Alright, let’s start with the obvious point, the k480 is almost a decade old. Yes you heard me, A DECADE. Now that doesn’t mean it’s a bad keyboard, in fact, it was so ahead of it’s time back then that it is still relevant to this day. Sure it looks ugly as can be, but it sure does what it needs to do.
Looks
Now right of the bat, I can tell you point blank that the logitech K780 is a much better looking keyboard than the K480, purely because the K480 was meant to be function over pretty. At least to those days’s standards.
Without a doubt this category goes to the K780
Functionality
Here is where things start to get a bit closer, essentially both keyboards have a similar approach, they both have multi connection, they both support windows and iOS/macOS, and both do not illuminate in the dark.
Things that the K780 has that the K480 don’t are:
- It is basically a full size keyboard that’s compacted a little bit, so it has a numpad
- Because it’s is longer, it has a much wider tray, the tray easily allows to have an iPad mini 6 in horizontal mode together with an IPhone 12 Pro next to it. Whilst with the K480 the same setup is rather tight.
One thing I really liked on the K480 is that it is has full sized keys, so even though it does not have a numpad, it is actually only 2 inches smaller than the K780 and gives way more space to the keys than the K780 does. However, the typing experience is rather poor, but more on that later.
Functionality for me personally goes to the K780, as it has more things to offer that I actually would use.
Typing experience
The K480 feels like one of those old school keyboards, it has a very mushy feeling to it and sounds rather old. The typing experience felt like a throwback to high school.
The K780 on the other hand, this keyboard feels amazing to type with, it gives you that nice snappy feedback, it is muuuch quieter than the K480 and the keys itself also look nicer. Though if you do prefer more space between your keys, then the K480 might be a better choice for you.
The category goes to the K780 hands down
Portability
TL;DR this category goes entirely to the K480.
Alright, so the obvious choice here is the k480 and that is what wins this category for sure, the K780 has a longer body and the stand that is used to put up the devices is higher than the actual keyboard body, making it kind of thick.
However keep in mind, it is still a “compact” full size keyboard, so if you are looking for a keyboard that has a numpad and has a tablet holder, this is your top choice.
Winner: K480
Lapability
Lapability the ability of using said device on the couch this is a term that I just coined, if you don’t like it, drop a suggestion in the comments below and we’ll see what’s good!
Interestingly, I thought the K780 was not going to be that comfortable or good to use on my lap in the couch, but to my surprise I actually like it more than the K480! The K480 is deeper and shorter, it’s kind of the size of a 13 inch laptop, so if you’re looking for more of a laptop feel, definitely go for that one.
The K780 is more longer and shorter, and I prefer it that way, it makes it feel much more stable when typing on my lap, whereas the K480 gives me the feeling that it might fall sometimes.
Verdict
After using both keyboards to write the script for this video, I can most definitely say that for me, the k780 is the clear winner here. With it’s larger tray to better lap usability and typing experience it is much more of a daily driver for me than the K480.
HOWEVER, I do see the benefit of the K480, if you don’t need a full size keyboard, are on the road a lot and want to have a portable “TKL” size keyboard, this is the way to go for you. The K480 is much more packable.
