Capsule Review: Logitech's G100s, G500s, and G700s Gaming Mice

The Logitech G700s: Convertible for the MMO Player

When Logitech showed me the G700s, I was actually pretty impressed by it and disappointed that I never saw the G700 in retail. Apparently I wasn't the only one; other gamers I know never saw the G700 floating around, either. Maybe it was too expensive, who can tell, but it wasn't an eyecatcher on the shelf (something the G500's ostentatious paint job undoubtedly helped.) That's kind of a shame, because if you're a fan of the G500 and G500s, this is basically a beefed up version of that mouse.

For starters, the switches, textures, and sensors used between the two mice are the same. Where the G700s diverges is that it's a slightly larger mouse without the potentially oversized grip the G600 had. If you need a gaming mouse with more buttons, but the G600 was too big, the G700s might actually be exactly the ticket.

The G700s features eleven configurable buttons, up from the eight on the G500s. Instead of the trio of buttons under the thumb, there are now four. The pair of DPI switch buttons have had a third added beneath them, and then below the mechanical freewheel switch is an additional configurable button. I like that almost all of these buttons are basically where your fingers are going to be anyhow, and they require very little searching. The buttons all have fairly sharp angles to them to make them readily identifiable, but those wedges can be uncomfortable at first and may take some getting used to.

Unlike the G500s, there's no LED on the mouse to tell you what speed it's running at, but where the G700s deviates the most wildly from the G500s is that it's a combination wired and wireless mouse. It comes with a single user replaceable AA rechargeable battery, a wireless sensor, and then a special micro-USB cable that locks into the mouse firmly. I had a few concerns when it came to the potential pitfalls of the convertible design of the G700s, since something like this can be bungled badly in the details.

My first concern was that the micro-USB connector (and you can use any micro-USB cable) would either wear out, or would be loose, but impressively, the cable that ships with the G700s is very secure. You can still use the mouse while it's charging as a conventional wired mouse, or you can take it off the mains and use the tiny wireless receiver. Note that this is not a unifying receiver similar to the ones used in Logitech's more consumer-oriented products; Logitech stated that the bandwidth required to reach their target 1ms latency meant using a dedicated receiver.

I switched back to corded mice after dealing with latency issues with two of my older wireless Logitech mice; they were great once they got rolling, and the MX Revolution remains a fantastic mouse if exceedingly hard to come by, but there was always a little bit of a hiccup when you started moving the mouse. The G700s doesn't have this problem; it has configurable wireless power levels, and the default one is actually imperceptible from a wired connection.

The G700s is almost flatly superior to the G500s, but I found the feedback on the thumb buttons to be a little too mushy, and the right click was actually too easy to accidentally hit and needed more resistance. If you're willing to make the tradeoffs, though, and are desperate to lose the cable without losing the sensitivity and responsiveness, I don't think you can really beat the G700s.