Today we are unlocking the keyboard secret.
What is the best keyboard for the iPad Air 5?
We are gonna embark on a keyboard quest to scrutinize
the top contenders, Apple's Magic Keyboard,
the Logitech Combo Touch, and the Logitech Folio
Touch fan favorite.
Hope you're ready to get started because we're going to
find out what is the ideal keyboard for you in
your usage.
Let's get started.
What is going on everyone?
My name is Mike.
Welcome back to the channel.
I'm very glad you're with me today because we are talking
about iPad keyboards, one of my favorite subjects.
And you know, if you own the iPad Air five and you don't
wanna drop $300 on the Magic Keyboard, I really
can't blame you.
Despite its excellent typing experience and its trackpad,
it's a lot of money, and it has limited protection and
really again, that's just a lot of money to spend on
a keyboard.
Well, fear not.
I have two other contenders, the Logitech Combo Touch the
Logitech Folio Touch, which we're gonna compare these
two against one another in addition to comparing it
against the Apple Magic keyboard.
So I hope you're ready to get started.
We are gonna talk about what's different,
what's the same, and really where one excels
versus the other.
Now by the end of this journey, you're gonna know
which keyboard is gonna be best for your situation
and your usage.
Now before we get into it, 90% of you that are watching
this video today are not subscribed to the channel,
which really makes me sad.
I love the iPad, I love making iPad content, and if you do,
go ahead and click that subscribe button, turn on
notifications to get other content related to the iPad,
the iPhone productivity, things that are make you more
productive with your device.
Now to make things easier, I've broken down the video into
different sections and those timestamps are listed right in
the first comment, which is pinned down below.
Everything we talk about today is linked in
the video description.
So if you don't really wanna wait, go to the video
description right below the like button and you'll find
links to the products to buy, which helps to channel out.
Now first, let's discuss the similarities of
these products.
Both the Combo Touch and the Folio Touch come wrapped in a
sleek fabric that offers a premium look and feel.
I mean this has got just great texture to it,
it's a nice canvas.
Now speaking from personal experience with my 12.9 inch
iPad Pro, which I have the Combo Touch for, this fabric is
gonna wear very well over time.
It doesn't fray, it doesn't necessarily get marred or
anything like that.
I'll tell you that depending on how much oil you have in
your fingers, you will see kind of light marks on the
fabric over time.
Again, I've had my keyboard case for probably about two and
a half years at this point, so it is going to wear well and
I wouldn't necessarily wear worry about it looking freight
or damaged over a long period of time.
In between these two different keyboards, they both
have a kickstand on the back and that kickstand allows this
device to be used anywhere between 20 degrees and 60
degrees for the viewing angles.
Those viewing angles are gonna unlock different modes that you
can use the iPad keyboard in.
What is nice here is that the Combo Touch has the keyboard
that easily pulls apart.
So if you wanted to, you could use this case by itself and
with the kickstand wishes are gonna help you out with those
modes you have typing, viewing, sketching, and reading.
Moreover, both keyboard cases really provide
full 360 protection.
You know, they're not exposing any of the sides like you see
on the Magic Keyboard and you shouldn't necessarily be afraid
of dropping your iPad in this because of the way that
this is designed.
It's very thick.
It's not necessarily what I would say cumbersome to use
because of its thickness, but it is definitely built to
last for each one of these keyboards.
It doesn't matter whether you choose the Combo Touch or the
Folio Touch, they both have a thickness about them,
you know, a thick with two Cs if they like to say to each one
of these keyboard cases.
The only difference is that the keyboard is permanently
connected to the case itself and it doesn't separate like it
does on the Folio Touch.
On the inside of each case, there is a lip and that lip
will protect the glass of your iPad from coming in contact
with the keys of the keyboard.
It doesn't matter whether you're using a paper-like
Screen Protector, like something very thin or
even a temper glass screen protector, I would say
anything under about three millimeters, which you'll
be able to use this and you shouldn't have any obstructions
with closing the case.
Just like so.
Both of these keyboards are designed to work with the iPad
Air four and the iPad Air five, and you can see here
there's a little cutout here for the touch id button,
which allows you to quick access on there.
Make sure you buy the version for the iPad Air 5 or the
iPad Air 4, and not the iPad Pro version.
While you are using the keyboard case with
the keyboard, the iPad is providing power through the
Smart Doc connector on the back of your iPad.
So there's no need to power this or charge it separately.
There's no need to Bluetooth pair it, all that is
a thing of the past with a smart dot connector and that
goes the same for the Folio Touch as well.
Both keyboards come equipped with iOS function keys, which I
really just rave about in every video.
These function keys allow you quick access to valuable
shortcuts including screen brightness,
on-screen keyboard search, media controls,
and volume adjustments.
Additionally, each keyboard has a globe key in the bottom
left-hand corner that gives you the ability to switch the
keyboard if you're maybe using different languages or if you
wanna switch the globe keyboard as well, give you the access to
the emojis, which who doesn't love emojis.
Now, that's where the similarities stop and the
differences start to emerge.
These keyboards, even though they are kind of relatively
same feature set, they do have two different price points.
The Folio Touch, which is here on the left, has a price point
of $129 to $139, while the Combo Touch is more often
between $169 and $199.
So there is a 40-50 dollar difference depending on where
you buy these two keyboards at, but that's not
the only thing.
There's a difference in weight where the Folio touch weighs
642 grams, making it slightly heavier than the Combo Touch
coming into its 574 grams owing the difference in weight to
its thinner profile.
In terms of typing experience, you're really gonna get a very
similar typing experience, if not the same on each one
of these keyboards.
They have key pitch of 18 millimeters and one
millimeter key travel.
The arrow keys on this is a little bit different here.
Here on the Folio Touch, you have larger left and right
arrow keys and smaller up and down arrow keys, where on the
Combo Touch you have inverted T-shaped arrow keys.
Not that one's better than the other, again, it just
really depends on what your personal preference.
For me, I like the inverted T-shaped arrow keys in compared
to this left and right large arrow keys in smaller up
and down keys.
Let's talk about the track pads.
The Folio Touch trackpad measures 3.8 inches wide by
2.25 inches tall in comparison to the Combo Touch, which is
4.5 inches wide by 2.25 inches tall.
The Combo Touche trackpad allows for more gestures to be
used and it's really gonna make your, I think productivity
will run a little bit smoother.
It is a fully pressable trackpad, meaning that you can
press anywhere on the track pad and it's gonna work in
comparison to the Folio Touch, where the Folio Touch has a
clickable area for about three quarters or maybe about 80% of
the track pad going up and that top 20% is not clickable.
You would need to turn on tap click in iPadOS if you wanted
to use the top part of the Trackpad.
It's very easy to manage that limitation by the hardware by
using that feature in the software.
Now, regarding the additional features, the Folio
Touch lives up to its name, it features a magnetic closure
that secures your iPad while it's in there, just like that.
I love that sound.
That magnet is very, very, very, very strong.
Inside the flap here, there is a little place to
put your pencil.
It's a little place to put your pencil and so while you
are traveling, you're gonna have the confidence knowing
that your Apple pencil will stay in place and you won't
lose it when you are out and about.
Here on the Combo Touch, your Apple Pencil stays in
place simply by the magnets that are in the spine of the
iPad and if you are out and about, you might need to
hold onto your Apple pencil to make sure it doesn't fall out,
or if you're putting this into a backpack with a lot of things
in there, you might wanna put that pencil somewhere else,
but that is how you hold the Apple Pencil in place.
And really, depending on your level of comfortability,
this is, I think the deal breaker for a lot of people.
They don't wanna lose their Apple Pencil because they don't
wanna pay, you know, 80 or a hundred, $120 for their Apple
pencil and they might choose the Folio touch over the Combo
Touch simply for that fact.
I mean there are other ways to mitigate that.
You could put this in a pencil case, which that really
obviously is just something else you have to buy.
There are other products that allow you to adhere a pencil
strip to the back of the iPad, which isn't bad.
I actually have one from esr, I'll actually put a link down
the comments below.
It uses adhesive to, oh, stick the Apple pencil to the
back of the case.
Now it is the moment of truth which one of these keyboards is
really going to be the winner for you.
Personally, I think that the Combo Touch offers a more
convenient experience because you can separate these two
pieces and dock it when you want to.
And just to be clear, when this is disconnected from the case,
you cannot use the keyboard without actually being
connected because in the keyboard frame there is the
power pens that connect to the case itself.
I think that if you are cost conscious, the Folio Touch
is a solid option without skimping on
the typing experience.
But I wanna think a little bit long term for you and I want to
pose something to you, maybe just get you thinking a
little bit differently.
Let's just say that the difference between these two
keyboards is 50 bucks.
If you keep your iPad for you know,
2, 3, 4 years probably, and you take that additional $50 cost,
if you were thinking that this is too expensive and $50,
you don't wanna stomach the money, I would tell you
that if you look at that $50 over the course of the length
of time that you would have your iPad and divide that into
the number number of days, you know the dollar amount
that's gonna be incremental is very, very little and that's
just something I would suggest.
And depending on the use case that you're trying to solve,
what you're trying to optimize for,
whether it's cost, portability, weight, whatever the case is,
you might find that the Combo Touches keyboard case is a
little bit more to your liking because the keyboard separates
where here again on the Folio Touch, this is all
single piece, making it slightly less convenient again
based on whatever use case that you are trying to solve.
You're probably asking yourself why would anyone spend $299 on
the Magic Keyboard when there are cheaper, more cost
effective options that exist in the market today?
Well, that's a really good question.
I think it's probably Apple's entire pricing strategy, but I
would say that the Magic Keyboard, even though the
sides are exposed, it doesn't give you that maximum
protection that you have here.
The Magic Keyboard provides a distinct tactile feel that you
just can't get on these other keyboards.
It does feel, I hate to use this cuz it's kind of
like cliche, it's really distinctly Apple the way that
the magic keyboard works with the track pad.
Not that the Combo touch or the Folio touch are less than,
they're just different and unique to the
Logitech products.
So to sum it all up, the Combo Touch offers a compelling
typing experience and feature set.
When you look at the Magic Keyboard, you know it's
a hundred, 120, $130 less expensive if
you're price sensitive.
The Folio Touch is more affordable option with solid
protection and additional way to store your Apple
pencil with, it's gonna be secure using that flap,
which just again, that's an awesome sound.
If you wanna learn more about iPad productivity, I have a
video here for you.
You can go ahead and watch that and YouTube and the algorithm
have picked out a video for you right here.
My name is Mike and I'll talk to you guys in the next.