Logitech Signature Slim Combo - MK950 product reviews

The MK950 Combo features the Signature Slim K950 wireless keyboard and Signature Plus M750 wireless mouse, both of which are pre-paired with the included Logi Bolt adapter. Works right out of the box.

The first impressions upon opening this box will be a mix of confusion and curiosity, maybe with a hint of nostalgia thrown in. There is nothing to look at on these devices that draws any oohs and ahhs, they are familiar and comforting for older users, despite the slimness of the keyboard perhaps, while still appealing to the younger working generation who will appreciate the sleekness and expanded functionality of these devices. Let's start with the keyboard...

In a departure from current styles, the keyboard has flip-out feet to raise the keyboard into an 8 degree incline. This homage to the old-school keyboards is welcomed for those who loath wrist-rests for one reason or another. I count myself amongst that particular loop in life's big Venn diagram. The K950 is quiet and easy to use with scissor switches and minimal key travel. The actuation force required to type is minimal, which makes it perfect for touch-typists and those with some form of wrist or hand injury such as OOS/RSI, tendonitis, arthritis, etc.

At first glance, you'd see a standard keyboard layout, However the key where [Insert] normally is located is now a change-language key. This allows a handy change of language of your keyboard if that is what you need, or unleash hell on your typing if you don't. For me, this was a strange preset and thankfully the companion software - Options+ - will allow you to remap that back to what it should be. Still a hassle that the end-user has to undo a custom assignation.

Speaking of the software, Logitech Options+ used to be a serious negative for the brand, but hard work and a lot of listening to user-feedback has resulted in a stable and feature-rich hardware add-on that looks to only improve as updates are rolling out regularly with new features and supported hardware added each time. There is so much potential in this, the biggest being the Smart Action system which I have mentioned previously, that it's worth putting aside any past experiences, and diving in to explore the expanded potential.

There are a number of new features being released, and the hype at the moment is the new AI prompt builder. Using the Options+ software, you can assign a trigger-key and when that key/combo is pressed a window will pop up that links you directly into ChapGPT3.5 (or v4 if you have a subscription) and allows you to set 'recipes' that will define the context for your prompt. Choose the type of query - the recipe - and enter your keywords, and the software will craft a comprehensive prompt to send to ChapGPT on your behalf, and will display the results in the console window so you can adjust the prompt or take the text. That said, it's something that is not really necessary for those it was aimed at but will be a hit with those who need it the most. You could say they scored a win with an unintentional bank-shot.

The M750 mouse takes up little real estate and is comfortable enough in my hands. It is compact and has textured sidewalls for an easy but non-slip grip. The scroll wheel is near-silent and aside from your standard three button mouse, there is the addition of two buttons on the left side of the mouse. If you are using it right handed then they naturally rest under your thumb. I found mapping them to Prev/Next worked really well for me. With the software you can set globals as well as app-specific commands, so while prev/next works great in browsers and eBook readers, mapping those keys to edit > undo/redo for apps like Photoshop and InDesign made workflow so much smoother and more instinctive.

It's a more basic mouse than some of the usual Logitech fare, but for a work system, it does an excellent job. Surprisingly better and more than you might expect from a mouse that would look equally at home with a tail leading to a 486 system. Don't judge this 'book' by its 'cover' by any means. There is a removable cover under the mouse for a single AA battery and a storage slot for the Bolt adapter. Note that there is also a 'pocket' on the M950 keyboard to store the USB transceiver, under the battery hatch too.

As with all of the recent releases from Logitech, these can link to multiple devices across the OS spectrum. To take it to the extreme, let's say you are jumping between a PC, your Android phone and a MacBook. You can flick between them with a touch of a button on the keyboard, and a press of a button on the mouse. Type, into that device, get a reply... copy it into a memory buffer that I assume must be located within the keyboard, switch to another device and paste that text as though you typed it. Great for on-the-spot research during video calls or if you are working from home and need to pull information off your personal system.

The battery life claims of 36 months per battery for the keyboard and 24 months on the mouse are tough to swallow, and I'm betting Logitech won't want to wait while I test that claim, so I'll have to say that it's one consumers will have to take on faith. I daresay that the actual lifetime will vary in the relation to the usage patterns - heavy users who are banging away on the keys all night every night may need to swap them annually, while low-usage folk such as myself might never need to replace them, having upgraded 2 years down the track before any batteries ran out. That said, when I saw that the default OEM batteries, supplied, are not generic no-brand cells but proudly wear the Duracell uniform, I had to pause and consider the quality. So, with that in mind, it's fair to say 'quite believable, really' though with a caveat about usage affecting those numbers.

Overall, each item is great in and of itself, and as a wireless upgrade that works across multiple devices, there's every reason to give this serious consideration. Where they really come into their own though is in the modern work-from-home era. When paired with something like the ZONE 300 headphones and perhaps their recently-launched Brio Webcam, you have the perfect WFH setup, giving you all the tools to keep your productivity going, teleconference and Zoom-call with ease and clarity. The MK950 combo is available in Graphite (black/grey) and Off-white (pictured).