Alcatroz Jellybean A2000 Keyboard & Mouse Combo Review

LeapFrog Distribution recently reached out to me to review their products. I do not play any games, so instead of reviewing their popular Armageddon gaming accessories, I have chosen two keyboards that are less for gaming and more for productivity.

The first of the two, which I will be taking a look at today, is the Alcatroz Jellybean A2000 keyboard and mouse combo, available in Singapore for only S$29.90. It is really affordable, but is it any good? Without further ado, here is my review of it.

The keyboard can be purchased a la carte at S$22.90.

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Summary – Get the Keyboard Only

Pros:

• Affordable
• Unique mouse design
• Silent mouse buttons
• Playful round key caps design, oops! button
• Keyboard is sturdy, well built
• Keys have good travel distance

Cons:

• Mouse too flat, uncomfortable to grip
• Mouse tilts sideways easily while moving
• Arrow keys vertically challenged, too packed
• Inconsistent key cap labeling (upper/lower case), confusing

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Unboxing – Cost-Saving Packaging

Alcatroz Jellybean A2000’s packaging is as basic as it can get; the box it comes in is printed on the outside, but inside is just regular brown cardboard. Opening the lid, you will find the keyboard and mouse, both wrapped in plastic.

Two AAA for the keyboard and one AA battery for the mouse is included in the box, so you can start using the keyboard and mouse right away. There is also an instruction sheet in the box, but using the keyboard and mouse is pretty straightforward.

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Design – Cute, But Practical?

Let’s begin with the mouse. The way you change its battery and access the wireless dongle is pretty unique. Most mouse have it below, but this one hides it right under the cover on top, which you can pull off from the lower part of the cover.

Inside, you will find a slot for a single AA battery, as well as a slot with the wireless dongle inside. Plug this dongle into PC and you will be able to use both the mouse and keyboard.

Below the mouse is a power button. Don’t forget to turn it on.

This mouse is very symmetrical, so even if you are left handed, you can still use the mouse. That said, it’s ergonomics is pretty bad. Firstly, this is a pretty flat mouse; without an arc supporting your palm, your hands will get tired after a while.

Next, the bottom of the mouse isn’t completely flat; Only the center is flat, while the sides are curved. If you apply to much pressure on one side of the mouse, it will pivot around the edges.

Now, to the keyboard. Insert two AAA batteries into the battery slot on the back. The height of the keyboard is fixed, but thankfully it is angled slightly. 4 rubber feet at the bottom, preventing the keyboard from shifting around when typing.

The Jellybean A2000 keyboard uses round keycaps instead of square ones, giving it a cool, playful look. With circle caps, you are getting less area to press on. It felt a little weird typing on it at first, but it becomes natural after a while.

There are 3 indicator lights on the upper right corner of the keyboard, indicating num lock, caps lock and battery low. This part looks cheap, but it gets the job done, so can’t complain.

Here are 2 things I dislike about its design. Firstly, the arrow buttons are squished right below the right shift key, making them less than half the height of the other keys. When pressing the “up”, you may accidentally press the “down” as well.

Also, the key caps labeling is a little inconsistent: Most alphabets are in upper case, but some (a, d and n) are in lower case. This may look nice, but it can cause confusion to some users.

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Usage – Only the Keyboard is Worth Your Time

The buttons on the mouse are so silent you can hardly hear a thing at all. It doesn’t have a lot of travel, but there is enough tactile feedback to know when you click the mouse. Due to the poor ergonomics of the mouse, I didn’t enjoy using it.

On the other hand, the keyboard was pleasant to use. It has quite a bit of key travel (about 4mm) and it is not too noisy, just slightly louder than my laptop’s keyboard. The keys do not have any haptic feedback though and requires very little strength to press.

Typing with the Jellybean A2000 keyboard

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Conclusion – Is it Good Enough?

At only S$29.90, it would be unfair to expect too much from the A2000, but it must minimally get the basics right. Does it? The mouse definitely doesn’t. It is poorly designed, with focus on style over practicality. You can easily find something better under S$10.

As for the keyboard, it is one you can consider. While it has a few shortcomings, it is far from a bad keyboard. If all you need is an affordable wireless keyboard for productivity tasks, the Jellybean A2000 offers just that, with a stylish design.