Logitech MK470 Advanced
Designed to survive life’s accidents, this is our top choice if you can afford the clumsiness premium
SCORE PRICE £42 (£50 inc VAT) from logitech.com
Back in issue 281 ( see p72), I put six wireless keyboard and mouse combos to the test. Two of those were from Logitech, and truth is I could have filled all six slots with a set from the company: when it comes to keyboards and mice, it’s more prolific than Barbara Cartland in her 1980s pomp.
So why has Logitech chosen to introduce yet another wireless keyboard and mouse combo, sitting firmly in the mid-range at £50? Simple: for the clumsy. Because this set shouldn’t really be called the MK470 Advanced but the MK470 Idiot-Proof.
I’m happy to plant myself in the Idiot category. In my excitement to remove the keyboard and mouse from their packaging, I knocked over the cup of coffee on my desk. Fate decided to empty its contents straight onto the keyboard, and so it was with relief that I realised the MK470 is waterproof. And coffee-proof, as it happens. Two minutes later I was happily rinsing the keys with water to ensure the keyboard wouldn’t smell of stale coffee the following day.
It’s now two weeks later, and during that time the keyboard has behaved perfectly. Although I have managed to avoid spilling anything on it since. The other ace up this board’s sleeve is longevity, which comes in two forms. First, Logitech promises that the stickering on the keys is designed to withstand abrasion over time; I prefer Cherry’s approach of lasering on each key’s label, but if Logitech’s promise turns out to be true then it’s a solid compromise.
The second longevity trick is due to the extremely long battery life. The keyboard is designed to last three years on the supplied pair of AA batteries, while the mouse should keep going for 18 months. Part of that is likely due to the use of 2.4GHz wireless rather than Bluetooth, with a single USB receiver in the box. It’s tiny, too, only jutting out by around 6mm from the socket.
All this would be for nought if the keyboard and mouse weren’t enjoyable to use, but fortunately they succeed in this core task. The keys will never compare to a mechanical keyboard for sheer chunky satisfaction, but they’re quiet enough to avoid being irritating (although not dampened enough to be described as silent). Nor are there any irritations when it comes to key placement: everything is where it should be, with no function doubling or space-saving.
One of the advantages of buying Logitech is its Options software. This allows you to customise F1 to F8 with your choice of shortcuts, with the default selection covering everything I can think of. But if there’s a particular keystroke you want to assign, you can do that too. There are four handy shortcuts above the numeric keyboard - Calculator, battery check, Lock and Eject - with both Lock and Eject again being programmable.
There are a couple of nice usability extras too. Logitech wisely splits the media playback controls into two clumps of three (previous, play/pause, next on the left; mute, volume up,
“This wireless keyboard and mouse combo shouldn’t really be called the Logitech MK470 Advanced but the MK470 Idiot-Proof”
volume down on the right) to make them easier to hit without looking at the board. You can also adjust the height of the keyboard’s rear from flat to 4 degrees to 8 degrees, to suit your typing preferences. And, despite the emphasis on long battery life, pressing Caps Lock activates a tiny green LED to let you know it’s switched on.
The mouse is more basic. There’s only one programmable button, the middle one, and initially I felt the mouse was too light at a shade under 100g with the battery inside. Over the past two weeks, however, I’ve grown used to the way it sits snugly into my hand - note its equally suited to leftand right-handers. And because it isn’t too huge, I’ll be slinging it in my bag for my next work trip too.
If there are drawbacks to this set, it’s that it lacks features compared to the MK850 Performance. While this costs around £30 more ( pcpro. link/284mk850), it allows you to switch between three different setups at the press of a button – indeed, it’s clever enough that if you move your mouse to the edge of the screen then it will move over to a neighbouring display, as if the two computers are operating one huge extended desktop.
And, truth be told, there’s no need to spend £50 on a keyboard and mouse combo. As I type this review, you can buy the basic Logitech MK270 set for £18 from Amazon ( pcpro. link/284mk270). If I needed to buy a new wireless keyboard and mouse combo, however, there’s no doubt which I’d choose. The MK470 Performance can cope with lummoxes like me and keep chugging merrily along, and includes quality in all the right places. SPECIFICATIONS Wireless Keyboard K540 Wireless Mouse M310 2.4GHz USB receiver keyboard, 457 x 194 x 24mm (WDH) mouse, 62 x 112 x 39mm (WDH) keyboard, 850g mouse, 98g (both with batteries) 2yr limited warranty