Capsule Review: Logitech's G100s, G500s, and G700s Gaming Mice
by Dustin Sklavos on March 30, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Mouse
- Peripherals
- Gaming
- Logitech
The Logitech G500s: For Action Games
I've been a very longtime advocate of Logitech's G500 as one of the most perfect gaming mice ever made. I never got much mileage out of changing the DPI of the sensor on the fly, and the default weight (no weights added) was perfectly fine; it was more about the coarse but breathable material used in its side grips, the toggleable freewheel, and the overall grip and response of the mouse.
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I'm not really shedding tears about the G500s being basically a carbon copy of the G500 but with a higher quality laser and a less exciting paint job. The G500 had one annoying habit that should basically be fixed in the G500s: the switches in the mouse buttons would actually eventually wear out and begin holding inconsistently. It's my understanding this wasn't an uncommon problem, so the new switches in the G500s shouldd go a long way towards ameliorating it.
The G500s sports a total of eight buttons: left click, right click, mouse wheel, DPI up and down next to the left click, and then the back and forward buttons with a third button nestled under them. Beneath the wheel is a mechanical switch that toggles Logitech's secret sauce, the freewheel. You can choose to have the wheel click one step at a time the way mouse wheels typically do, or you can take the brakes off and use it as an analog mouse wheel, controlling scrolling speed with the speed of the wheel. I have a friend with a G500 who never used this, but I get a tremendous amount of mileage out of it.
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For a brass tacks FPS mouse, the G500 and now the G500s are pretty solid, but unlike the G100s with its more timeless design, the G500s does have a little more room for improvement. A realtime DPI shift button is becoming increasingly common in gaming mice (Corsair called it their "Sniper button"), but that's not an available option in the G500s software unless you're using the software mode instead of the mouse's onboard memory. You can do DPI up or DPI down, but you can't hold one of the side buttons to temporarily lower or raise the sensitivity. That's a shame, because the functionality is available in the G600, and the G500s could really use it.
With the G500s available there's no reason to recommend the G500; the G500s sports higher quality switches in the buttons and received a slight increase in the top end of its laser's sensitivity (up to 8200 DPI.) At an MSRP of $69 it's a little pricey, but it has a fantastic grip if textures like those used on Razer's mice cause your skin to sweat, the adjustable weight is fantastic for some users, and the buttons are all in logical and easy to use places. The G500s is a workhorse if ever there were one.
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Nexos - Sunday, March 31, 2013 - link
Just want to add a few things about the G700: the LED display can show the battery level in green, the DPI in red and the selected on-board profile in orange. I would also like to add that although it is wireless, this is not a portable mouse. Its not designed for battery life, but for performance instead. in my experience the best you can expect on battery power is about 6-8 hrs of gaming (double that for light desktop use), which is enough for me personally, but not really comparable to standard wireless mice.piiman - Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - link
I think he was referring to the fact that there isn't a LED always on so all you had to do is glance at the mouse. With the 700 you have to push the button to have the led light up. Probably because they do double duty with the same set of LEDs used to show DPI and profilesmeacupla - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
It would be nice to give size comparisons. I use G300 and orochi after disliking all these larger mice.If Anandtech is going to review any more mice, I'd suggest bluetooth mice, especially notebook bluetooth mice. I think the orochi is the only one.
Beenthere - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
I gave up on Logitech mice and keyboards a few years ago as they have become totally unreliable. Even the replacment mice fail in a few months. Logitech has lost their way IME.kmmatney - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
Are you buying the cheap $10 Logitech mice from Walmart or something? Even those last a long time for me. I'm still using my G500 mouse from 2009, working as good as ever.Friendly0Fire - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
My G7 lasted me about 6 or 7 years before the mouse buttons started acting erratically. I'm pretty sure that had I wanted, I could've cleaned it and it would've worked fine, but by then the coating was gone in places from excessive use so I just went ahead and replaced it. I'd say that considering the kind of usage I made out of it, it was an excellent purchase.piiman - Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - link
So what do you buy instead?I keep hearing people complain but never tell what they buy that is so much better. So what out there is better?
apudapus - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
I just picked up a G700 mouse from Best Buy for $50. I also own a G300 and a G500 and I like the G300 the best. The G300 is the cheapest one but has the most tactile buttons. It's lack of a laser sensor is the only drawback. The G500 is okay but the extra buttons are small and there's only one on-mouse profile. The G700's buttons are the mushiest of the 3. The button labeled G10 (top left button) is useless for gaming and was broken on the first G700 I bought.Asmodian - Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - link
I have a G700 and the G10 button is one of my most used extra buttons, I hit it twice every 20 seconds during a boss fight in my current MMO. Just goes to show it is hard to design a single mouse for everyone.What changed between the G700 and the G700s besides the paint job?
piiman - Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - link
switches and the laser and yes the paint job.The 700 was still wireless even when it was plugged in so that's also different as the 700s turns into a wired mouse when plugged in.