would you need such a big key for”printscreen”, while you have such a tiny key for “delete”? What key do you use vastly more often between the two? That is a big NO to Microsoft’s design, at least in my opinion! I was considering to return the keyboard just for this, but it is so nice and lovely that I could not send it back… Otherwise, dont think about it. This is the best keyboard for office use, regardless the price range!
I’m a programmer and I’ve used hundreds of various keyboards in my life but this one is just amazing. It is almost Apple keyboard quality (enter can be squeaky from time to time but this is nothing major), connects and maintains connection perfectly and it is absolute pleasure to use. Definitely best PC keyboard I used and I would put it on par with classic Apple keyboard in terms of quality for … half the price. Best purchase ever! Highly recommended.
I have two of those, it’s the best keypad I have ever had. You need to buy separate bluetooth adapter as it not included. Also I have a problem when the PC goes to sleep mode some times it will not work but as I take lot of hours of research it’s not the problem of keyboard. And its bit expensive. But if you ask me I will buy it again.
A month or so on and something changed because now it seems to stay paired all the time and just kicks in when it is needed. I suspect it must have been background driver updates or something. The perfect keyboard. Well apart from the price that is!
I’m in my 50s, so I have used a few keyboards in my time, everything from round keyed typewriters of the past, through electric typewriters, clunky early IBM bash-it-out mechanicals on the first PCs, membrane ZX81s, early laptops, more clicky membranes, several different modern mechanicals: blue keys, brown keys, red keys, and now this!
Like a pen, you eventually arrive at what suits your way of writing best, for me this is probably it.
I prefer writing with an old-fashioned, italic nibbed fountain pen, so I had rather convinced myself that I would prefer the retro of a mechanical keyboard, but no. This keyboard is fabulous.
It is deliciously crisp to type on, and everything about it feels like almost architectural perfection; and yes feels! There is something about the way it looks and feels which is clear-cut and precise.
Really loving it has no on/off switch, but however it sleeps, it never misses the first key you strike.
Quite simply, the best keyboard I’ve ever owned.
I love the look and the modernness of this keyboard, it can be helpful and it’s better than the fingerprint ID one, as the fingerprint scanner is usually quite slow and you’re more likely to type your password / code faster than it. I don’t let the feeling/ hardness of the keys that much as I prefer smoother / softer ones but that’s more just my own preference and it doesn’t hold it back
Recommend: Absolutely
Maybe its just me, but I always hit the print screen button on this keyboard. It’s immediately above backspace where “DELETE” lives in my other microsoft keyboard (the designer keyboard). Other than that it’s a brilliant keyboard it feels comfortable and responsive while still being portable. It also doesn’t feel as squished in terms of button layout as the designer keyboard (which *feels* almost identical in terms of key pressing experience). I have no problem spending money on peripherals because I will probably spend around a third of my life on a computer so I see it as an investment. The wake time can also be a little slow when it has been idle for a while which is a little annoying but I can live with that if it means longer battery life.
I really like the feel of this keyboard to type on, with sturdy aluminium build. I like the aesthetics too, about as close as you’ll get to Apple keyboard as a windows user. Bit annoying it won’t allow pairing with more than one device with easy switch between them – minus one star in this age of multiple devices. Back lit keys would also be good. It comes with batteries which is nice its ready to use out the box.
Perfect keyboard for all-day work (as a programmer). Beware of its size – it does not fit into a carry-on laptop bag, thus not much portable. The photo of the keyboard does not match, it has UK layout, which is different from captured US layout (don’t understand why Amazon is not able to provide an actual picture).
Great keyboard to type on. Extremely well built and you can’t help but draw the comparison to the Apple keyboards. If anything this Surface keyboard feels a bit more rigid and robust.
Where it falls down slightly on is already some of the most commonly used keys are wearing off / going shiny – and it’s only been a few weeks. For that reason I’ll give it 4 stars as in my opinion for the price point the keys should last longer.
Not product related but a terrible delivery experience with Hermes on this, I really don’t know why Amazon use them.
I really like this keyboard – it has a great but not overly loud sound while typing, good key travel distance, very slim profile and excellent key shortcuts – I LOVE the calculator button and use it constantly. Depending on what kind of typing style you have it may not be the best for you if you are used to more mechanical keyboards with greater depth etc – but having worked on a laptop for many years the transition between my laptop and this keyboard is really easy and smooth which I think is partly the reason why I like it. But it’s also just really nice 🙂 recommended!
I bought this for desktop use with my Surface Pro and am delighted I did. I now use my folding keyboard when away from my desk only which works out well. The keyboard is accurate and has some great little features when using with Windows 10 like a dedicated calculator button which just opens up the calculator app but it’s amazing how such a simple thing improves how you work. I’d like to be able to easily disable the Insert button but that goes for all full scale keyboards.
It is the only nice looking keyboard on the non-mac market, which is strange given that most people are using Windows.
4 stars because I find the keys too loud. However, I haven’t experienced any funcional issues such as bluetooth connectivity at all.
Functioning well, but no whao factor.
Also, theres no backlit which is a shame.
I was looking for a while to replace my logitech K750 solar keyboard. I nearly settled for K780,
but how happy I am that I have bought this one instead!! Such an excellent keyboard,
an absolute joy to type on! Looks amazing, colour is great, design is excellent and such a premium feel!
Brilliant product from Microsoft, just love it!! Looks so nice on the desk along side of Surface Mouse.
Don’t hesitate, just buy it! Probably the best keyboard I have ever had.
This keyboard really is a joy. Like many, I’ve been using the old Apple wired full size keyboard with my PC, which always had software issues. Now, I finally have a worthy replacement for the Apple. The key click action on this thing is perfect. Just the right amount of key travel. The industrial design is also top notch. The only downsides for me are: the Bluetooth dongle I use occasionally doesn’t connect on starting windows and I can’t use this prior to Windows starting (e.g. to adjust BIOS settings). But overall a winner.
Overall a great keypad. Study, stylish and very sleek. The keys feel great to press with the right amount of travel and on point layout.
Only minus points at the lack of USB BT dongle and the price. If you are looking for a really good keyboard for your office and you don’t mind spending a little more than you would usually you won’t be disappointed.
The only drawback is that it’s Bluetooth. Whilst this is fine for most use cases, my environment requires that I type in a BIOS power on password – this is before the keyboard connection is activated. It’s annoying that I have to use my laptop keyboard, but it’s worth it as it’s a joy to type on.
I did purchase the Surface Mouse – but I wouldn’t bother with that. The profile is too slim and was not easy to us – I felt my hand trying doing a forced grip.
It would have been nice if this keyboard included backlighting, but that’s not a big issue for me. I also thought the name of this keyboard was rather confusing. Not sure why Microsoft threw “Surface” in to the model name. It made it more difficult for me to find online.
I don’t like Microsoft as a company, but this keyboard is awesome (and works with Linux!). I am keenly waiting for the Microsoft Modern keyboard to go on sale in the UK, and will probably buy a couple of those too (for my desktop computers). I like the way the new Microsoft Modern keyboard gives you the option to connect via Bluetooth or cable! I suspect it will be more expensive as it also includes a fingerprint scanner (which probably won’t work on Linux – not for a while anyway).
The keyboard automatically goes to sleep after a few minutes to save the battery.
A great range of function keys complete the package – although putting the sleep key in the top right corner may not have been the ideal place,
If you have a Microsoft Surface Book and a lot of typing to do I would certainly recommend this keyboard.
I’ve always been using a Mac keyboard with a PC for about a decade now and honestly think they make for great keyboards. The build quality, how your fingers glide across the keys and how silent it can be to type on. The Apple keyboard is a joy to use, but only one downside is that the hotkeys needs to be custom programmed to make them work.
With the launch of the Microsoft Surface Keyboard, I can finally ditch the Mac keyboard and finally use all the hotkeys like they were intended to.
I’m not going to lie, it feels and looks like Microsoft has literally ripped the Mac keyboard, with some minor adjustments here and there, but who cares? They took (in my eyes) a very good keyboard and made it properly work Windows computers (must be 8-10 may I add).
At 72 (89.99 rrp) is it an expensive keyboard?
Not really. Considering I use this everyday, and if it’s built as good as my mac keyboard, the next 5 years at least I’ll still be using this. It’s hard to find a decent fully featured keyboard these days for cheap, never mind it being Bluetooth and without dongles.
Get one, you wont regret it.
When I saw this advertised I honestly thought, nope, it will be a good effort but not really worthwhile. How wrong was I…
Honestly, this just makes me happy typing again and I type a lot.
It’s the same size as the magic keyboard (with number pad) and works just as well.
The aluminium top gives it that quality feel, they keys themselves when pressed feel almost rubbery but they are not. They have a bit more travel than the Apple version but still, give that satisfying dull thud but not a click or clunk. You hear the keys being pressed but not annoyingly so as I find with mechanical keyboards.
Another benefit it has over the magic keyboard is that it is slightly more elevated for a more comfortable typing position.
The colour is very nice, not in your face bright however not so dark you get lost finding keys. Even in dim light, it is still quite visible. Sure, if there was a backlight it would take it above great however, I understand that would likely drain the battery at a rate we would all be unhappy with. If Microsoft did (and should) produce a wired version with a backlight I would likely buy it as well.
There are several useful keys for Windows related shortcuts. Cortana, Task Windows, Control Panel, Calculator, lock PC, and it has all the usual media buttons.
It hibernates itself, no need to switch it on and off.
I am using this with a self-built PC that has no Bluetooth so had to buy a USB Bluetooth dongle. Having read reviews that suggest it drops connection I made the assumption that this could be due to using cheaper sub 5 dongles that are often flaky, so I went for something with good reviews at a higher price. To be honest, if you are going to spend this much on a keyboard make sure you get a quality Bluetooth dongle to support it, not a 2 one that will likely give you issues.
I went with this one:
Plugable USB Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy Micro Adapter (Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Raspberry Pi, Linux Compatible; Classic Bluetooth, and Stereo Headset Compatible)
Using Windows 10, plugged it in and immediately spotted the keyboard, paired and done. No lag experienced, not dropped once (that I have noticed) and both work perfectly together.
The exact steps were:
1. Plug in Bluetooth USB
2. Press and hold button under keyboard until it enters pairing mode (flashing light above the up arrow, not visible until it flashes).
3. Go to the Bluetooth menu and search for new devices then select ‘Surface Keyboard’
4. Type in the 5 digit number and press enter.
5. Done.
Whilst I am aiming a lot of this review at the converting Mac user that in no way suggest it is not suitable for everyone else. I highly recommend this keyboard if it is in the style you like I really can’t see anyone being disappointed with this.
Will update again time, however, for now, loving it 🙂
Update:
It is now the Middle of July 2018. Really just wanted to echo what I said above, the keyboard is still working away great and it really is my best keyboard yet. Still the same set of batteries running it after a year.
On occasion when you leave it for a while it takes a few seconds to wake itself up. Sometimes I have started typing something to find it’s not caught up. Minor point and the only niggle I have with it.
There is new version of the keyboard with fingerprint sensor.
Loses one star for the bloody mean decision to not include a bluetooth dongle. I understand Microsoft’s reasoning, that this is a keyboard to pair with a Surface PC but why hamstring those of us who want to extend our Surface relationship to a desktop? I finally found a dongle that worked (Act Bluetooth 4.0 USB) but getting that to work was like trying to get a DOS game running in 1994.