Logitech MX Mechanical Wireless Keyboards Hands-on Review: Mechanical Productivity

Mechanical keyboards are all the rage right now with the gaming community, and there's no sign for this trend to die down anytime soon. These days you're able to see this trend bleed over to the workspace, with office workers showing off some colors and style uniquely offered in the mechanical keyboard lineup.

However anyone who has used mechanical keyboards before will know that though the tactility and deep key travel is excellent for boosting gaming performance, it can hinder instead of boost productivity. All ten fingers suddenly have more distance to travel and need to exert more force to register a click. Sure, you can always train your fingers to adapt, but is there a way to get the clickiness of mechanical switches without the learning curve?

In steps Logitech - who has been massively successful in its Masters series, as well as having the expertise in its gaming G range, putting these knowhows together and introducing the MX Mechanical keyboards. Can the new MX Mechanical keyboards bring the coveted mechanical switches into the office and circumvent the challenges? Let's dive in and find out.

Camouflaged Mechanical Keyboard

Mechanical keyboards pulsing with RGB lighting is almost a given with gamers, something they won't hesitate to flaunt. However, the same can't be said if you wanted to use a mechanical keyboard in the office where the dynamic light show would probably earn a few frowned looks.

So it made sense that the Logitech MX Mechanicals went for a more monochromatic look, with white LED key backlighting, and various tones of gray for the hardware. Those who have very sharp eyes in the office might spot them, but most I suspect will just overlook the minimalist, lowkey aesthetics, leaving you to freely enjoy your mechanical keys at work.

Low Profile and 3 Switch Options (Typability)

Another giveaway that you're using mechanical keys would be the palm rest, as most office keyboards are of the chiclet variety, which almost never needs extra palm support. If you want long sessions of use with mechanical keyboards without getting fatigued however, the palm rests are a must. In this sense, the low profile MX Mechanical eliminates the need for that extra item on your desk. The keyboard is low enough that, like a chiclet keyboard, I can rest my palms on the desktop and still type comfortably. In fact putting the MX Mechanical next to a MX Keys, it's amazing just how little difference in height they have, an impressive engineering feat.

Even with a palm rest on typical mechanical keyboards however, the greatest challenge I found with using if for work is the key travel. The extra few millimeters of travel over chiclet keyboards does give a satisfying crunch, but also means that a little bit more energy is needed to type each letter. And when you're typing 10-20,000 words, all that additional energy adds up. This is where the MX Mechanical low-key travel contributes to a solution. It's not as effortless as chiclet keyboards, but it's much less demanding than full mechanical switches, significantly flattening out the learning curve of the switch.

The final giveaway that exposes a mechanical keyboard in the office is an unseen one: the noise. If you are in your own personal office this wouldn't be an issue, but if there's even one person sitting near your workspace, they will soon get very annoyed by all the click-clack coming out from your new mechanical keys. That's why the MX Mechanicals have three switches to choose from: Tactile Quiet, Clicky and Linear. If you can afford the noise pollution - go for the clicky and clack away; but if you can't, you can settle for the tactile quiet which still has the key travel and tactility, but is a much quieter alternative.

Compact, Efficient Layout

Learning from the MX Keys development that went from the full size MX Keys to releasing the compact MX Keys Mini, the MX Mechanicals launched both sizes from the get-go. If you need the number pad for your work, then you'd want the full-size option, but if you can do without it, then the Mini variant would give your workspace a noticeably cleaner look.

What I liked about the MX Mechanical Mini is that though it uses essentially the same layout as MX Keys Mini, for the purpose of boosting productivity, you get an extra column of 4 keys on the right-hand side. Here you get your Home, End, Page Up, Page Down and Insert key in conjunction with the Function key, which basically gives you back all your navigation and editing keys from the full layout. This addition makes a notable difference, and makes me wish the next version of the MX Keys also adds it in.

Inheriting MX Motion Detection

Being the TOTL keyboards from Logitech, the MX Mechanical may have been stripped of any fancy colors, but they've kept the flair of the MX series by inheriting the motion detection lighting that was first introduced by the MX Keys. When you go near your MX Mechanicals, before your hands touch any of the keys, the backlighting fades on by itself. Apart from the arguable function of saving battery power, this function is all about that flair.

To be honest, in the long run I did end up turning the backlighting off altogether because of how much longer the batteries last if you do. Logitech themselves rate the battery life difference between lights on and off to be 15 days versus 300 days. In real life, I don't know if the difference is that large, but it's somewhere in that factor range. Since most offices are well lit, the backlighting is just something nice to have available but won't be used often at work.

Software Suite

Even though this option is available on almost every Logitech product that I've tried, it is still worth a mention because of how much it adds to the functionality of the MX Mechanical keyboard. The ability to customize keys, set lighting effects or turn off backlighting on default, check battery life and even assign software specific profiles takes the keyboard to a new level of functionality and productivity.

Final Verdict

Simply speaking, the Logitech MX Mechanical is the easiest mechanical keyboard to switch to from a chiclet one. You immediately get the advantage of better tactility, but will need very little time to get used to it because of its low profile. Furthermore, you can do the switch without earning unwanted attention from co-workers at the office, while still being able to show it off when you want to with the motion sensing lighting and customizable lighting effects.

The Logitech MX Mechanical keyboard is one of the best mechanical keyboards that we have tested, and we're awarding it the IBTimes Best Product badge.

Sam is a production engineer turned tech writer who specializes in seeking out gadgets that enhance productivity while still looking sharp. This is a contribution to an ongoing IBTimes review series on gadgets for Business Travelers.