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 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.
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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.
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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.
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piiman - Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - link
"I wont rehash a long speech about why I think this is the most badly designed gaming mouse ive every come across, in short its badly weighted, the shape simply does not allow for comfort keeping it under control in my palm and simple pick and drop operations see it wrestle itself into the heel of my hand. The entire thumb control area is a curvy mess meaning very little angular control no matter how much grip you apply because its (unsuccessfully) all going into keeping it flat."I find this to be totally untrue.
ilkhan - Sunday, March 31, 2013 - link
I purchased an MX Revolution and G700 at the same time (for laptop and desktop respectively) but ended up benching the revolution and buying a second G700 (seriously, don't ask me to tally the dollars I've spent on Logitech gear over the years, its disgustingly high). Love both of them, and these can only be improvements. <3 Logitech.Hardtarget - Sunday, March 31, 2013 - link
Been using a MX Revolution for years, works plenty fine for gaming of all types, and can't really see a need to upgrade. Once you go wireless you can never go back and I've never felt that there has ever been any lag or the lik.ealthaz - Sunday, March 31, 2013 - link
I have to say that the G100 sounds like the perfect mouse for my gaming kit bag (containing my Surface Pro, a USB hub and a bunch of XBox 360 controllers for portable old-console gaming).The G100 + plus a keyboard (currently investigating mechanical numpadless designs for inclusion also) would be the final piece of my portable gaming Nirvana puzzle. (It would enable Starcraft, console games are already enabled thanks to emulators, same with PC racing/fighting/etc games).
sparkuss - Sunday, March 31, 2013 - link
I'm still rocking an MX-1000, even though the laser light went dead several years ago. All the buttons still work but i want to trade up to something with more accuracy.Is the G700 roughly comparable in size and shape to the G1000? With the G1000, my small hands place my thumb exactly at the center of the left-side button cluster.
cyberguyz - Sunday, March 31, 2013 - link
Actually have one of these rare original G700 convertible (wired/wireless) mice.Beyond the body graphics I don't really see any difference with the G700s. Mice look the same, have the same detachable cord. I use mine primarily in wired mode.
Don't let the drivers fool you. While they say they are downloading configurations to the onboard mouse memory, If you don't have them installed, the buttons revert to factory defaults. It seems the onboard memory and config is only active when the mouse is driven by Logitech's setpoint driver.
Ws6_ - Monday, April 1, 2013 - link
Logitech MX 518. Best mouse I have owned. I've had it for 3-4 years and never had a problem with it.johnny_boy - Monday, April 1, 2013 - link
Well-made software, sure, if you're on a supported platform. It would be nice, though, if they made it truly cross-platform so that linux users had some nice, fully supported peripheral options too.Hrel - Monday, April 1, 2013 - link
When I got a G700 I had to return it because the coarse texture caused my hands to get sweaty almost instantly. I much prefer the soft touch of the MX500 or MX Revolution mice. The G600 also has a nicer texture, still second to the high quality (anti-bacterial I believe) texture on the MX Revolution. I wish all mice had that texture. Because for me, the texture of the G700 made it completely unusable. Sad since other than that it's my idea of the ideal mouse. This picture looks like the same texture.1nf1d3l - Monday, April 1, 2013 - link
I have a "before refresh" G700 and I have to say, it is the best mouse I've ever used. The weight of the thing is nice, and it fits my larger-sized hands nicely. The 3 finger buttons can be difficult to use, but not overly so. One feature I especially like is that once the mouse is plugged in, it doesn't rely on its wireless receiver anymore, essentially making the mouse wired or not at your discretion.One issue I do have with it is its ability to drain batteries. I swapped to a set of 2200mah batteries, and the mouse will drain one in a full day of use, under the "normal gaming" setting. Having a wallcharger or the USB connector close by is pretty much needed.