My go-to productivity keyboard is a Logitech MX Keys Mini.  I have tried so many other keyboards and I always come back to it.  I love the compact nature of it – I have enough stuff on my desk as it is, just ask my wife – and the keys on it are second to none in my opinion with how comfortable they are to type on.

Logitech has recently updated its original POP Keys keyboard, now called the POP Icon Keys keyboard, and the POP mouse.  The POP Keys update is a massive improvement over the original version, which isn’t hard given that although it looked great and the mechanical keys sounded great, it was inaccurate and difficult to type on, especially for longer periods.

The newer POP Icon Keys keyboard is available in multiple colourways once again and we were sent the Lilac and Off White colourway of it and the POP Mouse.  Read on to hear our thoughts on it.

Design

Firstly we need to start with the colours.  They are striking.  Boring old grey or black keyboards can be a thing of the past with these keyboards.  The review lilac keyboard is a striking colour that I chose as it looks best for device images – for EFTM.

At just 32.4cm wide, it is much smaller than a full-sized keyboard, which many of us prefer for our desks.  The keys are separated into different colours with the main typing keys off-white with lilac symbols.  Then there are a light lilac colour for the main shift, caps lock, enter, backspace etc keys and a dark lilac or purple for four programmable keys on the right-hand side of the keyboard.

  

The keys are a cross between a normal keyboard and those on the MX Keys keyboards. Each key has a nice gap from the one next to it and a concave shape allowing for comfortable typing with it relatively easy to find the keys given fingers are pushed into the correct position.

The keyboard isn’t overly thick and sits relatively close to the desk, although not as close as my MX Keys Mini keyboard.  

Underneath the keyboard is a bump to give the keyboard an ergonomic slant towards you and within this bump is where you will find the two AA batteries – included by Logitech – and a position to hold your Logi Bolt USB receiver – not included.  

Logitech states that the batteries will last up to three years so it is something you can forget about when considering the overall cost of it.  As for the Logi Bolt receiver, while the keyboard works with it, Logitech has opted to not include one in with the purchase of the keyboard.  You’ll have to buy one separately if you don’t have one already and want to use it.

If you don’t have a Bolt receiver and don’t want to fork out any more money both the keyboard and mouse will work on plain old Bluetooth just fine.  

The keyboard and mouse both include the usual three options to store connections on the device so you can easily switch from one device to another.

Performance

Typing on the keyboard was much nicer than on the previous generation POP keyboard but it was not perfect.  The keys had a bit more travel than the MX Keys keyboards but some people do prefer that.  There was a nice feeling to using them with a soft sound upon activation.  

My speed and accuracy were very close to that using my long-term keyboard and that is because they are not all that different to each other.  The keys on the POP Icon Keys are a bit closer together than those on the MX Keys Mini but it didn’t affect my typing much at all.

My only issue with using the keyboard was the location of the four programmable buttons on the right of the enter key.  I lost count of the number of times where I accidentally hit one of the four buttons (home, end, pg up or pg dn) when trying to hit the enter or backspace buttons.  If this happens to you and have no wish to use any of these keys for anything you can program them to do something that affects nothing such as “copy” and then hitting them will do nothing.

All this programming of keys is done within the Logi Options+ software.   The Logi Options+ app is the same as it has been for a while so if you’ve used it before it will be super simple to configure.

With the POP Icon Keys keyboard, there is now support for an Open AI prompt builder (built-in), which can rephrase or summarise text along with help you write a reply or craft an email.

Simple recommended shortcuts you can reprogram buttons to include to not just open this AI prompt builder but to open the ChatGPT window or Windows Copilot.  There are also still the usual smart actions that you can create or just add one of the basic actions.

I rarely make full use of these programmable keys but if you are someone who uses a lot of macros or complicated tasks you could easily program one of the 15 programmable keys to complete the macro you wish. 

POP Mouse

The POP Mouse saw a much smaller update from the previous generation with a new SmartWheel for precise navigation and Silent Touch technology which removes 90 percent of clicking noise.  

I am a massive fan of the silent technology and wish every single one of my mice had it – my usual MX Master 3S has it and I’m here for it, every day of the week.

In the hand, the POP mouse is…. different.  It doesn’t overly fit the shape of your palm but it does fit in relatively easily but long periods of use are not as comfortable as mice which fit into the shape of your hand more ergonomically. 

This is not something I’d be super comfortable with using all day every day if I was on my PC the entire time but I have used worse.

Final Verdict

Thne Logitech POP Icon combo which includes the POP Icon Keys and the POP Mouse are both massive improvements over the first generation of POP products from Logitech. The keyboard is infinitely better to type on, more accurate while also being a lot more comfortable and faster.

The POP Mouse includes the new soft click buttons which are worth the upgrade by themselves.

If you want to brighten yours or someone else’s desktop up with a productive, colourful and fun keyboard and mouse combo, then the Logitech POP Icon Combo is for you. The POP Icon Combo is available now at Logitech and retailers for AU$149.95, while the POP Icon Keys and POP Mouse by themselves are available for AU$99.95 and AU$59.95 respectively.