Logitech launches a new line of keyboards for pros: MX Mechanical. They combine all the know-how of MX Keys with a mechanical keystroke.
In the large family of Logitech keyboards, there are on the one hand ergonomic products, to take care of your hands at work, and on the other hand the MX Keys range which was more in the minimalist design. The brand is now adding a new range with the MX Mechanical Mini and MX Mechanical keyboards. As their names suggest, it’s about taking up the minimalist design, but incorporating a mechanical keyboard.
Combine MX Keys and a mechanical keyboard
This range is therefore primarily aimed at a public of professionals requiring mechanical keyboards. It’s the trendy technology that we’ve seen become popular for these uses, even among brands more associated with gaming. We think of the Razer Huntsman V2 for example. Logitech wants to seduce programmers in particular with these two keyboards.
On the mechanical side, there are low profile and Tactile Quiet switches, to minimize the noise caused by this type of keyboard and keep the design as compact as possible.
Logitech also offers its in-house technologies from the MX range, including a Logi Bolt wireless connection in addition to Bluetooth, and compatibility with a wide variety of software ecosystems: Windows, macOS, iPadOS, Android, Chrome OS and GNU/Linux .
We finish the tour of the owner by specifying that respectively 45% and 47% of the plastic parts come from recycled plastic (PCR) depending on whether we are talking about the Mechanical or the Mechanical Mini. The aluminum part is said to be produced with minimal carbon impact and renewable energy.
Good quality construction
The keyboard is essentially made up of a fairly well-constructed plastic case topped with a neatly integrated aluminum frame. We are well in front of a minimalist design and Logitech knows his job. Compared to a mid-range keyboard like the Logitech MK470, this MX Mechanical shines with its high quality of manufacture. Even in comparison to an excellent Ducky Channel Shine 6, the MX Mechanical offers a very satisfying design. In short, it’s solid.
Minimalist design requires, the Logitech keyboard ignores the small ergonomic functions that we like as a wrist rest. We can even talk about a keyboard borderless at this level, both the keyboard keys reach the bottom edge and the sides of the device. This is an important element to take into account for a keyboard that is intended for professional use, implying many hours of use every day. With this minimalist design, Logitech has also not provided a slot for the USB dongle supplied with the keyboard. Care must therefore be taken not to lose it.
In terms of keys, the MX Mechanical Mini is content with the minimum, with a full QWERTY keyboard, function keys F1 to F12 and directional keys. We are on something more compact than a TKL keyboard, since the directional keys and the functions do not have their dedicated space to the right of the enter key. The classic MX Mechanical version takes up this space, and also offers a complete numeric keypad.
We will come back to typing comfort below, but for the moment, we can still indicate a small problem of readability on certain keys. The fault of Windows and Mac compatibility without a dedicated version, which forces Logitech to overload certain keys with indications. So we end up with a key combining the symbols “=, !, + and §” and even a key with no less than five symbols, it’s quite confusing.
To identify the different areas of the keyboard more quickly, Logitech offers a small color game with more or less gray keys depending on the area where they are placed. It’s understated and pretty well thought out.
The F1 to F12 function keys are also used to activate certain multimedia functions or to act as a shortcut. For example, you can mute your microphone, adjust the audio volume, or even quickly access the emoji keyboard. Logitech indicates that it was inspired by Bluetooth headsets for certain shortcuts: a double click on the pause button allows you to go to the next song.
Last element to mention here, the integrated backlight. Obviously, no RGB here, just a rather powerful white backlight that turns on automatically when your hands come close to the keyboard. It is very effective not to consume when not using the keyboard. On the other hand, it’s a little disturbing to see the keys go out as soon as you don’t type for a few seconds.
Software
To accompany these keyboards, Logitech finally offers the stable version of the new Logi Options+ software. Again the design and functions are minimalist. Enough to update the keyboard firmware if necessary and access to some options.
The software firstly introduces you to the functions of the keyboard and the role of certain keys. In particular, the three keys allowing the keyboard to dynamically switch between several devices. It’s convenient to use the same keyboard between a desktop PC, a laptop PC and even a mobile device. For this, the keyboard uses its Bluetooth wireless connection, offered in addition to the proprietary Logi Bolt (which uses a USB-A dongle).
In terms of customization, Logitech offers to change the function of certain shortcuts. If you never use the emoji key, you can replace it with another action or a preconfigured keyboard shortcut. You can also change the backlight settings to create effects, like RGB gaming keyboards. You can thus have a backlight that undulates, or that reacts to your typing. A little gimmicky on a professional product, but why not.
Performance and autonomy
The typing offered by the Logitech MX Mechanical keyboard is very pleasant. The device uses fairly discreet brown switches with an advertised stroke of 19 mm. The activation force is quite light for a mechanical keyboard and its low profile appearance really makes it a device halfway between the mechanical gamer keyboard with large keys and a more discreet office keyboard. The result is convincing to say the least. Good point, the keyboard continues to work even with more than 5 keys pressed at the same time, we find there the interest of modern mechanical keyboards.
With its wireless connection, the Logitech MX Mechanical is not a keyboard designed for high-level gaming. That said, if you’re not a competitive player in the highest leagues of Counter Strike or Valorant, this is a keyboard that will be perfect for video game use. In these cases, the latency induced by the wireless connection is invisible, and typing on a mechanical keyboard provides this very satisfying physical feedback for gaming.
Logitech promises 15 days of battery life using the backlight, or 10 months if it’s turned off. Obviously, we were not able to test the autonomy in this second case and we left the automatic backlight activated throughout the test. After about ten days of testing as the main keyboard, the battery dropped to 50%. Suffice to say that the promise is perfectly kept. Charging is easy via USB-C.
Logitech MX Mechanical price and release date
The Logitech MX Mechanical keyboard is available from 179 euros in France. The MX Mechanical Mini version is available from 159 euros, or 20 euros less.