REVIEWED: Logitech Bluetooth Illuminated Keyboard K810
Self-lighting mini keyboard built for business is the best compact wireless keyboard yet despite some noisy keystrokes
Buy the Logitech Bluetooth Illuminated Keyboard K810 Price as reviewed: £89.99
A Bluetooth keyboard designed for long stints of work away from base, the K810 is OS-neutral, so it works with Android phones, iOS devices and any Windows or Apple computers. It’s even got some keys especially for Windows 8 machines.
Touch-sensitive lighting
Having to recharge it via a microUSB cable might seem a pain, but the K810 lasted through a four-day business trip with days and days to spare – and that’s despite a very nifty backlight. As your fingers approach the keyboard it subtly lights-up the edges of the keys from below, then immediately fades that light out the second you stop typing. That light doesn’t appear to affect the battery one iota. LED lighting, eh? Brilliant. Measuring 290x130mm, the K810 weights 335g, so it saves on space and weight if you decide to take it along on a trip to use with an iPhone or iPad – and leave the laptop at home. With so many word processing apps on phones and tablets, there’s really no reason not to. Unless you’re flying, of course, where Bluetooth is banned …
Compact & concave
Typing is very comfortable, with the ever-so-slightly concave, curved keys separated from each other with surprising ease given its compact design. Pairing was easy, we never had to search for a specific key, and the USB cable it ships with is supplied with two long-lasting cable clips. To pair with an iMac all we had to do was switch on the K810 using a slider on its side, enable Bluetooth on the iMac, then enter – on the iMac – six digits and hit the return key. However, while pairing with an iMac we had to press a few keys to allow the iMac to recognise it as an European-style ISO keyboard rather than an ANSI (USA) or JIS (Japanese) model.
Illuminating design
The illumination is delicious, and so too is the chance to hook-up three separate devices – though only one can be used at a time. In terms of effectiveness the K810 is hard to beat; we typed out this entire review without a single error. Very unusual. The aluminium finish is excellent, though the gloss black section along the top picked up a lot of stubborn fingerprints.
Click from keystrokes
The K810 is also rather ‘tappy’; despite being very comfortable to type and with nice spacing between the keys, it does register an audible click with every keystroke. It’s not exactly a deal-breaker but it could grate after a while. Apple fans should also know that the K810 is technically without an Apple key, which could leave you floundering, though a Windows 8-looking shortcut key in exactly the same place performs the same functions. For those headed for meetings and hotel rooms it’s likely that you’ll be traveling with a laptop. However, things are changing and we’re willing to bet that you’ve thought about just travelling with an iPad, Nexus or Galaxy Tab. If that’s the case, Logitech’s K810 could be just your, err, type.