Alogic rolled out its new Echelon wireless keyboard and mouse last week, offering a pair of sleek, solid, affordable and eminently practical input devices for Mac users. I swapped out a couple of Logitech devices to try Alogic’s, and I’m not missing Logi’s gear so far. In a word, you could call the Echelon input devices “minimalist.” But they have all the features you need, and then some.
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Alogic Echelon wireless keyboard and mouse
Alogic’s new Echelon USB-C Rechargeable Wireless Keyboard for macOS and Echelon USB-C Rechargeable Wireless Mouse rock understated designs and solid functionality. I’m an an Alogic fan these days, having recently enjoyed good experiences with a variety of its gear, such as a portable 3-in-1 charger, a USB-C dock and a 4K display with a touchscreen. It looks like I can add a keyboard and mouse to that list. You can buy the Windows version of keyboard and mouse as a set in black; the Mac-friendly ones in white you can buy separately.
Before trying the Echelon devices, for a while I used a Logitech MX Mechanical Mini Bluetooth Keyboard and MX Anywhere 3S for Mac wireless mouse. I’ll be the first to admit I’m torn over mechanical keyboards because the noise often bothers me (even my own, never mind the guy I used to work with whose heavy thumb on the spacebar was like a gunshot a few times per minute). And it’s an apples-and-oranges comparsion between Logi’s mech and Alogic’s membrane keeb. But I will say I’m enjoying the change to the smooth and whisper-quiet Echelon keyboard and ultra-sleek mouse.
They’re not for mechanical keyboard fans or gamers, but they’re solid, affordable choices for everyday typing and mousing.
Smooth and whisper-quiet Echelon keyboard
Besides the quiet, the Echelon keyboard’s 109 keys — it’s full sized, with a number pad — are low-profile and nicely spaced, reducing unintentional rollover. That’s when you hit more than one key at a time. Gamers like rollover as a feature of mechanical keyboards because all the keys hit will probably register, so they’ll get the result they frantically sought.
But with a membrane keyboard, multiple keys mashed will mostly cancel each other out. And that’s generally a good thing, because if you’re writing a long document, coding or working on a spreadsheet, hitting two or more keys at once pretty much means typos and miscues like activating caps lock by accident. So the Echelon’s keys result in clean key presses without many flubs.
The way I’m describing this, it probably sounds like I’m done with mechanical keyboards. But I’m probably not. They still attract the nerd in me who loves their customizability and the mere fact of mechanical switches under those key caps. I will add, not long before the Logi mechanical keeb, I used an MX Keys membrane board. After a few months, an arrow key popped off and got lost. I hope that doesn’t happen with the Echelon, and it doesn’t appear unlikely because of its solid build quality.
A capable keyboard for Mac
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac
In addition to a number pad, Echelon’s full keyboard layout features a variety of single-click office shortcuts, including Select All, Cut, Copy and Paste. You don’t need to install software/drivers on a Mac to use them. On the one, that’s great because it’s so easy. On the other hand, the keyboard comes with no dedicated programming software for programming or mapping keys any further.
Here are all the easily accessible macOS shortcuts represented by icons on the keys:
- Cut
- Home Folder (Download History)
- Desktop Folder
- Sleep, Lock and Power
- Bluetooth 1 and Select All
- Bluetooth 2 and Copy
- Bluetooth 3 and Paste
The Echelon keyboard for macOS stores up to three paired Bluetooth devices, so it’s easy to switch over from your MacBook to your iPad, for example. I found that worked smoothly between my M1 MacBook Pro and my M1 iPad Air (5th gen).
Both the Echelon keyboard and mouse come with really nice braided USB-C cables for charging, which lasts weeks (long enough so that I didn’t actually try to test it; but I will say that it took a few days for the keyboard to drop from 100% to 99%). The connectors are well placed, so it’s easy to use the devices while they’re charging so you can go weeks without cables again. Tip: turn the keyboard and mouse off at the end of the day to maximize battery life.
Low-profile wireless mouse
The Echelon wireless mouse, compatible with macOS, iOS, Windows, Android and Chromebook, is a slight departure from the Logitech Anywhere mouse. The Echelon is simpler, without function buttons other than the one on the underside to switch Bluetooth devices. And it’s very low profile, less bulbous than the Logi. The Echelon is lower and sleeker, but with a slightly bigger footprint.
Its relative flatness means it will fit even more easily in a bag’s pocket or even your pants pocket. The two mice share a very similar weight and functionality. And neither is strictly right- or left-handed, so you can switch hands to reduce repetitive strain if you like.
Comfortable clicking and scrolling
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac
With the Echelon, flexible wings on either side of the scroll wheel offer various finger positions for clicks. Comfortably extend an index or middle finger for a very light click on the far edge of the mouse, or use a crooked finger closer in with a more pointed click. I noticed a few instances of selecting something without meaning to and of sticking, where it took a bit of futzing to un-click something. For example, I accidentally selected an email in Gmail and then accidentally dragged it around a bit. But generally, the lightweight Echelon is reliable and easy to position or angle as needed.
The Echelon’s scroll wheel functions well, making moving up and down pages a breeze. It’s not as smooth as the Logi’s, but that only means you can feel a little something in the wheel as you scroll. It’s not a bad thing.
A bigger difference between the Logi and Alogic mice is that the latter requires a dongle to work a 2.4GHz network. The dongle comes tucked up into a cavity on the underside of the mouse. Because my MacBook Pro doesn’t have a USB-A connector, I plugged the dongle into the back of my 4K display. The dongle worked seamlessly — so much so I almost forgot to mention it.
The mouse has a polling rate of 125Hz, same as the Logi MX Anywhere 3S. For reference, the high-performance standard for gaming is considered to be 1000Hz. At that rate, a mouse reports its position each millisecond and won’t lag behind what you’re trying to do. At 125Hz, don’t be shocked if you click the mouse and it takes a half a second to respond sometimes.
Alogic Echelon keyboard and mouse offer great value for their prices
These excellent input devices don’t appear to be stocked on major retail sites like Amazon yet, but you can buy directly from Alogic. And getting both for about $85 is a great value.
Price: $59.99 for keyboard, $24.99 for mouse
Where to buy: Alogic for Echelon keyboard for macOS and Echelon mouse
Alogic provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out other in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.
★★★★☆
In addition to a number pad, Echelon’s full keyboard layout features a variety of single-click office shortcuts, including Select All, Cut, Copy and Paste.
