Voix Genie

Bluetooth keyboards have been around for ages, but with the advent of keyboard-less, touchscreen phones and tablet computers they finally have a real use.

The Voix Genie Bluetooth keyboard is slim and light, so good for travellers. The box describes it as a ‘tablet keypad' and says it works with the iPhone 4 and iPad. It will also work, in theory, with standard computers and other phones and tablet PCs, as long as they support Bluetooth keyboards (most smartphones do).

A USB cable is supplied but this is only used for charging, by connecting it to a computer. It came with no printed instructions so it was a puzzle to see which button to press to make it ‘pair' with the phone – it turned out to be a tiny button at the back, next to the power switch. A barely readable manual is supplied on CD but it was not much use.

On our test iPhone it connected and worked flawlessly, and the process was similar on an Archos tablet computer running the Android operating system. However, it failed to connect to any Android phone handsets, no matter how much we tried on several different models from various manufacturers.

In use the Genie was pleasant. The keys are shallow and don't move far when pressed but it was usable enough. It can be used on a lap, or if placed on a desk the battery section at the back gives it a slight downward slant.

It's slightly flimsier and not as nice to look at as the Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard, but at half the price of that device the Voix Genie is better value.