Looking for a Reliable Keyboard❓

Check Out This Review of the Logitech MX Keys Keyboard from a Power User. Find Out Why It’s Worth the Investment. 👀

It’s time to Discover the Real Deal Behind this Keyboard: A Comprehensive One-Year Review from a Dedicated User.

The Logitech MX Keys has been my daily driver keyboard for the last year, and I’m going to share my thoughts on it. ☝️

In order to understand my review, you need to know a little bit about my use case. I made the purchase decision for this keyboard one year ago, and I have been very happy with it ever since. I will share what I like about it, as well as the few things that I have had problems with.

The first thing that I want to discuss is the overall form factor and design of the keyboard. The MX Keys costs $100 and is a premium product.👇

This, as you can see, has a full ten-key setup. There is also a new version that has no ten keys, so it is just the normal narrow keyboard setup. In either case, they run $99 each.

This is the black version, which is designed specifically for either Mac or PC. There is a Mac-only version so on my version, you have the combined Command and Options keys at the bottom, the Start key for Windows, etc.. So all of those are dual-purpose keys, whereas on the Mac-only version, you will just have the Mac-specific keys.

I kind of wish that there was a Windows-specific version, a PC-specific version, rather than having to have the combined keys, but most of the time, you’re not even looking at it so it really doesn’t matter that much. 😀

In terms of keys and key layout, I think it’s great as there’s mostly nothing to complain about, and it’s well-spaced. I particularly love the fact that it has full dedicated up, down, left, and right arrow keys, as well as a full number pad. Since I work extensively with spreadsheets, I frequently use the number pad, making it extremely useful for me. 🙌

While some people may opt for the newer option at the same price, I personally have a strong affinity for this keyboard and wouldn’t trade it.

One thing that I don’t love, and this goes back again to my use of spreadsheets, is the fact that we have a very large, oversized escape key (as you can see below).

Do you notice how big the Escape key is? 👀 Especially when compared to the previous keyboard I used to have.

Effectively, with the larger escape key, all of these function buttons are pushed to the right from where they sit on many other keyboards.

If we compare the MX keys to the Logitech MK470, you can see that on the MK470, the F1 key sits directly above the one key, the F2 above the two, and so on. This is more in line with what I’m used to seeing on keyboards and what my muscle memory is accustomed to.

On the MX keys, the F1 key is closer to the two than it is to the one, which shifts everything over. For me, this becomes a big problem because there’s one specific function key that I use a lot in Excel, and that’s F2, which is how you enter a cell.

With the keys shifted over, I still don’t have the full muscle memory like I used to, and I wind up pressing F1 all the time, which brings up the Help screen in Excel. It takes a second to come up, and then I have to close it out, which is a big hassle.

That’s one thing I wish they hadn’t done to offset those, because it has really thrown a wrench into my workflow. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s dealt with this issue. 😐

The only other thing I don’t like about the key layout is specific to the function keys as there is a function key on the right-hand side, but not on the left-hand side. It’s a minor issue, but I had gotten used to using my left hand for certain commands on my previous keyboard that required the function key. I had to relearn how to execute those commands on this keyboard.

I wish Logitech had found a way to make all the buttons a little smaller or to make the spacebar smaller to fit a function key on both sides. I’m confused as to why they didn’t do that. 😟

I think there are a couple of interesting keys.

For example, there’s a lock key on the top right-hand side that I find useful. While it may not be critical for my use case, it could be handy for locking your computer when stepping away, particularly in an office setting. Additionally, there’s a calculator button that I didn’t expect to use much, but it has turned out to be quite convenient. ✅

I used calculators semi-regularly, but since the calculator button is at my fingertips, I can now quickly open the Windows calculator with just a tap. It’s so snappy that I’ll pop it open in the middle of my day for a quick calculation. Tbh, I never thought I would use it as much as I do, but I really appreciate having that button there. ☺️

The function keys and the keys across the top are programmable.

You do have the ability to control what they do within the software, so that’s a good option if you have specific needs and want to have specific setups for your workflow. I had very few that I needed to customize; I don’t do anything crazy, but I mostly liked the defaults of how it was set up.

In terms of the keys themselves for typing, this is something that I came into with decent expectations, and I was honestly blown away by what I thought compared to what I got.

Let me explain❗️

The keys themselves have a really nice feel to them. They’re almost a tiny bit tacky, and there’s a little bit of a rubbery feel even after a year of tapping away on them and having that feeling wear away. There’s still a nice little texture that helps prevent sliding around, and it just enhances the overall feel. 😁

The keys themselves are square with a circular concave structure to them, which fits your fingertips perfectly and makes typing very efficient. I’m not trying to sound good or anything like that, but it’s completely true that I have been typing better on this keyboard in the last year than I ever have before in my life.

In terms of the key travel, feel, sound, and all of that, I’d say it’s somewhere between a laptop and more of a mechanical keyboard. It doesn’t have as much travel as a mechanical keyboard, but it’s definitely more portable than a laptop. It’s not as clicky as the old MacBooks, which is something that I absolutely hate. If it were anywhere in that ballpark, I would not be happy with it.

However, the key travel is soft and has a nice resistance to it. It’s not as crisp as some people might like, but I find it to be a satisfying typing experience. 😇

So overall, I think the typing experience is really good. It’s a great high-end keyboard in terms of the fact that you’re not going to miss your keys because I think the shape of the keys is really nice.

Other than in those couple places where I wish that they had added a key and moved some keys, I’m very happy with the overall structure of the keyboard. ⌨️

In terms of connectivity, there are two different ways you can do it, either directly through Bluetooth or you can use a Logitech dongle (a USB-A dongle comes included).

I have generally used Bluetooth (I have not had any issues with just direct Bluetooth between my devices).

In terms of charging, there is a USB Type-C port on the back, and then that’s also where you’ll see the power button so that’s how you’re going to flip it on and off. It is going to be relatively important that you turn it off when you’re not using it.

The battery life on this keyboard is great. 🙌

If you are using it with the included backlight, it will last you about ten days, as stated on the Logitech product page, and I would say that’s accurate. It charges quickly too, taking only about 4 hours to charge from 0 to 100%, and 0 to 60% in just 30 minutes. 🔋

If you don’t use the backlight, it can last for up to half a year. I have to say that if you work in a well-lit office, you probably won’t need to have the backlight on, and you won’t have to worry about charging it more than once or twice a year.

The Logitech MK470 uses two AAA batteries that can last for at least 6–12 months of daily use. However, it doesn’t have a backlight (that’s the trade-off you’re making) and the energy required to power the backlight is what affects the battery life of the MX Keys as you can probably already tell. 👀

That being said, the backlight is one of the cooler features of the MX Keys. It has a sensor that illuminates the keys as you hover your hands over the keyboard, rather than only turning on when you press a key.

Keep in mind that the constant sensing feature contributes to the battery drain, as it keeps checking for any movement around the keyboard.

That is one thing I think is one of the coolest features, just as your hands approach, it lights up, welcoming you. The trouble is that I’ve had some instances where it has been glitching. I haven’t been able to figure out a complete fix for it, but I’ve had some days where it will turn on and then eventually turn off, and then without me doing anything, it’ll turn back on and then turn off.

I have no idea if there’s something wrong with the sensor, if there’s something in my room that’s triggering it, or if it’s an issue with my keyboard specifically. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what it is. It hasn’t been too much of a hassle because generally, if you’ve got it on, you’re using it and your hands are on the keyboard, and if not, you’re turning it off, and it’s not a problem.

For me, it’s not a major inconvenience as I have not been using it too much in the dark. In that case, I think it might be problematic if I were having that issue, but hopefully, that wouldn’t be something that’s pervasive. I think it’s probably just something with my environment or my keyboard specifically.

In all cases, I use this occasionally for gaming, and I have noticed some little blips where if I’m moving my character around and I’m just holding down a movement key, at some point, it will kind of hiccup or stop, and because the key is still pressed, it doesn’t register until I release and put it back down. I think that is just a slight connectivity hiccup that happens every once in a while. It’s not built as a gaming peripheral; it’s built for productivity.

I’ve never had an issue where I’ve been typing during my workday and hadn’t had a blip like that, so I think it’s strictly in a case where you’re going to have more of that sustained, specific use around gaming or something like that.

If you’re looking for a gaming-specific keyboard, maybe look elsewhere, but I don’t think you’re going to run into any connectivity issues like that when you’re just using it for productivity at work.

The last thing that I wanted to talk about was multi-device, and this is my absolute favorite process, feature, and part of the keyboard as a whole. 😜

I’m going to talk about these last buttons on here that I have not referred to yet. Right above your insert home page, you’ve got a one, a two, and a three, and this allows you to store three different devices and switch between them instantly.

I think this is the best feature of this keyboard, and there are also a few other Logitech devices that have this. ✔️

I saw that they’ve gradually been bringing it more into the budget market; This is obviously a relatively high-end keyboard and so it started up at this end, they’ve gradually been releasing some cheaper items with it.

In summary, I think it’s an absolutely invaluable tool if you’ve got numerous devices that you’re switching between and you want to use the same keyboard and the same mouse for those functions.

Overall, I think it’s a great keyboard, but the $99 price tag is probably a little steep for some people. The typing experience is the best that I’ve ever encountered (and I owned more than 10 different ones in my lifetime). Like I said, I type better on this device than I have with any device previously.

Other than a few minor quirks (a few little button placement, connectivity and lighting things that have been a minor inconvenience during the last year), there’s really nothing to complain about in terms of the keyboard setup.

What can I say folks, I’ve really had a great experience with this so if you’re looking for a productivity keyboard, and particularly if you’re looking for one that is able to switch between devices instantaneously, then definitely consider the Logitech MX keys. ✔️

Key Takeaways! 😎

• The Logitech MX keys has been my daily driver keyboard for the last year and I have been very happy ever since. 😃
• Logitech MX keyboards is $99 and the black version is designed specifically for either Mac or PC. The only thing on the key layouts that I don’t like is specific to the function keys.
• If you are using it with the included backlight, it’ll last you about ten days. If you don’t use the backlight though, it can last for up to 6 months.
• The Logitech MX keyboard allows you to store three different devices and switch between them instantaneously, which I think is really cool and unique. 😉

If you enjoyed this article, make sure you check out my previous review of this keyboard as well, where I discussed other cool things about the product:

Let me know your feedback in the comments! 😉

Design concepts made by author