So late last year, Logitech announced a premium wireless accessory w/ the Craft Keyboard. We already know Logitech is like the king of accessories but this one is a bit different. The interesting part or the selling point is the crown. Think of the crown as a take on the Surface Dial but placed in the top left corner of the keyboard.
So did Logitech put their version of Microsoft's dial into their keyboard? Well, yes and no. It doesn't matter which company came up w/ the idea first as it's all about the execution. Now we're not comparing the 2 as we never got longer than a demo w/ the Surface Dial. We're gonna talk about how well the Logitech's Craft keyboard utilizes it.
This is a high-end piece that warrants a premium price. It is put together w/ an aluminum bar, matte grey plastic, and the crown dial/button. All of this combined w/ sturdy rubber feet to keep the keyboard intact. This is a full-sized keyboard w/ the number keys on the right which I always appreciate. The chiclet keys have indents on them to give your fingers comfort while typing. Did we mention that the keyboard is backlit? It is and it is nice & bright.
So the keyboard is wireless that utilizes Bluetooth or Logitech's Unifying 2.4GHz wireless technology to connect to your device(s). Their Unify feature allows you to use multiple devices to connect to your device using only one USB dongle. So I have the Craft & the OG MX Master mouse on my iMac using only one connection.
- Crown dial/button that adapts based on what app you're using
- Full-size backlit keyboard w/ number pad
- Multi-device support
- Multi-OS support (Mac & Windows)
- Logitech Unify support allowing you to use the keyboard on 3 different devices
- Powered via USB-C
The crown is touch-sensitive positioned on the left which will allow you to still rock the mouse w/ your right hand. The crown can be pressed like a button, tap, or scroll. In the Chrome browser, you can turn the dial to switch between tabs, press the dial to control brightness, and press + turn to adjust screen brightness. These actions can be swapped out for other commands within the app that works for you.
Logitech's software is the same one if you have one of their mice. From here you can do some let configuration for what you want some of the keys or the dial to do. If you've never used the Surface Dial, think of the crown dial like the Touchbar on the MacBook Pro. At the time of writing this review, the Craft keyboard best supports apps like FireFox, Chrome, Adobe Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, Premiere Pro CC, & InDesign CC for both Mac & Windows. You also got support for Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel & Word for Windows. However, you can still use it some of its features within native apps like TextEdit, Finder, Preview, QuickTime, FaceTime, & more.
When more apps support the dial, the Craft keyboard will be a more powerful accessory.
TG 2 Cents
The crown is a fun tool to use along w/ the keyboard on a daily basis as I've used it over the course of just about 2 weeks. I do love using the Craft keyboard as I just wish more apps or the apps I actually use support it. Use can customize only a few commands to use w/ the crown and I wish I could customize some of the keys as well.
It is a dope keyboard but you don't use Chrome, Adobe CC suite, or Office suite on Windows heavily; it may not justify the $200 price point. But when the developers add support for way more apps like Final Cut Pro, Logic, & the Office Suite for Macs - it might live up to the complete package of it. So in the meantime, it is still a great premium keyboard but to get the most use out of it, you might want to hold off on picking one up.
