A decent keyboard for its price.
Positives:
- Correct (98% classic) key layout and default F-keys F1-F12 functions (instead of fn) and perfect spacing between key groups.
A very important feature for a keyboard is to have the correct distance between the arrow keys and the letters, the F-keys and the letters, and generally the classic groups of keys to have the correct position with the right spacing from the adjacent keys, otherwise your hand presses the wrong keys. I realized this when I got another HP keyboard which was softer and of better quality, but had small unnatural distances between key groups and Fn instead of F-keys. I made a lot of mistakes in pressing keys, which led me to change it. With Dell, these issues are solved with ONE "click" on the PrinyScreebm Scroll, Pause keys (top right, 3 keys) which have the more useful mute, volume up, and down functions. The PrintScreen keys are moved to Insert, Home, PgUP (one row below) and are pressed with Fn. Fn also has some other functions like sleep, lock, next, etc., so you won't miss those buttons either. For more information, see the attached images. P.S. Mine has the US-GR layout (meaning it has the Greek letters "printed" on the keys).
Neutral:
- The keys are not particularly soft (I would say they are average) and they resemble other classic keyboards (of this price range) in terms of key press sensation.
Personally, I don't classify it as having a "chiclet" (low-profile) feel like laptop keyboards. It feels worse than those. The "compact" HP keyboard 400 or 300 alone (which is also chiclet) that I replaced with this one was noticeably softer and more comfortable to press, but unfortunately, it suffers from poor key layout, key spacing, and positioning options, as well as key functions (Fn by default), so I had to change it earlier than expected. My previous HP 300/400 keyboard is not suitable for programmers and generally power users, unlike the Dell keyboard, which is exactly what it should be. The reason is that you constantly hit the wrong keys and the Fn key is not easy to use. As for the size, refer to the related photo for comparison.
With what I'm saying, it doesn't mean that the DELL kb216 is a "bad" keyboard or too hard in terms of sensation, I just expected it to be better, meaning a little softer. It is simply average, but probably better compared to most cheap keyboards, but only to that extent. It has nice spacing between each key, which have the correct size (like classic chiclet keys), and between key groups (as in a classic key layout). As a whole, it is of "regular" size, slightly smaller than others. For 12€-15€, you can definitely say it is "good" for its price.
Negatives:
- I haven't found any yet.
P.S. Personally, if I were to buy a keyboard again, I would also consider the HP keyboard T6T83AA.