Keyboard recommendations?

That tipped arrow key is definitely a warning sign. Once those scissor switches start to lift at a corner, the plastic clips underneath are usually either fatigued or already snapped, which leads to the key popping off entirely.
Regarding your search for an iClever model that reports battery status: unfortunately, iClever (including the popular BK series) generally does not support the standard macOS Bluetooth Battery reporting protocol. Most of their models rely on a physical LED that flashes red when you hit 10% or a "manual check" shortcut (like Fn + Right Alt on the BK05) where a light flashes a certain number of times.
Since you want that seamless "check the widget" experience like the Magic Keyboard, here are the best options that fit your Mac Mini travel case and report battery levels to macOS:
1. Satechi Slim X1 Bluetooth Backlit Keyboard
This is arguably the closest "Magic Keyboard clone" in terms of build and aesthetics.
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Size: It’s nearly identical in footprint to the basic Magic Keyboard (no numpad).
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Battery Reporting: It does report its battery percentage to the macOS Battery widget and the Bluetooth menu.
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Build: It has a solid aluminum enclosure, giving it that premium, weighted feel you like.
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Bonus: It is backlit (which you can turn off to save power) and uses USB-C for charging.
2. Logitech MX Keys Mini (for Mac version)
If you want the most reliable battery reporting and a slightly more "tactile" feel, this is the gold standard.
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Size: Very compact, specifically designed to be portable.
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Battery Reporting: Fully supports macOS battery status. You can see the percentage in the widget or through the "Logi Options+" software (which is quite screen-reader friendly).
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Build: Metal plate construction. It’s very sturdy and won’t flex in a travel bag.
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Note: The keys have slight circular indentations (dishes) which some users find helps with finger centering, though they feel different from the flat iClever/Apple keys.
3. Macally Small Bluetooth Keyboard (BTMINIKEY / MLUXKEYA)
Macally is a budget-friendly alternative that specifically targets Mac users.
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Size: Ultra-slim, no numpad.
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Battery Reporting: Their newer "LUX" series (metal frame) generally supports macOS battery reporting.
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Build: Unibody aluminum frame. It’s very light and fits easily into slim cases.

I have several. I like them all, although I'm faster on mechanical keyboards. Still, the Magic Keyboard with touch sensor and number pad really rocks, if you don't mind the width. Personally, I think it's worth it. smile.

I definitely prefer the mechanical keyboards as they give me more tactile feedback, but the keys are actually being crushed and they seem to have a bit more key travel. But that’s why it is difficult because it’s hard to tell what kind of keyboard you’re like if you can’t physically get your hands on one. I’ve had those kind of membrane keyboards and I don’t have the soft detect of the keys, but I feel like a lot of that is personal preference. I hope you find the keyboard that works for you.

Would you like a free replacement? contact the seller to make a warranty claim and tel them you want a replacement. Tell them there is an implied warranty of merchantability that is still in effect and that this implied warranty entitles you to choose replacement, money back or repair. Tell them you choose replacement.

Have fun!

For what it's worth to you, I've always been a fan of Logitech keyboards. From my early days of computer use, we are talking mid to late 90s here, to present day. I've always found Logitech keyboards to be pretty long lasting. I've always found the typing experience to be suitable for my needs as well. Of course, I tend to take exceptional care of my hardware. I currently use a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard with my Xbox. Don't ask me what model, because I have no idea at this point. I will say that it has a little USB Adapter that is required in order for the keyboard to connect to various Bluetooth equipment. That may or may not be of interest to you, but I figured I would share that for transparency sake. Nevertheless, I would definitely recommend a Logitech branded keyboard.
Oh, one more thing. I've had my current Logitech keyboard for several years now. 😀

HTH.

Edit: I forgot to mention my keyboard is a legacy keyboard, which simply means it has a built-in numeric keypad.

I was actually pretty impressed with the AI recommendations. I have a Logitech MX Mini. The typing feel and connectivity are excellent and it's a very quiet board. One thing I'm not crazy about is that it has a base which sticks down from the bottom at the back. Perhaps, I got the wrong MX Mini version, but I find that the function keys are set up for Windows and don't give me as many options on IOS. Due to those gripes, I've now obtained a Nuphy Node75 with blush silent switches. The typing experience is nearly identical to the Air75 V3 which I especially treasure. Those two keyboards are the best I've ever found after a quest spanning over a decade and at least twenty keyboards.
I think Protoarc does a better job with their folding keyboards. iClever moved too many keys on the board i tried from them in order to make the folds work. Protoarc managed to have a fold which needed far less rearranging. I have the XK04 which is a 65% keyboard which can fit in a larger pocket. I don't think any of the Protoarc keyboards report their battery status. Keychron and Nuphy keyboards do.
Best of luck with your keyboard quest. I know how daunting the pursuit of perfection can be.

so I kind of, sort of, have a workaround for you, if you're going to use this keyboard on an iPhone, an iPad, or a Mac computer. Just have a battery widget up and running, as it will show the battery percentage of whatever Bluetooth device you currently have connected and active. Not exactly what you're asking for, but better than nothing, no?

Have a slim folio for my iPad. It tells me the percentage of the keyboard battery. Long live meows.

I think I would get a Bluetooth keyboard for an iPhone if I had a way to have that double as my case like you can for iPads. I’m not even sure if this exists. That’s like one of the reasons I’ve never gotten myself a keyboard it would just be one more device for me to have to carry around all the time and keep charged. So I don’t feel like bothering that or another device that I have to keep finding batteries for which I also don’t feel like dealing with so yeah that was my question on this topic thanks to anybody who can answer that

I bought a couple of Logictech keyboards to help with carpel tunnel problems, loved their action and their feel, but I couldn't figure out a way to work around a completely needless Logictech design flaw. Neither of the Logictech keyboards I bought have all three of the command, option and control keys on both sides of the space bar! To the right of the space bar there are only two of the three keys!

So, is there some way to reassign a key to be the missing key over there? Or does Logictech make Mac keyboards that have all three of those keys on both ends of the space bar? Are all the Logictech keyboards mention on this post missing that key?

My have command, action, funtion and control on the left of the space bar. Long live cats.

Actually, no. The Apple Magic keyboard has a control key, an option key, and a command key to the left of the space bar, and a command key, option key and control key on the right of the space bar. Three to each side. No missing keys.

The Logitech keyboards I purchased, however only have two of those keys of the right.

Are all Logitech keyboards like that? Are any of the Logitech ergonomic keyboards three keys on each side of the space bar? Is there some trick to getting some key on the right side reassigned to act as the missing key?

That’s good to know that that exists. I may have to look into that. I’m not sure when I would do it cause I don’t really have too much money for it right now, but I’m gonna have to look into that.

The slim folio for my iPad 9 has 4 keys on the left of the space bar. Long live cats.

I am happy for you both! Unfortunately, what you are talking about is not what I'm talking about, and I can't help but wonder why you aren't answering my questions. Perhaps you simply don't know?

It's totally OK with me if you don't know. I don't know either, which is one reason why I'm asking.

Maybe somebody else can tell me? What do you do to cope with that missing key? There are quite a few right hand commands that use that missing key, VO, For example.

I end up using two hands and stretched fingers for the command on the Logitech. That's on iOS. I don't like it, but that's the only way.
* Had to think about how to describe this. Sometimes I can manage to reach a key on the left with a finger and also hold the control and other modifiers all with the left hand. Otherwise I have to hold control et al with the left and press the keys on the left with my right hand, like if I were one-handed-typing. It makes things slow. You might try out activating sticky keys somewhere under Settings > Accessibility > Keyboards > Sticky Keys, hope that's the right path, if it is a major issue. That is also a slow process too.

Weird that the iClever BK10 doesn't show up on the battery widget. Admittedly I don't use a keyboard with my iPhone, but any Bluetooth device I have connected to it thus far has always shown up on the iOS battery widget. Oh well, luck to you in finding a compatible keyboard.
For those of you with a keyboard that has the FN/globe key, control key, option key, and command key, all to left of the space bar, but only a couple of keys to the right, that is how they are laid out on the MacBook. Just FYI for anyone interested. 🙂

Here are the best options that either provide this layout or allow you to create it:
1. Keychron QMK/VIA Series (Highly Recommended)
Keychron's "Pro" and "Max" lines (like the Keychron K3 Pro or Q1 Max) are your best bet.
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The Layout: Out of the box, they usually have Command and Option to the right.
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The Solution: Because these are QMK/VIA compatible, you can use a web-based tool to "remap" the keys. You can physically move the keycaps and tell the keyboard that the third key (usually Fn) should act as Control.
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Accessibility: Once you remap the key, the change is saved onto the keyboard's hardware. It will work exactly the same way whether you plug it into your iPhone or your PC.
2. Logitech MX Keys "S" for Mac
While the standard MX Keys has a "dual" layout, the MX Keys S for Mac is specifically designed for Apple users.

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Right Side Keys: It typically features Command and Option to the right of the spacebar.
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The Catch: The third key is usually the Fn key. However, using the Logi Options+ software on your computer, you can sometimes customize these modifier behaviors.

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Note: Customizations made in Logitech software often don't "carry over" when you switch to an iPhone; they only work while the software is running on a PC or Mac.
3. Programmable Mechanical Keyboards
If you want a tactile experience that works well with screen readers, look for "fully programmable" Bluetooth keyboards.
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Brands: Epomaker, NuPhy, and Glorious.
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Why they work: Like Keychron, many of these allow you to remap the bottom row. You can set the three keys to the right of the spacebar to be Command, Option, and Control in any order you prefer.

Important Consideration for VoiceOver
When using a Bluetooth keyboard with an iPhone, VoiceOver often relies on the "VO Keys" (Control + Option). On a standard Apple Magic Keyboard, these are only on the left.
If you find a keyboard where you can remap the right-side keys:
1.
Map them as: [Space] [Command] [Option] [Control].
2.
This allows you to perform "Read All" (VO + A) or navigate the "Rotor" using only your right hand.

I don't have a Mac, only an iPhone. On iOS, unless they just fixed it in the last few updates, there is a long, long standing bug that the caps key as VO modifier still activates the caps, so you have to remember to double-press it every time you use it to turn caps off.
It even does this if you plug a wired keyboard into the phone, so it is a software issue with VO and iOS.

All the iPhones now can run iOS 26. Apple didn’t drop any support for any of the phones.

I activated help with the screen gesture. Then I pressed caps once. It announced that caps were on. All the letter keys I pressed were then capped. I pressed caps again to turn it off. Then I held it down and pressed a key to be sure it was using caps as VO, and it was, but it also started capping everything until I pressed caps again. In a web page, if I use caps as VO with "h," it starts moving backwards through headings every other time I press caps.
Every time I press it, it either turns caps on or off in addition to acting as the VO modifier. It has done this from the very beginning when they added that feature. I seem to remember trying to find a way to disable the caps key in settings, but I think that disabled VO also, or something like that.
Quick Nav takes care of a lot of the need for using the VO, on iOS but sometimes it comes up, and I don't use the keyboard enough to get in the habit of double pressing caps every time I use it.

Keep in mind that if you go the route of getting a keyboard case, it likely won't fit the next iPhone you upgrade to. The Clicks Powwer Keys might actually solve that problem since it isn't a case and can attach via MagSafe to your iPhone. You can charge both it and your iPhone using the USB C port on the device. Everything I've read about it suggests that it should be potentially the best longer-term solution to people wanting a keyboard and power bank in one device that attaches to your iPhone.
There are a couple of potential drawbacks though. Chiefly, they relate to the small size of this device. The keyboard is said to be a 40% size keyboard. That's exceedingly small. They attempted to have all of the most important keys immediately present and then have everything else available through key combinations. That's going to be a substantial learning curve to master efficient typing on. I find it hard to imagine this being very comfortable to use. Good in a pinch, but not for extended typing.
As to power, you're basically getting a 2500 MAH battery which can be used to charge your iPhone and for powering the keyboard. That probably won't even charge your iPhone halfway. MagSafe charging isn't the fastest or most efficient way to do the job even if it is very convenient. Nice to have in an everyday emergency where you need a few more hours of charge to finish your day. Not what you want during substantial periods of time away from available power.
For the small sacrifice of having to cary separate devices, you can have a far more comfortable keyboard and substantially larger power bank. Everything could fit in a small shoulder bag weighing no more than ten pounds. There's such a thing as too small.

Old Bear, thanks, but darn! Why did they do that? I'm sure I'll never know.

To Brian, yes. I thought about mentioning that, too, but I didn't want to distract anybody from my questions. The fn key can definitely be helpful, though. smile

So, does Apple offer a mechanical keyboard, or if not, do they have plans for one?

Hi Khomus. I already gave you a few right handed vo commands, but in case I'm having a senior moment (which is known to happen), I'll offer some again.

right handed vo command. Assume for each of the following commands, the letter is combined with the right handed vo.

a
continuous read
d
open dock
f
VoiceOver find command
q
single key quick nav toggle
s
read sentence
t
read text attributes
v
open verbosity rotor
w
read word
ww
spell word
www
spell word phonetically
x
open activity chooser
z
repeat last phrase
tab
ignore next key press

And then there are all the right handed vo function key commands. You are aware of. them? Vo f1? vo f2 f2, to name a couple?

As you know, we also have a variety of commands with the right handed vo plus the shift key, like vo shift c (copy last phrase)? Or, vo shift d? go to desktop? vo fhift f? Open find command menu? vo shift w? Read content of window?

And then there are the vo plus command key commands, and the vo plus command key plus shift commands?

Anyway, Khomus, there are lots more than just those I've listed. Smile. You might want to check them out to refresh your memory.

Joy!

bruce

Is the VO key is the next to the space bar? It never works for me any of the commands you suggest. Only thing that works, is command hh to go to the home in my iPad 9. Long live meows.

Hi Holger, To the right of my space bar are the following keys, from left to right:
command key
option key
control key

The "VO" key isn't a key; it is a combination of two keys pressed together -- the control key and the option key. Pressing these two keys at the same time is what we call the VO command. So, you might want to try pressing VO plus k to turn on your keyboard help function. with it turned on, you can press any keys to find out what they are. You can also press vo plus any keys to find out what the VoiceOver commands are, or you can go to the list of commands which you already know about, e.g., VO plus h.

I hope this helps. Smile.

Hmm. rubbing chin in thought. Am I supposed to say something here about my cat?

I use the keys left of the space bar. Yes, suppose to say Long live cats. Cats want to be gods again. The Egyptians did it and since them, cats want to have it back. Thanks. I did tried it but it is not consistent. Go figure.

Holger, cats are still gods. They never stopped being gods. Ask any cat.

Khomus, I have the same problem with quicknav and only rarely use it. On the other hand, the numpad commander is extremely useful. As for the missing control key on the right, Justin Phillips gave me a way to reassign the fn key on the right and use it instead of the right handed VO keys. I intend to give that a try. Meanwhile, I agree about the capslock but only with the setting that also keeps the vo keys active. Capslock is great, but to have to juggle hands to turn a right handed vo command into left is just too time consuming. Keeping our hands on or close to the home key row is necessary for speed; that's what I learned when I took typing in high school, and that was the best class I ever took. Yes, contortion works, but something more straightforward is my style, which is why I was hoping to find an ergonomic Logitech keyboard that has all 3 keys to the right of the space bar. Sigh. I will just have to content myself with figuring out what Justin was explaining.

Long live cats. I think my is the command, action and function and control but I am not sure anymore.

I've used an older Zagg, an older Logitech and a wired Windows keyboard on the last two iPhones I've used. And yes, the caps as VO is wonderful, if it works right. I think the people who came up with the original plan for Voice Over commands were into Emacspeak or something, with all the love of complicated key combinations. Same with the original version of that Chrome screen reader, the more key presses to do one action, the better.