Keys-To-Go2 is the latest iteration of Logitech’s line of "ultra-portable" keyboards, designed to be thrown into a backpack or satchel and carted easily around to wherever you might need to do a bit of typing, but without (for whatever reason) full computing facilities at your disposal.
Arriving for our review in a pleasant enough shade of non-threatening purple (it also comes in dark grey), the keyboard certainly lives up to its promise of being easy to move around, measuring just 250 x 105 x 9mm, and weighing only 222g. A magnetic folding cover serves to give the keys themselves a little more protection in your bag and tucks away flat at the back for use.
Getting going with the keyboard is a matter of setting it to the operating system of the device you want to use it with — Android, Windows, Mac or ChromeOS — with a quick couple of key presses, then tracking the keyboard down in your device’s Bluetooth setting to pair. On my phone, this proved a little finicky at times; sometimes the keyboard and phone didn’t seem to pair for no particular reason, while in other attempts the confirmation code your device asks you to enter on the keyboard took several attempts. Testing with colleagues’ phones produced similar issues, although we were able to complete pairing eventually.
Once a connection is eventually made though, there’s no need for any further fiddling away with settings; you’re away laughing — or at least, typing — and here things are pretty impressive. Despite its small size, the keyboard doesn’t feel cramped to use — you won’t be accidentally bashing two letters at once with those big clumsy fingers of yours — and the keys themselves have a pleasant action, which manages to produce that important typing feel of having the confidence in your button presses, yet clacks away quietly, ensuring you won’t disturb your fellow passengers or lecture attendees. Standard quick function controls like volume and brightness up and down are all present and correct as well. There’s also an option to connect to multiple input devices and switch between them with function keys (although it’s somewhat difficult to imagine when you might need to be typing into so many devices with otherwise unavailable keyboards at once).
The weight, size and ease of typing does make the Keys-To-Go2 pretty handy at its intended function. I’ve managed to comfortably type this review on it into my phone while on a bus between Dunedin and Christchurch with both keyboard and phone simply perched on my lap, which otherwise would have been a bit of a nightmare to try to achieve. But these are fairly specific circumstances; Keys-To-Go2 is really only going to be worth the asking price if you’re the type that needs to get a lot done on the go, wants to be able to type while travelling or are in a specialised situation (perhaps having to take notes out in the field).
It’s also a little disappointing that Keys-To-Go2 is battery-powered rather than rechargeable; Logitech claims a battery life of 3 years based on two hours of use a day, so you won’t be running down to Jaycar every other week, but will need to shell out for new batteries eventually (and remember to switch it off).
Overall, it’s a pretty neat little device, but an easy one to skip unless you think you can personally build a solid use-case for owning one.
By Ben Allan