Logitech Slim Combo for iPad Pro review: Logitech's iPad Pro keyboard is a case study in trade-offs
We put Logitech's Slim Combo case up against Apple's Smart Keyboard to see which types best.
Scott Stein
Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets.
I have one major need in an iPad keyboard: I need to be able to write wherever I go.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Logitech's made some of my favorite iPad keyboards: the Ultrathin, and the Create, which grew to stay on my 9.7-inch Pro full-time. Maybe, over time, Logitech's new-design Slim Combo case for the new iPad Pro seemed like the thing I needed to use the iPad as a useful laptop alternative. But, right now, after a few days, I'm frustrated. You will be too, if you're looking for a lap-friendly case… because this isn't.
But if you're buying a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, Logitech's new case is great.
How can these both be true? Consider this an iPad Case Study.
The 10.5-inch iPad case has hits and misses
After a week with the Slim Combo on the iPad Pro 10.5, here's the good news: There's a great keyboard. It's backlit, and key travel is perfect. As a typing experience, this is the best keyboard, miles better than Apple's Smart Keyboard Cover. But it's no bigger than before: it's the same exact-sized keyboard that's on the Create 9.7 Pro case, with thicker sides.
The 10.5-inch Slim Combo's keyboard base feels huge.
And now, for better and worse, it's part of a two-piece case package. There's a plastic back cover with Pencil holder, and the keyboard magnetically snaps onto the bottom. The back case has a kickstand to keep the iPad up at any angle. It's like the case turns the iPad into a Microsoft Surface. There's a Pencil-holding loop, too. But the case, with keyboard lid closed, is really bulky.
That's fine for desk work, but it's completely lap-unfriendly; it borrows the worst design elements of the Microsoft Surface in that regard. The floppy-attaching keyboard and kickstand will barely rest on my legs. Better find a large, flat coffee-shop table, where this is meant to rest. Also, the wider keyboard base means a larger footprint, meaning a tighter fit for narrow airline trays and tiny coffee shop counters.
The larger 12.9-inch version has a better-designed keyboard.
The 12.9-inch version: Somehow, it all works
The better Logitech option, oddly, is the same case for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which has a better cover, and a thinner case. It's fitted better, and has a keyboard that's not only larger, but folds in to make a tinier footprint on a table. The kickstand and two-part design are the same, but feel better-tuned for the larger Pro…less bulky, more like a way to turn the iPad into a mini iMac, or multiangle Surface Studio.
The best thing about these cases: adjustable-angle kickstands.
It's still not lap-friendly. But on the giant 12.9-inch iPad -- unlike the 10.5-inch model -- I'm less likely to use it in my lap.
The iPad I'm more likely to use is the 10.5-inch version, though. And Logitech's 10.5-inch Slim Combo isn't the iPad Pro laptop adapter I was looking for.
Slim Combo for 12.9-inch Pro (left) and 10.5-inch Pro (right). I prefer the 12.9 version.
To summarize, here's what I like about the Logitech Slim Combo:
- It is backlit. Which is nice, and adjustable.
- It has a row of iPad-specific shortcuts like volume and display brightness, which Apple's Smart Keyboard, weirdly, lacks.
- Key travel is great. It feels like a real laptop, versus Apple's soft, mushy Smart Keyboard keys.
- A multiangle kickstand on the back is a great Surface-like iPad stand.
- The rear case detaches from the keyboard, makes its own stand.
- It offers back protection in one package, unlike Apple's Smart Keyboard Cover.
- It can hold Pencil.
And here's what I don't like:
- It has a Pencil holder loop, but it's ugly. It juts from the top and can't be hidden.
- The thick bottom keyboard is one slab of plastic, and needlessly large.
- The back shell is also thick. Combined, it's a bulky package.
- The keyboard cover slips and slides, doesn't cover iPad well at all.
- You can't use this in your lap!
- The rear kickstand and large keyboard mean a huge desk footprint.
- Can't use the pull-apart keyboard on its own like a Bluetooth one, because this requires Smart Connector power.
Advice: Get the 12.9-inch version, but 10.5-inch one is best for desk use only
Owners of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro who don't need to type on their lap should give this Logitech model serious consideration over the Apple version. As for the 10-inch version… I just hope Logitech revisits a larger version of the Create keyboard, which I've come to love.
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