Enjoy my Logitech Combo Touch for the iPad Pro 11-inch (All generations). You can buy this case and keyboard combo for $148.55 from Amazon US → https://amzn.to/3BjhzRj or for £179.95 from Amazon UK → https://amzn.to/30XGg9n.
iPad Pro 12.9-inch 5th Gen Combo Touch:
→ https://amzn.to/3CkXc7r (US)
→ https://amzn.to/3Gt2xMz (UK)
iPad Air 4th Gen Combo Touch:
→ https://amzn.to/3mkUeuh (US)
→ https://amzn.to/3BwJygF (UK)
Overview
So over the years since the iPad was released, we’ve seen it grow into quite a portable productive device. Alongside iPadOS updates, we can now run powerful productivity apps, multitask between them, run two apps in split view, and use the Apple Pencil for sketching, markup and much more.
Many people are starting to ditch the laptop in favour of an Apple iPad in all walks of life, be it consumers browsing at home, to professionals in their workplace. Part of this may require regular use of the onscreen keyboard, and although typing on a glass keyboard isn’t too bad on an iPad, you just can’t beat typing on a physical keyboard.
There are lots of positives when using a separate keyboard, mouse or trackpad with your iPad. The first is that with the onscreen keyboard removed from the iPad display, you get so much more real-estate back, allowing you to view your app’s content across the entire screen of the iPad. This is even more beneficial if you use a keyboard with an iPad that’s smaller than Apple’s biggest 12.9-inch screen.
Having hotkeys and being able to carry out keyboard shortcuts in apps with iPadOS makes typing, multitasking and generally working with your iPad much faster. If you’re a seasoned typist, you will likely find typing on a physical keyboard to be much faster than on the glass onscreen keyboard. Being able to physically touch and depress the keys helps with general typing speed with the keystroke feedback you get with physical keys – which is something you just don’t get with the onscreen keyboard.
Over the past year or so I started to type my video scripts on my iPad, using a spare Apple Magic Keyboard, or the Logitech MX Keys that I also reviewed recently on this channel. I found it much faster, and it felt kinda cool being able to work from such a small, compact and portable device. The downside of this setup was that the keyboard was separate, it had to be carried separately, it also had to be charged before use, and on certain keyboards, it wasn’t made for iPadOS, so it didn’t have hotkeys that worked well enough on the iPad platform.
This Logitech Combo Touch keyboard case and trackpad for iPad caught my eye as a perfect solution to all of these problems. This particular model is built for my 1st generation 11-inch iPad Pro, and it also works with all recent generations too. You can get versions of the Combo Touch case and keyboard that supports the 5th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and also the iPad Air 4th Generation.
Installation & Features
Installation is super easy. The iPad inserts neatly and securely inside a rigid rubber silicone and fabric case that features all the necessary holes to pass-through audio, microphone and charging to and from the iPad. With a small cut out portion on the right side of the case, the Apple Pencil is able to attach and charge alongside the iPad with the case and keyboard attached.
On the back of the case, there is a very sturdy, fold-out kick-stand, and with a solid 50 degree of tilt hinge point, the iPad can be positioned in a number of ways that suit your working environment – be it sitting upright for movie watching from a seat table surface on the train, tilted back on a desktop whilst typing, to folding it away for reading, and folding it all the way down for markup or sketch work using the Apple Pencil.
The camera hole on the back is large enough to support all generations of the iPad Pro 11-inch, so in my case, there is a lot of extra space here for the newer iPad Pro 11-inch generation with its bigger camera bump and multiple camera lenses.
Along the side and top of the case, the iPad’s wake and sleep button are covered with a slight ridge silicone button, whilst the volume buttons feature a ridged silicone plus and minus symbols that make them easy enough to feel and locate without having to look for them.
On the left side of the case, there is just a magnetic smart connector passthrough point for the keyboard to attach to. With this type of attachment, it means there is no need for charging the keyboard or manually pairing your iPad to it – everything is handled seamlessly once the magnetic strip of the keyboard attaches to the side of the Combo Touch case. The keyboard then draws power from the iPad and pairing is done very fast and automatically – even on the first install, you don’t have to do or download anything. Both keyboard and trackpad are found and can be used instantly.
Keyboard & Trackpad
The relatively thin, detachable keyboard is very solid and feels very high quality. The finish on all sides mirror the same design of the case it attaches to, with its hard-wearing, yet smooth, grey woven fabric that wraps around the inside and outside of the keyboard cover. The similarly grey coloured plastic keys are well laid out with 1mm key travel and there is 18mm of key pitch. This makes them soft to touch, fast and accurate with a key layout and size that feels comfortable enough to type on for long periods.
The backlit keys can be adjusted with 16 levels of brightness using 2 of the 14 iPadOS shortcut keys that run along the top of the keyboard. The remaining buttons include a Home button, screen brightness, display and hide the onscreen keyboard, search, media playback controls for back and forward, play and pause. There is also volume up, down and mute buttons. And finally, there is a screen off button to quickly lock your iPad without the need to close the case or reach for the sleep button on the top side.
Underneath the keyboard, there is a wide click anywhere trackpad. Since iPadOS now allows mouse support, using the trackpad alongside the full physical keyboard is a perfect partnership to enhance any form of productivity on the iPad. The trackpad is nice and wide, it measures 11.2cm across and 5.8cm deep, which is a size that’s just big enough to carry out most tasks, and multi-touch gestures fairly easily – allowing you to scroll, swipe, tap and pinch your way around your iPad apps. Like the keyboard, you don’t have to pair this touchpad either – it just works, as soon as the keyboard cover is connected to the case.
My Impressions
The Logitech Combo Touch retails from £119.95 or $137 for the iPad Air, £179.95 or $148.55 for the iPad Pro 11-inch, and £199.99 or $229.99 for the 5th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and you can check out my Amazon links below to learn more about it and to buy yourself one.
It comes in two colours, the darker Oxford Grey, or a lighter silver Sand colour. Being fabric-covered, I feel the darker option would be more prone to dirt than the lighter colour. You can also choose from a few keyboard language layouts too, each to suit your region. However, if you want a specific keyboard language that’s different to your local Amazon region, you might need to order it from Logitech directly or buy it from Amazon in that language region.
Logitech also does two cheaper keyboard cases for the 11-inch iPad Pro, the slightly cheaper Folio Touch – with its attached keyboard, a slightly smaller trackpad, and an adjustable kickstand; and the cheaper Slim Folio Pro, which also features a permanently attached keyboard, there is no trackpad and the screen tilts into itself without many levels of adjustment.
I like the Combo Touch very much. I prefer its detachable keyboard over the other options. As it makes it more versatile for the many uses and environments that the iPad allows you. The hinged kickstand gives me plenty of scope to angle the iPad Pro display exactly where I want it and it folds away discreetly when I am not using it. The detachable keyboard allows the ability to use the iPad without it, which saves on the overall bulk of holding the iPad for browsing or reading, as well as help reduce its overall weight quite considerably.
With the iPad Pro 11-inch weighing 470grams, once the case is attached this increases to 719 grams overall, and with the keyboard cover then attached, the overall weight goes up again to 1039 grams. That’s over half a kilo extra in total weight on top of the bare iPad 11-inch, so you can imagine the iPad with the Combo Touch attached starts to get a little heavy if you were to carry the whole thing around with you, or in your backpack. But overall, it is still much lighter than a MacBook Pro at 1.5kg and a little lighter than the MacBook Air at 1.29kg.
But what I like about this Combo Touch setup, is that everything is packed into one smart looking and solidly built case, that doesn’t require charging, it can fold away neatly, it can protect it also, whilst offering a full layout and very comfortable backlit keyboard and an accurate and responsive multitouch touchpad.
If you’re looking to minimise your working setup with an iPad/keyboard combo, then the Logitech Combo Touch keyboard case for iPad is a decent all-in-one accessory that will not only enhance and improve your productivity on iPad, it will look great and feel great too.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro
0:18 – Overview
0:57 – Keyboard Pros 1:57 keys
2:24 – Compatibility
2:49 – Installation & Features
4:51 – Keyboard
5:33 – Smart Keys
6:10 – Touchpad
6:52 – My Impressions
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