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Finding the right accessories for your desktop can be a difficult task at times, especially if you want more options, beyond the usual brands. China-based Rapoo is one such company I was not familiar with when I decided to test out their Ralemo Pre 5 mechanical wireless keyboard and the Ralemo Air 1 optical mouse. These two particular products are slightly more premium compared to other keyboards and mouse options from the brand. Here’s what I liked during my usage.
Rapoo Ralemo Pre 5 wireless mechanical keyboard: If you want a keyboard with a unique design, the Ralemo Pre 5 certainly fits the bill. I got the pink colour option, which does look unique and stylish. It has a type-writer feel to it, which might appeal to some folks. The keyboard has LED-backlit keys and you can configure this to both a Windows and Apple MacBook or iMac depending on preference. The keyboard offers support for both the Control, Alt keys as well as Command and Option. I used the keyboard with a Windows laptop and my MacBook Air and it works well in both cases with all the keys functioning as needed.
I have to admit the mechanical keyboard did take some getting used to for me and I’m not a fan of the louder noise than these tend to make– which is expected. What also confused me a bit with the Ralemo was that I sometimes could not see the exact battery life left on the keyboard. This data wasn’t visible on the MacBook for some reason. I’m not sure why this happened and it could be a setup issue from my side. The battery life was visible on the Windows laptop though.
The Rapoo Ralemo Pre 5 keyboard has a 4000mAh battery and you can use a USB-C cable to charge this. (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola / Indian Express)
The keyboard can be used via Bluetooth 3.0 or 5.0 or one can use the 2.4GHz nano receiver dongle to connect this to your required device. I usually relied on the Bluetooth function as the connectivity was good enough. The keyboard has a 4000mAh battery and you can use a USB-C cable to charge this. The keyboard battery should last a week for most regular users with say four-five hours of typing daily. I never knew whether I had charged it to 100 per cent since the Mac never showed the battery percentage.
I have to admit the mechanical keyboard did take some getting used to for me and I’m not a fan of the louder noise than these tend to make– which is expected. (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola / Indian Express)
I did have some issues with Bluetooth connectivity, especially when I switched between the MacBook and Windows, but otherwise, there were no problems. Admittedly this is not my favourite keyboard to type in and the noise was a major reason for this. I also struggled with accuracy, but then I’m more used to keyboards on laptops, so there was a lot of muscle memory fighting as well.
RAPOO Ralemo Air 1 mouse: Now this was a mouse, I absolutely loved. It came in this blue colour with a metal finish and it looks stunning. In fact, it is one of the best-looking ones I have used in a while. This one has an aluminium alloy body, it is highly compact and it comes with the ‘silent click’ feature. The mouse has two buttons and a spherical roller-type scroller. The mouse is definitely an excellent product in terms of response, accuracy and how smoothly it worked both on my MacBook Air and the Windows laptops. I preferred this over my Magic Mouse as I find the physical buttons on the mouse more reassuring.
The mouse is definitely an excellent product in terms of response, accuracy and how smoothly it worked both on my MacBook Air and the Windows laptops. (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola / Indian Express)
Rapoo claims it can be paired to multiple devices and switching between them is easy. This was not the case for me when it came to switching between devices. The mouse relies on Bluetooth 3.0 and 5.0 and the 2.4Ghz dongle to connect with your device.
The Air 1 has a 300 mAh battery with Rapoo claiming a 25-day battery life. And like the Apple Magic Mouse, you need to plug the cable at the bottom while charging this, which is such a shame. The Air 1 can also be charged using any Qi-compatible wireless recharging pad but since I didn’t have that, I could not test that. Again, I could only see the battery levels on the Windows devices, and never on the MacBook.
Like the Apple Magic Mouse, you need to plug the cable at the bottom while charging this, which is such a shame. (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola / Indian Express)
This also meant that when Ralemo Air 1 was out of battery, I was clueless. But even with that, I still preferred this one given just how well it worked. The good looks of the Air 1 also work in its favour.
Verdict
If you’re looking for colourful, premium accessories like a new wireless mechanical keyboard or an optical Bluetooth mouse, Rapoo’s products make for an interesting premise. The Ralemo Pre 5 keyboard looks stylish and comes with various colour options and can add a bit of quirkiness to your dull work setup. But it has a premium attached at a price of Rs 6,999. I preferred the Rapoo Air 1 Mouse, simply because it is a product I found more useful. And yes, the fact that it looks so stylish also helps. The Air 1 Mouse is priced at Rs 4,299.
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