Logitech Wireless Desktop MK710 review

For most people, a keyboard and mouse set is a cursory afterthought – as long as it’s cheap and comfortable, it will do. Logitech’s Wireless Desktop MK710 set has a mighty task on its hands to justify an eye-watering £76 exc VAT price tag.

The feature list certainly suggests that nothing’s been left out. The keyboard has a padded wristrest and is topped off with a small LCD screen that displays battery life alongside Caps, Number and Scroll Lock indicators. There’s also a row of media buttons and customisable function keys. The 2.4GHz wireless receiver deserves a mention, too: it’s tiny, barely protruding 3mm from your chosen USB port.

The keys have a soft, curved shape more reminiscent of the Scrabble-tile keys seen on laptops than the taller, sharper style of most desktop keyboards. Key action is comfortable, with slightly less travel than we’d expect, but the keys are firm, responsive and consistent.

There are no surprises when it comes to the layout, either. The double-height Return key, wide buttons and separate number pad mean it’s easy to hit the ground running.

The mouse, however, is more of a mixed bag. Although it’s got a good shape and sits comfortably in the hand, it’s smaller than we’d prefer, and while the two main buttons are light and responsive, some of the others aren’t as intuitive. Two buttons on the left-hand side – which move forward and backward through web pages by default, although this can be changed – sit awkwardly below the thumb and are tough to press.

The scroll wheel is tricky, too. Logitech goes to great pains to point out that the wheel is almost frictionless, and scrolling features the sort of smooth inertia familiar from touchscreen interfaces, but we found it too twitchy and imprecise for our tastes. Toning the settings down didn’t have a dramatic effect, either. Sensibly, Logitech has included a button behind the wheel to deactivate this smooth scrolling, and we soon switched.

There are other issues, too. While the keyboard is extremely comfortable, build quality isn’t up to scratch: we picked the unit up, twisted it and applied pressure to the glossy black surround, and the whole keyboard creaked and depressed worryingly.

The combination of disappointing build quality, an awkward scroll wheel and high price make it difficult to recommend the MK710. It’s an awful lot of money to spend when decent quality sets are available for half as much.