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Logitech launches the Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus

by Mark Tyson on 10 June 2015, 14:36

Tags: Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI)

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Tech peripherals and accessories maker Logitech has launched an updated version of its popular Wireless Touch Keyboard K400. The new Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus model doesn't represent a major update to the design but at least Logitech are sticking to the $39.99 RRP of the original.

This touch keyboard is meant to be an easy all in one solution for interacting with the PC you have connected to your big-screen TV from your sofa. It's meant to be easy to use with multiple OSes straight from the box. Its operating range is 10m (33ft).

I own the previous K400 model and it works very well indeed when I am browsing and watching stuff on my laptop, which is connected via HDMI to my living room TV much of the time. It seems to respond quickly to input, the touch pad works well and understands gestures, the media keys are useful and its battery lasts for about a year. So I am interested to see what the new Plus model offers beyond the older version.

To summarise my findings the differences between the old K400 and the K400 Plus aren't extensive. The most immediate differences are seen in the keyboard layout. The new design offers more shortcut keys. You can see an additional three keys above the touch pad area. It is here that Logitech has shifted all the audio controls – mute toggle, volume down and volume up.

The new keyboard has official support for a greater range of OSes. While the old version was only certified for Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows 8 / Windows 8 RT the new one is listed as compatible with Windows 10 or later, Android 5 or later and Chrome OS. However I have heard OSes other than Windows supporting the old K400 without any problems.

For the next set of comparisons I have compiled a spec table tabulating only the differences I could find based upon Logitech's product information pages, please see below.

K400

K400 Plus

Weight of 581g inc batteries

Dimensions of 40 x 15 x 3.4cm

Touchpad measures 3.5 inches

Battery life (2 x AA) of 12 months

3-year limited hardware warranty

Weight of 390g inc batteries

Dimensions of 35.4 x 14 x 2.4cm

Touchpad measures 3 x 2 inch

Battery life (2 x AA) of 18 months

1-year limited hardware warranty

 

The Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus will be available in the US this month with an MSRP of $39.99 – the same as its predecessor. A global rollout is planned for July.



HEXUS Forums :: 10 Comments

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Well they've added the curve to the top of the main keyboard area as well.

Can't say that my K400r is 581g though! It feels far lighter than that. Are you sure that doesn't include the box weight?

Sadly I don't think it will do anything to fix the really bad feel of the keyboard, it's really mushy.
With the drop in warrenty length, i dont see any reason to buy the new one over the old one :/
The touch pad looks flush now so better suited to more flick gestures
at the uk price I might as well pick up the MS all in one media keyboard. I won't have to deal with logitech software :)

Really wish someone would release one with a backlit keyboard for a reasonable price though
i have one of the earlier versions and it's been great. i recently bought a second one for another pc i put together for someone and they had changed the function keys so you need to hold a green function button to press F4 for example, as without holding the button they were set as play/FF/pause etc. i was going to keep the shiny new one but kept the old and passed on the new. this seems to have that same setup. i suppose if you don't use function keys much and prefer those new buttons it may be fine

overall it's a great keyboard for sofa use. personally i wouldn't have added the colour splashes for “style” and kept it plain. the blue and yellow colours look pretty dated and horrible to me