Logitech’s Pop Keys proves that making a good mainstream mechanical keyboard requires more than just appearance and gimmicks.

If you ever feel that your keyboard is not unique enough, or it does not reflect your weird and colorful style, then Logitech has a keyboard for you-as long as you don't want it to be fun typing at the same time.

Pop Keys is a colorful, productivity-oriented Bluetooth mechanical keyboard with a 75% layout and a row of dedicated emoji keys. According to Logitech, Pop Keys’ dedicated emoji keys, along with its colorful typewriter-like beauty, are designed to appeal to Gen Z by allowing owners to “show” their “style and personality”.

The keyboard uses a recolored TTC Brown tactile switch, and the red shell is placed in a low-key shell without internal silencers, resulting in a simple and uninteresting structure, which is average for a $100 mechanical keyboard.

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Logitech Pop Keys is a colorful, productivity-oriented Bluetooth mechanical keyboard

As someone who has a lot of experience with mechanical keyboards, typing is not good.

The keyboard switch is a well-known (and often ridiculed) clone of Cherry MX Brown. Compared with high-end tactile switches such as Holy Pandas or Zealios, many people consider this tactile switch to be unpleasant and almost tactile. Therefore, the switch is quite rough (no factory lubrication as far as I know) and very weak to the touch.

Most importantly, the decision to use round keycaps was strange. Because they are different from most traditional keycaps, and they do not have any form of engraving to guide your fingertips into the center of the keys, you will often accidentally press two keys at the same time when typing on this keyboard.

More importantly, the choice of keycaps looks strange. Countless brands have tried but failed to introduce round "typewriter-style" keycaps. One reason is that they are uncomfortable to type. Compared with the popular round keycaps on early typewriters, the keyboard has evolved into carved square keycaps for a reason: they feel natural to type and do not waste any space on the keyboard.

In Monkeytype’s 30-second standard English test, I was able to get about 86 words per minute, which is about 14 WPM lower than my average on Leopold FC660c, which is a tactile keyboard I equipped with a traditional Cherry-type keycap . Although I am sure that the typing speed of people who use Pop Keys will increase over time, it still shows how awkward it is to type on this keyboard compared to a traditional mechanical keyboard.

In addition, the legends on the keycaps seem to be pad printing, resulting in an obvious raised part in the center of each key, making typing uncomfortable. These legends may not last as long as other printing methods like dye sublimation, in which the dye is embedded in the keycap by heat, resulting in a type that almost never wears, or double mold molding, where the text is formed by The second type of plastic cannot be physically worn unless the plastic of the keycap is completely worn out.

Another result of the strange keycaps is the sound configuration of Pop Keys: combined with the hollow, low-key shell of the keyboard, the keyboard's typing sound is plastic and high-pitched. Since the stabilizer is not lubricated in any way, and it is almost impossible to do so, any key that uses the stabilizer sounds incredible—especially the space bar.

Opening the eject button seems to be deliberately difficult to remove-multiple screws are hidden under the rubber feet, and there does not seem to be an easy way to remove the board and PCB from the case without damaging the keyboard. Replacing a damaged switch can be difficult, if not impossible.

Nevertheless, the screws that hold this keyboard together are 50mm T6 screws, which are quite non-standard types, giving the impression that the keyboard is not to be disassembled. The internal assembly is not very interesting. The switch is located on the board soldered to the PCB, and the board PCB structure is fixed in the housing with screws. The only unusual thing here is the colored plastic sheet, which covers the plate and snaps into the bottom case.

Pop Keys do not have rechargeable batteries, but are powered by two AAA batteries. Therefore, the keyboard cannot be recharged, and once the battery runs out, you will need to look for a pack of batteries around the house. If Pop Keys are designed for the Gen Z market, I believe they will be disappointed by the choice of a less environmentally friendly power option for this keyboard. However, Logitech does claim that the keyboard’s battery can last up to three years.

Let's get rid of it: the emoji key may not have a major impact on your workflow. Of course, they are an interesting gimmick, but they may only be used for casual conversations, and apps like Slack and Discord already have emoji input systems, and they work fine.

In addition to typing emoji, the keyboard is also quite useful and practical. The emoji key can be reprogrammed as any single keystroke or multi-key input, and can be reprogrammed to open a web page in the default browser when pressed. Although I occasionally encounter the problem that the keys don't remember my settings, it is easy to solve by resetting the keyboard macro.

In addition, the default actions of the function line are very useful. It’s very convenient to play and pause media, switch between three Bluetooth devices, take screenshots and adjust volume with just one click. However, all of these functions can be used on MX Keys except one function, which is an excellent keyboard. A useful feature unique to Pop Keys is the minimize button, which can minimize and reopen all windows on the desktop.

In general, Pop Keys is a practical keyboard, but its practicality is similar to MX Keys, unless you type a lot of emoji (if you do, who can I judge?). In addition, the rechargeable battery of MX Keys Mini and its slim and portable form factor make it more user-friendly.

Pop Keys is obviously for the same artificial nostalgia as Polaroid Go and other products, creating a retro look, reminiscent of previous cutting-edge technology. Logitech even refers to the keyboard as "retro mechanical typing," which is a strange phrase considering that the switch doesn't feel like an old mechanical keyboard or a premium typewriter.

The keyboard does have a retro aesthetic, and it matches the appearance of modern Instagram influencers, so much so that some of my friends say that they will use the keyboard only based on the appearance. Other than that, it’s hard to go beyond the keycaps-the round shape ultimately depends on preference, so I won’t bash it, but the legend has a clear outline around each letter, and the chrome printing on some keys looks terrible .

Although the color switch housings are very cool, they will eventually be destroyed by the universal stabilizer whose keyboard is made of white plastic. When looking at the keyboard from the front or side, they protrude like thumbs. Especially considering how common color stabilizers are in the custom keyboard community, it would be nice to have a stabilizer that matches the switch color and/or the overall keyboard color scheme.

From a distance, Pop Keys looks good (if you like the general concept), but a closer inspection reveals countless small details that seem to be labor-saving or cheap. If you pay particular attention to details on the keyboard, then this may not be for you.

Although the appearance of Pop Keys is cool and stylish, it is basically all its functions. Almost all the same features, including multi-device Bluetooth, can be found in Logitech's MX Keys Mini for the same $100 (or K380 for $40). It doesn't feel good in your hand, and the switch is almost the same as Cherry MX Browns.

If you really want a keyboard with this specific aesthetic and color scheme, Pop Keys is a good choice, but for anything else-even for emoji input-there are other programmable keyboards that are better Choice, whether mechanical or not.

Or you can press Win at any time. Or CMD Ctrl space bar (the earth key on newer Mac keyboards) to bring up the emoji menu.