Jun. 9, 2016
Time for a little gear review. This is the Logitech K380 keyboard. It pairs with devices wirelessly over Bluetooth. I bought it to use with my Apple TV, iPad and iPhone. It runs on 2 AAA batteries, but the supplied batteries are not rechargeable. The keyboard is light and portable but you definitely know you have it in your bag.
It’s lovely to type on. For a go-anywhere keyboard it has a surprisingly nice feel to the keys. It also gives equal weight to Windows and Mac keys, so it’s quite easy to use across both platforms. The only frustration is that the iPad doesn’t support keyboards as it should and the iPhone is even worse. I’m expecting that to change in iOS 10, which is due to be announced at WWDC next week. Of course, none of this is the fault of the keyboard.
Note that I said I use it with three devices. This is because it has three keys dedicated to switching between devices. This is really useful because you don’t have to remember how to faff around getting the keyboard to connect to each of your devices. This keyboard is pleasingly non-monogamous (in the Bluetooth sense) whereas the apple keyboard can be hard to shift from one device to another.
Apart from its flexibility, what motivated me to buy a another keyboard to cart around with me? Well there was its natty grey and yellow colour scheme (an equally natty royal blue and turquoise version is also available) which makes me oddly happy. More important is the recent appearance of Ulysses on my iPhone. I’ve written about Ulysses before. I love it. It keeps getting better and better. It’s expensive but it’s worth it because it makes me love writing and it has made me better at writing too. Having it on my phone has been so useful that I thought a keyboard to spare my thumbs would be a good idea.
In short, the k380 is a well made, aesthetically pleasing, affordable and useful keyboard. Logitech haven’t paid me to say any of this but maybe they should! (There are no ads on this blog, just hearty endorsements!)