Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

(Pssst…. If you’re in a hurry scroll to the bottom for my summary) Do you have a “larger” laptop with a 15” or 17” screen that you don’t want to carry all the time? Do you have a desktop computer and already use your iPad for mobile tasks but miss having a keyboard and mouse? Do you sometimes wish your iPad had a physical keyboard because typing lots of text is cumbersome with the on-screen keyboard? Then the Logitech Combo Touch may just be for you! In a market full of many competitors Logitech has created a strong contender for the best overall “keyboard case” for your 7th generation iPad. The case is also available in a separate model for the 3rd generation iPad Air or the 10.5” iPad Pro. Both case styles are essentially the same other than the cutouts for the camera, headphones, etc. being slightly different due to the differences between the iPad models. So this review applies to either model even though it is specifically about the 7th generation iPad model. So what is the Combo Touch? It’s two totally separate pieces that work together to transform your iPad into a sort of miniature laptop computer. CASE The first piece is the back protective cover. Your iPad fits snugly into this piece just like most other cases that you’ve probably seen. The case has cutouts for all the speakers, microphones, charging ports, headphone ports, camera, etc. and they all line up perfectly so nothing is blocked. It also has a very nice fully adjustable kickstand-style prop on the back. This allows you to prop up the iPad at virtually any angle with no pre-defined stops to limit the angles. It easily adjusts and does not slip to other angles once you have it where you want it. This works perfectly to go from a very high angle such as what you might want when watching videos, to a slightly lower angle like you might use when using it like a laptop and typing, to an even lower angle that you can use for things that might require you to touch the screen like sketching with an Apple Pencil or just typing with the on-screen keyboard. The outside of the cover is finished in a very nice thick fabric material similar to tweed or other heavy fabrics. It gives the case a nice tactile feel and seems like it will also wear well. There is also a convenient pencil holder made out of stretchy material on this piece that can be used to store your Apple Pencil if you happen to have one. Since the case uses the kickstand design it will require extra space behind the screen for the kickstand. Compare this to a regular laptop where the screen is supported by the hinge and the keyboard. In the case of many iPad cases, this one included, the kickstand setup is needed because the keyboard and hinge simply cannot support the weight of the iPad on their own. In practice this should not be an issue unless you are using a very shallow desk surface, or, more importantly, if you plan to use the Combo Touch on your lap like you would with a MacBook. The kickstand design does not work very well on a lap unless you have something underneath it like a separate lap desk to support the kickstand in addition to the keyboard portion. The other piece is the real “guts” of the Combo Touch. This piece contains the keyboard and the touchpad, along with the magnetic edge connector with the electronic connections to the iPad. If you haven’t used a keyboard that attaches using the edge connector on the iPad then you will be a little amazed at first how easy it is. You simply get the keyboard close to the iPad and it will magnetically (or perhaps, magically) snap into place. That’s all there is to it. It automatically aligns to the right spot and makes the proper electronic connections. You can then use the keyboard and touchpad immediately. There are no batteries in the unit to worry about since it gets power directly from the iPad. There are also no extra pairing steps or anything you have to do to get the iPad to recognize the keyboard and touchpad. As soon as you connect it it’s ready for use! I should note that the keyboard can be quickly detached from the iPad so you end up with just the back half of the case which contains the actual iPad. This is for the times when you want to use the iPad more like an iPad with no keyboard. You cannot flip the keyboard around to the back of the iPad when it is not in use. It has to be disconnected and set to the side. Some people may see this as a flaw but I actually prefer this setup. Chances are if you are sitting somewhere like an airplane or a waiting area you will probably have your bag nearby and can just stick the keyboard in there if you aren’t using it. Or worst case just sit it down nearby. I’ve seen some other cases where the keyboard gets folded back around the iPad when you aren’t using the keyboard. This seems like an awkward way to hold the iPad since the back of the iPad where you are holding it would then be the keyboard instead of just a flat surface. Another important point to note is that this is by no means a lightweight unit. The combination of the back protective case and the keyboard itself weigh in at around 1 pound, 6 ounces. The 7th generation iPad only weighs 1 pound, 1 ounce to start with so when combined with this case you have a 2 pound, 7 ounce unit. Contrast this with a current generation 13” MacBook Air which weighs 2 pounds 13 ounces and your iPad suddenly isn’t the lightweight alternative to a laptop that it once was. It will still have a smaller length and width than a MacBook since the screen is smaller of course, but even the thickness becomes pretty much the same as a laptop once you have the Combo Touch on your iPad. KEYBOARD So let’s dig into the keyboard. To start, it is covered in the same tweed-like fabric material as the other piece, so they match perfectly. It also has the proper magnets inside so it will trigger your iPad to turn on and off when it is opened and closed. The keys themselves are very nice and are an actual plastic key with each key separate and a regular physical key mechanism just like you would find on a laptop computer. This is far superior to some other iPad keyboards that use a simple membrane type keyboard where the keys are literally made out of rubber and thus have a rubbery feel to them. The keyboard responds very well and is easy to type on despite being smaller than a standard keyboard. The size of course is limited by the small size of the iPad itself which doesn’t have the width to accommodate a full-size keyboard. Despite the size I found typing on the keyboard to be very comfortable and much much better than trying to use the on-screen keyboard when typing long emails or other typing-intensive tasks. There are many iPad/iOS-specific keys included on the keyboard and they are all very useful. Along the top row the keys are: - Home - Functions the same as the home button on the iPad. No need to touch the iPad itself when you have this key right on the keyboard. - Screen brightness lower and screen brightness higher keys - Keyboard key - This is used to show and hide the on-screen keyboard when you are using an app that supports it. - Search - This brings up the iPad global search box. I found that having a button dedicated to this feature actually encouraged me to use it much more than I have ever used it before. - Keyboard brightness lower and keyboard brightness higher keys - The keyboard is fully backlit just like a modern laptop (although for some reason Logitech decided to leave the spacebar unlit) and has 4 levels of brightness to choose from. You can also turn the backlight completely off by simply reducing it to the lowest level. - 3 media playback keys (rewind, pause/play, and fast forward) - These are pretty self explanatory and function when playing music or videos. - Mute / Volume down / Volume up keys - These function just like the physical volume buttons on the side of your iPad. The addition of a dedicated mute button is nice since normally there is not a physical button for mute on the iPad itself. - Lock key - This functions the same as the screen lock button on the iPad and can be used to quickly lock and turn off the screen. In addition to the top row special keys there are a few others elsewhere on the keyboard: - Globe/world key - This is located in the lower left corner of the keyboard and allows you to quickly switch to alternate keyboard configurations. For instance, if you are using the Combo Touch keyboard to type a message and hit this key the on-screen keyboard will appear and show you the emoji keyboard (or other keyboard types such as other languages, depending on which keyboards you have configured on your iPad). This is convenient for inserting emojis or other special characters while still using the physical keyboard for the bulk of your typing. - Control/Option/Command keys - These are setup just like they would be on a standard Mac keyboard (3 on one side of the space bar and 2 on the other side). The Control key can be used as part of the standard Control-Click combo like on a Mac and will bring up the editing menu if you Control-Click highlighted text (among other things I’m sure). I have not yet found a use for the Option key in iOS but there likely is something that it can be used for. The Command key however is very useful as it allows you to use standard shortcut commands such as Command-C to copy and Command-V to paste. This is very convenient on the iPad compared to the usual method of having to use the on-screen popup menu to select these types of commands. - 4-way arrow keys - Another welcome addition which makes text editing easier since you can easily position the cursor exactly where you want it and can also use standard keyboard-based text selection methods such as holding down the Shift key while using the arrow keys to highlight text. TOUCHPAD The new feature in the world of iPad cases is of course the touchpad. Touchpad support was just recently added to iOS and this is one of the first cases to give you both the keyboard and a touchpad. First off, it is quite an unusual experience using a touchpad on your iPad for the first time. After all, the iPad is by design a device where you use your finger on the screen to select things, so having the equivalent of a traditional mouse pointer suddenly appear on the screen is a bit alien. As soon as you connect the Combo Touch and use the touchpad you will see the touchpad pointer appear on the screen. In iOS the pointer is usually just a translucent disk but it changes shapes depending on what you are hovering over, such as changing to more of a tall rectangle when over text. Also, somewhat confusingly, the pointer completely disappears when you are over something that you can click on. Instead of the pointer just hovering over the clickable item the item itself, such as an icon or a button, becomes slightly enlarged and subtly moves along with the touchpad motion. Sometimes this can cause the pointer to get lost for a second until you realize which icon or button is current selected. It would be nice if the pointer was just a standard arrow like a mouse pointer, but this is a function of iOS and not the Combo Touch. For the most part the pointer works just like your finger would if you were touching the screen. Click down on the touch pad to perform the same actions that putting your finger on the screen would. By default the touchpad only works via physical click and not just by tapping the surface, but this can easily be changed via the touchpad controls within Settings > General > Trackpad. You are also able to adjust the tracking speed and the scrolling direction from this panel. There is an option within this same screen to enable a two-finger secondary click, but I could not get the secondary click to work with the Combo Touch so it may not be something that this particular unit supports even though iOS has an option for it. You can however perform a secondary click by holding down the Control key on the keyboard and clicking. This will bring up the editing menu when text is highlighted. Sometimes I found that the click was not being recognized by iOS. Most of the time it works fine but every once in awhile you have to click multiple times before the iPad recognizes the click. I suspect this is actually a problem with iOS and not the Combo Touch, but regardless of where the problem lies it unfortunately is still a minor problem. After using the touchpad I question whether there is any benefit of the pointer compared to just touching the screen for what you want. On a small device like the iPad you have the entire screen within easy reach for touching the controls you need. Using the touchpad pointer actually takes more effort since you have to move the point to the spot you want first compared to just tapping the screen. The gestures (see below) were far more valuable to me as far as touchpad usability goes. The touchpad supports gestures and the gesture controls really enhance the experience of using a keyboard with your iPad since you can quickly navigate through web pages and other screens without having to reach up to the screen. All the standard gestures that normally would work on the iPad screen are present via the touchpad. You can use two fingers to scroll up and down, switch across multiple home screens, browse forward and backwards in Safari, etc. and you can use three fingers to quickly bring up the task switcher to move between apps or to go back to the home screen from within an app. Pinch to zoom also works just like it would on the screen. Logitech has a companion application for the Combo Touch, but it’s functionality is limited to controlling how long the keyboard backlight stays on after you stop using the keyboard and how quickly it dims down while turning off. All the critical functions such as tracking speed, turning tapping on and off, and the scroll direction are controlled via the previously mentioned standard iOS setup screen in Settings > General > Trackpad. As it is there is really no reason to install the companion application unless you are really picky about how the key backlighting behaves. SUMMARY So, should you get the Combo Touch for your iPad? I think if you are somebody who uses your iPad to do a lot of typing all of the time or if you are somebody who doesn’t have a regular laptop and is looking to convert your iPad into one then yes, you should get the Combo Touch. The occasional issue with touchpad clicks are outweighed by the great keyboard, touchpad gesture control, and the overall quality of the case itself. On the other hand, if you are somebody who just wishes they had a keyboard for typing on the iPad occasionally then I suggest that you look into a completely separate compact Bluetooth keyboard instead. Logitech makes several models of compact keyboards and I think they are better suited to a light user because you can then keep your iPad in a slim, lightweight case most of the time and just get out the keyboard when you need it. This will both keep your iPad light for travel, and it will cost less than buying the Combo Touch. PROS: - Very well built case fits perfectly and offers great protection for all sides of your iPad - Terrific feeling keyboard with real, fully backlit keys and all the special iOS keys that you need - Touchpad provides all the familiar gesture controls without the need to reach up to the screen when reading documents, changing apps, etc. - Very versatile stand allows many potential screen angles - Magnetic edge connection to the iPad connects instantly and means no batteries to charge and no pairing needed CONS: - Adds considerable bulk and weight to your iPad - The case weighs more than the iPad itself - Touchpad has occasional quirks with whether clicks are recognized and the advantage of using a pointer compared to just touching the screen is questionable - The stand extends from the back of the screen, requiring more desktop depth compared to a laptop which could be used without any surface beneath the screen - This is particularly problematic if you were planning to use the Combo Touch on your lap as the kickstand likely won’t be very well supported by resting on your legs VERDICT: 4 stars - Despite the added weight and minor touchpad quirks this is the best keyboard case you can get for the iPad. *** Thank you for reading my review - If you found it helpful please let me know by clicking below ***