The MX Keys Mini from Logitech is a wireless membrane keyboard that’s very similar in feel
to keyboards made by Apple but packed with a ton of cool features I think for what you get,
it's reasonably priced at $99 US dollars. But why would you choose
this keyboard over the many other keyboards you can get out there?
I'm going to start to answer that question by first talking about one of my favorite features
of this keyboard over the past six months, which has been it's ability to easily switch between
different devices. The MX Keys Mini allows you to pair up to 3 devices using the first 3 buttons
in the function row with Logitech’s Easy Switch feature. You can pair each device via Bluetooth
to the keyboard and this feature has worked flawlessly for me for the past 6 months. It’s
especially great if you have a Mac and a Windows Gaming PC and I love that I don't necessarily have
to use the Logi Bolt USB receiver that’ll take up a precious USB port on my computer just for
a stable connection. For the entire review period I just used the standard bluetooth connection with
my keyboard between my Mac, and my PC, and that connection has been flawless. The next thing I’ve
liked about the MX Keys Mini is the build quality and typing experience The keyboard feels sturdy
and more premium than I originally expected with it’s aluminum design just like the Magic keyboard.
Plus I like Logitech used post-consumer recycled plastic for the plastic parts of the keys and has
eco-friendly packaging with no plastic. Also I love the different colors the keyboard comes in,
especially the graphite color I choose which matches my Magic Trackpad and MX Lift Mouse,
which we’ll have a review out on soon, so make sure you subscribe to the channel to
see that review and other long-term reviews, like this one. The MX Keys Mini is a membrane
keyboard so your key travel is less than you’d find on a mechanical keyboard and in general,
I know I'm probably going to get some hate for this but I actually prefer membrane keyboards.
I've tried out mechanical keyboards before but I've just never gotten used to the typing
experience enough on a mechanical keyboard to convince me that they're better for ergonomics.
But if mechanical keyboards are your thing, Logitech also makes a version of this keyboard
in the mechanical style and I’ll leave purchase links here in this video and in the description
below if you’d like to learn more about that keyboard. And let me know what's your
favorite type of keyboard. Are you like me and you're cool with the membrane keyboards
or are you a die-hard mechanical keyboard fan? Let me know down in the comments.
Back to the design of the MX Keys Mini, Logitech included a light proximity sensor to detect when
your hand is over the keyboard so it turns off the backlight when the keyboard isn’t in use,
which is pretty cool. But you don’t get some of the cooler key animations like you do on
the mechanical keyboard version, Also the blacklight can drain your battery faster,
the keyboard is rated for 10 day battery life on a full charge or up to 5 months of battery with the
backlight turned off. Because of that, I've kept my backlight turned off and the battery life has
been great. I only had to charge the keyboard once in past 6 months via the USB-C port on the back.
Now the way you set up and control the MX Keys Mini Keyboard on both Mac and
Windows is by downloading the Logic Options+ app.
Typically, I don't love installing third party app software just to make a device
work because I'm concerned about it running in the background and taking up resources,
especially on something like a gaming PC. but overall, I’ve I haven’t had an issue
with the app and found it to be relatively well-designed. It makes it easy to get an
overview of all of the product features and guides you through how to customize
your keyboard to your liking. You can remap the function keys to specific actions or keyboard
shortcuts and you can change the key remapping for each computer you use the keyboard with
and even for specific apps on your computer, which for me has actually worked very well.
I haven't used this feature with my keyboard and i probably should. but I do use it a lot
with my MX Lift Mouse, with Final Cut Pro X and the feature has been flawless.
The only thing I wish this keyboard had was some type of e-ink or other type of display underneath
each function key. That way you could actually see an icon representing what you changed the key to.
Sometimes it's a bit hard to remember which key you remapped to what. For example, I’ve remapped
the backlight keys to increase and decrease the brightness of my Studio Display & the buttons
to the left of the play/pause button to be skip forward and skip back buttons for music control.
That was actually one downside I found with this keyboard. I'm just so accustomed to
seeing the skip forward and skip back button on Mac keyboards, it was weird,
not having them on this one. I get why Logitech went with a mute mic and screenshot button, but it
would have been cool to do something like enable a double tap and triple tap on the play/pause button
to skip forward and skip back so I didn’t have to remap two keys to do that function.
So that's everything I've liked about the MX Keys Mini over the past six months. Now,
let's talk about a few downsides I've encountered with this keyboard.
The first of, which being software bugs, I did run into a few when I was initially
setting up the keyboard with my Mac because the Logi Options Plus program didn’t have
the correct permissions it needed in order to work, you have to go into settings and
make sure you give Logi Options the ability to track keyboard input. On Windows the setup
was fine and I didn't run into any issues. The only other software bug i've run into over the
past six months is on my Mac when pressing the mute button on the keyboard, a little
overlay appeared on the screen to let me know the mic had been muted, but it never went away,
and i had to restart my computer in order to clear it off the screen. Thankfully the keyboard
UI pop up notifications can all be turned off in the main settings of the Logi Options app.
Now, another downside I found with this keyboard is firmware updates. The Logi
Options software is designed to make you think you can update the firmware of this
keyboard but I’ve been unable to update its firmware via the Firmware Update Tool that
Logi Options launches. This happens whether I’m connected through traditional Bluetooth
or Logitech’s Bolt receiver which is this tiny USB-A device that creates a more secure
and stable connection for current-gen Logitech devices. The keyboard doesn’t come with this
receiver unless you buy the business version of the MX Keys but my Logitech MX Lift Mouse did,
and what's great about the bolt receiver for me is its reduced bluetooth congestion, for this times,
when i want to use a ton of different bluetooth devices simultaneously with my mac, like my Magic
Trackpad, MX Keys Mini, MX Lift Mouse and wear my AirPods Max and listen to music from my Mac.
Without the bolt receiver, I’ll experience constant audio cutouts with my headphones.
But when using it, I'll have no cutouts at all. To connect the keyboard to the Bolt receiver through
Logic Options is pretty simple, you just select add device and then select Logi Bolt receiver,
hold down the pair button on the keyboard and it’ll connect it to the Logi Bolt.
Now back to the firmware update issue, when I get the message from Logi Options that no
device supported is connected for a firmware update it links to a page on Logitech’s website
that lists all the compatible products with the Firmware update tool and sure enough,
the MX Keys Mini isn’t listed, so it appears, there's no way to currently update its firmware.
Not that you necessarily need to. The keyboard has been fine but it’s just
confusing when you see that option listed in its settings to update
firmware when you actually can’t. And there’s no indication that it updated firmware in the
background and or if you’re even running the latest device firmware available.
The last downside I found with this keyboard is specifically for those
who enjoy Apple keyboards. The MX Keys are obviously designed to be similar,
but if you want the exact same typing experience you’re used to with a Mac,
you’ll probably wish the key travel was just a hair less and closer to Apple’s.
The MX Keys typing experience is similar to an Apple keyboard. But yes,
at the end of the day,I do still favor the typing experience on Apple’s keyboards a bit more. But,
I’m not swapping the MX Keys Mini for a different keyboard anytime soon.
The MX Keys Mini will continue to be the keyboard I use because of its great easy device switching
feature, and the ability to customize those keys at the top function row for both Windows and Mac.
Plus we didn’t get into Flow, but if you use a Mac and Windows Computer together,
Logitech has a new feature that allows you to drag and drop between computers,
very similar to Apple’s universal control.
I think it's a great keyboard, and if you're considering getting the MX keys or maybe an
Apple magic keyboard, I think you’d go for the MX keys because of the expanded color options,
device switching features, ability to customize key shortcuts per app,
and because it costs less than Apple’s Magic Keyboards. Logitech even has a
Mac version of this keyboard that has the classic light aluminum with white key caps.
If you plan on switching between a Mac and Windows machine, though, I would just get the regular mx
keys mini keyboard like I have.Where I’d go for the Apple Magic Keyboard over the MX Keys Mini is
if you don’t need the device switching feature and want a slightly better typing experience,
though that of course can be subjective, thinner profile, and Touch ID, which is a nice feature
to have. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t make a Mini Sized version of the Magic Keyboard
with black keys, only a full sized keyboard. Which is another advantage of the MX Keys Mini,
you can color match it with Apple’s black magic trackpad and magic mouse. And that
brings me to my last recommendation, I would always go with a mini-sized keyboard if you use
a mouse or trackpad. I’ve found that if you use a full sized keyboard with a mouse or trackpad,
it screws with your ergonomics too much and could cause potential strain or injury when
you’re repeatedly having to move your hand farther out to reach your mouse or trackpad.
If you’d like to check current pricing or learn more about the MX Keys Mini or any
of the other devices I mentioned in this video like the other versions of the MX Mini Keyboard,
or the Mac Studio, Studio Display or Magic Keyboard, I've left links here in this video
and in the description below, click that thumbs up button if you like this video and
found that helpful and subscribe to the channel to see more long-term reviews on tech products,
like this one. And if you're looking for one to watch next,
check out some of our other long-term reviews on computers and accessories by clicking the
playlist to the right. For 6 Months Later, I'm Josh Teder, thanks for watching.