What is going on, everybody?
I am Mike, welcome back to Tech 24/7 TV.
I'm glad that you're back with me today because we are talking
about the ever important subject of keyboards.
Now, if you are aware of this channel.
I love keyboards.
And today we're going to talk specifically about the twelve
point-nine inch (12.9") IPad Pro.
We're going to look at the brand new Logitech
Combo Touch, see whether it's worth the two hundred twenty
dollars ($229) that it costs or if you just go big and buy
the Magic Keyboard.
I am Mike, this is tech 24/7 TV.
Let's get started.
Now before we get the review, folks, if you like
iPad content, you want to see more iPad content.
I love iPad content.
I love keyboards.
I love the iPad.
And I got more coming the way for the twenty twenty one iPad
Pro in terms my full review, some more
benchmarks and testing.
So make sure you subscribe turn out of applications because you
don't want to miss out.
Now if you were anything like me, you want to be able to
accomplish meaningful work when you're at your iPad in a very
fundamental piece of that is going to be the keyboard that
you type on every day.
Now it's not an easy choice because there's just a sea of
different keyboards that are available from the iPad.
You go to a standalone keyboard, you can go
to something with an integrated case,
you want to trackpad.
I would say almost certainly unless you're going be
using a mouse.
And there's really just a handful of choices at this
point in time that you can choose from.
You have Apple's Magic Keyboard,
which for the twelve point-nine inch (12.9") iPad Pro
is $350 dollars.
That's just about a third of the cost of your iPad.
It has a great happy experience.
The track pad is very responsive.
To viewing angles
Could be better, but, you know,
beggars can't be choosers.
Now, that is where the Combo Touch from Logitech comes in.
Now, I've reviewed the previous Combo touch for the seventh and
eighth generation iPad, and I even review the Foleo touch for
last year's 11th generation iPad.
But everyone asked me, hey, where is this for the twelve
point nine inch iPad Pro?
Well, Logitech listened and they certainly have
delivered this year.
This is the twelve point nine inch Combo Touch.
And as I mentioned, it's two hundred twenty-nine dollars
($229) and I will put links in the description below.
If you want to go and pick up one for yourself.
And this is a Foleo case for the iPad Pro that has
a backlit keyboard.
It's got a full roll function keys, and it has a
very large trackpad.
And it gives you a typing and productivity experience that is
the same, if not better, than the Magic Keyboard on
many different levels.
There are a few things that I don't like about it, but we'll
get into that.
It is what I would call full case protection, you know,
it's definitely not a thin case because it weighs just over
with the iPad three point six pounds.
It's thick with two C's for sure.
But when you look at this, when you open it up, it does
have a number of different what I would call attractive
features to it.
So first of all, it has a kickstand in the back which
will rotate anywhere between 20 degrees and 60 degrees and
which is allows it to be used one of four different modes.
Now, the very basic mode that you have here is the
typing mode, right where you have the iPad in the case with
the keyboard attached.
You can use it here in typing mode.
Now, let's say I want to use in the consumption mode.
I'm just going to put the iPad down and I have
this kickstand here.
I can use it, I can FaceTime,
I could stand it straight up like this if I wanted to,
which maybe I don't know what the use case would be
for this.
But either way.
Now, if you didn't want to use in typing, let's, say you want
to take the keyboard case off and maybe just watch content
while you're holding it, you could certainly do
that like this.
The keyboard itself, since it does use the smart connector,
it will go ahead and wrap around the back so you can hold
it like this.
You don't want to lose your keyboard, which is nice.
The problem with this is because it's still heavy.
Like I said, it's three point six pounds with
this keyboard attached.
I would prefer not to do this and leave this off,
but that's just me.
You could tell me what you would think they'd like
to do below.
And then also I can use it in that fourth mode, which is
going to be in this easel
mode.
I could take my iPad pencil.
I can navigate this way.
I can use this to draw.
And I actually like this mode a lot.
I would tell you that this has a lot of great features.
This is very protective around the edges.
All the cutouts for the speakers and the microphones
are all cut out.
These buttons are not necessarily hard to push.
They do have a good feeling to them and they're very tactile.
There is the cut out here on the bottom from where the USB-C
port is, and it does allow USB plugs of many different sizes
to be used here.
Now, the disadvantage that you have against the Magic Keyboard
is that there is only one port.
You can only power your iPad from here.
You couldn't connect to a second device like you can on
the Magic Keyboard because of that power cord that's on the
bottom of the hinge.
But at $229 dollars, that is a pretty compelling case.
Now, let's talk about numbers in context to one another.
The iPad Pro by itself is about one point five eight pounds,
so almost one point six pounds.
Both of these are twenty twenty one iPad Pro.
They're both twelve point nine inch.
The magic number by itself is going to be one
point one pounds.
That's going to be compared to a much beefier,
much heavier Combo Touch, which is in a way, two point
seven pounds between the keyboard and the case
by itself.
Now, when you add in the iPad, at one point six pounds,
you come to a total package rate of three point six,
eight pounds, which is kind of beefy when you think about it.
You know, you could certainly get a 13 inch or even a 16 inch
MacBook Pro and be right around in the same weight space
as this device.
Now, I think that's not necessarily a fair comparison,
because here on the Combo Touch, you can take
apart the keyboard and only carry the case by itself.
That's going to reduce the total weight down from three
point six eight down to two point seven pounds.
So you get somewhere in the neighborhood of close to being
the three point one pounds that you have with the Magic
Keyboard and the iPad.
Now, you can see here that they're both lined up from the
bottom edge of the keyboard.
And if they're both lined up, you can see how much closer the
iPad Pro inside the Magic Keyboard sits to you.
So from a distance perspective, this is
going to be a little bit easier to sit and touch with your hand
or with your finger if you need to oppose to being
sit back here.
Now, as I mentioned in the beginning, there are two
things that I do not like about this.
The first one really doesn't impact me that much because
based on the style that I type.
Now, if you are someone who likes to maybe sit at your
couch and type and you want to put this on your lap, the way
that this kickstand is designed,
if you are sitting with your legs crossed or your
ankles crossed, not going to be even it's going to wobble
a little bit.
And you'll need to reposition yourself in terms of typing in
order to get a good position on the keyboard where its stable.
Now, I don't sit like that while I'm at the couch, so it
just depends on how you type while you are there.
The second thing is that depending on what type of
Thunderbolt cable that you are connecting to, the head of some
Thunderball cables are a little bit too big.
Now, here is one that I have, this one from Amazon.
This fits perfectly, fits right inside of their very snugly.
But some of them, it's just a little bit too big and that
case will not fit.
Now, just keep that in mind when you're looking
for cables.
Now, I think at the end of the day, if you ask yourself
who is going to buy this keyboard, who's it right
for?
I think this keyboard is right for the majority of
people out there.
It is two hundred thirty dollars in comparison to three
hundred and fifty dollars for Apple's Magic Keyboard.
I don't think that there are any special features on the
Magic Keyboard that command that additional money.
Time out, guys.
This is editor Mike.
And there are two things that I wanted to address instead
my review, but I forgot to include them inside of
the edit.
So first thing is that can I use this keyboard while it is
detached from the Logitech Combo Touch?
The answer is no.
This is not a Bluetooth keyboard.
It solely works on the pogo pins on the
Smart Dock Connector.
So this will not work unless it is physically attached
to your keyboard.
Second thing is that will this case fit the twenty twenty
iPad Pro?
The answer is yes, it will.
The speaker holes will not align.
But I want to make sure that you had that context for that
question because I do get it quite often.
Thanks very much.
I would use this for myself.
I would use this for my wife.
I would tell anyone that is looking for a keyboard to start
with this and then maybe move up from there depending on what
you have your use case.
The keyboard offers an exceptional typing experience.
The trackpad experience is great functionality
on the trackpad.
In terms of this versus the Magic Keyboard, it's like
for like I've not found a feature that does not work on
the Combo Touch.
The surface area of the trackpad is larger on
the Combo Touch.
So really there's just a number of benefits to using
the Combo Touch.
And as I mentioned, if you don't like the material,
there's nothing I can do about that.
You're just not going to like it or buy it.
And that's OK.
Different strokes for different folks.
Now, I want to know from you, what are you going to buy in?
The comments below are going to get the Combo Touch
Are you going to splurge to get the Magic Keyboard?
Let me know.
Down below.
My name is Mike, folks, and I will talk to you in
the next one.