Microsoft Modern Keyboard with Fingerprint ID

PC security at your fingertips.

Microsoft has been producing keyboards and mice for decades, but now that it’s expanded into the PCmaking business, it’s become important for the company to maintain a design consistency with its Surface products — particularly the Surface Studio, which Microsoft’s new Modern Keyboard with Fingerprint ID seems destined to accompany.

With its sleek aluminium frame and flat, squared keys, the new Modern Keyboard is about as classy as keyboards get. Though the keys themselves are quite close to the metal they’re sitting on, there’s a nice travel distance, making the Modern quite satisfying to type on. They also have a matte finish, avoiding the cheap, shiny look that many other keyboards tend to have.

However, the real reason you’d probably pick this one up is because of its inbuilt fingerprint sensor, which lets you to securely log in to your PC without having to type out a password or PIN. Microsoft’s implementation of biometric security on the keyboard is flawless, with the sensor itself embedded in a key (next to the right Alt key) that looks just like every other one, helping it maintain a level of visual consistency throughout. Fingerprint data is stored on your computer alone, and you can set that up in Windows 10’s account settings.

As this is a wireless keyboard, you should get around four months of usage before you need to recharge, which you can do via its micro-USB port. At $210, it’s a somewhat pricey unit, but worth it for those who’re sick of typing passwords.