As hardware continues to develop, companies are able to diversify their offerings and target new markets with specialized products. Such is the current case with Logitech, whose proven reputation is built from a large library of reliable gaming and business peripherals. Now Logitech is aiming to break through into new markets by setting their sights on a unique user base: digital creators. Whether the creator is a video editor or an aspiring artist, the Logitech Craft keyboard is built to supplement their diverse workloads by maximizing efficiency and adding a new level of immersion to their creative process.
The Logitech Craft is a wireless chicklet-style keyboard with a visually pleasing design. Instead of going with a more traditional design of mechanical switches and a bulky plastic chassis, the Craft is sleek and elegant due to its thin notebook profile. Despite its slim frame, the keyboard is built with premium materials and feels sturdy in hand—unlike a majority of other similar styled boards. Another unique and welcome design choice are the indented keycaps, which naturally fit the users fingers and add another layer of comfort to their typing experience. While I still personally prefer the feel of mechanical switches for everyday use, the Craft is easily the best chicklet keyboard I’ve used to date and is slim enough to be used portably as well, which is a big plus for students.
Setting up the Logitech Craft is simple. Users can either use the included mini-USB block to plug into a PC/Mac, or the keyboard can be paired via low-energy Bluetooth connection. What’s even better is that the Craft can be paired with up-to three devices at a time using these connections, allowing artists to switch freely from their drawing tablet to their PC if they want to watch something different on Netflix or change their music playlist while they work. The Keyboard’s backlight system is also unique as it only activates when it detects hand movements and also smartly illuminates to the darkness of the room to save battery. The Logitech Craft ran out of battery in just over 7 work days, which lines up with its quoted life expectancy from the manufacturer. This battery life is subjective though and is mostly determined by how much the user uses the keyboards highlight feature.
What makes the Logitech Craft stand out from the pack of notebook styled keyboards is the Crown, a creative input dial that adapts to the users favourite applications. Using the Logitech Options Software, creators can install pre-made and custom profiles for a multitude of popular applications on the Craft, including the Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suites. The dial instantly feels intuitive to use as I began changing brush strokes on the fly in Photoshop, creating graphs in Excel and freely edited text and pictures in InDesign to create magazine layout pages. These are just surface level examples of what the Logitech Craft is capable of and creators who are more attuned to these programs will easily be able to discover a feature that improves their work efficiency in minutes.
The big right haymaker to this creator friendly package is the $260 CAD retail price tag. Compared to some of the most commonly purchased gaming boards on the market today, the Logitech Craft is aiming high at a premium price bracket. The largest competitor to the Craft in its field is the Microsoft Surface Dial, which is a separate creative dial capable of many of the same uses as the Crown for about $130 CAD. The Logitech Craft is the superior product because it offers more freedom to the user across a deeper library of applications, but it’s a shame the keyboard couldn’t launch at a cheaper price tag for students who would love to add it to their growing set of digital gear. For now, it would be best to wait for the Craft to go on sale because the experience for digital creators is worthwhile.
The Logitech Craft Keyboard was provided for free by the Manufacturer, Logitech, for Review purposes
