When it comes to enhancing the power of your iPad, also known as ‘that little supercomputer in your pocket’, the sheer amount of choices can make it hard to find exactly what you need. To combat this we’ve collected an assortment of some of our favorite iPad gear that can help you clear the haze and customize your iPad for the things YOU want to do!
Let’s have a look at some of the most diverse and delightful offerings on the market today!
There’s iPad gear for everyone
We’re going to explore a wide range of accessories choices with a little something for everyone. We had to pick a base, however, so we’re dividing up our favorite selections among these types of users:
- Students
- Artists
- Kids of all ages
- Photographers
- Writers
- Tech fumblers: People who love their tech – but keep dropping it.
Of course, a number of items will be good for just about everybody but let us shine a little focus on a few pieces of the best gear for iPad that you might have missed.
Students – Turn your iPad into a sleek laptop with backlit keys for late-night studies!
When you have an ‘all-nighter grade’ project, you need your iPad to be a laptop if you really want to power through it. The Typecase touch will easily turn your iPad into a laptop with backlit keys, allowing you to work well into the night.
Product highlights
Here is what this innovative iPad gear brings to the table:
- Quickly turns your iPad into a fast, good-looking laptop.
- 10 backlight colors to choose from.
- Works with the iPad 8th Gen (2020, 10.2″), iPad 7th Gen (2019, 10.2″), iPad Air 3rd Gen (2019, 10.5″) & iPad Pro (2017, 10.5″) including models A1701, A1709, A2123, A2152, A2153, A2154, A2197, A2198, A2199, A2200, A2270, A2428, A2429.
What we like about this iPad gear
First off, the look of this model is amazing. It has a better aesthetic going for it than models priced twice or even five times as much, with its satin matte finish and those beautiful glowing keys! It has a 360-degree rotation for your screen as well, and the keyboard typing is great. Basically, it looks good and does what it’s supposed to.
What we felt could use some improvement
There have been reports that some keys are lighter than others, but we didn’t have this problem. The keyboard is a little noisy, and it’s lighter than most, which may be a pro or a con depending on the user. If you like your keyboard light, loud-ish, and pretty this is probably one of the best iPad accessories for you.
Pricing: Less than $70.
Artists – Paint on your iPad with a digital paintbrush stylus from Silstar
Drawing with a stylus is okay but what if you want to mimic paint strokes? Silstar offers their BuTouch stylus and we think someone has implemented this desired innovation perfectly.
Here is what this innovative iPad accessory brings to the table:
- A paintbrush-style stylus that lets you ‘paint’ on your iPad.
- Silicon-tipped conductivity-driven brush is effective and non-abrasive.
- Works with iPad Pro and should be compatible with any model.
What we liked about this iPad gear
It is simple, inexpensive, and effective. Being able to paint on your iPad is a pleasure, especially if you couple it with a spider-mount so that it is lifted in front of you like the futuristic easel that it is.
What we felt could use some improvement
While it’s not the fault of the brush, we should note that it doesn’t really produce a paint-like effect for most drawings. This sort of innovation would likely require special, tiny contacts on each individual bristle and a firmware update on any device that used it.
That said, it DOES work well with the airbrush function, so you really do get to ‘paint’ to the current extent of available technology with this paintbrush.
Pricing: Around $23.
Kids of all ages – Upgrade your gaming experience with Gamevice
When you are gaming with your iPad, it proves to be innovative, but clumsy. That is, unless you get these Gamevice controls that fit on the side of your iPad. They can make a noticeable difference that improves your overall gaming experience and makes it more comfortable to play for longer periods of time.
Here is what this innovative iPad accessory brings to the table:
- Controls integrate seamlessly with your iPad.
- No batteries required.
- Compatible with over 950 games.
- Works with iPad, iPad Pro 9.7, iPad Air II, iPad Air.
What we liked about this iPad gear
This bit of gear is amazing for it lets you play without worrying that you are going to mishandle and drop your precious iPad. While we didn’t have a lot of time to test with many games, we can confirm that it works with popular titles like Fortnite, Stardew, and of course, the GTA titles. It does a very good job as a remote PS4 controller too, so this is a nice little piece of technology to have handy.
What we felt could use some improvement
Connectivity might require you to pop it out and back into place if you have left the controllers alone for too long, say a lengthy pause to run an errand while playing. It’s also a little pricey but we didn’t have any other complaints to register. Besides, a good controller is usually well worth the little extra investment.
Pricing: About $168.
Photographers – Add a telephoto lens to your iPad to get amazing new shots
If you love the fact that you have so many megapixels to work with when it comes to iPad photography but curse its lack of mountable lenses, then today is your lucky day. These Black Eye telephoto lenses are a definite game-changer for your iPad photos.
Product highlights
Here is what this innovative iPad accessory brings to the table:
- Includes a Pro Portable G4 Telephoto lens, a Wide G4, and a Macro G4 to give you wider and more detailed shots even when your subject is farther away
- Triple-coated, hand-polished glass lens for natural photo clarity.
- Everything you need to mount the lenses fits nicely in a good-looking case.
- This works not only with iPad but with iPhone and even Android devices, so you might want a few spare sets to keep around in case that perfect potential shot arrives.
What we liked about this iPad gear
We love its adaptability, as all you need to do is mount it over your iPad’s camera and play with it a little to get used to taking your shots the way you like. They are also affordable enough for you to get a few sets so that you can leave one in the car or in a travel bag, just in case you forget your primary lenses.
What we felt could use some improvement
Not as versatile as we would have hoped but it definitely expands the types of shots that you can take with your iPad. Light may be slightly lessened in photos with the presence of the lenses but it seemed to us to be worth the trade-off.
Pricing: About $15 for each set.
Writers – Take some of the sting out of editing with the Donner Footpedal strategy
For most writers, editing is the most grueling part of the process. Understandably, it’s a pain to have to manually turn the pages when all you want to do is to push through the editing process. With these Donner page-pedals, you can use your stylus to highlight edit portions and flip through the pages with ease.
Here is what this innovative iPad accessory brings to the table:
- A fix for the perpetual annoyance of manual page-turning.
- 50+ hours of battery life per charge.
- 30-foot wireless range.
- Great for editing scripts, short stories, novels, or simply for hands-free media management when you want to relax.
- Works with iPad, iPhone, and even a number of additional platforms such as Android, PC, Kindle, and more!
What we liked about this iPad gear
When it comes to convenience, something that you can stow under the desk or the coffee table is an excellent choice. Since it’s wireless, you won’t trip on it, and it works with many, many products. Donner Footpedal fills a niche that we thought would just be overlooked forever as a minor annoyance. We truly liked this product for addressing the issue.
What we felt could use some improvement
We would have liked a more fancy construction to it, though the hard plastic seems to do its job admirably. Also, while it is compatible with most programs and doesn’t need its own software to achieve this, it may not work with programs that incorporate a full-keyboard layout.
Pricing: Approximately $61.
Tech Fumblers: Armor your iPad to the max with this Griffin Survivor All-terrain case
If you love having the latest technology but find yourself often dropping it then you know that the most important gear is often the case! Griffin brings a solid game to the ‘Tech Armor’ department with its Survivor all-terrain case.
Here is what this innovative iPad accessory brings to the table:
- Three-layers of protection confirmed to effectively protect your delicate equipment for up to a 6-foot drop.
- Covered ports help to keep dust out of your iPad.
- Comes with a ‘kickstand’ for propping up your device for outside viewing.
- Non-bulky design protects without making your ultrathin device look like an encyclopedia.
- Works with iPad Air (2019) & iPad Pro 10.5.
What we liked about this iPad gear
This case works as-advertised. It looks good, the stand is sturdy, and, when we dropped our iPad Air a few times on a concrete floor, the device came out functional and without a scratch.
What we felt could use some improvement
You’ll need to use a little more pressure with the screen cover for going back in applications but otherwise, this is just about perfect.
Pricing: Under $63.
Some final words
In our experience, customizing your iPad is one of the great joys of ownership. We hope that the wide range of some of the best iPad accessories listed here has piqued your curiosity at the very least.
If so, then we reserve the right to presume that you’ll be enjoying your brand-new iPad gear soon!