Xebec Easy-Eye Review

• Brand – Xebec
• Model – Easy-eye
• Website – Xebec Easy-Eye
• Price £10 (at time of review)

Xebec are a computer component and peripheral manufacturer committed to to bringing you the most modern and innovative designs in the global computer market.  And with that in mind today we are taking a look at the Xebec Easy-eye Keyboard which is designed to make it even easier to see and hit those keystrokes when typing.  With its yellow on black keys and bold lettering, this according to Xebec has been scientifically proven to be make it easier to see when typing.  This keyboard is specially designed for those with eye sight problems.

Below is an image of the top of the box that the keyboard comes supplied in, clear imagery and branding used throughout.   Offsetting the Xebec logo, as well as the image of the keyboard and the Easy Eye logo on the white background works really well and will help people with the issues it targets be able to read and understand what is in the box.

The image of the keyboard wraps around the packaging, clearly identifying what is inside the box.

On the back of the box there is a more detailed description of the keyboard as well as branding and another image of the actual keyboard itself..

The side of the box has more branding with the Xebec Logo and the logo of the keyboard.

As we can see from the image below the bright yellow keys, combined with the bold letters do in fact contrast really well.

Across the top of the keyboard we have Play/Pause/Rewind/Forward buttons as well as volume control and Web browser launcher and Email Application launcher.

Looking at the back of the keyboard we have flip up feet to allow the keyboard to sit at a slight angle, as well as rubber feet to stop any movement.

Due to the images being resized for upload I took a separate photo of the sticker on the back of the keyboard as you can see it has the manufactures logo, Model number and some other information regarding the product.

As with almost all USB keyboards the Xebec Easy-eye Keyboard is plug and play, and there are no extra drivers or software required to use this keyboard.  Simply plug it and you are ready to go – can’t get any more back to basics than that really which is good since the users of this product aren’t going to be wanting a difficult to set up product.  Many people have limited computer knowledge so installing any extra software is not always an easy process.

One of the things I like about this keyboard is the fact that it is water resistant although of course it is not recommended to use the keyboard whilst it is wet.  I took the time to get it slightly wet in the sink and an hour or so later and lots of shaking the excess water away and the keyboard was ready to go.

Initially I was worried that the keyboard would no longer work after I splashed water onto it.  I did not take it easy with the water and afterwards I could hear water sloshing about inside the keyboard itself.  Because of the amount of water inside the keyboard I decided to open it up.  Which is a simple process of undoing all the screws in the back of the keyboard, after doing so I did quite a bit of water inside the keyboard?  But looking at the internal design I see why Xebec have stated that the Easy-eye Keyboard is water proof.  Let’s take a look inside.

As you can see from the image above each individual key press is registered by that plastic sheet inside.  A normal keyboard has a regular PCB inside them, that plastic acts exactly like a regular PCB but does not absorb water or moisture so as long as it is dried out and the small PCB in the top right of the image stays dry then there should not be a problem with getting this keyboard wet.

After drying the keyboard out and putting all the screws back in I was then able to continue using the keyboard.  I was unsure what Xebec meant in regards the keyboard being water proof but after drying the keyboard out I found that it worked perfectly, which is a great result in my opinion.

Typing on this keyboard is quite a pleasant experience, the soft touch of the keys give a slight tactile feedback, and whilst this keyboard will never replace a high end keyboard it does do its job extremely well.  The keyboard took some time getting used too although I’m not sure if it’s the keyboard or the way I type that caused this problem, but after using it for an hour or so I got quite comfortable using it.  In fact almost all of this review was written using this keyboard as when using this keyboard I focused on being able to type whilst using it.

It is not designed for use whilst gaming but for the purposes of this review I launched a single player video game and played for around twenty minutes and I was reasonably impressed.  The game I chose to play was Borderlands 2; I chose this game because for the most part the presses needed are minimal.  Whilst the keyboard did perform reasonably well I found that it would not be a viable keyboard for regular gaming use.

The easy-eye keyboard is specifically aimed at people with eye sight problems, Xebec stated that the bold lettering and yellow on black keys have been proven to be easier to see than the standard black on black keys and I have to agree with them.  Whilst my regular keyboard is a standard design I found using the Xebec Easy-eye extremely easy to use, both because of the larger key caps but also because of the brightness of the keys.  It being water proof is also a plus side, whilst it is never recommended to drink any kind liquid at your desk, anyone using this keyboard can use it safe in the knowledge that even after it got wet from a cup of tea or pint of water it would continue working once it had dried out.  As with any product with even minor electrical components it is not recommended to use them if they are wet.

Its time for the conclusion, did this keyboard live up to it’s name?  Lets find out.

Once I got used to the larger key design it became an extremely pleasant experience to type on.  Whilst I am not an expert typist I found using this keyboard extremely easy since the larger key design with bold lettering and bright keys made it easy to see each key that I was using.  I found that the Media Control buttons worked straight away without having to configure anything to do so as well as the volume control and the browser/email launch buttons.

The build quality on this keyboard is excellent, many keyboards at this price point have a cheapish feel to them and are in no way as solidly build as this one.  Although the keyboard is completely made of plastic, it is far from feeling cheap and after opening it up I can say that the plastic used in it’s construction is of high quality and not likely to simply break under normal use.

Another great point with this keyboard is the pricing, at £10 it is a bargain for a keyboard that is aimed at a specific market.  The Xebec Easy Eye keyboard would be one I recommend to those who have difficulty seeing key lettering on a normal black on black keyboard.  It is of my opinion that this keyboard would be perfect for the elderly as the larger brighter keys would allow them to see each key much clearer.  However that is not it’s sole usage it could also be perfect for children as the larger brighter keys would make it an excellent teaching aid also it being waterproof would save it from any spillage a child may make whilst using it.  This keyboard is of excellent value and due to it’s lack of extra features and it’s simplicity that is what I will be giving it.