Review: Logitech MK710 Performance Wireless Mouse and Keyboard Combo

We have been swapping out a number of mouse/keyboard combos across the office the last week or so, replacing the Logitech MK700 option we have been using at most workstations/offices for quite a while now (we originally switched to the original units back in 2009). Since some of the keys of the MK700 series were experiencing some letter rub-off due to wear, it was wise to begin swapping them out with keyboards you could actually read.

Since the MK700 combos did so well through these years, we opted for the MK710 which is quite similar in design. There are some differences in both the keyboard and mouse, but the biggest change was the switch to the currently modern “Unifying” USB receiver. The new USB receiver allows you to connect up to 6 compatible Logitech devices to it, allowing you to minimize the USB clutter–and it is about 85% smaller than the previous.

I am going to first break down the differences between the two models, then go into their pros and cons to see if the latter model is truly better than the original.

The keyboard features the fewest changes between the two models. They layout and shape of the keys and the keyboard itself are exactly the same. It still has the same calculator shortcut off to the top right, as well as the same placement for the on/off switch in the same area. There are only three noticeable changes when looking at the face of the keyboard.

1. The LCD display is a little brighter, making it much easier to read. Icons on the screen are crisp with a silver tone that matches the media shortcuts to both the left and right of it.
2. The MK710 keys feature a different matte-like texture to them. The new texture causes your hands/fingers to glide more freely across the keys, where the original MK700 texture offered more of grip to them.
3. The Logitech logo was changed to their new modern design.

The rear side of the keyboard is exactly the same between the two models outside of the size of the back label area. Even the screw and feet locations are all the same.

Now the mouse (which is actually an M705) has definitely changed the most between the two. You can see the original MK700’s mouse on the left, and the new MK710’s mouse on the right, in the images above. It is about 30% smaller than the MK700’s model with a change to the button layout. The new mouse has dropped the “search” button that was to the left of the wheel and has added a two-mode switch button just under the wheel. The switch button allows you to switch the wheel mode between one-line scroll (clicking) and hyper-fast scroll (smooth and free to spin when you flick it). You were also able to control the wheel modes on the original mouse, but it was located via a sliding switch on the bottom of the mouse (which wasn’t as quick to get to).

The left side of both mice has two arrow buttons that function as “back” and “forward” when it comes to browsing. The original mouse stopped here, while the new MK710’s mouse now has a button built into the bottom portion of the thumb grip, marked with a small orange line. The bottom side of both mice is for the most part the same. You have your on/off option, the laser, and the battery compartment hatch. Outside of the wheel-mode control being moved from underneath the mouse to just below the wheel, there is nothing to talk about here.

Performance-wise, both the mouse and keyboard respond just as well as the previous combo set when it comes to accuracy and latency. That being said, they score very high with us. The slipperiness of the new keys can be a little distracting to get used to, but it does happen over time. Hopefully, the change in texture shows they have also considered the durability of the print on each key (so that they don’t rub off so easily). Else if they begin to rub off easily over time, this will drop the score below by a star or two. Beyond that, the keyboard is great and the easier to read LCD display is fantastic.

With the mouse being a little smaller than the previous set, you do find that the back of your hand drags across the mousepad slightly more than the original did. Mostly because the original was larger front to back, which lifted the back of your hand a little more allowing more of it to hover. It offers smooth cursor control and a good response for gaming as well.

We did find that the scroll wheel when in hyper-fast mode (free spin) was a little messy at times. We would flick it to scroll through a page of content and stop it to immediately move on with something. At times this would work great, yet for others, it would sometimes hop back a few lines into the opposite direction after we stopped it. The original mouse’s wheel could be flicked and stopped suddenly without jumping around every time. Although this isn’t a deal-breaker of any kind, it does take getting used to.

USB range is fantastic with the MK710 combo set. The original model (MK700) at times suffered signal loss causing our connection to be choppy. We found that this was mostly caused by the WiFi traffic in the immediate area of the building. Ever since we upgraded the network around a year ago, we saw this start to pop up in various areas, despite having the receiver within a few feet of the mouse/keyboard. With the new “Unifying” receivers, all of these troubles vanished and we saw a big increase in the range between the mouse/keyboard and the receiver.

Updates

We have found that the M705 mouse this combo comes with has issues with certain apps that are worthy of pointing out, and has caused us to adjust (lower) the score of this combo.

Smooth Scroll glitch: In certain applications, the scroll wheel can act more like a page up or down button than a line by line scroll. An example that we ran into this with was Mozilla’s Thunderbird mail software, when scrolling around the calendar (Lightning Calendar), it would nearly jump from the start of the day to the end of the day with a single click of the wheel (skipping past half of the data in the window). An annoying glitch that rendered scrolling useless in these apps. Logitech was unable to comment with a solution, although we found that “Smooth Scroll” is what is causing this issue, and must be disabled in the “Mouse and Keyboard Settings” software before the mouse will work within these applications.

Our Conclusion

It seems to be a good upgrade since the previous combo set. Our only stinks were the fact that the mouse was a little smaller, the scroll wheel in hyper-mode is a little messy at times, and of course the “Smooth Scroll” glitch (which caused us to lower our scoring of the kb/mouse combo). Originally the MK710 keyboard/mouse combo retailed for around $99 or more, but now you can find it for around $69.99 on Amazon, giving it a much better price category when it comes to the features it has to offer. This is a great wireless set for most PC users, including novice or intermediate gamers. Of course, if you are a top-rank gamer, you will probably opt for something with custom buttons, mechanical keys, and a crazy-looking mouse (to each their own). It also works well on Mac and Linux systems when you plug the receiver in and run with it. We would not however recommend installing the software for any further setup on a Mac, as we have heard of shoddy software support (Logitech prefers PC it seems this round). Also, Logitech does need to address the Smooth Scroll issue.

*Average price is based on the time this article was published

Additional Images:

Package Contents:

• Keyboard
• Mouse
• USB 2.4 GHz Unifying receiver
• 4 AA alkaline batteries
• CD with software
• User documentation
• 3-year limited hardware warranty

Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.