Solar panels have long been used in consumer tech, from Garmin smartwatches and TV remotes to even a laptop. I’ve always wondered why there hasn’t been a greater push for them. It’s free power. What’s not to like? Earlier panels may not have been as efficient, but that’s no longer the case.
Logitech is no stranger to solar technology. It first made a solar-powered keyboard 15 years ago, the K750, and now the time is ripe for a successor: the Logitech Signature Slim Solar+ K980. Like the original, this keyboard has no USB charging port and is purely powered by ambient lighting. It costs $100 and comes in black, white, or graphite. The simple and utilitarian design will be right at home in a well-lit office space. However, the K980 struggles to compete with similarly priced keyboards in any way besides solar charging.
Expectedly Utilitarian
Photograph: Henri Robbins
The Slim Solar+ K980 is a standard office keyboard, and it types like one. It uses a two-piece plastic construction (70 percent post-consumer recycled plastic) with low-profile keys and scissor switches. Ignoring the solar panel, this is an incredibly basic keyboard.
The typing sounds a bit rattly, like most scissor-switch keyboards, and each keypress has a soft, almost squishy feeling instead of the crispness of a low-profile mechanical switch. The typing experience is passable, if not enjoyable, and the low-profile, short-travel switches mean key presses will be quick and familiar to most people.
The biggest gripe I have with this keyboard is the keycaps. The Slim Solar+ K980 uses standard silkscreen printing, as opposed to a more durable method like dye sublimation or double-shot injection. This results in text that is more likely to wear and the presence of a subtle outline around each letter. Compared to other low-profile Logitech keyboards, like the MX Keys line, both the typing experience and the keycap quality feel underwhelming.
This likely won’t be an issue for anyone who wants a practical, simple keyboard, especially if you don’t care much about typing feel. However, there are countless other keyboards—wired and wireless—that can deliver more enjoyable typing experiences at comparable prices.
The Slim Solar+ K980 has a traditional full-size layout, with a number pad and a separate arrow key cluster. This layout takes up a good amount of space, but it has every key you’ll need. The function row can swap between function keys and system controls by pressing Fn + Esc, and the system controls include volume adjustments, play/pause/skip, brightness adjustments, window navigation, an emoji menu, and a key to summon Windows’ built-in speech dictation system. All of these are useful and convenient, and the labels are nearly all self-explanatory at a glance.
Photograph: Henri Robbins
These shortcut keys can also be customized with the Logi Options+ app, which has extensive productivity-oriented customizations. The most significant is the ability to remap the function row and navigation keys to specific keys, macros, key combinations, or programmed “Smart Actions.” Some of the preconfigured Smart Actions include a “Social Media Break” key to open multiple social media platforms in a new window (not quite what I would have imagined from the name), or a “Work Mode” key that opens Gmail and the Microsoft 365 Suite. These can be customized endlessly, with dedicated support for AI assistants, navigation, and other convenience-oriented commands.
Alongside customization options, there’s multi-device connectivity via Bluetooth with support for up to three devices that can be cycled through via dedicated keys. Or you can keep it connected to one device with the included USB-C Logi Bolt receiver. I had no issues with connectivity.
The keyboard has dual Mac and Windows legends on the bottom row, making it easy to switch between two operating systems. (There’s also a macOS-only version you can buy.) As the name suggests, the K980 is incredibly slim. It’s less than half the thickness of a true mechanical keyboard, with the thickest point measuring 18 millimeters (0.7 inch), and it can easily slip between other items in a backpack. The main issue is length, but that’s a problem with all full-size keyboards.
Practicality and Sustainability
Photograph: Henri Robbins
The only way to recharge this keyboard is with the solar panel on top. It doesn’t have any kind of USB port. Logitech claims the keyboard’s battery can run for four months without any light sources. Presumably, it can run indefinitely in a well-lit environment.
There is an option to check the light level in the Logi Options+ app, where I found that anything not directly next to a window would yield a warning of “insufficient lighting conditions,” noting that the keyboard may lose battery life over time. During my time with this keyboard, using it near a window in “insufficient lighting conditions,” I never saw its battery go below 90 percent.
The low power consumption of this keyboard is its biggest draw: a keyboard that, in theory, will never run out of battery life. But my concern is the potential for failure. There is no option to use it with a wired connection, so if the solar panel stops working or the battery fails, this keyboard essentially becomes a paperweight after four months.
The good thing is, we can look at the original K750. Scouring forums and Reddit, it seems as though the solar panels have performed well since their debut, but the battery degrades and needs replacing. It’s great that Logitech used a standard ML2032 coin cell battery that was fairly easy to replace. The K980 uses a small coin battery inside the proprietary housing, which Logitech claims can last up to 10 years, and the company says that if it needs to be replaced after that time, users will be able to source parts from iFixit.
Removing the three adhesive feet at the top, along with the three screws underneath, allows the entire “bump” on the underside of the keyboard to be removed, providing access to the proprietary battery. From there, the battery can be easily removed and replaced.
However, disassembling the entire keyboard requires the removal of both the bottom three adhesive feet and the large sticker in the center of the keyboard, along with multiple plastic clips holding the two halves together. Internally, the keyboard is fairly standard: a main assembly for all of the switches, a smaller printed circuit board (PCB) that holds the Bluetooth module and the proprietary 70-mAh battery, and a massive ribbon cable to connect everything.
Photograph: Henri Robbins
Due to a scissor-switch keyboard’s construction, where all components are located on the PCB with rubberized domes, replacing the internals of a failed key is incredibly difficult—an issue shared with nearly every nonmechanical low-profile keyboard. Look around at complaints about the original K750, and you’ll find grumblings of keys failing over the years, so this could be a real problem.
Ultimately, this is an office keyboard. It types like one, it’s designed like one, and it has the same design philosophy as one. It does everything in its power to reduce complexity and clutter by removing cables and ports from the equation. But it’s packed with great customization software that allows for productivity enhancements.
Solar panel charging is nifty; not having to charge your keyboard is great. But there’s a risk that a point of failure in the panels or battery will render the keyboard unusable. This wouldn’t be as big a deal if Logitech included a USB-C port just in case something goes wrong, or if the battery weren’t proprietary. At least you’ll be able to source it.
More importantly, I can’t help but draw comparisons to other Logitech keyboards. The MX Keys Mini costs the same yet feels more robust, with a crisper and more tactile typing experience, higher build quality like a metal case, and sculpted keycaps that feel much nicer to type on. The downside is the smaller layout, but that’s resolved for just $30 more by the MX Keys S.
Both of these keyboards have nearly all the same features and perks as the K980 (Logi Options+ software and a low-profile design) and are more enjoyable to use. You’ll just have to use an ungodly cable to keep them charged.
