Climate Pledge Friendly
Look at the photos I’ve included with this review of some of my old keyboards, these are only the ones I still have stacked in my closet, they are just a few of the estimated hundred or so keyboards I’ve ever owned. There are many kinds of people who use this common human interface devices - programmers, gamers, soccer moms, and people like me who write a lot for a living. I’m the kind of person who misses the feel of the IBM Selectric typewriters. Sorry, you can skip ahead if I have to explain what a typewriter is.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
The very first impression is positive, it has a good overall feel to it. l it looks good (important to me in my home studio where the look is a big thing). It feels solid, no plasticky and the keys seem to be well positioned and ergonomic.
COMPARED TO LOGITECH’S BEST
What I’m going to try to do is compare this to the obvious predecessor, the K740 which I will refer to as the original or the classic. That was the keyboard the world said was the best ever and after a long absence it is kinda back, in some form or another.
IT’S NOT ALL ROSY
In every life some rain must fall and they must have had a leaky roof at Logitech. I have harbored the suspicion since the big disease that there are a lot of people clinging to their jobs and they have to look busy to keep the paychecks rolling in. Why else do they change things that don’t need to be changed? Yes I know that the basic computer keyboard hasn’t changed much since IBM and Apple first offered them sometime back in the last century and what else would explain some of the obscure keys that never get touched? But to change the names of things that everyone is used to, why is that necessary except change for the sake of change. I envision the people who design these things as not being people who have used a keyboard every day since they were knee high to a grasshopper. Whether you are a hunt and peck; or a lightning fast typist who never looks at the keys or somewhere in-between like me who can type by feel but glances at some keys for reassurance the paramount goal of a keyboard designer should be to keep not only the look but the feel of their product familiar. Somewhere in the past few years the last part of that goal has completely disappeared with the shape, height, color, lettering location and almost everything else being changed by every manufacturer just for the sake of style.
NOISE
I referred earlier to that ancient typewriter with the rapidly spinning ball. One thing that set it apart from all others of its generation was how relatively quiet it was and the noise it did make was reassurance to the cadence of a typist. I’m not sure cadence is something that is known to keyboard designers because most of their products just don’t have it. We humans that use that rhythm to be able to think and type rapidly without anything to disrupt our thought process. I showed you my stack of current keyboards, most of them mechanical and therefore expensive, and they all make a plasticky rickety and loud sound, partially because of their design you can wiggle each key in all directions. In the plus column, this MX model is as silent as it gets.
ILLUMINATING THE MAIN FEATURE
The main event for this keyboard is the lighted keys, and there is no shortage of controversy about how that feature is executed. Let’s cut to the chase - I think they not only missed the bullseye but missed the entire target. The first flaw is that the keys are NOT laser etched with each keycap’s digit lighting up brightly and clearly like the original classic we all loved. In fact the lettering barely lights up and if you choose to turn the lighting off, or move your fingers away for more than five seconds they entire keyboard almost entirely goes black, making it nearly impossible to read during the day (or until your fingers are almost touching it, and then it is very slow to light up). The original keyboard had bright white lettering on dark keys and it was equally easy to read if the keys were lit or not. Sorry folks if your vision is less than perfect, for you I say look elsewhere, that issue makes this keyboard 100% unacceptable. But the most glaring issue, (and why aren’t people calling them out on this?) is that the light leaks around every single key and if you are sitting back - who looks straight down at a keyboard - the glare hits you squarely in the eye, a major distraction. So much for your creativity, that flaw can cost them a rating star for anyone who depends on an environment conducive to productivity. I should add that for a keyboard that interacts with your computer via Bluetooth I’m surprised they dropped the excellent on-screen display that reminded you when your were in all-caps mode, this one relies on a tiny LED that can never be seen while typing because your fingers are covering it, and even if you move your fingers away the light shines straight up and is dim when viewed at an angle. Again, who looks at their keyboard from straight above it?
THE PERFECT TOUCH
A perfect set of keys only moves in two directions, up and down and each of them moves exactly the same length and that length is neither too much nor two little to prevent writer fatigue. The question is did they get it right with this one? I’ll say again, that is a question of opinion, the one and only way you will know is to buy it and try it and keep it if you like it. My opinion as valid as all of the other thousands of them here none of them can tell you how it will feel to you. For what it’s worth, if I compare this to what thousands have called the best keyboard ever built, the K740, I think it comes very close. The keys are cupped but the classic original’s were curved more in one direction, front to back with sides that came up to gently slide your finger into the middle of the key for a perfect touch. These aren’t so perfect, you have to be more accurate to hit each key right in the center to achieve that same feel. If you were a fan of the classic here’s the good/bad news - it feels like they used the same basic guts to design these keys, making the key caps much thinner an like chiclet keys but with the same keystroke travel, the same sound (or lack of it) and basically if you liked typing on the original you will be right at home here, it’s almost (but not quite) as good.
VALUE
It costs two to three times what the classic original cost before keyboards became trendy and Logitech made the tragic mistake to discontinue it. If that keyboard were offered today, even at inflated prices, I’ll bet it would outsell everything else they make. For those who were observing, for a short time, they actually did revive it with the same product name but all new chiclet keys - it was an unmitigated disaster and it was quietly pulled and all mention of it erased from memory. I have to be clear that the subject is apples and oranges because this model is wireless and everything costs more in today’s world. I swallowed hard and, serendipitously on the same day I started researching this it was on sale, sent my hundred bucks in, hoping not to be disappointed. In the end the final word is that all things considered this is a “good” value.
USING IT
I’ve talked about what it should be, now let’s talk about what it is. Being a person who writes a lot I plugged it in the moment it arrived and started back at work. For all its flaws it is better than any keyboard on that stack in my photo and still a very nice keyboard to type on for long sessions. If you have no other choice, and among every other keyboard this company and every other company makes, this one does score at or near the top in simply feeling good, then learn to ignore the negatives and adapt yourself to its peculiarities.
BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED
You should know right upfront that this thing joins the list of electronic products that use rechargeable batteries (that’s good if you want a wireless keyboard) but what’s bad is you can’t replace them, thus joining the never-ending chant of what people don’t like about Logitech - their products are designed to wear out, after which you have to throw them away.
BATTERY LIFE
Battery life is not bad but nowhere near their own MX mouse, which doesn’t make sense to me. They could have put a wrist support on it to house a larger battery, why didn’t they? But that’s a downfall of having it light up. The battery lasts longer if you turn the lights off but if you don’t want to use the lights why are you looking at this keyboard? Don’t. And if you do realize that the keycap lettering is too dark to read, unlike their successful original illuminated keyboard. So resign yourself to having to recharge it about once a week. If you go battery only it will activate the smart lighting that only goes on when its dark and/or when it senses your hand near it. You can choose to leave it plugged in to the charger, which will keep the light on much longer, but it will also keep a very bright charging light glaring in your eyes and most experts agree that leaving something plugged in after it’s charged will shorten the battery lifespan. On a related subject, another odd design quirk is they waste three large keyboard positions that could have been useful to dedicated buttons to sync it to three devices, which not everyone will do, yet they bury the power switch in an inconvenient location on the back and on top of that it’s a slide switch that requires using one hand to hold the keyboard from sliding around while turning it on and off.
YES NO MAYBE
Yes they did a lot of right things here and it would not be fair to lower their rating too far but they already lost one star, should I take away even more because they don’t include a wrist rest? Their twenty buck one is cheap and ineffective, and you can buy the same thing for a buck or two at the discount stores. They at least should have designed one that snaps on and is low profile like the product itself. Also a detraction is the tilt angle is not very adjustable, it’s not that bad but I prefer slightly more of a tilt.
There are several bottom lines to this story, the most important is that this is only an opinion, as are all reviews. If you think you are leaning toward it, buy it and try it. I did and I’m writing this after just a few days with it. I may or may not keep it, and that is not a ringing endorsement. After all I’ve said my number one fear is that it seems to use the identical keys as the K740 and I had three of those that wore out, and as is predicable with Logitech products they all went bad sooner than they should have. One of the most common problems was that the moving parts are delicate and as smooth and quiet and nice feeling as they are I know this one will meet the same fate. And it’s a lot more expensive than its predecessors. And when that happens I will feel bad and depending on how soon that happens I will probably come back and take anywhere from one to four more stars away. For me this hinges on a delicate balance between maybe and almost yes.
| Brand | Logitech |
|---|---|
| Item model number | 920-009294 |
| Hardware Platform | Linux |
| Operating System | Linux, Windows 11, Windows 10 |
| Item Weight | 1.9 pounds |
| Package Dimensions | 17.85 x 5.83 x 1.61 inches |
| Color | Graphite |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacturer | Logitech |
| ASIN | B07S92QBCJ |
| Date First Available | September 4, 2019 |
