NanoKEY 2 White : Surprisingly useful

Given the low price, I bought this controller on a whim. On taking it out of the box and giving the keys a quick play, I was immediately disappointed - the keys felt spongy and indistinct, with little tactile feedback. Connecting the device and loading up a softsynth told a different story; In spite of the poor key feel, velocity sensitivity is remarkably good and it is easy to play lines with consistent velocity across the full range. The keys work particularly well for drum programming, where a conventional keyboard action tends to fall down.

The pitch and mod buttons are a little pointless IMO, as they are simple on/off switches that don't seem very useful. The octave buttons are nicely designed, with a multi-coloured LED indicating the octave shift.

The included software bundle is very good and justifies the purchase price alone. You get Korg M1 LE, EZ Drummer Lite, a bundle of AAS session instruments, a lite version of Reason and a €30 voucher off any version of Ableton Live.

This keyboard would obviously be fantastically useful for mobile music, but I could also see it as being a good option for someone starting out in computer music on a small budget. I'm really taken with this little controller and can see all sorts of uses for it.