Logitech Pop Icon best Keys and Mouse AI goodness, 9 Jan.

Artificial intelligence is everywhere – in your smartphones, laptops, televisions, cameras and even audio devices – so why should a keyboard and mouse be any different? Logitech’s new Pop Icon Keyboard and Mouse aims to bridge this gap by making ChatGPT literally just a click away.

The Pop Icon combo is priced at ₹9,295 ( ₹6,695 for the keyboard and ₹3,595 for the mouse), but does it deliver a premium experience worth the price? I have been using the keyboard and mouse for over 2 months and this is my two cents on how the combo performs in the real world.

Logitech Pop Icon Combo: Design and performance

Logitech Pop Icon keyboard and mouse combo comes in four different color ways: purple & off-white, graphite & green, rose & off-white and off-white & orange. I received the pink one, which looks pretty catchy with a combination of white and pink keys. The keyboard is definitely an eye-catcher, and if you are a minimalist like me, then you would be wise to opt for the green or off-white version.

The combo comes in an ergonomical design with a weight of around 530 grams for the keyboard and 80 grams for the mouse. The relatively lightweight design meant that I was easily able to carry the keyboard and mouse in my work bag easily.

The Keyboard departs from the mechanical design of its predecessor and instead opts for a more conventional design. The membrane switches on the keyboard make for a relatively quiet and comfortable typing experience. The keys themselves are relatively similar to what you see with a normal keyboard with a few nifty additions. I particularly liked the addition of brightness up/down and mute buttons.

On the back of the keyboard, you see a little bump that provides the keyboard stability even when typing at high speeds. It also hold the 2AAA batteries and space for the Logitech USB dongle (which sadly isn’t bundled with this combo and needs to be bought separately).

The keyboard also isn’t backlit, which could be a deal breaker for those who prefer working late at night. I believe this is a major miss on Logitech’s part, considering that even much cheaper keyboards in the market come with built-in backlighting.

Moving on to the mouse, the minimalist two-tone pink finish on this small device provides a nice contrast to the vibrant keyboard. There were no problems whatsoever with the mouse’s performance, but its compact size makes it a little uncomfortable to hold for people with larger palms like myself.

If you’ve read any of my previous reviews, you’ll know I’m a sucker for detail, and one thing I really love about the Logitech Pop mouse is the kind of whizzing sound it makes when you turn the wheel quickly. I know it’s a small thing, but it’s the kind of little thing that makes you live with your accessories a little longer.

The keyboard is said to last 3 years and the mouse 2 years without changing the batteries. While there is no way of knowing how long the batteries will actually last, I am inclined to take Logitech at their word, as my mouse still has 95% battery life, while the keyboard is 100% charged despite rarely being powered off.

In case you were worried about compatibility, the keyboard and mouse combo runs on all the major operating systems, including Windows, MacOS, Chrome OS and Linux. You can also seamlessly switch between up to three devices by holding down the F1/F2/F3 keys on the keyboard and the dedicated button on the mouse.

AI comes to keyboard:

The standout feature of the Pop Icon combo is the companion Logi Options+ app, available for Windows and Mac. The easy-to-use app allows users to check the battery levels on both devices and customize 15 buttons on the keyboard and 2 buttons on the mouse.

Logitech is not only making it easier to connect to ChatGPT using the default app, but is also fine-tuning the prompt to meet the needs of users. The AI prompt builder can be set to any of the customizable keys on the keyboard and mouse. It can be used to create prompts for rephrasing or summarizing text, replying to a conversation or composing an email, taking into account the tone and length required for the task at hand.

At the moment there is only support for ChatGPT, but one could assume that Gemini, Claude and other chatbots may not be far behind.

While the prompt builder is definitely a good start, I am not entirely convinced of the usefulness of the feature. In my experience, the personalized prompts I created with ChatGPT gave better results than the ones suggested by Logitech.

Verdict:

Logitech Pop Icon Keyboard and Mouse Combo is a must-buy for anyone who wants their accessories to stand out. The lack of backlighting and the extra cost for the USB dongle might be a deal-breaker for some people, but I feel it is more than made up for by the quiet typing experience, seamless connectivity, long battery life, excellent software support and nascent AI features.