The M4 iPad Pro is kind of rocking
the world right now, and a big part
of that is because of the new Magic
Keyboard.
And by all accounts, it seems to be
a pretty decent upgrade over the previous generation.
However, there may be a number of reasons
that you don't actually want this Magic Keyboard,
and that's where something like the Logitech Combo
Touch comes into play.
Logitech has been making these Combo Touch iPad
case and keyboard combinations for years now, and
like the Magic Keyboard, it just keeps getting
better.
So in this video, I want to go
ahead and take a look at the brand
new Logitech Combo Touch for the new iPad
Pros with M4.
So setting aside the iPad Magic Keyboard for
now, let's just go ahead and focus on
the Combo Touch.
So let's go ahead and pop it open
and see what's included.
Right away, the packaging is definitely not nearly
as nice as Apple, but it's actually not
bad.
The case seems to be protected pretty well
with this cloth stuff.
I don't know what it is.
And on the bottom, we have the second
piece, which is the keyboard.
Look at that.
Okay.
So yes, right away, this looks more premium
than previous versions of the Combo Touch that
I've had.
So this is definitely a change in material
from previous versions of the Combo Touch.
The previous versions had definitely more of kind
of like a denim type material.
It was a little bit rough.
It has some texture, and it was actually
pretty durable.
My wife used one for a couple of
years.
This one's my daughter's.
She's been using it for a couple of
years, and it holds up pretty well for
the most part, at least the external material
does.
But on this version of the Combo Touch,
it looks like they switched over to be
somewhat similar to the iPad Magic Keyboard.
On this case part, it is kind of
a rubbery texture, a matte feel, kind of
soft touch, very much like the iPad Magic
Keyboard, which here's one right here.
And if I put them side by side,
I mean, wow, they feel basically the same.
So that's interesting that Logitech completely switched up
their external material for the Combo Touch this
time.
I'm not sure if I like that.
On the inside of the case, there is
no microfiber lining.
It's just plastic, and you have your pogo
pins.
You have your cutouts for all of your
speakers and your ports.
And we'll go ahead and test that here
in just a little bit, because sometimes there's
been some issues with cables not being able
to fit inside ports of third-party cases.
So we'll check that out as well.
On the second part of the Combo Touch,
you do have this slab of aluminum on
the bottom right here that looks kind of
nice. It kind of gives you a bit of
a premium feel and something that isn't rubbery
to touch.
But of course, that rubber is all over
this other part, the front part, the part
you're going to touch the most with the
trackpad and the keyboard.
And this guy, that is a huge trackpad.
That is way bigger than the Magic Keyboard,
even the new Magic Keyboard.
So that's going to be fun to check
out. But let's go ahead and get the iPad
into here and see how that goes.
Because with the 10th generation iPad, with the
Combo Touch for that one, I had a
lot of issues getting the iPad into the
case.
It was like the rubber was too stiff
and I really couldn't get the thing into
the darn case.
And it was really frustrating.
So I'm really hoping that this one fits
a little bit easier.
So we'll just go ahead and kind of
place it in here.
Let's start with this corner, I guess.
And we'll just go along the edge and
push in.
We got a little bit of rubber kind
of sticking out.
There we go.
Nope.
There we go.
Now we got pushed in.
Just kind of go along the edge and
hopefully it will all kind snap into place
here.
There we go.
That worked.
Okay.
That worked a lot better than the 10th
generation iPad version that I had.
And this thing feels pretty good.
It's definitely lighter than the previous iPad and
previous Combo Touch.
And yeah, I mean, this is something that
I could definitely use and hold.
And what's nice is that this case is
added protection compared to the Magic Keyboard, which
just pops on and off with magnets.
This case actually gives you a case.
So you don't have to worry about little
bumps and dings when you're setting it on
a table or moving around or maybe in
a bag, which is nice.
Now, if we want to attach the keyboard,
all we have to do is kind of
slightly align on the bottom of the iPad
and it will grab and hold.
And yeah, that is not going anywhere.
Like you don't have to worry about this
thing falling off.
That is nice and tight.
You can pull it off.
If you pull it off at an angle,
it's a little bit easier.
That is solid and it's got a nice
click to it.
And if we fold the entire thing up,
yeah, this feels a lot better than the
previous iPad and Magic Keyboard did.
This is thinner, lighter.
It just feels better overall.
It feels like everything is just kind of
aligned all the way around the sides.
It feels like it's supposed to be like
this.
Now, one of the biggest differences between the
Combo Touch and the iPad Magic Keyboard is
that this is a kickstand design case.
So the back of the case just pops
open, kind of like a Microsoft Surface or
some other cases you might've seen in the
past.
And I know a lot of people really
like this design because what it does is
it gives you the flexibility to actually angle
the iPad to whatever angle works for you.
If you're trying to avoid glare or you're
trying to hide what you're doing, something like
that, you can just angle it to whatever
makes sense.
Of course, the downside is it has a
large footprint.
So compared to the iPad Magic Keyboard, which
would just have a footprint like that, or
just like your laptop, just the base of
the device, this thing has to lean back
and account for that kickstand on the back.
And most of the time, if you're at
a desk or a table or something like
that, that is completely fine.
There's plenty of room to do something like
that.
But this isn't the most optimal design for
trying to use on your lap, like you
would use a laptop.
Although the Magic Keyboard isn't great either because
it likes to flip over.
Although the new one's probably a little bit
better.
But of course, one of the biggest benefits
of this design is that the keyboard comes
completely off.
So you can use it like an iPad,
like a tablet without having a weighted keyboard
attached.
You can also connect the keyboard and just
flip it around.
So if you don't want to discard the
keyboard because maybe you're going to forget it,
or maybe you're at an airport, you don't
want to set it down or whatever.
You can just flip the keyboard around to
the back.
And now you can still use your iPad
as an iPad.
And the keyboard is off when it's flipped
around the back.
So you don't get any false inputs, which
is nice.
But then you can have the whole device
without having to worry about, I guess, losing
your keyboard.
For a slightly better feel, if you don't
like the feel of the keys on the
back of the iPad, when you're holding it,
you can pop this off, flip it around
backwards and put it behind the iPad.
And now you have a nice aluminum surface
to put your hands on instead of the
keys.
Again, if you don't want to remove the
keyboard from the iPad.
Now, one thing I don't really love about
this design of the kickstand is that it's
really hard to see where you even open
it from.
So all around the edges is just a
really thin little bit where you might be
able to get a fingernail under to pop
it open and pull it.
At the very bottom near the hinge, there
is a little bit of a mitered out
or cut out piece that allows you to
get a little bit more fingernail in there.
But I wish that it was a little
bit more obvious or a little easier to
pop open the kickstand.
All right. So let's check out this keyboard and trackpad.
And like I said, this trackpad is huge.
Just for comparison, here's the new magic keyboard,
which Apple made a big deal about it
being much bigger compared to the combo touch.
Like it's crazy.
It's got to be at least 50 or
60% bigger.
That's a lot of room for gestures because
this, of course, is a multi-touch trackpad.
And just like with Apple's cases, all you
need to do is wake up the iPad,
swipe up, and you are in.
And there are all the regular multi-touch
gestures that you expect for sliding and swiping
and scrolling and getting to the app menu.
All that stuff just works exactly like Apple's
trackpads do, except now you have a lot
more room to actually do those gestures.
I do want to point out that this
trackpad can be pressed anywhere.
It's not a diving board style, which means
if coming from any Apple product from the
last 10 years, you're going to appreciate that
you don't have to deal with an old
style diving board trackpad.
Although one thing I noticed right now is
that there's quite a gap between the trackpad
and the case when you push down it,
leaving a lot of room for probably crumbs
and dirt and sand or whatever else might
get in there.
There's a lot of space for something to
happen.
So definitely going to have to watch out
for that.
Okay. I was really curious.
So here's the trackpad size comparison compared to
the 14-inch MacBook Pro.
It's about the same width, but it definitely
is higher than the 14-inch MacBook Pro.
And if we take a look at the
15-inch MacBook Air for comparison, the 15
-inch MacBook Air still has a larger trackpad,
but this is by no means small and
definitely plenty big for everything you would need
it for.
So let's go ahead and check out the
typing experience on the new Combo Touch.
And I mean, right away, it feels very
much like the iPad Magic Keyboard.
They've been doing a really good job with
their keyboards lately.
Like I can almost not feel a difference
typing on this compared to the iPad Magic
Keyboard, which is great because I love the
Magic Keyboards.
So there really is no kind of mental
change moving from one to the other.
So if you're using a laptop and then
you switch over to use this with an
iPad, it should be extremely familiar.
This is a full-size keyboard on the
13-inch version.
Of course, the 11-inch version is going
to be a little bit smaller, a little
bit tighter, but on this 13-inch version,
it feels really good.
Up at the top, you have a full
set of function keys for sleep, volume, media
control, take a screenshot, Siri dictation.
You can actually change the backlight of the
keyboard.
I don't know if you can really see
that.
There's a backlight on this keyboard.
You can change the brightness of the display
from the keyboard.
And there is a home button, which will
take you home.
Or if you double tap it, it will
get you to the app switcher.
There's one last thing I do want to
check out on this case, and that is
the port cutout for Thunderbolt or USB-C.
In previous versions of the ComboTouch, the port
had some issues with not being large enough
for a lot of cables.
So I wanted to test out a few
of them here.
First up, I have Apple's cable, which comes
with the iPad.
So this is a nice kind of braided
black cable and it's matching the space black
iPad.
But this one, let's see if it fits.
Oh yeah, that fits no problem right inside
there.
What about this charging cable from Ugreen, a
channel partner?
That one fits just fine as well.
So it looks like if you have a
slim enough cable, it's going to fit in
there just right.
And what about a Thunderbolt cable?
This iPad does have Thunderbolt and it is
a pro iPad, so nope, it doesn't look
like that's going to fit.
That's disappointing.
Why would you want to connect Thunderbolt to
a Thunderbolt-equipped iPad Pro?
Now what about Apple's Thunderbolt cable?
Okay, so Apple's Thunderbolt cable actually fits, but
you don't want to go out and spend
like $90 on a Thunderbolt cable, do you?
So it looks like a number of cables
will fit, but you may have to go
out and get a different one if yours
doesn't for some reason.
Overall, my first impressions of the new Logitech
Combo Touch for the iPad Magic Keyboard are
pretty positive.
It's a very familiar design to the previous
Combo Touches.
So if that's something you're interested with, the
kickstand design and having a case and being
able to detach the keyboard, then this is
probably a good option.
Plus it's quite a bit cheaper than the
Magic Keyboard.
The 11-inch version comes in at $229
compared to $300 for the Magic Keyboard.
And for the 13-inch Combo Touch, it
comes in at $259 compared to $350.
So if you want to save some money
compared to the iPad Magic Keyboard and still
get a great case keyboard combo that doesn't
require Bluetooth or charging or any of that
mess, definitely check this guy out.
And of course, I will be doing a
full comparison against the iPad Magic Keyboard.
So if you have questions about these two
devices or which one's better or whatever, let
me know down below and I will answer
those in that video.
But if you're looking for a step-by
-step guide on how to set up a
brand new iPad, check out this video right
over here, where I walk through the entire
process.
Hit the thumbs up button if you liked
it, hit subscribe if you want, and I'll
see you next time.