With the sheer number of low-quality Kodi keyboards on the market, it can be difficult to find the few products that are actually worth your time and money. To help, we’ve thoroughly researched the market and chosen five of the best Kodi keyboards available as of November 2017.
Warning: Kodi should only be used for content to which you have the legal right to access. Neither the Kodi Foundation nor Comparitech advocates the use of Kodi for piracy.
Before we begin
Our rating criteria
Before we get to the individual keyboard reviews, it’s important to know how we reached our conclusions. While we usually personally test the products we review, the Kodi keyboard market is so broad that this just wasn’t possible in this case. Instead, we’ve taken several other criteria into account and used these to form a basis for our Kodi keyboard recommendations:
Number of positive reviews on popular online marketplaces
Buyer satisfaction over time
The opinions of other professional product reviewers
Price
The keyboard’s features and functionality
It should be noted that Kodi is best experienced with a remote control and a keyboard for text entry. We will be writing a remote control article in the near future and will link to it from this article. However, Kodi can be used entirely with the keyboard, making a dedicated keyboard the first item you should buy for a new Kodi-based home theater system.
The best Kodi keyboards of December 2017
Rii i8+ 2.4GHz Mini Wireless Keyboard
One of the first things you’ll notice about the Rii i8+ is its unusual shape. It’s almost like a joypad and the front of it is so covered in buttons that there’s very little space left over. That said, this product offers total control over Kodi thanks to its small, gesture-supporting touchpad and full QWERTY keyboard. This keyboard is backlit too, making it perfect for using Kodi with the lights off.
Both versions use a Mini-USB cable to charge an internal battery, and the 2.4GHz version requires a free USB port for its receiver.
Pros:
- Has a full QWERTY keyboard
- Backlit keys enhance nighttime viewing experience
- Rechargeable battery
Cons:
- Overly sensitive touchpad
- Prone to typos due to its small size
Logitech K830
The Logitech K830 is a far more traditional keyboard than the Rii i8. Its keys are far better spaced so there’s less chance of mistyping. Its backlight checks the lighting in your environment before automatically adjusting itself. In automatic mode, this backlight will kick in whenever it gets dark, which is a nice touch.
This keyboard can be used either via Bluetooth or radio and is compatible with any Android, Windows, Linux, or ChromeOS Kodi installation. It has a rechargeable battery that takes three hours to charge but has a 20-hour life. Those numbers represent 20 hours of constant usage, so in reality, it’ll probably last for weeks between recharges.
There’s a small button on the left-hand side of the top. This button left-clicks and is designed to facilitate easier, two-handed web-browsing. Despite its placement, this button isn’t particularly prone to accidental activation and could be used to navigate Kodi’s menus more comfortably than by using the trackpad and laptop-style mouse buttons alone.
There is a small but noticeable amount of delay when using the touchpad. Considering this is marketed as a “living room” keyboard, it really isn’t designed for heavy-duty use and as such, this is a relatively small issue.
Versatile, cross-platform keyboard
Long battery life
Backlight regulates brightness automatically
Slightly more expensive than similar keyboards
Red alternate function labels are a little garish
iClever Bluetooth Keyboard
Kodi can be installed on portable devices like USB sticks and Raspberry Pis, so it makes sense that you’d need a keyboard that has an equally low profile. The iClever keyboard is just 7” wide and its sides fold in to reduce this even further.
When folded, this keyboard enters sleep mode and once unfolded, wakes and automatically pairs with up to three devices. Despite its small size, the keys are well-sized. This helps to minimize the number of typing errors you make—an especially important feature with Kodi as a single typo can cause errors when connecting to addon sources.
The iClever keyboard’s body is made of aluminum. Additionally. the internal battery lasts for up to 60 hours on a single charge. These features make the iClever keyboard an excellent choice for those looking for a truly portable Kodi system.
This keyboard is more expensive than many others, including some that offer better connectivity or additional functionality. That said, you’re really paying for the ability to take this keyboard anywhere you go. While iClever isn’t as well-known as Logitech, this product is held in high regard by many other reviewers. There’s even a lifetime guarantee in case something goes wrong down the line.
Low profile, foldable design
Long battery life
Pairs to three devices
Higher than average price
Jelly Comb Mini Wireless Keyboard
The Jelly Comb keyboard is 6” wide and is essentially a cell phone keyboard turned on its side. There are a couple of differences, however. First, this model has two space bars and FN keys, one on each side. Second, there’s a touchpad, arrow keys, and two mouse buttons. This keyboard’s small size and wide range of media keys make it a less expensive alternative to the iClever model, but the tradeoff is that this is very much an “at home” keyboard.
The Jelly Comb is the least expensive keyboard in our list, at $19.99. Surprisingly, even though it’s so inexpensive, it comes with a lifetime warranty.Many of this product’s reviews attest to it working for long periods of time, so with luck, you’ll never need to make use of the warranty at all.
Small and easy to type with
Very affordable
Lifetime warranty
Doesn’t support mobile platforms
Takes several seconds to wake from sleep mode
Microsoft N9Z-00001 Wireless Keyboard
The Microsoft N9Z-00001 is a multi-platform, spill-resistant keyboard that comes with an enlarged touchpad and three customizable hotkeys. It uses radio frequencies to connect, so your device needs to have at least one USB port for this keyboard to work. Unfortunately, this means that it won’t work on mobile platforms without a Micro-USB to USB converter, but it does support Windows, Android, Mac, and Linux operating systems.
This keyboard has a very simple design, free of the gimmicks and cluttered layout that tend to plague wireless keyboards. It’s a full-size keyboard too, so typing with it feels natural and ensures that this isn’t strictly a “just for Kodi” product.It could easily be used for work.
The touchpad is decent, but it is more sensitive than we’d like. Its “tap to click” feature cannot be turned off and because of the touchpad’s large size, this is often activated accidentally. Also, despite this keyboard sitting squarely in the mid-budget range, it relies on AAA batteries to work. To be fair, this means you don’t have to worry about charging it and with a nine month battery life, the batteries won’t need replacing often.
Clean keyboard layout
Good range of platform support
Affordable and multi-purpose
Touchpad is slightly too sensitive and cannot be locked
No Bluetooth connectivity
