Mechanical keyboards, even the best ones, aren't often known for their compact size or ease-of-use. That's why a lot of casual users stick to keyboards with scissor switches over keyboards with full-size mechanical switches. Logitech is known for the compactness and simplicity of their peripherals, though. That's especially true of the keyboards, mice, and other accessories in the MX Master series.

So, it's fitting that Logitech made the MX Mechanical Mini, which is an excellent minimalist keyboard for home and office users. Mechanical keyboard enthusiasts will want more control and customization than the MX Mechanical Mini provides, but this keyboard is more than enough for people who need a slim and reliable low-profile mechanical keyboard. If you want a small mechanical keyboard that doesn't have a lot of travel and feels like the scissor-switch boards you're used to, the MX Mechanical Mini is the way to go.

About this review: Logitech sent me the MX Mechanical Mini for review. It did not have input in this article, and did not see its contents before publishing.

Pricing and availability

Logitech's MX Mechanical Mini is available directly from the company's website, and is also available from third-party retailers like Best Buy and Amazon. It retails for $150, but you can occasionally find the keyboard on sale. The MX Mechanical Mini comes in one color, Graphite, and has printed macOS and Windows shortcut keys. You can choose between linear, tactile, and clicky switches at the time of purchase. For Mac users, there's also the MX Mechanical Mini for Mac, which is the same as the one I reviewed but with macOS-only shortcut and function keys.

Specs

What I like

The compact form factor and build quality are both excellent

The MX Mechanical Mini looks like the other keyboards in Logitech's Master series, which is a testament to the company's consistent design language and build quality. This keyboard uses the same mixture of aluminum and plastic found on other wireless keyboards in the MX lineup. It looks good, in part because the body of the MX Mechanical Mini has a flat top. The keyboard's housing doesn't feature raised edges that cover up the key switches like most others. Instead, you can see part of the translucent switches from the sides of the keyboard. The high-quality build of the MX Mechanical Mini means that there's barely any deck flex, even when putting a lot of force in the center of the keyboard.

Of course, the MX Mechanical Mini gets its name thanks to the keyboard's compact layout, which ditches the numpad and other keys. That's part of what makes the MX Mechanical Mini so small, and it takes up less space on your desk than a full-size keyboard. However, the thickness is what's really impressive about this keyboard. In the image above, you can see it isn't that much thicker than my iPhone 15 Pro Max. In fact, the MX Mechanical Mini measures ever-so-slightly more than an inch thick. That includes from the base of the keyboard to the top of the keycaps, so there are no shenanigans going on with the numbers here. If you're looking for a compact mechanical keyboard, it'll be hard to beat this one.

The clicky switches are responsive and give great feedback

You can get the MX Mechanical Mini with one of three switch types: linear, clicky, and tactile. I went in-depth on the typing experience with the tactile switches while reviewing the larger MX Mechanical keyboard. This time, my MX Mechanical Mini review unit was equipped with clicky blue switches. I strongly prefer the clicky switches on the MX Mechanical Mini to the tactile ones, because the clicky switches have a more satisfying sound and better responsiveness. However, the clicks are very loud. I'd avoid this keyboard for office deployments and shared spaces, but it's great for at-home use if you don't mind the sound.

The MX Mechanical Mini is a great keyboard for people who frequently switch between low-profile, scissor-switch keyboards and mechanical ones. It's incredibly easy to get used to, in part due to the limited amount of key travel. After a few minutes adjusting to the MX Mechanical Mini, I was off to the races, typing at my usual speed with minimal errors. I can't say the same for other mechanical keyboards, like the Lofree Block, which has more key travel. Though I do enjoy the extra travel, it makes going between laptop keyboards and mechanical keyboards more difficult. Luckily, this is easy with the MX Mechanical Mini.

What I don't like

It really needs support for wired operation at this price

The problem with the MX Mechanical Mini is that it doesn't have enthusiast-level features that I'd usually expect to see at this price point. On a basic level, the keyboard doesn't support wired operation, which is a big bummer. That means if your keyboard dies completely, you'll have to wait a few minutes for it to power up before you can continue working. Getting into more advanced features, the key switches aren't hot-swappable. This isn't particularly surprising, but keyboards in this range — such as the Lofree Flow — do have them.

With that being said, that might not matter to everyone. If those issues don't stand out to you, the MX Mechanical Mini will do just fine. However, those are just two of the ways that mechanical keyboard enthusiasts will feel slightly let down by the MX Mechanical Mini.

Should you buy the MX Mechanical Mini?

You should buy the Logitech MX Mechanical Mini if:

• You want a compact, low-profile mechanical keyboard
• You prefer a simple and wireless keyboard over enthusiast-level boards
• You want a keyboard with low key travel that's easy to use

You should NOT buy the Logitech MX Mechanical Mini if:

• You'd rather have a full-size mechanical keyboard with more travel
• You need enthusiast-level features like hot-swappable switches and PBT keycaps
• You're on a budget and don't want to spend $150.

Logitech's MX Mechanical Mini is a high-quality mechanical keyboard with a compact form factor and a solid typing experience. It isn't a replacement for enthusiast-level keyboards, but it isn't really trying to be. The MX Mechanical Keyboard is better viewed as a step up from the other MX Master keyboards, adding full-size mechanical switches to a simplistic design. At $150, the MX Mechanical Mini is definitely an expensive offering. However, it's one of only a few minimalist mechanical keyboards that are still very easy to use.