Review: Logitech Casa Pop-Up Desk

I'm picky about my desk setup. I love working from home with my laptop stand, monitor, mechanical keyboard, and mouse, and I hate using just a laptop most of the time. But sometimes I want to work from the library or my sister's kitchen counter without losing all the convenience of my peripherals. Enter Logitech's Casa Pop-Up Desk.

The Pop-Up Desk weighs about 2.7 pounds and, when closed, looks like a small textbook. That means it fits in most backpacks and tote bags so you can take it anywhere. You open it to find a wireless keyboard and trackpad in their designated spots. Just pop ’em out and then configure the case into a stand to keep your laptop at eye level, using magnets to connect the platform to the edge of the case.

There’s also a compartment to hold the USB-C charging cord (it doesn't come with a power block) that charges both accessories. It's not big enough for much else, but it could also hold your phone charger too, a pen, and maybe a thin stack of Post-it Notes.

Photograph: Medea Giordano

Desk Mate

Logitech makes reliable keyboards, and we recommend many of them. I wish the Casa Pop-Up Desk included a cute mechanical keyboard, like Logitech's Pop Keyboard, instead of a quieter membrane keyboard. I like clicky-clacky keys, but that would likely make the whole thing bigger, bulkier, and more expensive.

Still, the Casa Keys keyboard included here works well, with a slight incline for comfortable typing. It's a compact keyboard, so it doesn't have the numpad or function row. I prefer a full-size keyboard, but for use when I'm away from my desk it's perfect. If you typically use your laptop keyboard anyway, you won't be disappointed with it.

Photograph: Medea Giordano

I love the emoji key that either automatically pulls up the emoji character viewer box on your computer or your chosen favorite to auto-insert when you need it. It's a fun addition, but Logitech's library of emojis hasn't been updated recently, even though I keep updating the Logi Options+ app. There was no “smiling face with tear,” which was added in 2020, or the coveted pink heart from 2022. It seems the last batch added was the Unicode Version 12.0 in 2019, but Logitech says it plans to update the emoji library in a future Logi Options+ update.

Other helpful keys offer shortcuts like dictation, screenshots, play/pause, and volume control. If you don't think you need them, those keys—there are 10 in total—can be programmed to do other keyboard shortcuts using Logi Options+. You can set them to automatically open a new tab, for example, or choose one of the presets like “meeting mode,” which brings notes and Zoom to the foreground on your screen. I know myself and I would never remember what those 10 keys do, but I did find the shortcuts efficient in testing.

Photograph: Medea Giordano

The Casa Touch trackpad is about 3.5 inches wide and has a glassy feel to it. You don't have to download the Logi Options+ app, but it will help since you'll likely want to customize at least the pointer speed here. I also enabled three-finger tap for automatically opening the “look up” feature on my Mac, which comes in handy often.

Both the keyboard and trackpad connect via Bluetooth and can save three paired computers to switch among using the easy-switch keys on the keyboard or the button on the underside of the trackpad. After using the two accessories on and off for two weeks, I hardly touched the battery of the keyboard, and used just 10 percent of the trackpad's. The company estimates the former should last up to five months and the latter three weeks. If you use them as your main accessories, mileage will vary.

Photograph: Medea Giordano

Color Me Organized

The Pop-Up Desk holds laptops from 10 to 17 inches and comes in three colors, each made using varying amounts of recycled materials. Classic Chic has black accessories and a tealish blue case, Nordic Calm has white accessories with a gray case and pops of lavender, and Bohemian Blush uses three shades of pink.

Photograph: Logitech

I tried the pink, which was very cute in person, and I hope more shades will come. Lavender is my favorite color, so I'd have loved to see more of it in the Nordic calm than white. Still, there should be a color option that most people can get behind.

The $180 price tag is a little steep but not outrageous, considering you're getting three accessories in one. If you work a hybrid job and need a basic setup for the days you're home, or, like me, you just want the option to work a little more efficiently when you do leave the house, the Casa Pop-Up Desk has mastered that convenience. The only thing it's missing is a portable monitor (but we have recommendations for those).