Minimalism was a mistake: I think it's time for scented laptops and marshmallow keyboards

Okay, I'm just going to come out and say it: monochrome minimalism in laptops has gone too far. For over a decade, they've looked like they were designed for the waiting room of a mid-range dental practice. Smooth grey slabs, anonymous matt black rectangles, and the occasional “spicy” navy blue. Everything has been tasteful, neutral, and – let’s be honest – soul-flatteningly dull. Including the best graphic design laptops.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world moved on. Gen Z has been baptised in the holy waters of lilac, sage, peach and vaguely edible-sounding off-whites. Clothing, stationery, interiors; pastels are the new default. Even sneakers look like sherbet sweets now. Yet walk into any café and every laptop you see is the colour of corporate despair. The people are colourful. The laptops are not. It’s wrong.

So imagine my delight when ASUS, bless their brave and possibly chaotic hearts, released the Marshmallow Keyboard and Fragrance Mouse. Yes: a keyboard named after a confection, and a mouse that smells nice. 

Heaven scent

I know some of you have already clenched at the idea of a scented peripheral, but calm down. This is progress. This is culture. This is fun.

The Marshmallow Keyboard is available in shades like Oat Milk and Green Tea Latte (names that sound like they were decided by a marketing team deep into their third matcha of the morning). It has soft, quiet keys; the kind that suggest your desk could be a place of gentle creativity rather than a battlefield of panicked Slack notifications.

The mouse, meanwhile, contains a refillable fragrance vial. That’s right. You can now choose the emotional tone of your work day with lavender or vanilla diffusing silently from your pointing device. I cannot tell you how much I adore the absurdity of that.

And this isn’t a one-off whim. ASUS has been quietly experimenting with sensory tech for a while, like a mad scientist in a very stylish laboratory. Last year in China they released the Adol 14 Air, a laptop that dispensed fragrance designed by Anna Sui. A laptop! That smells! I refuse to believe we have reached the peak of civilisation until someone takes one on the Tube at 8:45am and turns rush hour into a collective aromatherapy session.

Products with personality

For years, tech has insisted that personality is something you apply after purchase, with stickers. But why should I have to slap a cartoon frog on my laptop to show that I am a whimsical and emotionally available human being? Why can’t the laptop start whimsical?

There are precedents. Remember the translucent iMacs? The Nintendo DS in bubblegum pink? The IKEA lamp that looked like a friendly mushroom and sold out instantly on TikTok? We are in a bold age of playful design, but laptops somehow missed the email. Or perhaps the email was filtered directly to “junk” by a very grey, very serious AI.

And it’s not just about colour. It’s about embracing the full sensory spectrum. We touch our keyboards all day. Why shouldn’t they be soft? We stare at our screens for eight-plus hours. Why shouldn’t they spark joy instead of existential dread? We carry laptops into shared spaces; why shouldn't they express something about us that isn’t “I panic-bought the default option”?

Let me be clear: I am not arguing that every laptop should suddenly smell like a Yankee Candle shop in late November. I am arguing for options. Texture. Colour. Scent. Design that recognises humans are not robots. Design that remembers technology can be playful.

So, to the rest of the laptop makers, I say: wake up! We’ve had 15 years of Brutalist Beige Modern Business Core Aesthetic™. It is time to stop worshipping the MacBook design bible like it’s a legally binding document.

ASUS is out here making keyboards that feel like snacks and laptops that smell like basil and mandarin. They’re experimenting. They’re having fun. I want fun. And I think it’s time the rest of you joined in.