Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I buy the majority of my tech-oriented gadgets on Amazon. Like many, I suppose, if you can't find it on Amazon and it's not food, odds are you probably don't need it. So given my affinity for Amazon as my go-to tech supplier, I was very surprised to find the K480 keyboard in a big box office supply store, after wandering in to buy emergency inkjet printer cartridges. The K480's big chunky design and sporty black/neon yellow color scheme caught my eye. Big, colorful and different... I was intrigued. While standing there in the office supply store I proceeded to lookup reviews and ratings for the K480. As surprising as the keyboard's design was, were the uniformly positive 4 and 5 star reviews. That was it, not only was I going to try one, I had to buy it right then and there. Glad I did! FUNCTION: The K480 is surprisingly functional! Way more so than any typical bluetooth keyboard. I've bought many bluetooth/wireless keyboards in the past (and have reviewed positively many here on Amazon). But the K480 isn't just another bluetooth keyboard. It caught me off guard just how darn functional and well thought out this keyboard is. The K480 features big raised keys, is weighty and has a form factor that is unique among keyboards. As far as I can tell, everything about this keyboard's design is very deliberate and functional by design. The weight, the size, the odd ginourmous slot and dial... all serving the ultimate high functionality of this keyboard. MOUNTING SLOT: The rubberized slot for devices is genius! It fits a variety of device sizes in both landscape and portrait. Not only do various sizes and thicknesses fit (tablet case included fits), but it rather firmly holds them in place. Better yet, it holds two devices at one time! A first in my experience! I can put my Samsung Note 10.1 tablet and my Samsung Note 4 phone in the slot at the same time!!! Something I've seen in no other keyboard, stand, gadget, etc., ever... period. I didn't even know I needed or wanted a keyboard to do what it does until I used both devices (tablet and phone) side by side mounted easily in the k480 keyboard slot. THREE POSITION DIAL: The big colorful dial connects and switches between three devices simultaneously... another brilliant and uber-functional feature! Within the first five minutes of use in my office, for the first-time ever I had my laptop, my tablet and my phone all mounted in viewing position and all connected simultaneously to the same keyboard! With the simple turn-click of the neon yellow dial I was switching between three devices with a single input!!! Again, with two of the three connected devices mounted in perfect viewing position in the K480'a slot to boot! IT'S HEAVY: The weight of the keyboard, mentioned by many reviewers of the K480, turns out also to be one of its unique and highly-funtional features! In a world of gadgets trending to thinner and lighter, you wouldn't think of the chunky size and weight of the K480 to be by design, let alone functional. But you'd be wrong. The size and weight allow for a sturdy and laptop-like user experience. Many of my previous bluetooth keyboards needed to be either used on a flat surface like a table or desk. The K480 not only securely mounts tablets, phones, or both a tablet and phone, at the same time, but due to its size and weight, it works flawlessly on a desk, table or sitting on your lap. As I write this glowing review, I'm lying down in bed with the keyboard K480 on top of my legs and my Note 10.1 tablet mounted in portrait position. The weight and surface area of the keyboard is making for a totally laptop-like functionality that I have yet to see in any other keyboard that didn't attach itself to the keyboard semi-permanently to acheive the same result. Awesome again! ADDITIONAL FUNCTION: Then there are the myriad of smaller features that are also nice and to some degree unexpected. The keys are big enough that it feels like a full-size keyboard. They layout beyond the standard qwerty layout has thoughtful placement of cursor keys, (android-specific) back, menu and home keys, not to mention a convenient screen-capture key! The layout is so well done that accurate typing and navigation are possible in the dark without backlit keys! Yet again, awesome! Within the first five minutes of using the K480 I knew I had a BT keyboard to rule all BT keyboards! I immediately left my office and returned to the office supply chain store and bought a second K480!!! I wanted one for my office and one for home and I had to have the second one NOW! In a rare case, not even Amazon Prime could get the gadget to me fast enough. (I think this is a first for me as well, that is to say, paying extra as well as paying the sales tax to get a gadget in-store now vs. waiting two-day shipping.) PROS: - Connects seamlessly to three devices simultaneously. - Mounting slot accomodates not only many form factor tablets and phones but also at the same time. - Chunky size and weight (normally a negative) function as a sturdy base regardless of where the user is. - Tons of extra niceties; logical and numerous navigation keys, easy pairing, solid build, and more! - Sporty and loud color scheme make it look water-proof and dive-friendly... I jest, but it does look very cool. CONS: - The only negative here is that there is no cover to protect the keys when in transit. - The keys could also be backlit for easier darkroom navigation, but as mentioned before, darkroom typing is still possible without. SUMMARY: I like lots of techy, gadgety things... And with this techy, gadgety keyboard, Logitech has surprised me with a real winner! The Logitech K480 keyboard is big, loud and highly, if not deceptively, functional!