Logitech Pop Icon Keys and Mouse review: Cute, costly and made for Gen-Z

Workstations are usually drab. Black and white computers and boring looking mouse and keyboards. But of late this has started changing somewhat, largely led by Apple that has iMac and MacBooks in different and funky colours. And to pair with them companies like Logitech are now thinking of accessories that have the same razzmatazz to them. Hence the Pop Icon Keys and Mouse. Just look at them in the photos, aren’t they super cute and fun?
I surely find them. Like most Gen-Zs, I am also one of those people who love to personalise my workspace. You see, working around 9 hours every day, you need to make your desk feel like home. And this personalisation is not just about keeping important things within reach but also maintaining aesthetics. Whether it is polaroids, a calendar, or even a set of colourful keyboard and mouse, I try to boost my productivity – and work mood – with some style and colour.
So when I started reviewing Logitech’s new Pop Icon Keys and Mouse combo, I was curious to see what this combo would offer. After all, it’s just a keyboard and mouse, right? To stand out, there must be something extra. In the case of the Logitech Pop Icon combo, the “extra” is the option to customise the shortcut keys and quick access to features like AI chatbots such as ChatGPT.
The question, however, is: will that be enough to make someone spend Rs 9,295 on a keyboard and mouse? Well, in some cases yes. In many cases, no.
The Logitech Pop Icon Keys and Mouse combo I am reviewing is the rose and off-white colour variant, which has a pastel pink tone. There are other options as well, including one with black and a mix of green. But irrespective which colour combination you choose, you will get something that will add to colours on your table. As for the rose and off-white, it definitely looks cute.
The keys on the Pop Keyboard have darker shades, while the gradient on top transitions to light pink and white. Adding to the design, there’s a transparent plastic border that gives the keyboard a more refined look. At the bottom, there are rubber grips that keep the keyboard stable on the desk. However, there’s no kickstand; instead, the design has a raised battery compartment under its top edge, which tilts it upwards.This tilt is permanent, so it cannot be adjusted. People who like using their keyboards with kick-stand raised will not mind it. People who like their keyboards kept flat will not like it.
As for the build quality, the keyboard feels sturdy and is made from sustainable recycled plastic, with the percentage of recycled material varying by colour variant. For example, the lilac variant is made up of 37 per cent recycled plastic. The keyboard feels well-built and is slightly on the heavier side, which indicates its quality.
Now, as for the Pop Mouse, there is not much colour gradient going on its shell. The Pop mouse has just two colour gradients. However, this doesn’t look off, and the mouse feels nice in hand – at least it did in my smaller hands – fitting comfortably in the palm. On the fit: people used to bigger mouse, the kind of regular full-size wired mouse, will find it a bit less grippy.
On top, the mouse features the right and left buttons along with the scroll wheel. There’s also an additional button just below the scroll, which you can customise – more on that later. At the bottom, there’s a socket for a AAA battery, similar to the keyboard, and a button to switch between multiple devices. On the keyboard, this multi-device switch option is located at the top, integrated with the F keys. Like the keyboard, the Pop Icon Mouse also feels premium, not cheap plastic.
Both the keyboard and mouse are portable and can easily fit into your laptop bag or even a medium-sized tote bag.
Logitech offers different keyboard and mouse combos for various users. Whether it’s mechanical keys for those who prefer a tactile and clicky feel, or membrane keyboards for users who want a quieter, sleeker style. Then there’s the new Pop Icon Keys, which are neither mechanical nor soft like membrane keyboards. Instead, they are more clickier versions of the keys found in expensive laptops such as the MacBook Pro. So, they do have a tactile feel and a bit of sound, it is not as pronounced as what you get with the mechanical keyboards, making it quieter and smooth to type on. It’s kind of perfect for a work desk where you don’t want to make a racket while typing. Using it in the office, I really enjoyed working on it.
I also connected the keyboard to my laptop, tablet, and even my phone, and the multi-device switching is quick and efficient.
While typing is great, what really impressed me are the shortcut keys. On the Pop Keyboard, there are four shortcut keys that can be customised using the Logi Options+ app. You can assign one key for quick access to apps like ChatGPT or Pages, and this significantly speeds up how you work, especially for someone like me who types a lot as a journalist. The quick access to useful apps comes in handy when writing stories or editing cover images.
Even the Pop Mouse has a customisable button, which I use for quick emoji access. The Pop Mouse also provides a smooth transition between multiple devices. It offers different scroll modes, allowing you to customise it to your preference.
As for the battery, both the keyboard and mouse use AAA batteries, which should last a month or so depending on usage.
One thing I wish Logitech had offered here was either USB connectivity, or a bundled Bluetooth dongle. Although most of my devices support Bluetooth, there are some, like my office PC, where Bluetooth is not inbuilt, and without a USB or Bluetooth connector, I was unable to connect the devices to the PC. But then this is 2024 and I think Logitech believes – kind of rightly – that Pop Icon Keys and Mouse would be used with a Bluetooth enabled device.
Keyboards and mouse, and more so for regular users and not gamers, are the kind of devices where there is very little exciting stuff happening. So it is great to see Logitech trying something different. The Pop Icon Keys and Mouse will appeal to people – Gen-Zs in particular – who are tuned to its colourful and well-rounded aesthetics. It is also a great keyboard for people who are sharing their workstations on social media as content creators or influencers.
Having said that I wish they offered a bit more on the performance side. These are expensive Keyboard and mouse and yet, apart from their design, they are kind of ordinary in the sense that the same performance can be found in much cheaper and regular keyboards. With the Pop Icon Keys and Mouse Logitech is essentially relying on the design to woo users. Whereas it would have been nice if they had also equipped the mouse with laser tracker instead of optical, or had used rechargeable batteries in them.
Still, the Pop Icon Keys and Mouse get thumbs up from me. Largely because of its aesthetics, I kind of love it. And this colour and funky design, I believe, is its reason-de-tre. And even its high price is kind of worth it for some users.