Hi,
for all those who are looking for a Ubook X keyboard in their language, I have now come across a great alternative. I didn’t want to withhold this from you.
The German company Wortmann sells a tablet with an almost identical form factor with its Terra Pad 1262. Accordingly, the S1203 Type Cover from Wortmann is almost identical.
And best of all, these are available in German (DE), Spanish (ES), Switzerland (CH), French (FR), United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US).
These work perfectly on the Ubook X. However, the polarity of the magnetic snap lock is reversed. But that’s not a problem. The contact bar can be opened very easily. A credit card, flat screwdriver or opening pick will do.
The bar is just pushed open. Simply turn all 6 magnets 180 degrees, close the bar again and that’s it.
The Wortmann Typecover is approx. 2-3 mm larger at the edges, but that doesn’t matter. What is still missing is the magnetic mechanism that holds the TypeCover at the top when it is closed. The Ubook X is still put into standby. So doesn’t really bother either.
I bought my German version on Amazon for € 34 and I’m finally happy. All keys of the German layout including the characters “|”, “>” and “<”.
I’m about to buy a keyboard for my UBook X and I did a bit of searching to come up with this:
The key mapping isn’t quite right but Amazon sell keyboard stickers that have potential (that clearly also applies to the Wortmann one) so that’s a possibility, as is changing the keys manually (I’m pretty good at that sort of thing). The major attraction is the price, less than £30 and the claim that it’s for the Chuwi UBook, the downside being the keyboard layout (changeable), long shipping (from China) plus the unknown nature of the supplier and of the Banggood market (this is the first time I’ve heard of them).
I’m also not 100% sure that the “Chuwi UBook” is the same as a “Chuwi UBook X”; a Google search for “Chuwi UBook” brings up “UBook X” and “UBook Pro” implying it probably is. The link above says the keyboard is specifically for the UBook X.
EDIT: For good or ill, I’ve ordered it. Just have to see what I get
The UK layout differs little from the US layout. It should also work with stickers.
It’s not that easy in the other languages. In German, for example, the characters “>”, “<” and “|” are missing. They are not coded in the German layout on the Chuwi keyboard and are therefore not available.
Accordingly, these symbols are also missing on the stickers.
You can build your own key combinations with tools under Windows or Linux, but these do not work in CMD / Powershell or Linux Bash. It is a bit inconvenient there.
The Wordmann keyboard has the corresponding key codes directly in the firmware and does not need any stickers. It is already labeled in the appropriate language at the factory.
I received the keyboard. It works and it basically cost me £30. The only problem I have with it (and I suspect that’s the Chuwi Tablet in reality), is that my function keys are the wrong way round. By that I mean the keyboard defaults to the “helpful” function keys like “mute”, “volume +/-”, “brightness +/-, “music play keys” etc.
While seemingly more standard these days, the bluetooth keyboard I was using earlier did something similar, I prefer the same setup I have on all my other computers which is “F1”, “F2”, “F3” and so on. If someone can tell me a way to change that I’d be most grateful but I’ll also post a separate thread since the keyboard is working and appears compatible (seems to be a genuine Chuwi product).
Now all I have to do is “edit” some keys so that the keyboard is more British
Yes, the problem with the F key is due to the Chuwi keyboard firmware. They have stored the keys like this. You could only change that with a firmware update.
The Wortmann keyboard has a lot to do with it, by the way. The F keys are the normal state and the special functions can only be reached with the FN key.
Under Windows you can make do with a keymapper program.
Is the keyboard illuminated?