iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard Review

*update* The original review identified this as a ThinkOutside product. These devices are now under the brand name iGo. That's the same company that makes the 2nd home charger and car charger for my UMPC! One reader pointed out the discrepancy between my product names and the names offered on various sites. This review is about the black keyboard in the above picture, named the iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard. The smaller grey keyboard is the iGo Ultra Slim Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard. The former names of these devices are Stowaway Sonoma and Stowaway Sierra respectively. I also added more information from iGo to the end of this article. Now on with the review:

I cashed in an Amazon gift certificate and picked myself up an iGo Stowaway (the black one in the picture above) Bluetooth Keyboard. I have to say it's much nicer than the Bluetooth slim "Sonoma" keyboard they offer, but much larger as well.


In the box is the keyboard, a AAA battery, a zipper pouch, a driver CD, a cleaning cloth, and the user manual. Attached to the underside of the keyboard is a removable stand to hold up your PDA or smartphone. More on that later. It shows good attention to detail that they'd include the battery and cleaning cloth. The driver CD should be unnecessary for most devices. On all my computers and tablets, it worked as a Bluetooth HID device right out of the box. Others can refer the manual which a URL to visit on your device which detects and installs the appropriate driver.


The keyboard itself is a familiar folding design dating back to my old Palm IIIc days. I think I still have my folding Stowaway from way back then. It's a full five rows, dedicated arrow keys, and some additional keys for PDA functions.


Key response is comparable to standard laptop keyboards. The outer hinges lock when the outer keys are slid in toward the center keys, so don't expect to drape it over one leg and leave it flat. It can be used on your lap across both legs, but curves when pressure is applied to it. I wouldn't want to do that unless I had no other choice. Whenever possible, find a table.

The surprising part of this is the weight: With batteries installed, the Stowaway Sierra tips the scales at 10.5 ounces! Compare that to the Stowaway Sonoma (6.6 oz.) or Nokia N800 (7.5 oz.) and it's a brick. Even so, it doesn't outweigh my previously preferred keyboard in my geek bag: The Logitech Net Play keyboard weighed in at 15 oz.


The old matte black exterior was replaced with a mirror finish. I don't mean shiny chrome - I mean a perfect mirror. In addition to typing Email, you can fix your hair or signal passing aircraft if marooned on a tropical island. On one hand, it makes it more attractive externally. On the other, it shows fingerprints and dirt much faster and would likely scratch up over time. I'd have kept the hard plastic.


Stowaway keyboards often came with a stand that slid out of the keyboard and offered a dock type connector for your device. That's why users had to buy a Stowaway specifically for their make and model of PDA. Bluetooth makes that erroneous, of course. This time, ThinkOutside included stand which snaps into the underside of the keyboard and is simply removed when needed. If no stand is needed (such as with the Samsung Q1b or the Nokia N800 with integrated stands) it can simply stay put.

I'd trust the stand with any smartphone, PDA, or Internet Tablet but not with larger devices such as UMPCs. It's best to use your UMPCs dedicated stand or find some other way to prop it up. Don't expect to use touch-tap features when the device is in the stand either: It'll fall right out.

Overall, I'd say the Stowaway Sierra is the best keyboard (so far) you can keep in your gadget bag. While not as elegant a solution as integrated or "slider" keyboards, it does allow touch-typing speed and can pair with any number of devices - including your Bluetooth equipped PC when you accidentally spill coffee in your normal keyboard.

I always like to allow companies to weigh in on reviews and offer their feedback. A summary of iGo's response follows:

The keyboards only work with the Nokia N800 using the built-in HID on the device. Other devices that run a Symbian, Palm or Windows Mobile OS are best paired using the Stowaway keyboard driver as this allows use of the added functionality built in to our keyboard application. For example, application launch keys, programmable Hot-Keys, Extended and International characters and keyboard shortcuts. I believe that is what was called 'custom mapping' in the feedback.
Regarding the folding mechanism, there are several sections which do lock together, however it was designed to be used on a flat surface. Due to the folding capability a complete locking mechanism wasn’t feasible.

They're right: The mapping of the extra keys are driver-dependent. I'd keep an eye out for custom Bluetooth HID drivers.