Dell Pro 7 Rechargeable Compact Keyboard (KB746) Review: Juice Up Your Productivity, Fast

Pros & Cons

- Supercapacitor charges quickly and is rated to last about 3 months
- Includes AES-encrypted Dell Secure Link receiver, plus Bluetooth 6
- Quiet, comfortable, low-profile, scissor-switch keys
- Three-year warranty
- No backlighting
- Configuration software is Windows-only

Dell Pro 7 Rechargeable Compact Keyboard (KB746) Specs

Interface	2.4GHz Wireless
Interface	Bluetooth
Interface	USB Wired
Key Backlighting	None
Key Switch Type	Scissor-Switch
Media Controls	Shared With Other Keys
Number of Keys	104
Palm Rest	None
Passthrough Ports	None

Dell doesn’t build keyboards for the enthusiast crowd, and the Pro 7 Rechargeable Compact Keyboard (model KB746, $59.99) doesn’t pretend otherwise. It’s graphite gray, low to the desk, and shaped to disappear into a cubicle. One design decision sets it apart from most of its competitors: It runs on a supercapacitor rather than a battery, which makes charging much faster. I spent my time with it doing the work it’s built for, drafting emails and pushing through long documents, and it settled into that job quickly. It’s worth a look for both consumers and IT departments as a much cheaper alternative to our top pick for wireless productivity keyboards, the Razer Pro Type Ultra.

Design and Layout: Strong Build Quality, Despite the Plastic

A conventional wireless keyboard stores power in a lithium-ion cell or a set of disposable AAs. Lithium cells degrade, holding less charge after a few hundred cycles until the power. A supercapacitor stores energy electrostatically rather than chemically, so it tolerates far more charge cycles with minimal wear and charges quickly

The practical payoff for the KB746 is twofold. Charging is fast over the bundled USB-C-to-USB-C cable, and Dell rates a full charge at roughly three months of ordinary use. The powerfice buying these in volume, that means fewer support tickets and no drawer of spare AAs. (An added benefit for corporations with sustainability mandates: Dell says the keyboard contains 72% post-consumer recycled plastic by weight.)

The KB746 weighs 1.1 pounds and measures 14.2 inches wide. “Compact” here means the layout is compressed to fit in a slightly smaller frame than other full-size keyboards, not that the number pad is missing, as you’ll find on tenkeyless (TKL) keyboards. It’s light enough to slide into a bag without a second thought, and the flip-out feet gave me a slight tilt that kept my wrists square through a full afternoon of writing. The two-piece plastic chassis doesn’t flex under your palms.

One significant compromise follows from the compact format. The board has no backlighting, and that’s an omission I kept bumping into during testing. Working late with the overhead lights down, I found myself glancing at the keys and getting nothing back. We certainly don’t expect a $60 wireless keyboard to have colorful, customizable RGB backlighting, but many similarly priced office boards manage at least a white glow.

Along the top sit the usual shortcuts, with dedicated Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys. Dell counts 13 programmable keys in all. But customization is pitched toward what an admin provisions for a department, rather than the macro-level tuning most individual power users want. It is possible for end users to customize commands using the Dell Display and Peripheral Manager (which I’ll discuss below), but the company also touts the KB746’s compatibility with the cloud-based Dell Device Management Console, which “is ideal for enterprise environments needing centralized control and policy enforcement.” Translation: The programmable keys and device options are meant to be provisioned centrally, which serves a corporate admin well and an individual user less so.

Setup, Pairing, and Software: Ideal for IT Deployments

Pairing is quick. The Dell Secure Link receiver ships stowed for transit. Drop the Type-A dongle into a USB port, and the board automatically connects. You can use Bluetooth instead, in which case pairing runs through the standard Windows or Mac settings menu.

The catch for Mac users is the software. If your IT department allows it, you can adjust programmable keys and device settings through Dell Display and Peripheral Manager, but that application runs only on Windows. Pair the keyboard to a Mac, an iPad, or a Chromebook, and it types fine, but you lose access to the key customization. For a board that lists macOS, ChromeOS, iPadOS, and Android among its supported platforms, that’s a real asterisk, and it reinforces how squarely this thing is built for a Windows shop.

Connectivity and Security: It’s All Pro

Security is where the keyboard earns its “Pro” label. The Dell Secure Link USB receiver is a Type-A dongle that encrypts the wireless signal with 128-bit AES. Keystroke interception is a real concern in finance, healthcare, and government offices, and most consumer keyboards transmit in the clear. An encrypted receiver is the spec that puts a keyboard on an approved hardware list, and it’s the clearest reason to choose this Dell over an even cheaper board from Dell or another manufacturer. (Note, however, that many similarly priced competing models—including all Logitech boards that use the Logi Bolt receiver—do offer 128-bit AES encryption.)

The compatibility list is broad enough for mixed environments: Windows 10 and 11, macOS 11 or later, Linux and Ubuntu, ChromeOS, iPadOS, and Android. A worker who docks a Windows laptop by day and picks up an iPad in a meeting can carry one keyboard to use with both (with the software caveat I mentioned above).

Typing Feel: Nearly Silent and Comfortable for Long Sessions

This keyboard uses scissor switches, which won’t satisfy anyone used to the travel and snap of a far more expensive mechanical board like the Razer Pro Type Ultra. But for the daily grind of email and long-form writing, the KB746 holds up better than its plain looks suggest. The keystroke is shallow and even, the low-profile keys are the kind most people know from a laptop, and after a couple of hours of steady drafting, my hands weren’t tired. I experienced no fatigue, no reaching, and no fighting the layout.

The quiet is the standout. This board is close to silent in use, the keys landing with a soft, muffled press rather than the clack most membrane boards produce. Typing a long document at my desk, I never heard the keyboard over the other noises in the room, which is exactly what you want if you share space with anyone or take calls while you work.

Comparison Models: At This Price, You Can’t Have It All

Against the office-keyboard field, the KB746’s position is specific. Comparably priced Logitech office boards, such as the Wave Keys, tend to offer a backlight or encrypted wireless, but not both. If you want both, you’ll likely need to step up to more expensive models like the $109 Logitech MX Keys S. Dell’s own cheaper membrane models, such as the KM555, cost less while dropping both the supercapacitor and the encryption. (The KM555 is a $50 mouse-and-keyboard combo we tested as a bundle, but the keyboard can be bought separately.) What the KB746 gives up to that field is a backlight, and for many individual buyers, that absence will decide the purchase before the security spec matters.

Final Thoughts