With the MX series, Logitech has been offering premium input equipment that is without exception of high quality for many years. A few years ago the series was finally expanded with a keyboard and this year there is also a compact keyboard in the form of the MX Keys Mini. Another bull’s eye?
Logitech MX Keys Mini
Price € 109,-
Connection Bluetooth LE or Logi Bolt
Battery life 10 days with lighting, 5 months without lighting
Backlight Yes
OS Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Website www.logitech.com
9 Score 90 
- Pros
- Excellent tapping comfort
- Good build quality
- Key illumination
- Extensive software
- Negatives
- Price the same as large variant
- Only easily available with ISO format
- Still limits to software
Two years ago, Logitech introduced the excellent MX Keys, the finest word processing keyboard I’ve worked on to date. Die MX Keys is a full size keyboard with numeric field. Not a problem in itself, but there are good reasons for a variant without a numeric field. For example, you may need a nice keyboard to take with you in your bag. A numeric field makes a keyboard unnecessarily long and therefore difficult to put in your bag. A keyboard without a numeric field is also a bit more ergonomic because you can hold the mouse closer to your neutral position. In the form of the MX Keys Mini there is now finally a variant of the MX Keys without a numeric field. The MX Keys Mini comes in three different colors: graphite, silver gray and pink. I tested the graphite variant. Like the large version, the MX Keys Mini is a beautifully designed keyboard with an excellent build quality. The design is almost identical, but this mini variant is slightly higher, presumably to be able to place a battery with enough capacity. The keyboard weighs 506 grams and stays well on the desk thanks to rubber feet.
Nice tap
In terms of tap comfort, the MX Keys Mini is excellent, just like the large version. The flat keys use a scissor mechanism as you are used to from laptops. Thanks to a hollow notch, you can easily find the center of the keys by touch. The keys have a travel of 1.8 mm and offer enough resistance for a nice click. The key illumination can be adjusted in seven levels, just like on the large version. The only downside remains that Logitech only supplies their keyboards in the Netherlands in an ISO format with an upright Enter. I personally prefer a more common ANSI format in the Netherlands with a horizontal Enter. Like its predecessor, the keyboard features keys that are both Windows and Mac printed. Handy, especially because you can pair the keyboard with three devices. It is therefore a bit strange that there is also a special Mac variant of this keyboard with only a Mac print. That Mac variant is only available in silver gray and not really suitable for it Windows.
In addition to controlling the volume, the function keys also allow you to insert emoticons, start the dictation function and mute the microphone. The latter does not work for me without installing the Logitech Options software, the rest of the buttons also have the intended functionality without software. Something that I don’t find very useful is that there is no normal print screen key. The print screen key has been replaced by a key that opens a screen clipping tool where you can draw lines to take a screenshot, for example. That works in itself, but I would rather just use the quick key combination Alt + Printscreen. Unfortunately, in contrast to the normal MX Keys, it is not possible to assign the normal print screen button to the key via the software.
Dongle confusion with Bolt
Until recently, Logitech used the Unifying receiver for connecting wireless keyboards and mice. In addition, some products such as the normal MX Keys keyboard were also compatible with Bluetooth. That Unifying worked quite well, although a vulnerability in the protocol was discovered in the past and not all receivers have been patched for this. So Unifying can be unsafe and potentially bugged. Recently, Logitech has therefore introduced the new Bolt Receiver introduced. It is mainly intended for business environments and uses a protocol based on Bluetooth LE with additional encryption. In addition to Bluetooth, the tested MX Keys Mini is also compatible with this Bolt receiver.
Apparently the introduction of Bolt does have consequences for Unifying, because the MX Keys Mini is no longer compatible with the Unifying receiver. And the older products such as the normal MX Keys are not compatible with the Bolt receiver despite the support for Bluetooth. If you do want to use the larger MX Keys with Bolt, then there is a new MX Keys for business variant. In other words, with a bit of bad luck you suddenly need two Logitech receivers if you work with multiple generations of Logitech stuff. However, on the other hand, bluetooth works well nowadays and all more luxurious Logitech products such as the tested MX Keys Mini also work via bluetooth. In fact, the tested consumer version no longer includes a USB receiver. For consumers, it therefore seems that in the future we will mainly see Logitech products via bluetooth without dongles.
Both the Unifying and the Bolt receiver (sold separately for 13 euros) have another disadvantage, because you need the corresponding software to connect to the receiver. This is a disadvantage, especially in a business environment, because you need administrator rights to install the Logitech Options software. Many companies don’t give their employees administrator rights on corporate PCs, so it depends on the organization whether employees can actually use Bolt. Once you have installed the software, connecting via Bolt is not much different than Unifying and you can easily pair a device with the receiver. You can also connect the tested keyboard to three different devices. According to Logitech, Bolt is more secure than Bluetooth, so this could be interesting for some organizations. However, I can’t judge whether Bolt is really more secure than bluetooth or Unifying. In any case, the keyboard works flawlessly via both connection methods.
Useful software
To get the most out of the keyboard, you need to install Logitech Options. You do need admin rights for this. In addition to being able to link products via Bolt or Unifying in this way, you can also change the functionality of the function keys. You have extensive options here. Even the keys for the backlights and volume can be changed slightly. You can choose all kinds of Windows functions, but also start applications or program key combinations. This can even be done per application, making applications with all kinds of complicated key combinations a lot more pleasant to use. The only thing that unfortunately is not possible, as mentioned, is to use the normal print screen key.
Conclusion
Like its big brother, the MX Keys Mini is an excellent keyboard. It is a great choice for those who want to take their own keyboard to the office every day. A bit strange is that the MX Keys Mini costs the same as its big brother while you get fewer functions and no dongle. Especially because at the time of writing the street price of the normal variant is a lot lower. It remains a premium keyboard, of course, but I would have found something of a tenner price difference fair. Nevertheless, as far as I’m concerned, this remains the most interesting compact keyboard you can currently buy if you don’t plan on gaming.
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