Wireless keyboards are a nuisance, until you don't have to worry about dongles or replacing batteries. New Bluetooth LE technology not only enables ultra-efficient wireless connections, but it also lets you switch between multiple devices at the touch of a key.

With the Targus Energy Harvesting EcoSmart Keyboard, you might never have to charge its battery, as it has a built-in small solar panel. It's also made from recycled plastic, putting your consumer consciousness at ease. What more could you ask from a keyboard?

Let's find out whether these are the keys you've been looking for.

What Makes This Targus Keyboard Ecological?

Three things make the Targus Energy Harvesting EcoSmart Keyboard more sustainable than its run-of-the-mill counterparts: its packaging, the material it's made from, and its energy harvesting feature.

The keyboard comes packaged in a white fitted cardboard shell with minimal plastic wrapping. Inside, you'll find the keyboard, a 59 inches (1.5m) long USB-C to USB-A cable, a user guide, and a flyer with the EcoSmart motto.

The keyboard is made from over 70% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic. The PCR thermoplastic found in the EcoSmart Keyboard is composed of 15% conventional acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and 85% recycled ABS from recycled consumer electronics. Of course, the keyboard contains other materials, including non-ABS plastics.

Finally, a strip of solar cells, mounted above the F-row, charges the EcoSmart Keyboard's built-in 1,600mAh Lithium-ion battery. The cells provide a charge with as little as 100 lux and can absorb up to 20,000 lux.

Is This Keyboard Actually Sustainable?

Using minimal cardboard packaging and recycled materials is a step in the right direction. Powering a keyboard with solar energy is definitely convenient, but not necessarily sustainable.

Whether a product can be considered "sustainable" depends on its overall social and ecological impact throughout its life cycle, i.e. from resource extraction (e.g. to produce the photovoltaic cells), to production, distribution, usage, and all the way to its end-of-life. Sustainable products are embedded in a larger strategy aimed at reducing or eliminating the company's overall impact, something Targus is only just getting started with.

Targus launched its EcoSmart series in 2008, and has since recycled 17 million plastic bottles. While the company has not been strategic about its sustainability efforts and, to date, lacks a baseline of its carbon impact, Targus did release its first global sustainability report, which includes a sustainability roadmap, in December 2022. In the years ahead, we should get a better idea of how sustainable EcoSmart products really are.

How to Set Up and Use the EcoSmart Keyboard

Before you deploy the keyboard to your desk, make sure it's fully charged. You can either place it in a bright lid room to harvest solar energy for a few hours or charge it using the included USB-C to USB-A cable.

The EcoSmart Keyboard uses Bluetooth Low Energy (LE), meaning you don't need a dongle and can pair it directly with your Windows PC, Mac, Android, or iPhone. For example, to pair the keyboard with Windows 11, just turn it on using the switch in the back, then (in Windows) go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices and click Add device > Bluetooth. Find the EcoSmart Keyboard in the list and pair it.

If it does not show up, press and hold one of the Bluetooth channel keys next to the number pad area until the blue LED blinks rapidly.

You can pair the keyboard with up to three devices and connect a fourth using the USB cable. To switch between paired Bluetooth device, press the respective channel key situated. For example, I assigned my desktop PC to channel 1, my Android phone to channel 2, and my laptop to channel 3.

Typing on the EcoSmart Keyboard

The EcoSmart is a chiclet keyboard, which this reviewer prefers over full-travel or loud mechanical keys. Scissor switches hold the keys in place and enable the keyboard's low profile and quiet typing.

The typing experience is pleasant, quieter than the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard we use otherwise, and with sufficient resistance to avoid accidental triggers.

The EcoSmart's keycaps are made from ABS. While ABS has many advantages, including being a highly recyclable thermoplastic, one major downside is that frequent use will wear the material down and make keycaps look shiny. Even with freshly washed hands, our greasy fingerprints were immediately visible on the EcoSmart's smooth and slightly matte keycaps.

Battery Life & Bluetooth Connection

Until we started using the backlight, the battery seemed to last forever. The keyboard arrived 89% charged, which didn't change for an entire week. The tandem of Atmosic's ATM3 extreme low-power Bluetooth 5 chip and the advanced amorphous silicon photovoltaic cells, which keep the battery charged, worked like a charm in our lowly lit office.

Once we turned the backlight on (fn + spacebar), the battery level started declining rapidly as the ambient light in our apartment couldn't supply enough solar power to keep it topped up.

At the highest setting, we saw the battery level drop by around 12 percentage points per hour, which confirms a battery life of around 8 hours. We decided to charge the keyboard using the conventional route, i.e. via USB-C.

To save energy and extend the battery life, run the backlight at the lowest of three brightness levels. This should give you 75 hours of battery life, vs. 18 hours at medium brightness, and 8 hours at high brightness.

The Bluetooth connection was stable, and switching between paired devices using the three dedicated keys worked like a charm. When you add another Bluetooth device to your mix, one thing to remember is whether your setup can handle it. We experienced interference with Bluetooth audio when we paired the keyboard with our mini PC. However, since our mini PC didn't come with onboard Bluetooth, we've been using an adapter, which apparently can't handle both our headphones and the Bluetooth keyboard simultaneously. We didn't have these issues on our Android phone or Windows laptop, confirming that the adapter is the bottleneck.

Should You Buy This "Energy Harvesting" Keyboard?

If you're in the market for a full-sized wireless chiclet keyboard with state-of-the-art features, such as Bluetooth LE for multi-device pairing, backlights, and solar charging, the Targus EcoSmart Keyboard is a great choice, though it comes with a hefty price tag of $119.99.

While the backlight drains the battery in as little as 8 hours, you can always use a lower brightness setting, fall back on a wired connection, or charge via the keyboard's USB-C port.

The eco-conscious consumer will appreciate the use of recycled plastics. But those deterred by the unpleasant look of glossy fingerprints on matte keys should look into keyboards that feature textured keycaps made from PBT. These are most commonly found in mechanical keyboards, where keycaps are also easy to switch out.