Apple Smart Keyboard or Logi Create :: Which is it?

by Volker Weber

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Two weeks ago there was no option if you wanted a German keyboard that would also protect the screen of your iPad Pro 9.7. Then Logitech announced the Logi Create and Apple made the Smart Keyboard available in more languages. On the very same day. Instead of having just one simple choice we had two. I have worked with both and I have come to a decision.

I have a theory that says you will drop everything you carry in your hands, eventually. We don't drop laptops as much as mobile phones, because we carry them in bags and then put them on a table. That's why we put phones in cases, and laptops not. That has a profound implication on whether Logi Create or Apple Smart Keyboard is right for you.

Create is a tank. It wraps your beautiful thin iPad in a big protective envelope. That envelope will hold your Pencil, it has the better keyboard, and it will protect your iPad much better than anything you buy from Apple.

Smart Keyboard on the other hand is thin and light. It's the bare minimum of what Apple could have designed to both protect the screen from scratches and provide a decent keyboard. It's lighter, it's thinner, and it does not disfigure your sleek iPad Pro.

If you use that iPad mostly at home and once in a while need to compose longer pieces of text, then Smart Keyboard is right for you. You can tear off the keyboard easily and connect other accessories to the Smart Connector. I like to put the iPad Pro on the Logi Base when I am not using it. Smart Keyboard lets you use your other accessories like the Silicone Case. All of these things fit neatly together.

If your iPad is a laptop replacement, the only computer you use day in and out, and if you drag it around wherever you go, often without a bag, then Create is a better choice. It will keep your Pencil, you can more quickly set it up as laptop, you can place it on the table like a folio for taking notes, you can drag the iPad towards you and place it over the keyboard to draw on a slightly inclined surface. But taking it out of the Create envelope and putting it back does not feel right.

If I go on a business trip, I feel more inclined to use Logi Create. It just keeps it all together. In all other use cases I would prefer the Apple Smart Keyboard.

Both products win the editor-refuses-to-give-it-back award. I did not expect that to happen for either one. Isn't it nice to have two good choices?

[Please note that this is only for the iPad Pro 9.7. The big 12.9 is a completely different machine. Adding a Logi Create to that beast is going to make it very unwieldy.]

Comments

OK, thanks for speeding up my decision!

Ingo Seifert, 2016-08-12

Ist die Tastatur von Razer schon bekannt?

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/8/12/12450304/razer-ipad-pro-mechanical-keyboard-review

Thomas Meyer, 2016-08-12

Natürlich. Beantwortet das die Frage?

Ich kann da auch noch mehr zu sagen. 1 kg Gewicht, groß wie ein iPad Pro 12.9, amerikanisches Tastaturlayout. Wahrscheinlich ist es einfacher, zum iPad noch ein MacBook in die Tasche zu tun.

Volker Weber, 2016-08-12

Sieht gut aus für die create. Serenity Caldwell (schreibt für iMore) heute in einem Blogpost auf Medium:

"...More than manageable, however, is Logitech’s new 9.7-inch Create case: I’ve only been using it for a short time, but it’s already replaced my Smart Keyboard for all things typing. The viewing angle is better than its big sibling, and best of all: It has a sleeve for my Apple Pencil, and an artist’s drawing angle. Winning."

Werde mir das Ding mal im AppleStore ansehen. Für unterwegs ideal, für daheim tuts für mich eine K380, ist mir lieber wie ein SmartKeyboard, zumal ich ohnehin schon die Kombination Smartcover mit Siliconcase habe.

Vielen Dank für den ausführlichen Test!

Bernd Hofmann, 2016-08-12

Ja, das dramatisiert aber etwas. Niemand muss das Smart Keyboard gegen das Create tauschen. So groß ist der Abstand dann doch nicht.

Volker Weber, 2016-08-12

You should try one of these Volker - I love me a mechanical keyboard :-)

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/8/12/12450304/razer-ipad-pro-mechanical-keyboard-review

John Head, 2016-08-13

John, you are not the first person that reads other websites. See the second comment from the top. I was contemplating putting a skateboard in my bag. That is also larger than a 9.7" iPad and weighs more than two pounds.

Volker Weber, 2016-08-13

I found a solution, John. IBM Model M works with the iPad. You just need the camera adapter and another one from PS/2 to USB. That's a mechanical keyboard for you.

Volker Weber, 2016-08-13

I missed the post above because it was in German and I passed over it. My mistake.

I would never carry a mechanical keyboard with me when I travel. But for home, they have very specific uses. You might not care about them (very low travel, zero ghosting up to 8 keys, and of course the best reaction time) but for gamers they are critical. I was being sarcastic about you trying it - you have no need for the features a mechanical keyboard provides. But for me, just playing the new Doom, the difference between a regular keyboard and a mechanical one is huge. Reaction times matter when fighting demons from hell.

John Head, 2016-08-15

The difference between sarcastic and ironic isn't that easy to get. :-)

“It’s sarcasm, Josh.”

“Sarcasm?”

“It’s from the Greek, sarkasmos. To bite the lips. It means that you aren’t really saying what you mean, but people will get your point. I invented it, Bartholomew named it.”

“Well, if the village idiot named it, I’m sure it’s a good thing.”

“There you go, you got it.”

“Got what?”

“Sarcasm.”

“No, I meant it.”

“Sure you did.”

“Is that sarcasm?”

“Irony, I think.”

“What’s the difference?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea.”

“So you’re being ironic now, right?”

“No, I really don’t know.”

“Maybe you should ask the idiot.”

“Now you’ve got it.”

“What?”

“Sarcasm.”

Volker Weber, 2016-08-15

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