Keyport Review

How many keys are on your keychain?  One?  Two?  Three?  As for me, I carry 10 keys at any given time.  It might sound a lot but it’s actually the bare minimum for me.  Daily I carry 2 car keys, 2 PO Box keys, a house key, garage door key, 3 office keys, and a key for the old house.  And yes, 10 keys make a very big and heavy load in my pockets.  So how does the Keyport help in my situation?  It does so by fitting 6 keys into a nice and neat slot-based enclosure.

Having 10 keys on a keychain not only looks ugly, but it’s also a tough job having to carry it around the whole day in my pockets.  So that’s why I decided to review the Keyport when I found out that they were releasing it.

What is the Keyport?  I read about the Keyport 3 years ago when they first released a few graphical designs of the Keyport product.  My initial reaction was that the Keyport looked great, and the idea of it holding 6 keys was amazing.  Then I found out that their suggested price was $300 and that I would have to send my keys to them to be cut and put into the Keyport.  That didn’t sound reasonable from a consumer’s point of view.  Many people online had the same reaction and gave negative feedback on forum sites.  I  forgot about the Keyport, thinking it was just some vaporware – just a rendering of a nonexistent product.  But that was 3 years ago . . .

In 2010, I got an email from Keyport stating that they indeed have designed the Keyport and are ready to ship.  I clicked on to their site and read up on their product again.  First, they lowered the price of the Keyport to $79 and $99, depending on what model you choose.  Secondly, they don’t require the consumer to ship their keys to them to be cut.  The 2 main problems that everyone on the forums complained about have been solved!  And that’s why I give their R&D and PR departments an A+ grade.

The whole ordering process starts by printing out a PDF document that you place your keys on and use as the background as you take pictures of both the front and back of your keys.  This will allow them to determine what key blanks to send to you.  You just email the pictures of the form to them, and you’ll get a reply in a day or two telling you which key blanks correspond to which key.

I was sent the key blanks and the Keyport.  I took the blanks to a local hardware store to have them cut.

Included with the Keyport are 6 color-coded nodes.

There are 6 ports that the 6 keys will slide out from in the front.

Keyport also etched in a serial number to help identify your keys if you happen to lose them.

The 6 color-coded nodes have tiny springs in them.  They are placed on the cut keys.

To assemble, you remove the end cover, then you slide the keys, with the nodes facing out, in through the back of the Keyport.

A 2” lanyard is included to attach to a loop on the rear cover of the Keyport.

I noticed that the plastic rear cover of the Keyport where the lanyard is threaded through doesn’t look as strong as it should.  I have a bad feeling that the lanyard will rip the rear plastic cover.  I know most people probably won’t use the lanyard, since having 6 keys will be probably enough for them.  They will just carry the Keyport by itself without it being hooked up to another keychain, but I have a few more keys to carry along with the Keyport.  The earlier design (see the last two pictures, above) of the Keyport 3 years ago shows a metallic-like loop for the keychain, which looks like it would be more durable in the long run.

For my tests of the Keyport, I arranged the cut keys so the ones needing the strongest turning torque  were in the middle of the Keyport.  The reason for that is that the Keyport flexed a tiny bit if I located a key that required a lot of turning torque on the outside of the Keyport.

Here’s a picture of the Keyport with all 6 keys exposed.  And one with the Keyport on the keychain.

Size comparison of the Keyport with my other car key fobs.  Left to right, 2000 Benz ML320, 2007 BMW 760Li, Keyport (with a 2003 Toyota Rav4 key inside), 2009 Aston Martin DB9, and 2008 Porsche Cayman S.

The Keyport comes in 4 metallic colors: blue, pink, gunmetal, and brushed stainless.

Keyport also offers a $99 bundle that will allow you to put in a transponder-chipped key for those cars that require it.

For $79, some might think that it’s still pretty expensive.  But personally, I think it’s reasonable for having something this stylish, and it does reduce the weight of my keychain.  There is less metal in my pockets.