29 May Logitech G913 TKL
I'm no keyboard expert, but I've used my fair share of keyboards throughout the years. I've always loved using compact wireless keyboards because they reduce desk clutter substantially. But then in 2017, I received my first mechanical keyboard as a gift. This was my first time using a full-size wired keyboard in a long time. I had a hard time adjusting not just to seeing wires on my desk again, but also the amount of space the full-size keyboard took. However, the MX Brown switches felt so good that it was almost worth it.
I bought my second mechanical keyboard just three months later.
Again I stayed with MX Brown switches, but this time I went back to my trusted [tenkeyless](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tenkeyless) (TKL) layout. I never use the number pad on full-size keyboards, but it's important for me to have the dedicated home and end keys because it's easier to edit text.
Last year, I was itching to get another keyboard. This time I wanted to try out MX Blue switches. I knew that MX Blues were more tactile and clicky, and I wanted to see how much better the typing experience could get.
I went with a low profile Bluetooth keyboard from Keychron. The clickiness was amazing and it served me well for a few months. But I had a few minor gripes with it:
* **The backlight.** You can set the keyboard backlight to off, but there's still some kind of LED lighting up underneath the keys. The only time it turns off is when it's disconnected from a device. This leads to my next point.
* **Battery life.** I always left the backlight off, but I still ended up having to recharge every week. Charging didn't take long too though, and it uses USB-C!
* **Squeaky switches.** When pressing a key (especially the space bar), it's sometimes accompanied with a squeak.
* **Connectivity issues.** Sometimes I had to disconnect and reconnect to get my computer to recognize the keyboard again. This was particularly annoying during meetings when I stopped typing for around 10 minutes, and it'd go into some kind of deep sleep mode. Then when I needed to type notes, I found the keyboard needed to be reconnected. This happened randomly, and I never found the root cause of the deep sleep.
So I decided to buy another keyboard. I knew I wanted Bluetooth since this had to connect to my work laptop as well, and work doesn't like USB dongles. I also knew I wanted to go back to less clicky switches, since MX Blues are *kind of loud*. I didn't have a lot of choices, so I decided to pick the Logitech G913 TKL.
My first impressions were not good. I got the "Tactile" version, but it felt decidedly mushy and completely unlike other tactile switches I used before. I briefly wondered if this was what MX Reds were like. I opted to give it a few days though. And the days stretched to weeks. Today, I've had the G913 for more than two months already. I have yet to charge the battery. I didn't even charge it when I received it, and the battery indicator still shows green! It switches seamlessly and instantaneously between LIGHTSPEED and Bluetooth, and it never goes into a deep sleep it can't wake from. The volume wheel is amazingly useful. I'm getting used to the switches, but I still miss the more tactile MX Brown switches. You can't have it all, I guess!
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